Taking a look-see

“If you think you have to fart, let it out,” the nurse told me with a serious face.

“Okay,” I giggled.

“That’s the sound we like to hear.”

And so my day began at the colonoscopy clinic at a Baltimore hospital. It was a long-awaited appearance for me; one that I hope will produce good results in healing this affliction.

Is it inflammatory bowel disease? Is it a result of taking hardcore arthritis meds for so long? Is it a virus? Is it part of the arthritis? My doctor believes it is one of the above, but she cannot be to sure until she goes in, takes a look around, and steals a bit of tissue for further examination under a microscope.

Today was a fairly quiet day at the clinic. I am one of about 10 patients going under anesthesia for a colonoscopy and an enteroscopy. Together, most, if not all, of the gut system will get a once-over.

I really like my doctor. She uses plain language. She uses words like fart and poop. I mean, she’s seen it all and heard it all and nothing embarrasses her. Now I am not embarrassed, either.

Procedures like this were done without anesthesia not long ago. I remember having them done 20 years ago, awake, and it wasn’t fun. Nowadays, they knock you out with light sleeping meds and you wake up 20 minutes later none the wiser.

Except for the air they artificially put I your gut to get a better look with the tiny cameras that are used. So the procedure comes with a warning, sort of, that you will feel the urge to pass gas for some time. Like the nurse said, when you let it out, it’s all good.

Lo and behold, she was right. And I am not alone. The patient next to me, an older lady, has the same results. To me it has kind of lightened the mood of the whole experience. It’s all good.

My doctor passed along some photos she took of my colon. So I am passing them along to this blog. The results of the biopsies take a week to come back. She says there is something not right in what she found, but to me it’s welcome news because for the first time I believe we will get to the, ahem, bottom, of this.