THE DREADED COLONOSCOPY

    Kay at Musings gave a detailed description of the nasty preparation that has to be done in preparation for a colonoscopy. She didn't miss anything and it felt just like I was doing the prep.

    For those who have been lucky enough not to have had a colonoscopy, it's a little procedure where they go in with a flexible tube (Good thing it's very flexible)  that has a small camera on the end. The camera takes photos of the interior of the colon. Since colon cancer is somewhat common and easy to detect with the device , these tests are quite common. They look at the general health of the colon and if there are any indications of cancer.

     To do this test your colon must be completely empty. Kay told about this part. It's not pleasant.

     My purpose isn't to discuss the colonoscopy but to tell about two colonoscopies I had.

   I had the first colonoscopy many years ago. A student was going to do the test.  Now I didn't tell you where they shove the rod and camera- yes right in  the anus, the handy hole in the behind. Well the student was all ready and he shoved the device. He missed the hole! What a jolt that was. He said, "Oops, sorry about that!" It's an experience I will never forget. In those days they didn't use any anesthetic.

    The last test I had was for a 12:30 PM appointment. I like to get a first thing in the morning appointment because then I can go home and eat.

     Well. 12:30 or nothing.  I was rolled into the room and prepared. Then they told me that the doctor had gone home to let his dog out and I would have to wait! Wow! What do you do? All dressed up with no where to go.

    Now as miserable as the test is I would always recommend that it be done. It's a very accurate test and if cancer is picked up early it can be successfully treated.

THE MICRO MANAGER GETS HANDED A ZINGER

      Okay a zinger is a very witty sharp reply. We hear them all the time. Most of them are funny.

      Well, the other night when I was in emergency with a medical reaction a number of tests were done.  Most of it is classified as blood work. One test I was given I had never heard of before. The test is to X ray the intestine and see how much waste material is contained there. I always though X rays took pictures of bones only.

      Well getting on to 3:30 AM the Micro manager was eager for this visit to be over. She had been pacing the floor for a couple of hours. The young emergency doc finally came in to give me the results of tests.

      He said the retention of waste material in the system was a concern.

      The Micro Manager could hardly contain herself but she did. What came into her head was this. I could have told you he was full of sh__!

A MEDICATION REACTION

    Like most people, I sometimes read the information on the medication I've been given.  I'm always surprised at how many things are listed as side effects. Warnings are divided into three groups: warnings and precautions, interactions with this medication and side effects. This can be a scary list if you take some time to think about it. Obviously some of the risks would be a very low probability.

    As far as I know I've only had one problem with a medication and that's to get a mild depression.

     Well, this week the history changed in a very acute way. I recently had a medication changed because it might interact with some new medication. The doctor specifically said it may cause constipation. I jokingly said I don't need any help with constipation. I went on my merry old way with the new prescription. The medication was for arthritis and I was to take it as needed. I took one every 6 hours as directed

    I was doing my dishes about 6:15 and felt I had to go urgently. However , I could not make a deposit. That's weird. 15 minutes later another try. No success. This went on all evening and then I noticed that I couldn't pass any urine. Now I had two major bellyaches . I laid down about 10:00 Pm hoping to ease the pain and hoping that something might happen. 15 minutes later I got up and said this is serious and I have to go to the emergency.

    First, I told the Micro Manager I would go alone and by the time I was ready I said you better come with me.

    I went through the red tape to get into emergency and was told to wait. Okay, that's normal and fair. I paced the floor. Suddenly there was movement. What a relief.

   Would I leave the emergency then? No. I had to get checked out in case the problem continued. So lab work was ordered. A new gadget was used to see how much urine was in my bladder. An Xray was given to find out how much material was retained in my bowel

    Finally about 3:30 AM the doctor had everything together and visited me for a little chat.

    Now all of this was over a problem with a medication. It wasn't funny. It was serious. It was painful.

   I now have a different point of view about medications. If side effects or anything else become a problem it's serious.

WE NEED ANOTHER MEDICAL TEST!

     Now every time we go to the physician, sooner or later he/she pulls out the requisition pad and orders a half dozen or more tests. There are many handy dandy tests that can show that we are all right and have nothing wrong with us. For my annual check up . I get at least a dozen tests. Then the doc cheerfully says, "If there's anything wrong I'll phone you." Then you never get a phone call and are left wondering if everything was okay or if he just forgot to phone. Except not with my doctor. My doctor phones at least half the time and sometimes it's to confirm that something is okay so I know if he says I'll phone if there's a problem, I know he'll phone.


      Now the other day I visited my Doc to get my end of life form formalized. After we finished the form, he looked at me and said, "You know we should change medication Y when you're taking medicine X. That really amazed me.


     It also got me thinking about the medications we take. I take 4 medications. Three of them may give me better life quality in the future. One I need to take to function at the present time. I know that many seniors take many more medications than 4. I know that some physicians play fast and loose with interactions which may occur . Some drug interactions can possibly be very harmful or even fatal.


    So here's my suggestion for a test. We should have a test for the drug interactions that occur between the various drugs that have been prescribed. The test would detect all the new sludge left in our body from the various interactions. I'm sure that the drug interactions produce some very interesting new substances. Maybe some of the new substances may be useful? I doubt it. Maybe some of the harm done to our bodies could be detected and prescriptions stopped.


    I'm sure that a small part of the requisition pad could be used for a spot to tick off a test to detect crap produced by the interaction of medications!


     Just think how much better off we would be!