If I Can Do It...

...so can you.

No photos in this post, folks.  I'm here to tell you about how I spent the last 3 days of my life, preparing for and undergoing my first colonoscopy. Of course, I like many people have avoided this like the plague. Horror stories about the prep abound, and they acted as a pretty strong deterrent. And every time I scheduled the darn thing, some family crisis came up and the plan had to be abandoned.

But this time I was going to go through with it. Years ago, the prep was a terrible ordeal, and many people avoided having the colonoscopy because of it. But things are different today.  On Tuesday I took two little pills and watched what I ate (low-fiber diet). On Wednesday, two more little pills and a liquid diet all day. Then on Wednesday, in the afternoon and evening, a cup of some fizzy, citrusy drink. Not too terrible at all.  Plenty of time was spent in the bathroom, as some full-scale system cleaning did go on. It was never painful, never out of control, and never horrible. It's true, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I'd heard that the nice nap I would take during the procedure would more than make up for that.

And you know what, it did. They put in some kind of nice stuff through an IV, I was out like a light, and I never knew anything was happening. When I woke up, the nice nurse, Margalit, and my husband, were at my side, with a hot cup of coffee and something to eat. After resting for a while, I was on the way home.

I highly recommend this procedure to everyone over 50. If you have avoided it until now, please go ahead and do it. It could very well save your life.

P.S.  My test went well and the doctor gave me a clean bill of health.  I don't have to see him again for another 5 years. Thank you, Lord!