The directions for the bowel prep would have me take the tablets first at 6:00 PM the night before the procedure and then again at 1 A.M. (the morning of the colonoscopy). However I started taking the pills around for the first round 4:30 PM. One difference that I did compared to the previous time I did the bowel prep was to take more pills in a shorter. I took the pills I would space them out every five or 10 minutes. My procedure was scheduled for 7:00 AM the next morning and actually my father had a colonoscopy scheduled right after me at 7:30 A.M.
I began to take the second round of pills at 9 PM and probably had my last bowel movement around close to midnight.
In the past I have have had some issues with leakage in my underwear and went ahead and wore about 3 adult diapers for protection. Previously I had used Depends however I had noticed that they riped very easily so I switched to LivDry and they felt more comfortable. When I woke up the next morning I was shocked I didn't feel any leakage. My guess as to why this happened is recent I have been doing pelvic floor exercises and in trying to do that I may have improved my anal sphincter muscle as well.
Overall the night before the colonoscopy I slept pretty well. I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night either. Again just a guess is because I started the bowel prep earlier than the last time I did it.
The morning of the colonoscopy we got up a little before 5:00 A.M. and I took a hot shower which was very nice as it helped with some of the pain near my rear. My energy levels the morning of the colonoscopy were fairly good even though I may have only got 6 hours of sleep. We ended up getting to the medical facility a little bit before 7 A.M. and even though I had the first procedure of the morning the actual procedure time was scheduled for 8:00 AM. The nurse who was in my station was very nice and ran an IV to give me fluids and my favorite part is when they give you a hot blanket as you're sitting there waiting (if I could have only had milk and cookies I would been in heaven!). Luckily I brought a book to pass the time as it would be roughly an hour before I would actually go back. The last time I got my colonoscopy I was told to bring my glasses but this time I was able to wear my contacts
The actual colonoscopy is fairly cold. The nurses move you into position on your side and then the anesthesiologist injects Propofol (350 mg) to be exact and you think you can continue to stay awake and then you feel a burn in your arm and then you are knocked out.
My actual procedure was roughly 30 minutes and I felt pretty good after the colonoscopy and recall the gastroenterologist coming by and told me that everything looked good and we would have to wait and see in terms of how long my neck colonoscopy would be. My father had a colonoscopy right after me and the gastroenterologist had mentioned that his bowel prep wasn't as good as it could have been. My father didn't hydrate for the colonoscopy until it was time to do the bowel prep. In addition to this he also had white wine and coffee which of course will dehydrate you. Me on the other hand I insured I drank blue Pedialyte throughout the day (and day before) and enough water so I felt hydrated. I do believe that hydration is a very important key in terms of bouncing back after they colonoscopy. The gastroenterologist had mentioned that next time my father would need a more caustic bowel prep. When my father woke up from his colonoscopy he actually thought he was in his home but the nurse had to point out that he just had his colonoscopy (they gave him more sedatives since he moved around during his procedure).
After my dad was good to go we ventured to a local restaurant for some omelets, hash browns, and biscuits which were really good considering it had been most a day and a half since I had eaten. I think in hindsight though I probably ate too much leading up to the colonoscopy. For example the colonoscopy was scheduled on a Tuesday and I saw my parents on Sunday for dinner and we ended up having Tex-Mex food. Before the colonoscopy I was trying to eat a couple days worth of food. My weight after the colonoscopy of course declined and I was roughly 164 pounds which is lighter than usual. After we had breakfast we ended up going to a local coffee shop and getting flat whites for both me and my dad shared one with my mom as well. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly and I didn't have to take a nap or anything. The night of the colonoscopy I went to bed very early and slept for over a 9 and 1/2 hours and it was some very amazing sleep.
The colonoscopy overall was pretty smooth and I only had a 3mm polyp in my cecum (which ironically is the same size and location that my father had his polyp as well). The pathology report showed that everything looked good so I won't have to go back for another three years which is the same schedule my father is currently on. Overall beforehand I was a little bit nervous about the colonoscopy since it only had been one year since the last colonoscopy. I was worried that the colonoscopy would show something detrimental however everything looked very good and glad that my colon is in a good place and more important way that I continue to be in remissions with my Crohn's disease.
