... what's up with Auntie lately, right?
Heh.
Weeeeellllll... see, remember
this entry and
this one? Well, I went and saw a gastroenterologist back in November, and he said with my family history, and the pain I'd been having, it was probably a good idea if I had a couple of tests to figure out what was going on in there, so... I was scheduled for an endoscopy and colonoscopy at the same time. And... that was today.
And I've been nervous and cranky, and all of that, not just because I was going to be basically Roto-Rootered from both ends, but... because they were going to have to knock me out to do it and... I have issues with that.
I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee back in the late eighties, and they used general anesthesia to put me under. Didn't have a problem with that... until the second time I had to have work done on the knee, and... was still conscious when they paralyzed me before intubating me. I couldn't breathe, and I panicked. The anesthesiologist said, "What's wrong?" and I managed to squeak out, "I can't breathe," and he patted my cheek and said, "Don't worry, love, I'll be breathing for you."
o_O?!!!
No, that did not make me feel better, and I remember flailing about wildly with my hands, and a large, warm hand caught mine, and I saw my surgeon standing there, and he said, "You're going to be fine. I won't let go of your hand until you're asleep. I'm right here, and I promise you, you're okay." And he was still holding my hand when everything dissolved.
So, yeah, I get a little freaked when it comes to anesthesia, because no matter how much I will myself to forget it and get over it, it still sneaks up to me and sinks sharp little claws into me when I least expect it. So, after a horrible day of no eating and drinking my nutrition, followed by a horrible night of drinking one of the nastiest substances known to man in order to "clean my pipes out," I was a tottering paranoid mass of hypoglycemic sleep-deprived zombieness. And sitting in the waiting room was the hardest part, because part of me wanted to run, run, run for the hills! (except I couldn't because of the tottering paranoid mass of hypoglycemic zombieness) and part of me just wanted it to be over already. There was also a part of me that desperately needed to go to the bathroom, but we'll just skip over that part, 'kay?
I also really, really, really wanted to faint (that was the hypoglycemia) and I also knew that my intellectual capacity had just dropped from Intelligent Woman to Gibbering Moron, but, I kept looking at my son and thinking, "He did this, well... the endoscopy part, and he came through it fine..."
Then my mouth cut my brain off at the pass and made me quiver my lip at the Husbandly One and say tearfully, "I just don't think I can do this."
THO knows me very well, because he gave me this completely exasperated look and said in those I'm the Dom tones, "You will do this because I've already paid for it, dammit!!"
Which was apparently exactly what I needed to hear, because I did it. Went in when they called me, confessed my hypoglycemia, they fixed me up, I felt much better (and braver), then the anesthesiologist came to chat, and settled my mind about the anesthesia, which wasn't general, it was something completely different. Basically, I would be asleep, but able to breathe on my own and respond to commands. Which made me feel much better, if not a bit more zombie-ish. They took me into surgery, the doctor took my hand to pat it, and the anesthesiologist said, "Okay, I'm adding the anesthesia to the bag, your arm will feel a little warm, and theeeeennnnn yyyyyyooooouuuu'lllll feeeeeel sleeeeeeppppyyyyyyrrrrrrr....."
And then next thing I knew, someone said, "You can open your eyes now," and Holy Mackinoly, I was in another room!!! And I felt GREAT!!! I actually felt better than I had going in!!!
"Stunned" does not even come close to covering it. "Gobsmacked," maybe.
Within about ten minutes, I was up, getting dressed, drinking water, and ten minutes after that, I was heading home. It was awesome!
And the good news is... NO ULCER!! Some mild Inflammation, yes, but the medication they gave me is apparently working, so.... I'm good! And nothing bizarre or scary going on downstairs, either. YAY!! Which is a HUGE relief, because my grandfather died of colorectal cancer in his early to mid fifties, so... yeah, very concerned!
But everything looks good, so I am a very relieved Auntie, believe you me!