First Visit to the Gastroenterologist
I finally got in to see the gastroenterologist yesterday. The nurse went over all of my symptoms, then gave me the fancy white paper shirt to put on so the doctor could listen to my insides. She left with the laptop so the doctor could look over my chart before checking me out.
He came in, asked me to show him where it hurt. He didn’t prod, poke, or even listen to my inner rumblings before declaring that something is wrong and that he wanted to do a colonoscopy as soon as possible. He told the nurse to put me on the schedule for tomorrow. She reminded him of the prep time, he agreed, and told her to schedule me for Friday.
While having a doctor that seems genuinely concerned about your health is a good thing, it is particularly unsettling for a paranoid hypochondriac like myself to pick up on even the smallest hint of trepidation from a doctor. His sense of urgency and that he didn’t bother to poke, prod, or pull out his stethoscope raised my internal red flags.
I asked what he was looking for. He’s looking for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (UC), and cancer, which is, of course, the word my unsettled mind immediately locked onto. I’ve said before, I feel so bad that it really wouldn’t surprise me if I have cancer. Having vitamin D deficiency makes me worry even more, since it plays such a key role in many different types of cancer. (See Related Articles below).
Main sites of metastases for some common cancer types. Primary cancers are denoted by “…cancer” and their main metastasis sites are denoted by “…metastases”. List of included entries and references is found on main image page in Commons: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My family has nicknamed me Miss Worse Case Scenario because I tend to go straight to the dark place in the face of the unknown. Never ask me, “What’s the worst that could happen?” because I will tell you and scare the beejeezus out of you. Yes, I’m that good at spotting potential disaster in even the safest endeavors. I blame it on watching too many movies and spending too much time on the Internet.
Most likely, this is all probably just my irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and a hemorrhoid rearing its ugly head. The gastroenterologist won’t find a darn thing wrong. There’s really nothing to worry about. Tomorrow, I’ll be doing the best internal cleanse ever and making best friends with my potty.
I think I’ll weigh before I start, you know, just for sh*ts and giggles.
That’s all.
Related articles
- Vitamin D Deficiency Plays A Key Role in Causing Autoimmune Diseases, Some Cancers, and Type 1 Diabetes (kewpharmacy.co.uk)
- The Dangers of Vitamin D Deficiency (fightingfatigue.org)
- How Do You Know It’s Crohn’s? (everydayhealth.com)
- Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis & Detection (cancercenter.com)
- Colon cancer harder to detect in women (utsandiego.com)
- What is Ulcerative Colitis? (myuclife.wordpress.com)
- Rectal Cancer Symptoms (cancercenter.com)
- Science-Based Guide To Happy Gut And Healthy Skin (acneeinstein.com)
The Girl in Yoga Pants
Toni is the author of The Girl in Yoga Pants, an award-winning blog with an uproarious take on life as a creative mom with ADD and fibromyalgia. A mother of three, all born 8 years apart, she writes about raising a family while having a chronic illness using a unique blend of humor, intelligence, and Southern charm that's just as educational as it is hilarious.
Good luck!!!!
Thank you!!!
Toni, so great to have you back to blogging, although I wish it was under better circumstances. Listen beautiful, your doctor probably gets paid referral dollars every time he books a test so don’t get too concerned about his rushing you in. But you know that stuff they’re going to make you drink tomorrow? It’s going to register in your brain as liquid dynamite for the rest of your long, healthy life so stock up your bathroom today with magazines, an extra laptop battery, 14 rolls of TP….you get what I’m saying, right? About 20 years ago I endured a year of bowel/anal/rectal surgeries and I still feel psychologically scarred from all the “prep” I went through. Godspeed girlfriend. See you on the other side.
Crystal
Liquid dynamite Hahahaha!!! I won’t be laughing at that tomorrow, I’m sure.
I haven’t thought about supplies! Thanks for the reminder! I’m going to add SCENTED CANDLES to that list.
I will be praying for peace for you throughout this procedure Toni. I had one about 3 years ago and it really wasn’t bad. I watched the screen as they did it and my colon looked pretty and pink. Better than my skin on the outside which is covered in sun spots! Keep us posted on your results.
Thank you. I’m sure it will be okay. I’ll let you know.
Sending prayers and hugs
Thank you!
I hate all that you’ve had to endure through all of this. You know that I’ll be praying for you.
Thank you
hang in there babe, i know these sorts of things can be daunting but am sure it will be just fine
take care, x
Best of luck with the prep and procedure, Toni.
Hey, Iv just found your Blog, How did the Colonoscopy go?
Thanks for stopping by! Colonoscopy results are here.