Misery Train

[halfshellvenus]

HalfshellHusband is in the throes of prepping for a colonoscopy tomorrow. The process has changed, and I don't know why.

It used to be a day without solid food and a lot of fluids and laxatives to clear you out. It's similar now, but it starts 48 hours pre-op with a day of really restricted food choices (applesauce, chicken, rice, yogurt). The day before the procedure is 8 ounces of water every hour, followed by starting the laxative liquid stuff at 6pm the night before surgery. WHAT? That'll keep you up all night! Why not do that during the daytime?

HSH called Kaiser to make sure he couldn't start the laxative early, and they confirmed and made things worse: since he has an early morning surgery, they want him to stop the laxative liquid briefly tonight, then get up at 2:30 a.m. and start again before ending it at 4:15 a.m. How is that good for the patient? He'll be exhausted from sleep deprivation. :(

Right now, he's using his typical method of coping with misery/recuperation, AKA watching the LOTR movies. I expect more of the same tomorrow, after his procedure is done.

Comments

[kizzy]

Hmm. I was told to start modifying my food choices 3-4 days before the procedure so the "evacuation process", if you will, would be fairly painless. No solid food the day before anything easily digested. Cutoff was around 8PM, then onto the laxative. Last time I think I only had to take it 3 times, the last one being early AM a few hours before the procedure (I don't remember the exact appt time but it was before 10AM). Laxative has always been overnight for me. Blah. OTOH I've always slept most of the day away afterward!

[thewayne]

YEESH! What a ridiculous prep methodology!

[halfshellvenus]

It's been about 40 years since I had one, and I thought the diet prep was similar to yours. Though mine involved drinking mineral oil (! Talk about something that your body does not want to let go down) and then giving myself an enema the day before. I hope NEVER to repeat any of that ever again!

[halfshellvenus]

WHY would you have the patient be up all night before the surgery? Why not take care of that earlier in the day, and start forcing liquids 24 hours earlier on the day with the bland diet restrictions? It makes no sense to me!

[thewayne]

Completely agree.  Normally when it comes to surgical procedures, particularly day patient/in-and-out stuff, they schedule diabetics first so they can get something to eat and get their sugars re-regulated, and immune-suppressed/compromised to reduce the risk of infection.  But still, this is staggeringly weird!

[halfshellvenus]

HSH fits into the immuno-compromised category just because he's gotten C-Diff at the hospital, which is scary all by itself. He's also susceptible to pneumonia/bronchitis.

But the overnight laxative thing is stupid no matter WHO the patient is. :O