COLONOSCOPY

Sometime in late June 2010, I experienced bleeding at the rectum (anus).  The blood was a bright red with some black blood clots in the centre.  I got a shock out of my life.  Usually this kind of bleeding is not a good sign (unless all along, you have piles and the bleeding comes from the rupture of the piles).  As I do not have any pile problems all along,  the first thing that raced through my mind is "Is this a sign of colorectal cancer?"  I was still hoping that the blood was indeed coming from piles which, maybe, I wasn't aware that I was having them.  However, I heard that piles can be very painful, and I have not had such pain at all.  I got more worried as I also heard that lumps or bleeding which are not painful are not good signs.

So, I went to the polyclinic near my house the next day early morning.  After examination by the GP, he claimed that there are 3 piles inside my rectum and one of them seems to be bleeding.  However, to be on the safe side, he recommended a colonoscopy to ensure that the bleeding does indeed come from the rupture of the piles rather than something else.  He wrote me a referral letter to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) to see a specialist in endoscopy.

After consultation with the specialist in SGH, an appointment for a colonoscopy was made for me slightly more than 1 month later, which is today, 4 August 2010.

I immediately went to read up on colonoscopy and understands that the actual procedure is nothing compared to the bowel preparation.  Bowel preparation means that you have to cleanse your large intestines thoroughly before the scope.  This requires one to drink 90 ml of Fleet Oral Saline Fluid mixed with diluting liquid (clear liquids, nothing red or purple).  I chose to use Sprite as the diluting liquid.  Wrong choice.  As it was a carbonated drink, I began to feel the bloatedness after the 2nd cup.  Well, the timing for taking the liquid goes like this:-

As my scope procedure was scheduled at 2:30 pm,  I was required to start drinking the 1st cup from 7 am (15ml of Fleet with 240ml of Sprite), the 2nd cup at 7:10 am and the 3rd cup at 7:20 am.  The first cup was still tasty, but I started to slow down on the 2nd cup as the gassy drink started to get to me.  I felt bloatedness in my stomach from the gas in the drink.  When I started my 2nd dosage at 8 am, I decided to add plain water because my stomach was so bloated that I felt like throwing up.  Though the Fleet solution has no flavour, it is not that pleasant to drink.  My husband then rushed off to get apple juice (must be without pulp) for me.  As he was still not back when I needed to drink the 5th cup, I had no choice but to dilute it with Sprite again.  This 5th cup really made me want to throw up as I can feel my stomach was filled with tons of gases and they seem to be dying to get out of my mouth (ie felt like vomiting).  I tried very, very hard to contain it, but finally caved in.  I vomited gushes of water and I mean the water really gushes out of my mouth.  It really looked like the way water gushes out when the reservoir door was released to let out water into the sea.  And I vomited like that continuously 4 times.

Not to mention the purging.  After the first 2 purges, the rest (about 10 times more) were just water.  The feeling is just like you're urinating from your anus.  The liquid was supposed to totally cleanse the colon so that the doctor can have a clear and accurate view of it.  If the preparation was not done properly, the procedure may not be done successfully and it will have to be re-scheduled and you will have to go through the bowel preparation again.  As I do not want that to happen, I made sure I follow the instructions closely and I had, on my own accord, started to control my diet 1 month before ie less oily food, less meat, no cold drinks/desserts, no tidbits.  The day before the scope, I just had 2 slices of white bread (no butter, peanut butter, ham, absolutely nothing) and a cup of plain tea with less sugar.  For lunch and dinner, I just had plain fish porridge which I cooked it myself so that I can be sure that nothing else was added.  No vegetables, fruits or fried food.  Try to keep your food as plain as possible, so when you purge, it will be more bearable.

When I finally reported to SGH for my appointment, with a lot of anxiety in me, something odd happened.  SGH does not have my appointment record.  According to their system, I was not scheduled for any colonoscopy today at all.  As I can be quite superstitious, I take this as God's will in not wanting me to go ahead with the procedure.  So I asked to cancel it.  I'm not doing it.  However, on hearing that I had already done the bowel cleansing and that it was not my mistake as the documents given to me had stated that I was scheduled for today, they claimed that they will try to find a doctor to perform the scope for me.  After waiting for half an hour, they finally found a doctor to do it for me.  So, there was no escape for me.

The nurse started by interviewing me on my last meal, last drink, what did I purged out, any drug allergy, the relationship of the person accompanying me and then another nurse led me into another room for me to change out of my clothes into hospital clothing and then I had to go wait outside the suites where the scope is to be performed and waited for my name to be called.  When I was finally called into the suite, I was asked to sign on 2 papers (which I had no idea what they were for as the doctor didn't explain and I didn't bother to ask).  I was then told to lie on a table on my left side with my knees bent towards my chest.  One nurse put a clip on one finger on my right hand to monitor my pulse beat (I guess), another put a band on the right ankle and it started to tighten (something like what you have when you have blood pressure tested). All at the same time, another nurse started putting an intravenous needle on top of my left hand to administer the sedative.  I just went to sleep because I have no memories of the scope entering my colon through my anus.  It was not as scary as I had thought it to be and the whole thing lasted only 5-10 mins.  I remember seeing the time as 3 pm when I enter the suite and when I was wheeled to the recovery room, the clock read 3.20 pm.  I was awake and was not in any pain whatsoever, only a little groggy.  After resting in bed for half and hour, a nurse helped me up and I went to get changed.  The nurse then asked me to sit down and she passed me a packet of whole meal biscuit and a cup of hot milo.  A short while later, my husband was led into the room to bring me home.  Before that, the nurse informed that my bleeding was indeed caused by the pile and there was nothing else in my colon.  PHEW!!!!!!!!

All in all, the whole procedure was not as scary and unpleasant as some had made it out to be.  Maybe mine was a clear cut case with no polyps or other complications.