Colonoscopy Results

[doodlebug711]

Hi! I am a 27 yr old female who had a colonoscopy yesterday. I have been having frequent blood in stools, bm changes, and LOTS of pain in my lower back and side. The doc wanted to check for colitis or chrons. I have had problems with hemoroids for a while now (which are also painful). The doc talked to me in the recovery room so of course I don't remember a thing since I was still under anestesia. I am told he said everything was fine and he removed a small polyp but did not remove my hemoriods. Is it possible to miss an irratiable bowel disease with a colonoscopy? I really have ALL symptoms of IBS and have for a while. Do you think I should get a second opinion? Can IBS be found in blood work (my doc did not do any blood work)?

Thanks,

Lisa

[ebjb]

Thank you so much. I get the colonoscopy on January 15th. Will let you know how I get on - terrified!

[doodlebug711]

My doc gave me a list. The low fiber diet are all the things that the health and fitness guru's tell us not to eat such as white bread, pasta, cookies/cakes as long as it's not made with whole wheat pasta, cream based soups, etc. This link also has a list.

http://www.gicare.com/pated/edtgs02.htm

I would recommend drinking a lot of gatorade and water because the Picolax will dehydrate you. Make sure to drink a lot during the time you are taking Picolax as well because you cannot have even a sip of water the day of the procedure. Good luck! Keep me posted on your result. You will do just fine. ;)

[ebjb]

It's stuff called Picolax I'm having to clean out - it's a powder that's mixed with water and it's pretty strong stuff I gather. Thanks for your advice re diet - I will stick to that - what kinda things did you eat on the low fiber diet a few days before?

[doodlebug711]

I started a low fiber diet a few days before and a total liquid diet the day before. I am not sure what your doc has prescribed but I went back to the doc today and told them the OsmoPrep dose was entirely too much for someone my size (I'm a very petite 120lb female). I was still "going" the day of the surgery and noticed that I had also had an accident during the procedure. The nurse said "Wow..I never thought about basing the dose on patient weight"...Ummm...that is REALLY scary. I would recommend that you have a toilet all to yourself. You will need it. It's really not as bad as it sounds. It just gets annoying running to the bathroom every few minutes. The really intense part only lasted for about an hour for me and I was going like every 30 min after that. You can catch up on your reading materials! :) I think your heart meds will be ok but double check with your doc. You are only out for a short time and you can take them as soon as you wake up.

[ebjb]

Did you take the jello, broth etc for 2 days before colonoscopy? Were you able to take those while taking your prep tablets? I have a heart arrythmia and terrified that prep will 'flush out' my medication and I'll be really ill. Nobody has told me if I can continue to take my medication. I am scheduled to go into hospital 2 days before my colonoscopy so will be having my laxative there. However if I don't get a toilet to myself I'm not going! Can you imagine having to share a toilet with 5 others while going through the preparation for colonoscopy?! If that's the case I'm just coming home.

[CalGal]

Doodlebug, it's possible a fissure could be missed in a colonoscopy since they're not directly looking at the anal opening. They're concentrating on getting the scope into you. If the doc thinks it's a fissure, make sure you're examined for one.

[doodlebug711]

I got my results - my polyps were not cancerous. *WHEW* However the doc still has no clue why I am having pain, blood in stools, bloating etc. He said it is possibly a fisher? Wouldn't he have seen that on the colonoscopy?

[doodlebug711]

Funny...I have been so worried about my results. The doc said he'd call today. When he had not called this afternoon I called his office and he was not there until next week. So I have to wait until Monday. Now thats professional. *Rolls eyes*

[doodlebug711]

Believe me...I was terrified about the colonoscopy as well. When I got to the hospital my first instinct was to bolt out of there. It was not bad AT ALL. The prep sucked but if you having any sort of irritable bowel problems...it's really no different (other than it's nothing but liquid). It really wasn't bad at all. Just make sure to drink plenty of water with your prep tablets. I took OsmoPrep. I was a little raw so keep some ointment and baby powder handy. As for the procedure, it's a piece of cake. I had ZERO pain afterwards and I felt nothing during (I was out cold). I had a lot of anxiety before the procedure but I think that working myself up was the worst part. The procedure only lasted for 20 mins. I've had worse experiences getting my teeth cleaned. Let your anxiety go and relax. The thought of it is very scary but in reality it's as routine as a shot at the doctor.

As far a foods, I ate orange jello, broth, and drank ginger ale, gatorade, and water. I was starving at the end of it but it wasn't bad at all. Good luck to you. I know you will do just fine. I will let you in on a trick that worked for me. I dabbed some lavendar essential oil on some cotton balls and would close my eyes and take deep breaths of the lavendar to calm my nerves. It worked.

[ebjb]

I do hope everything is OK with you. As CalGal says IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion. Hope you get some more answers. I am having a colonoscopy on January 15th and terrified! How was it ?  Did you have pain afterwards? - do you have any advice with regard to the Picolax to make things easier - like what to eat/drink 2 days prior to having the Picolax? I would be very grateful for any advice.

[doodlebug711]

THANK YOU SOOOO much for your response CalGal. I truly appreciate it. Why do docs say 'all is fine' when it's not? He is supposed to call me tomorrow. Maybe I can get more answers. ;)

[CalGal]

Lisa, make sure you request all the doc's notes and the biopsy report and make sure you read through them. You want to find out what was seen, since a lot of docs will say 'all is fine' and it may not quite be the case. You also want to check to see if the area of the terminal ileum was reached and looked at. In many cases, problems with Crohn's often turns up there first before other areas in the large intestine. Also find out if biopsies other than the polyp were done - they should have been.

IBS cannot be found in ANY testing. It's a diagnosis of exclusion.