52 Card Project 2022: Week 1: Prep

[pegkerr]

There's nothing glamorous about the theme of this particular card, but it's definitely what preoccupied me this week: I had a colonoscopy on Friday (yesterday), so I spent a good part of the week in colonoscopy prep. For those of you too young to know about this process, it's quite unpleasant.

A week before the colonoscopy (December 31) I eliminated nuts and seeds from my diet. As someone who is trying to eat whole food/plant-based, this is a big deal. I sadly had to ignore the pomegranates hanging out in my refrigerator, leftover from holiday meals.

On Monday, I had a covid test. On Tuesday, I started a low fiber diet, which is the exact opposite of the way I ordinarily try to eat. On Thursday, I started an all-liquid diet and then in the evening started the process to empty my digestive system entirely. I'll spare you the details.

All went well. They found about three small polyps, which they will test/examine, to see if they were pre-cancerous. Not to worry, since they were removed, but it will determine whether my next colonoscopy will be in 5, 7, or 10 years.

This, as I said, was unpleasant, but getting this procedure done is part of being a responsible adult.

Grateful thanks to my daughter Fiona, who drove me to the hospital and hung out with me during my post-anesthesia daze afterward.

The card shows an artist's rendition of the human digestive system, overlaid with a bottle of Gatorade with a glass of Gatorade mixed with laxative, and a cup of Jello ("Breakfast of Champions") with toilet paper below.

(I'd also like to note in passing my intense irritation that when one Googles "human digestive system," about 95% of the results show a cross-section of a male human being. No, men are not default human beings.)

Prep



Click here to see the 2022 52 Card Project gallery.

Click here to see the 2021 gallery.

Comments

[pru]

did you see the viral thing going around a few weeks ago that was a cross-section of a pregnant woman who was black with a black fetus? it was pretty amazing -- on the subject of inclusivity of medical drawings.

[ndrosen]

Congratulations on being a responsible adult. I remember my colonoscopy back in October of 2015: the procedure was a bit different, and I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted through Saturday dinner, but then fast Sunday (clear liquids and clear agar agar), and drink the stuff to empty my gastrointestinal tract Sunday evening and Monday morning for a procedure on Monday. Maybe they now do things a little differently.

Anyway, that’s done with, and it will be years before you need to have it done again. I hope the polyps turn out to be utterly benign and without hazard.

[mrissa]

No, the prep varies somewhat depending on your particular doctor's advice--my husband had one this week and the fine-tuned details varied slightly from both Peg's and yours, albeit with the same general theme of ICK BLEH WHO WANTS IT OH WELL BACK TO THE BATHROOM.

Glad everybody is taking care of themselves as best they can.

[pameladean]

Glad you got through it! I hope you get the ten-year interval.

I failed colonoscopy prep twice in two months and it was then decreed that there was no point in trying again unless I got an abnormal FIT test or had symptoms.

It is a miserable experience, the prep. I hope you are now eating All the Pomegranates.

P.

[carbonel]

I'm glad you got through it all okay, and I hope the polyps turn out to be entirely benign.

My first colonoscopy prep was very unpleasant, though a good portion of that was timing -- I was up all night drinking the required stuff every so often, and had chills and couldn't get warm. The actual procedure was a doddle after all that.

The second one in mid-2021, was much easier. I worked back on the prep timing, and made an afternoon instead of a morning appointment. That meant all the hard stuff was while I was expected to be awake, and I got a decent night's sleep between that and the final prep.

I guess I'll have one more in ten years, but they don't recommend them after age 75.