Had GI doc appt today

[SandyRN]

I will be having an EGD and colonscopy done on the 26th of November. It's a ways out because I have such a tolerance to meds and have woken up a couple times while being scoped....I didn't like it much at all either. So I have to have an anesthesiologist in the room with me and getting two doctors instead of one takes more effort and time. I'm willing to wait with the assurance that I will remain asleep.

I got an RX for compazine, and for the prep for the procedures I'm taking the pills because it was agreed that if I could hardly hold down ginger ale I'm not going to be able to drink a half gallon of go lytely! Thank God the doctor listened to me on all counts! I'm pleased with the visit.

I am going to be having Propofol which is an amnesiac medicine and sedative and that's the med the anesthesia doc will give me, plus demerol. It was SO nice not to have someone question me on my narcotic pain med usage and just UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!

I also got an RX for Zegerid which is basically Nexium with a short acting and long acting form of the drug in it. The doc thinks this might help my nausea as well. I sure hope so.

So, I had a good appt all in all...have to go back and have some more labs drawn but I was too worn out to have them drawn today. It's always an effort to get blood from me, because I have no veins. I'm really worried about the IV for the procedure. Last IV I had turned into a radiology procedure and a PICC line because of all the hospital stays I've had and getting those nasty meds in my IV ruined my veins.

I'm already nervous, I'm a lousy patient and dread this so much but it has to be done to find out what's going on. If I get worse I'm supposed to call the office anytime and if need be they will do a direct admit at the hospital for me so I don't have to go wait in the ER for hours to be seen. What more could I ask for?

Now I've just got a month to wait and put up with this nausea and vomiting....oh, and I had bad abdominal pain when the doctor pressed on my right side---pretty good sign it's the Crohn's! :( Same place where all my inflammation was according to the last round of tests I had.

SIGH! :(

[dancemomof2]

Glad you had a good visit, sorry you have to have the test done though. No tests are fun to go through especially when you already feel like crap.:pray:

[SharonA]

Well, when you put everything together, it sounds like this was a good visit. I am so glad you will be doing the "prep by pill". E gads...I don't know how you could have possibly been able to get that gross liquid junk to stay down. When I had this done, I had to drink that stuff and could barely get it down without spewing it back up and I was not sick beforehand.

[traceann]

Well Girlie, I am sooooo glad to hear it was a positive visit! YAY! Sounds like if nothing else you have been given peace of mind that they are there if you need them - whenever you may need them ;) I know that alone will help the stress levels and hopefully calm your body a teensy bit too - you know what a devil stress is!

It sounds like it was a good comprehensive visit - now the countdown to the 26th - you can do it and it will be here before you know it. I played that game back in 2005 while waiting to get my scoping done - if it wasn't for the docs and the meds that nursed me through, ugh, I don't even want to think about it! ;)

I too am glad you are doing the pill prep - I did the Fleet's PhosphoSoda junk, bleck. Yes, it's a small amount to have to get down (an ounce and half), but to have to do the second dose is just icky, lol. It's so dang salty it's terrible! And I love salt!!! lol So, good thing you don't have anything you have to "taste" or chug down, lol!!!

Now, go and get some rest, you've had a busy day!!!! :) :) :)

[ICNDonna]

:grouphug:

Donna

[Claredale]

I always heard you nurses were the worst patients! LOL

I am praying that this time will past quickly for you and that everything will turn out great! Thanks for keeping us posted.

Tracey

[leelee88]

Sandy,
Glad you had a good visit.:angel:

Sorry you are still feeling bad..hang in there.. ((((hugs)))))))

[SandyRN]

Of course I swiped a magazine out of the examining room called Outpatient Surgery protocols so I could read professional articles about this drug. I wanted to read it from a medical professional's side rather than as a patient's side. Seems like a good drug and it probably should knock me out. I'm tough though. I remember when I had my hydro/cysto I looked up at the anesthesiologist and said, "It takes a lot to knock me out now...so please make sure I stay........." Thats all I remembered saying. He probably double dosed me just so I'd shut up quicker! LOL Nurses SUCK as patients! Ok, not all nurses but 99.9% of us! :lmao:

I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired!

Tracey, that fleet's stuff is NASTY!!!!!!!!!! One dose makes me vomit! I am so glad they let me take the pills. I told the nurse I almost wanted to hug her. I also told them I'm a MUCH better patient when I get my way!! :)

[Sally939]

Sandy, that is funny about him double dosing you. I have seen patients start talking up a storm and the anesthesiologist replying nicely mmhhhmmmm and pushing more meds at the same time. I told my sister before my Hydro/cysto I was going to talk a lot so they would make sure and give me enough meds.

I am sorry you have to deal with this. I hope the test day comes quick.

[Charisse]

Sandy I'm so glad to hear you got in to see the dr. I take Zegerid and it works better for me than any other PPI. It's actually the same as Prilosec, not Nexium, but it's absorbed differently somehow. My GI dr said it's better at controlling acid then regular Prilosec in the pill form. The Zegerid has sucralose in it which I'm not crazy about but it must be a small amount because it doesn't bother my bladder. Is the Compazine helping with the nausea? Good luck with staying asleep and the pill prep. I have heard Phosphosoda is better than GoLytely if you can't do the pill prep.

[SandyRN]

Charisse, you're right about the Zegerid. I didn't come home and research it like I normally would do when I get a new med....I was too tired and didn't even notice it said omperazole on the bottle! I just looked it up and it also has 1100 mg of sodium bicarb in it. Think how much THAT combo could help IC! I know that a lot of people have some help from Prilosec OTC, and also take sodium bicarb. Hmmmmm....might be something to talk to the uro's about. Just a thought.

I think I'm afraid to give up my Nexium completely because it helps me so much more than the prilosec/omperazole did, so tomorrow I'm calling and seeing if it's ok to take 1 40mg Zegerid in the morning and one 40 mg Nexium in the evening...or reverse it if I have bad reflux in the morning. Make sense? Seems logical to me! LOL

I've also done the phosa-soda and it's SO nasty. Like Tracey said it's so much salt, thick, sorta ginger ale tasting thick salt. UGH! Bleck! It's just about as bad as drinking the go lytely!

I hope the pills work for me.....I really do!

I haven't gotten the Compazine filled yet because the Zofran had been doing it for me yesterday and today but right now, at bedtime I sure wish I had something else because I'm very nauseated again. It comes and goes with no rhyme or reason.

Anyway, didn't mean to ramble on so much...thank's for the clarification on the Zegerid. I'm really glad to know that!

[Charisse]

Sandy the Zegerid is super salty! I guess the sodium bicarb is meant to help with the acid too? Is that why they add it? I know it works better for me than regular Prilosec so give it a shot. I was on Protonix before and everyone said that it was supposedly the best but my GI said he gets much better results with the Zegerid so even though it's Omperazole, it works better/differently in the liquid form. I had been on Zegerid for over a year and still got IC so I don't know how much it helps my bladder.