No butts about it

Colonoscopy:  What a word.  What a procedure.

For those of you who have ever had one, you know what I'm talking about!  Most of us agree, the prep is the worst part of the ordeal.  Second is the number of hours you go without eating.  The procedure itself is a piece of cake, since they put you out like a light.

Ahh that moment.... you've been in the prep room, stuffed into a hospital gown that's not tied.  Your bowels are quaking as if you need to go, but there's nothing in there.  An IV in your arm, blood pressure cuff on the other one.  And you wait.  Until they roll you from there to your 'room' and you watch the nurse stick the syringe in your iv, watch the plunger depress, wondering when you'll start feeling the meds kick in... and then they do.  You feel yourself blink once, twice, and boom, you're out.  The next thing you know, you're waking up, and you're all done.

For me, the good news was the doc finding only one polyp.  If it turns out fine, I won't have to have another one for three years!!

Again.  if you are approaching 50 yrs old, get a colonoscopy!
It might not be fun, but making sure you're healthy is worth it.

I Wear Blue

Mondays aren't the best day of the week!  I am sure we can all agree on that. For me, it was tougher than usual to get up before the sun and head off to work.  All I wanted to do was not be here;  I wanted to be in Calif with my family during this crisis time.  Every family has different crises at one time or another.  Loved ones pass away suddenly, and there are arrangements to be made.  There's an illness or an accident, and that changes our normal routine while we react to the needs of those around us.

For me, it's been trying to see my family on a regular basis.  Flying back home once a month has become the norm, and those extra days off interfere with the work and home life routines.  Not that I'm complaining -- there's no place like home :)


But this latest crisis has been going on for some time.  My Dad has cancer; I've spoke about it in the past.  But I was reflecting today on what that means.  As part of his family, we need to be diligent with our doctor visits, and we need to be paying attention to our bodies when it tries to tell us things.  When Dad was diagnosed, it was colon cancer they found during a colonoscopy.  I thought he was having them every 3 years, and when it was found, it was Stage IV.   When I think about it, its hard to believe in this day and age with all the testing a doctor likes to do when you get a checkup that it wouldn't be found before it reaches Stage IV.


I spent a lot of time watching, observing and caring for my Dad while I was there.  I called my mother twice today to see how things were going.  I know that even with his pain meds that cause him to feel sleepy, he is very aware of what is going on around him, and hears our conversations.  Because of that, I've been encouraging my nephews to drop in, even if its only for 15 mins, to say HI.  I know Dad senses them around him, and hope it brings him some peace and comfort.

And yes, with this family history ... my annual colonoscopy is this Friday.
I'm crossing my fingers that it will all go OK.  :)