That Time Again

Today is that most dreaded of days - Prep Day. In all fairness, I haven't had a Prep Day for three years. But if you've had one, you know what I mean. If you haven't, let me explain. If you've had colon cancer and survived the surgery and chemo, you need to periodically have a colonoscopy. I know, right? You shuddered just at the mention. But trust me, the scope part is simple. I'm pretty sure I've described it here in an earlier post. You could look it up. You show up at the center, check in, disrobe, get an IV inserted and then they take you into the Procedure Room, knock you out, and when you awake, you're back in the holding area where they give you cookies and something to drink - that actually tastes good. But Prep Day. Ahhh, Prep Day. A horse of an entirely different color. First off, you are expected to refrain from solid food from midnight and throughout the day. You can have jello, just not red. I happen to like green jello so that isn't too bad. You can have clear broth. Popsicles, not red. Coffee, tea, soda, as long as it isn't red. And you can't have cream or creamer in your beverage. No milk products on this day. At 4 PM, you take a pill. The pill is a laxative and within an hour or so, ya gotta go. Not urgent, but you really need to heed the call. Then you can relax for a bit before you have to drink a gallon - YES, A GALLON! - of a not-very-pleasant-tasting liquid. And you have to get it down at the rate of 8 oz. every 10 minutes. They give you a little packet of flavoring to make you think it's going to taste better. It isn't. But drink it you must. At this point, you'll want to take your phone, a book, a crossword puzzle, your laptop, a radio if you like, and head for the Loo. The actual time spent there will vary with the person, but you can plan on anywhere from an hour to several hours. Until you are completely empty. E-M-P-T-Y. At the end of this, you'll be very tired and you might want to spend a few minutes in the shower. Just to make you feel a little better. You think how nice it would be to have a sandwich. Or a cookie. Or a pretzel. Anything. But you can't. You are to continue fasting from solid food for another 12 hours or so. You can have clear liquid until midnight, then nothing until after your scope. Mine is scheduled for 9AM. It's very hard to manage those hours in the morning with no coffee, but knowing how important it is, you hang in there. Eat something now and you have to cancel the appointment. Then you have to do it all over again for the rescheduled appointment. You're almost there so suck it up. You'll get up in the morning and the person you've arranged to pick you up will pick you up and take you to the center. Refer back to the second paragraph for what happens next. If all goes well, you won't have to do this again for three years so you can go home and eat whatever you want. Strangely, you won't be as hungry as you think. But after you eat something, you will probably want to take a nap. And that's good because you're not supposed to drive for at least 12 hours after your procedure. So there you have it. Prep Day. I truly hope I haven't scared you. It's important to get this test when your doctor tells you it's time. Colon cancer is one of the most curable cancers when detected in its early stages. I've survived for four years after my diagnosis. And looking forward to more. Oh, something's going to get me. You don't get out of here alive. But I'll do whatever I can to try to avoid that something being cancer.