james

March 22nd, a month or so after my GP visit, was the date for my colonoscopy. A pretty straightforward affair despite a lot of “will I get the prep right?” > Aside: If you're getting a colonoscopy, drink lots and lots of water so you're very well hydrated. I didn't (because I'm bad at drinking enough water) and that meant the Kleen Prep took longer than expected to kick-in which is stressful. Anyway, got through that with a good amount of trepidation for when I finally decided to try and go to sleep (I stayed at a hotel beside the hospital)

The colonoscopy itself involved getting checked-in at the hospital and hopping into a bed in a daycare ward. There was a line of us that the GI consultant would be rattling through that day.

You get lined up by the porters and nurses check with you about why you're here and if you've had a colonoscopy before. Then you get wheeled in and have an explanation of what will happen. It's all very light-hearted and you get a sense of it being very routine. I don't remember the start of the procedure but do remember the end as it finished up and I got wheeled back to recover. I can't remember how long it was before the GI consultant came around to tell me they found a tumour. He made a little drawing where he said a surgeon could remove it easily enough by cutting out a part of my colon and stitching it back together. Might even be able to do it laparoscopically. At this point I'm just thinking “tumours can be benign”. Next thing is to schedule a CT TAP scan. Then it's tea and toast. It was very tasty but I wasn't fully ready for it as I still had air trapped so I ended up vomiting that up and staying in for a bit longer before I headed down to hospital reception to get collected by my brother.