Colonoscopy Prep

The big day before the colonoscopy. A day of clear diet and cravings for food beyond belief. At one point tonight I was so hungry, a dog biscuit sounded appetizing! I did manage to somehow get through the day without eating although constantly tempted by my son's surmounting appetite, the food displays at Meijer and Sam's Club and the endless beckoning of the refrigerator.

I had two cans of broth in the cupboard, but the newest had an expiration of 2006, so opted against them both. I figured I was going to be in the bathroom enough without managing to get food poisoning too! Ran to the store and picked up a vegetable and chicken broth. I did manage to eat about 2/3 of a cup of the vegetable broth, but really didn't have an appetite for more liquid. In addition to the errands of food shopping, we did manage to get in a good round of disc golf before I had to get home to start my pills and instructions.

Dulcolax. Yeah, my newest enemy. I was completed shocked when I read the instructions that accompanied the tiny four pills that I had to take. Directions vastly different than instructed by the hospital staff. Directions which included specific times and amounts of what to eat (broth, gelatin, juice) as well as when to take the pills and the bonus suppository. Since I hadn't followed any of those instructions, I stuck with the original directions.

Nothing seemed to happen after the first two pills. I had an hour or so before I had to start to consume Miralax or some crazy large bottle mixed with 64 oz. of flavored water, non-red. I went with the lemonade crystal light, not my favorite by any means and clearly after today will not be either. The directions call for adding the bottle to the 64 oz. I was smart enough to empty out some of the water to add the mix, but not smart enough. I dumped it on the bottle and the counter and managed to almost overflow the mix without even adding half. Trying to determine how I was suppose to mix it all, I finally took out about 10 ounces more of the crystal light to add the remainder. So now the awful 64 ounces became about 72 ounces and those last 8 ounces were the worst!

I'm not a huge drinker by any means. I probably put my body through dehydration on a regular basis. If I'm not at a restaurant drinking water by the pitcher, I'm probably not drinking anything. So the thought of 72 ounces in addition to the four 16.9 ounces of water and my broth were going to put me over the edge. To make matters worse, I had to drink 8 ounces every 10-15 minutes. Why I couldn't just chug it was beyond me. I would have preferred 16-32 ounces every 30 minutes or so. I really didn't think I would make it through the last 24 ounces or so. I was bloated and already spending much of the resting period between drinks in the bathroom.

I did manage to make it through the entire bottle and about two hours of going to the bathroom. It wasn't completely terrible and I wasn't in pain. The mixture didn't even have a horrible taste, it was more the psychological ramifications of having to drink it and know what was coming next. I wouldn't recommend trying to watch a movie after drinking the mix, seemed like every 5-10 minutes I was up again, fortunately it wasn't that good of a movie. I took the final two Dulcolax at 9p.m. and all is well. I don't think that there is anything left in my system anyway.

I did experience chills and the chronic need to go to the bathroom and just feeling drained in more ways than one. So if what I've been told is true, the hardest part is behind (pun) me now!