Well, this is not way to end the year. I have been fighting off a cold-like bug, and it finally has me. I rarely take any sick days off work, but today I don't feel like going in and sitting in my spacious 4x4 cubicle box. Plus, it is snowing again! We got about a foot on Christmas, and are expecting another 5 to 10 inches today. But that isn't the worst of it, so if you are queasy, you may not want to read further. This could fall into the area of "TMI", or "too much information".
Already feeling sick, I have a task to do before our current insurance runs out at the end of the month. Tonight I have to prep for the dreaded colonoscopy. I can only have clear liquids today. Then this afternoon, I have to take 4 Dulcolax tablets, and at 5 pm I have to mix a half gallon of Crystal Light with a whole bottle of Miralax. The dosage on the bottle says one capful in a drink, but I have to down the entire bottle! Holy Shit!! Literally!
I have no doubts this will be a miserable evening! Then after I am...shall we say, emptied out...I get the joy of going to the hospital tomorrow morning and getting the equivalent of a 6 foot long garden hosed snaked up to the innermost parts of my insides. The thought of all of it, from the laxatives to the colonoscope, scares the crap out of me. Well, maybe not...the laxatives will take care of that. They say the prep is the worst part, as the procedure itself is done under the influence of some drugs that take away any memory of it and compress time. Still even if I don't remember it later, I don't want to know while it is going on.
I am doing my best to go through with this by steeling my nerves for the experience. This is a baseline procedure they now recommend if you are 50 or older. Since I am turning 55 next month and never had one, I the doctors want to do it to screen for any indications of colon cancer. Oh the joys of reaching middle age.
I will have several people upset with me if I don't go through with it. My brother in Wisconsin has said he will be pissed off at me if I don't get it done, the lovely spouse will also not be happy, and my good friend in Maryland has also told me to get it done. This friend is particularly sensitive to it, as we lost a mutual friend a couple of years ago to colon and liver cancer. He was only 56. The three of us used to work together at WCBC Radio back in the 1970s.
So, I am trying hard to keep myself psyched up enough to go through with this. For JR, for Bob, for all my loved ones, and for myself. Between worrying over this and being sick, I didn't sleep well last night, and doubt I'll sleep much tonight. Tomorrow morning, we have to drive through the snow to the hospital in Aurora for an 8am check in. At 9, they'll begin, and I should be in recovery by 10. Then another hour or two for the drugs to wear off enough for me to be driven back home. So hopefully I'll get a clean report and be back home enjoying lunch by 1pm or so.
Yes, I am a big baby about medical stuff, I'll admit it. But I am also a rational human being, so logic dictates I get this done.
