I have an appointment for a colonoscopy, I am very nervous about it, and would like to know typical timescales. My appointment is for 8:30am just to be admitted.
At what time am I likely to have the procedure, how long does it take to admit and prepare?
Also how long (bearing in mind the admit time of 8:30) will I be there in total.
I'd appreciate any comments
Ok, hospitals obviously vary in the way they do things but this is how my scope days go.
For morning scopes, admitted at 8.00am, you will be allocated a nurse and he/she will show you to your bed/cubicle where you will be asked to put on a gown.
Then he/she will come ask you about your medical history and any problems you have, he/she will tell you whats going to be happening and hopefully give you a rough time when you will be done, of course they can run late so don't hold them to it.
You will get a hospital id bracelet and told where the loos are and so on, then you can sit back and relax while you wait for your turn.
When your turn comes they will take you to the day theatre where you will lie on the bed, left side, Dr will put a canula in your hand to give you pain relief/sedation, you will have a BP cuff on and usually an oxygen nasal clip.
Then off you go, they will pump some air into you to get a better view which can be uncomfortable and you may be asked to change position now and again as it helps getting the scope round the bends. You should able to watch it all on the screen. If it gets too uncomfortable or painful, tell them and ask for more sedation, no point in trying to brave it out.
Once done, 30 mins max, you go to recovery where they monitor your BP for 15 mins or so then they will take you back to your bed/cubicle to sleep it off, maybe an hour, depends on how the sedation had affected you.
Then cup of tea and bics or sandwich, they need to see you eat and drink before they let you go. They will have phoned whoever is collecting you and once they arrive you should be able to go home, provided things went to plan out by late morning/lunch time. Of course that depends on the time you had the scope but they will have the afternoon lot due so won't keep you longer than nec and they plan to get everyone out by then.
You will need to rest for the remainder of the day and not drive or operate machinery for 24 hours.
Hope that helps, as you can probably tell I have had a few done and will have many more in the future!
Thank you, much appreciated so for an 8:30 admit, apparently I will be the first of the day, at what time would you expect the procedure to take place? I am overly worried I know but I hope I wont be hanging around all morning waiting which would make things worse.
I dont think I've ever been so concerned about anything like this before, it seems as though it's going to be one awful day, I just get the impression it will be in and out and hang up your dignity on the way in
You won't be the only there for a scope, you may be lucky and be first on the list but don't bank on it, others will also be booked in at the same time and even if you are down as first the Dr may decide to change it if something more urgent has come in. I always make mine a morning one and ask to be first on the list then I know I have a fair chance of being home by late morning, but doesn't always work out.
I have had to wait till mid/late morning before, but once you are there it doesn't seem to matter.
It shouldn't be an awful day, not pleasant I admit, but certainly shouldn't be awful. To be honest I find the prep the day before is worse, once you are on the way to the hospital at least you know it is nearly over.
Take a mag or book to read, ipod for distraction, thing is to keep calm, you don't want your BP to be too high or they might not want to do it !
The wait is the nightmare, it's absolutely unbearable, by the time I get there (if I do) I won't are what the hell they do, but the temptation right now is to walk away from it
Hi I too was a bit like you, petrified but I can safely say now that the diet before is worse than the actual procedure. There is really no need to worry about the actual procedure, I found it at worst just a bit uncomfortable but spent the time chatting to the doc doing it and watching the video screen in amasement at what I look like inside ! Really if you just get your head around it and calm down it's a breeze. On the other hand being all tense just makes it worse. Anyway I had mine done a few weeks ago and survived just fine so there's a lot of hope for you. Rather just enjoy the nurses company and smile throught ! Oh and although I had a pollyp which he snipped out it turned out to be non malignent so all is well. Have fun G
Thank you, you make it sound almost normal.
I'm not really concerned now about the process, I can put up with anything for the greater good, what's doing me is the wait, and the thought of going through such a de-humanising process.