relief

I'm not deluding myself to think that anyone is riveted to this blog, but I just wanted to pass along that everything went well today, for the most part. I had polyps and this was not a surprise. I'm not particularly worried about what the biopsies will tell. Or maybe that's just the drugs talking.

I was very relaxed today for this procedure. In fact, I was in a trance-like pre-sleep while lying on the gurney waiting - and I had no chemical assistance for that. My blood pressure was 110 over 65. Perhaps I was weak with hunger or wrung out from the stress of the purge. I don't know. But I was comfortable and unafraid, and near sleep. Then they gave me the drugs, and I really did lose some time.

However, I woke before they were finished with me. For perhaps the last three minutes of the scoping, I was in intense pain, calling out, crying I think, and begging them to stop. Imagine the entire length of your colon taut with gas, with no way to force it out, because it is, in fact, being forced in. Nice, huh?

The beauty of the drugs is that as soon as it was over - as soon as they stopped pumping me with gas - I pretty much forgot how painful it was. At one point in recovery, my blood pressure was 85 over 28. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think that's a good thing. Then they readjusted the cuff and got a reading of 90 over 68.

Tomorrow I start on blood pressure medication. Maybe the trick is to just take a Fleet every day. I think it might be cheaper than the meds, which are going to cost me about a dollar a day.

Well, this ends my detailing for the year. I suppose the gastroenterologist will want to repeat this extravaganza in a year or so. I'll insist on better drugs. Otherwise, I'm just back to my regular maintenance schedule for this old body.

And tomorrow I'm going to celebrate that with an icy Tanqueray martini with garlic stuffed olives. Or two. Care to join me?