May 20, 2016

As many of you know I turned 50 this past November and so that meant it was time for the dreaded colonoscopy screening. I work for Intermountain Healthcare and one of their values is "helping you live the healthiest life possible." So starting in January the emails and phone calls started about me getting a screening. I just ignored them. But they were persistent and continued with the phone calls and emails and I continued to ignore them. I kept telling myself and my family "what if they find something." Finally my son Tyler said to me,"Mom, they are going to find something.....your colon!" Finally I decided that I probably should schedule the procedure and while I was at it I scheduled Michael's also since he missed his last year. I called our daughter in law to see if she would be our caretaker that day. She agreed so I was out of excuses and I called the facility to schedule. After I scheduled the appointments I did what every anxious, overthinking person does, I did my research. I researched the facility, the prep, the procedure, the medication used and finally the doctor scheduled to do the procedure. During my research one of the blogs I visited suggested chugging the prep like you were at a frat party. That image gave Michael and I both a giggle. 

The prep last night was definitely inconvenient, nasty tasting and horrible but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be but you see for a control freak like myself it wasn't the prep I was anxious about it was the procedure itself. The procedure was scheduled for this morning and I was a basket case. My dear, sweet husband even though I knew he was a little nervous kept reassuring me that this was no big deal and everything was going to be okay. Upon arriving at the hospital my anxiety kicked into high gear, my blood pressure was high and so was my heart rate. The nurse, tech and doctor said this was the easy part but I explained not for a control freak and they assured me that they would take good care of me. As it turned out it really was no big deal. No polyps!! Michael was the big winner this year with 18 polyps removed, all benign, but the doctor said it was colon cancer waiting to happen. He will returning for a repeat colonoscopy next year. 

I am relieved that it is over and now Michael and I are just going to take it easy for the rest of the day. I am really grateful though that someone was persistent with me and that we have the screenings we do to keep us healthy.