I went in for a colonoscopy yesterday and it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I’ll need to go the University of Maryland Hospital and get it done again. The reason? The ascending colon is still inflamed and too narrow for the scope to traverse. A full colonoscopy can’t be done here in Hagerstown. It will have to be done at the University of Maryland Hospital where they evidently have scopes more suited for my situation.
To say I’m not at all happy with this outcome is an understatement.
We knew my colon was inflamed and narrow back when I was in the hospital. This is what caused the infection that required me to stay in the hospital for ten days, nine of those days in intensive care. They could tell from the series of CT scans I had in the hospital that my colon was inflamed and too narrow.
A week before the colonoscopy, I went in for another CT scan just to make sure the colonoscopy could be done. The results from that CT scan indicated the colonoscopy could be performed. That turned out not to be the case.
Oops.
Before the colonoscopy, I was required to pay $1,018 out of pocket for the procedure. Then, after waking up from the anesthesia, I found out the full colonoscopy could not be performed.
I now get to look forward to another colonoscopy, this time 80 miles away. The actual colonoscopy isn’t that bad. The worst part is the prep required for the colonoscopy. Two days before the procedure, you have to go on a liquid diet. The day before the procedure, the liquid diet turns into a clear liquid diet. You can only drink substances you can see through. Oddly enough, that doesn’t include American beer.
You then have to start consuming the liquid called MoviPrep. It’s supposed to clean you out. It’s the worst tasting concoction I’ve ever had. It tastes like dirty ocean water with a hint of lemon-lime. I had to drink 32 ounces of this nasty sludge the night before the procedure and then another 32 ounces at 4:00 AM the day of the procedure.
If the idea is to clean you out, why don’t they arrange for you to have a colonic?
I now have this to look forward to all over again, only 80 miles away at the University of Maryland hospital in Baltimore. If I didn’t already have a problem with chronic depression, knowing I have to do this again would make me feel depressed. At least this gives me a valid reason to be depressed. Normally with my depression, I don’t have a reason to be depressed. I just feel depressed.
As incomplete as my colonoscopy was, my gastroenterologist here in Hagerstown diagnosed my condition as ulcerative colitis (UC), not Crohn’s disease. I’m now taking medication for UC, a very expensive medication called Delzicol.
As far as how pills look, the Delzicol is the coolest looking drug I’ve ever taken. It’s four tiny pills in a clear capsule. I take two capsules in the morning and then another two in the evening.
My appointment with the gastroenterologist at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore isn’t until April 27. That was the earliest appointment available and it was only available because of a cancelation. The good news is the gastroenterologist I will be seeing is an expert on UC.