endoscopy
today i had an endoscopy. the procedure itself takes all of half an hour, maybe, but it
so, first, i had to fast starting midnight the night before, and after that i could only drink clear liquids until about 9 am. the procedure was scheduled for 1:15 pm. naturally that put me in a bad state. the weather at least made it so lynn had a snow day and wouldn't waste a sick day driving me home and everything.
so we get to framingham hospital and check in at 12:07, good timing since i'm supposed to register by 12:15. didn't have to wait long before i saw my first nurse, the pre-op nurse. i believe her name was laurie. she was very nice, and went through some paperwork and checking vital signs and all that. another nurse stuck me with the iv thing at the same time, she was nice, too. laurie mentioned it sounded like i had fibro-myalgia based on what i wrote under medical history. kinda wish my doctor would attempt to diagnose it so i wouldn't have to say "pain in the tendons/muscles of my hands/wrists/arms/ankles/sometimes knees" so that was interesting...it's not the first time someone has said it sounded like that, the first time being from someone who had fibro-myalgia.
around 1:25 we start the procedure. the doctor performing the procedure asked me why we were doing it, and sounded confused that heartburn was the reason... i'm all for doctor's confirming they're doing the right procedure and all, but that was kinda weird. they gave me two drugs, one for anesthesia and another to make it so i wouldn't remember. it worked.
i was disoriented and weak and everything afterwards, but that was normal. i spent extra time in the recovery room, though, sleeping it off and i think they got impatient, but they didn't really pressure me to go until i was ready. i was feeling pretty much fine until we left the hospital. i think the cold really fucked with me for some reason. we went to panera thinking soup and bread would be good foods for a potentially nauseous belly that hadn't had food in 16 hours (it was about 4pm, i'd guess). well, that didn't work out so well. i had a couple bites and was feeling quite ill. we eventually left with a to-go container and about 10 minutes later i puked into a paper bag we had ready just for that event. lynn pulled over, and i opened the door to continue puking out the car door onto the ground...i'm a pro at this, btw, after doing the same thing at a mass pike toll booth last year (or was it the year before?). i left the bag on the side of the road...pretty nasty.
got home around 6pm somehow. attempted to drink so broth and eat a little piece of pear. no fucking way. i said hello to the toilet. we cuddled for a while. i had a raging headache, as well, since i hadn't eaten or had caffeine that day. i was starting to feel cold, and had lynn take my temperature. 95.1! we thought maybe it was broken...lynn took her temperature and it was normal. so i took mine again, and got 95.5. oi. well, it wasn't long after that that i started shivering, so i decided i needed a hot bath. this worked great except lynn was on the phone trying to figure out if i was ok with a temperature that low and still being really nauseous and everything. i kept having to talk to people while i was in the tub and feeling like shit. well, after an hour or so, i finally started feeling better (and my body temperature rose...coincidence? i think not!). even my headache went away. i layed down in the bed for a while, and then finally around 10 or so, i was able to eat food again and be relatively back to normal.
i hope it was fucking worth it.
oh, and lynn was awesome.
so, first, i had to fast starting midnight the night before, and after that i could only drink clear liquids until about 9 am. the procedure was scheduled for 1:15 pm. naturally that put me in a bad state. the weather at least made it so lynn had a snow day and wouldn't waste a sick day driving me home and everything.
so we get to framingham hospital and check in at 12:07, good timing since i'm supposed to register by 12:15. didn't have to wait long before i saw my first nurse, the pre-op nurse. i believe her name was laurie. she was very nice, and went through some paperwork and checking vital signs and all that. another nurse stuck me with the iv thing at the same time, she was nice, too. laurie mentioned it sounded like i had fibro-myalgia based on what i wrote under medical history. kinda wish my doctor would attempt to diagnose it so i wouldn't have to say "pain in the tendons/muscles of my hands/wrists/arms/ankles/sometimes knees" so that was interesting...it's not the first time someone has said it sounded like that, the first time being from someone who had fibro-myalgia.
around 1:25 we start the procedure. the doctor performing the procedure asked me why we were doing it, and sounded confused that heartburn was the reason... i'm all for doctor's confirming they're doing the right procedure and all, but that was kinda weird. they gave me two drugs, one for anesthesia and another to make it so i wouldn't remember. it worked.
i was disoriented and weak and everything afterwards, but that was normal. i spent extra time in the recovery room, though, sleeping it off and i think they got impatient, but they didn't really pressure me to go until i was ready. i was feeling pretty much fine until we left the hospital. i think the cold really fucked with me for some reason. we went to panera thinking soup and bread would be good foods for a potentially nauseous belly that hadn't had food in 16 hours (it was about 4pm, i'd guess). well, that didn't work out so well. i had a couple bites and was feeling quite ill. we eventually left with a to-go container and about 10 minutes later i puked into a paper bag we had ready just for that event. lynn pulled over, and i opened the door to continue puking out the car door onto the ground...i'm a pro at this, btw, after doing the same thing at a mass pike toll booth last year (or was it the year before?). i left the bag on the side of the road...pretty nasty.
got home around 6pm somehow. attempted to drink so broth and eat a little piece of pear. no fucking way. i said hello to the toilet. we cuddled for a while. i had a raging headache, as well, since i hadn't eaten or had caffeine that day. i was starting to feel cold, and had lynn take my temperature. 95.1! we thought maybe it was broken...lynn took her temperature and it was normal. so i took mine again, and got 95.5. oi. well, it wasn't long after that that i started shivering, so i decided i needed a hot bath. this worked great except lynn was on the phone trying to figure out if i was ok with a temperature that low and still being really nauseous and everything. i kept having to talk to people while i was in the tub and feeling like shit. well, after an hour or so, i finally started feeling better (and my body temperature rose...coincidence? i think not!). even my headache went away. i layed down in the bed for a while, and then finally around 10 or so, i was able to eat food again and be relatively back to normal.
i hope it was fucking worth it.
oh, and lynn was awesome.