My poor mum, being the "always worrying" type, was very worried of the procedure and told me that she was alright those few days and if possible, she did not want to go thru the colonoscopy. However, at Changi General Hospital (CGH), she admitted to me that she still feel some gastric pain and had diarrhea that morning. To be sure of no growth or cancerous cell, the specialist then recommended her to undergo colonoscopy (a means of visualising and examining the full lining of the colon and rectum using a long flexible tube-like instrument) and at the same time do the check on the stomach for gastric pain problem (using similar instrument inserting through the throat to examine the stomach). Scary.....
I was relieved to hear that the procedure will be done under sedation, last for less than half an hour and I reassured my mum. She agreed with still a worried face and "phew", thankfully, the procedure will be done the very next day afternoon at 1.30 pm. Or else, the waiting will be antagonizing to her.
To examine the colon thoroughly during the colonoscopy, she has to drink 3 litres of "awful tasting" Colonic Lavage Powder solution over 3 hours to totally get rid of stool inside the colon that evening. Furthermore, she has to fast from that evening to the next day till the examination is over.
Poor mum, all this while, if she gets hungry, she will shiver and have cold sweat. She will get bloated whenever she drinks too much water... I don't want her to go through these... Why does she have to go through this? I cried myself to sleep that evening....
Bravo! My mum drank the 3 litres of solution over 5 hours and purged out all stool by the morning. At 1.30 pm, we checked into CGH endoscopy centre and the friendly nurses prepared her everything ready to be pushed in to the "theatre". We waited eagerly and patiently in the ward bed for the doctor to arrive but to our dismay, the nurse informed us that the doctor has been recalled for an emergency case and we need to wait for another 2 hours! WTF!
I hate waiting but no choice, we got to wait. You know, to wait for something not very pleasant is a terrible feeling. And to reduce my mum's antagonizing wait, I keep chatting with her so that she will not think too much...Time past and the other patient on the other bed checked in later than us but underwent the colonoscopy through another doctor was already back in the ward again. That was another terrible "blow" to my mum as she should also have been done so and back too!
It was quite a long wait and finally, the nurse came in around 3.30 pm and brought her away. It was a relieved that it was finally her turn but at the same time, I know she must also be feeling extremely terrified now because it is the TIME now!
Half an hour past and she is out. The doctor spoke to me and was glad to hear that no adverse results shown. There was no polyps or cancerous cell detected except that "holes" were found in the colon which the doctor assured me that they are common in elderly. As for her stomach, only gastric inflammation found where some medication should be able to control that.
I feel that our life and health are very vulnerable. People die and some for no reason... People suddenly get sick, also for not obvious reasons... Is it because of what we eat, do and everyday lifestyle we have that may have effects in our body system? I am not sure... I hope that someone can invent a magic health pill that can prevent people from all kind of sickness. I wish that all human beings are all healthy so that they can be spared to go through all the long wait for those prolonged medical procedures, continual medications, endless examinations and terrified operations, etc, etc because of their illness...
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