Dreading my first Colonoscopy

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Aug 29, 2005

I am not a nurse but do want to wish you the best and you will be in my prayers list.

JentheRN05, RN · Aug 29, 2005

Please tell me it's not so bad my Endo Nurse friends. I'm a M/S RN, and I got to observe a colonoscopy first hand on my endo rotation in nursing school. It's fine being the observer, but I am soooo nervous about being the patient!
Well, my story is that I've had rectal bleeding (bright red) nearly every day x 3 weeks now. It's not a lot, but definately more than a few streaks. Alt. bowel habits, too. It's probably just stress that changed my bowel function & then aggravated hemmorhoids or caused a fissure, but then again, I guess it's good to be sure and check it out.
I was under a huge amount of stress last month, and am pretty sure that's what started all this mess with my digestion. I am normally extremely healthy (I'm in my mid 30s) and have had NO health problems whatsover except anxiety. I walk 3-4 days/week, eat tons of high fiber foods & veggies, drink water, and generally take good care of my health. Don't smoke, rarely drink, and don't eat meat.I was checked out last month by my primary MD for this bleeding problem and had a DRE and FOBT (neg.) I was hoping it would resolve, but it hasn't. She said if it recurred, then we should scope. So I am going to call the office tomorrow for another appt. and I am certain I will be sent over to endo.
Part of my anxiety is about being scoped in the same place I work. I know this is silly, but despite being a nurse and having seen all manners of people in dress/undress I am embarassed to be the one being examined! ;-( I am hoping I don't run into anyone I *know* during the procedure. LOL! Good luck, huh? As I recall, there weren't that many people in the endo room during the procedure? A sedation RN, and the doc and maybe 1-2 other people? I'm also nervous about being sedated. While I want to be comfortable, I don't like the idea of being "amnesic." I know they use versed in our endo lab.
Boy, it's true nurses can make the worst patients! I wish it felt like no big deal to me. I am just dreading the whole thing. Please tell me it's not such a bad thing to go through. Have any of you been through one yourself? Also, I'm curious how soon results are given when it is done on an outpatient basis? Thanks for listening.

Well - I feel your pain. I'm having a gastro/colonoscopy soon too, possibly at the hospital that I get a job at. Just not in the same department. I can understand what your worried about though. It's all unpleasent when your the one getting undressed

I wish ya lots of luck and speedy healing for whatever is wrong

Genista, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2005

Thanks Jessica & Jen. ;-)

Well, I called the office and have an appt with my primary for Thursday. We'll see how it goes. I really think it's probably nothing, because I'm young, I feel fine (other than anxiety) and have no pain or nausea.I'm probably a new member of the irritable bowel & hemorroid club. LOL! However, I'd hate to disregard something like this and be mistaken. A good friend of mine's mom died of colon CA in her 40s. They didn't scope her when she had bleeding. Big mistake.Good luck & blessings to you too, Jen. Hopefully all will go well for us both.

webbiedebbie · Aug 29, 2005

I'm not an endo nurse, but I have had the colonoscopy. My worst part was drinking the stuff the day before and only clear liquid diet. I didn't mind being sedated for it. I woke up in recovery and the very worst part about that was the nurse pushing on my abdomen to release gas! It was worse than fundal massage!

I had to make an appt to get the results.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Aug 29, 2005

Go-Litely is definitely the worst part of the entire thing! Please note that when it starts, you might as well make yourself comfy. I've had 3 done because my mom died of colon cancer, so my first was at age 45. I've learned to take a book, pad the toilet seat, have the portable phone handy, MPG player and a friend of mine even suggested that with the proper position of mirrors in my bathroom I could watch TV!

Versed rocks and is my drug of choice! They know not to touch me until I'm out!

Good luck.

mshultz · Aug 30, 2005

Please tell me it's not so bad my Endo Nurse friends. I'm a M/S RN, and I got to observe a colonoscopy first hand on my endo rotation in nursing school. It's fine being the observer, but I am soooo nervous about being the patient!
Well, my story is that I've had rectal bleeding (bright red) nearly every day x 3 weeks now. It's not a lot, but definately more than a few streaks. Alt. bowel habits, too. It's probably just stress that changed my bowel function & then aggravated hemmorhoids or caused a fissure, but then again, I guess it's good to be sure and check it out.
I was under a huge amount of stress last month, and am pretty sure that's what started all this mess with my digestion. I am normally extremely healthy (I'm in my mid 30s) and have had NO health problems whatsover except anxiety. I walk 3-4 days/week, eat tons of high fiber foods & veggies, drink water, and generally take good care of my health. Don't smoke, rarely drink, and don't eat meat.I was checked out last month by my primary MD for this bleeding problem and had a DRE and FOBT (neg.) I was hoping it would resolve, but it hasn't. She said if it recurred, then we should scope. So I am going to call the office tomorrow for another appt. and I am certain I will be sent over to endo.
Part of my anxiety is about being scoped in the same place I work. I know this is silly, but despite being a nurse and having seen all manners of people in dress/undress I am embarassed to be the one being examined! ;-( I am hoping I don't run into anyone I *know* during the procedure. LOL! Good luck, huh? As I recall, there weren't that many people in the endo room during the procedure? A sedation RN, and the doc and maybe 1-2 other people? I'm also nervous about being sedated. While I want to be comfortable, I don't like the idea of being "amnesic." I know they use versed in our endo lab.
Boy, it's true nurses can make the worst patients! I wish it felt like no big deal to me. I am just dreading the whole thing. Please tell me it's not such a bad thing to go through. Have any of you been through one yourself? Also, I'm curious how soon results are given when it is done on an outpatient basis? Thanks for listening.

