I did some blog re-reading this evening, and I see I didn't say anything about my colonoscopy, which was done on Thursday. So here it is.

First, the preparation, which starts the day before. Since the procedure is being done at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, I have to stop eating solid food at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday. Only clear liquids after that -- coffee and tea (no sweetener or milk), clear broth, water, clear fruit juices (orange doesn't count), soda. Jell-O is allowed, provided it isn't red (which shows up during the procedure looking like blood) or green (which looks like feces). So, lots of yellow Jell-O, which Bill-the-Honeybear prepared for me earlier in the day. And only half-doses of my medications. I decided to take Wednesday afternoon off work, so I could lie around doing nothing. No bowling that night, either.

Thursday morning at 3:00 a.m. is when I have to stop taking anything by mouth -- no water, no medications, nothing. We get to the center in Hillsborough where the procedure will be done around 8:30 a.m. and they start prepping me around 9:00. First, off with all the clothes except my socks, and on with one of those lovely backless hospital gowns. Then onto a stretcher/bed, where a nurse and the anesthesiologist go through my medical history and tell me what's going to be going on. The anesthesiologist puts an IV line into my left hand and the nurse starts a saline drip. I'm hooked up to the standard monitors (blood pressure, respiration, oxygen level, heartbeat). Then they wheel me into the operating room.

More nurses, an anesthesiologist's assistant, and the doctor who will be performing the procedure. It's relatively simple, really -- they stick a TV camera up into my colon, snapping pictures and looking for anything out of place. If they find something like a polyp or an abnormal growth, they'll take a sample for further testing. The assistant helps get me on my left side, positions my arms and tubing and wires, and injects a liquid into my IV line to knock me out during the proce......

When I come to, it's around 11:00. I'm unhooked from the monitors after a few more checks, especially of my blood pressure. The IV is removed and a gauze pad taped over the site. I'm given my clothes and the curtains are drawn while I get dressed. Then it's out to the reception area, where Bill-the-Honeybear has been waiting all this time. He drives me to our usual Sunday morning diner (Felix #9, on Route 22) for my first solid food in over 24 hours, then takes me home.

They did find a polyp -- just one -- and removed it for testing. I have to schedule an appointment with the doctor for a month from now, and they'll call me in about a week with the results of the test on the polyp. I don't know why I was so worried about this procedure -- I postponed it twice and was really anxious right up until late Wednesday night -- since it was so relatively easy and painless. Oh, yes -- I get to do it all over again in three years.