I am not a nurse either, but do have a lot of interest in this subject since my own colonoscopy in 2003. Maybe the red color is from something you are eating?

http://www.poopreport.com/Intellectual/Content/Dye/dye.html

Take advantage of your co-workers, and ask them to recommend a gastroenterologist (because they have much more practice in doing this than general surgeons) to do your colonscopy. Insist on receiving informed consent prior to the day of the procedure. One of the purposes of informed consent is so that the procedure can be tailored to you as an individual. Request that the staff not include people you know. The doctor should understand. There were only three of us present when I had my colonoscopy.

If I were going to be sedated, I would request PCA (Patient Controlled Anesthesia) with Fentanyl only. Fentanyl has a shorter half-life than Demerol (faster recovery), and is said to cause less nausea. PCA is safer and more effective because you are controlling the dosage. Versed is an amnesiac with no analgesic properties, and STOP means STOP, whether or not I am sedated. Being in pain, but (hopefully) unable to remember it is not adequate pain control, in my opinion. If your doctor has trouble with this concept, get another doctor.

Ask your doctor whether he uses abdominal compression to prevent looping, and if he is willing to back out the scope a bit to resolve looping when it does occur. These are recommended techniques, and if the doctor is too impatient to use them, his scoping may well be unnecessarily painful (my doctor did neither, and I was so disappointed when I had to ask for more sedatives and was not able to remember the rest of the procedure).

Having to wait days to find out your results is unconscionable. Tell your doctor that you want copies of any pictures. Also, tell him to get out his fat first-grade pencil and his first-grade lined paper and write a d**n note for you with your results as soon as he is done. That way, even if you are gorked from the drugs, you can continue to refer to the note and the picture, instead of suffering unnecessary anxiety while waiting for the results.

I did not plan for this possibility, and suffered a lot of anxiety during the hour wait for my results. The doctor had talked to me in the recovery room, but I did not remember due to the creepy amnesia caused by the Versed. When the nurse told me that he had already talked to me, I nearly panicked before she added that he was coming back to talk to me again. This anxiety would have been prevented with a picture and a note (everything was fine in my case).

Michael E. Shultz

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

Groucho Marx

Genista, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2005

Thanks for the responses, WebbieDebbie (cute tag line!), tntrn and Michael.

It helps to hear from others who went through it. Funny thing is, I have given this prep to patients many a time on my floor at work. Maybe that's why I dread it. But I dread the procedure more than the prep (the prep can be done in the privacy of my own home). I have seen people vomit from Golytely. If I do get sent for this procedure, I am going to ask what other options I have for prep. I have seen patients prepped with Mag citrate once in awhile. It's worth asking. Those Golytely jugs are freaking huge! :uhoh21:

I did wonder how far from the toilet once could stray during the prep time. At work, of course, the patients have a commode just one step from the bed. Not so at my house. The idea of having to sit on the toilet nonstop sounds like a real experience. This is why I was putting off addressing the issue. (In fact, I still secretly hope it will resolve before my appointment Thursday).

Michael- special thanks for all the tips. I will especially take up the idea of asking that no one I know be in the room. That would make me feel ever so much better.There are several endo nurses I don't know, so my odds are good. I know the 3 main GI docs at my work, and two of them are very nice and spoken highly of (the other is newer & I don't know him well).I love the idea of having the doc write a note! I was going to have a pad of paper for me to write on, but I like the idea if having the doc write it for me in case I have versed-head. And though I got a good laugh from that funny link- no, I don't think it's something I ate. I know it's blood. But thanks for the laugh.

I still kinda hope maybe I won't need this procedure! :imbar But I have a feeling it will be recommended based on my symptoms. Good advice from all of you who have been through it. Thanks!

live4today, RN · Aug 30, 2005

I had my very first colonoscopy last summer and don't remember a thing after my "lights were put out". :rotfl: Yes...Versed and Fentanyl ROCK!!!

The clear liquid diet and the bowel prep were no fun :uhoh3: but after the procedure you'll be floating on air....well, I was...had a great sleep after I got home from the hospital too. :rotfl:

DusktilDawn · Aug 30, 2005

i've had patients both pre and post colonscopy. the general consensus from patients has been that the bowel prep prior to the procedure is the worst part. most had very little if any recollection of the actual scope itself, because of the versed. some didn't mind the taste of go-lightly, others did. most did tolerate it best served over ice.

definately set yourself up comfortably for the frequent trips to the br.

best of luck kona2 and i hope all goes well for you.

webbiedebbie · Aug 30, 2005

The taste did not really bother me...it was the not being able to have something solid in my stomach.

I stayed in my bedroom with an attached bathroom. I wasn't running to the toilet as often as I thought I would. Mostly I was bored and hungry.

Being out for the procedure was a must for me. I also slept very well when I got home.

I'm supposed to have another one, but I don't have health insurance right now.

psalm, RN · Aug 31, 2005

...had two colonoscopies so far. The worst part is the prep and if you have the fleets soda PO it will be less stress than the go-lytely. Who are they kidding, go-LYTELY? It should be go-VIOLENTLY!! Then you sleep it off at home.