Smile and say "Cheese" ! (My Experience of Digestive Disorders)

Member Name: harmonyk

Product:	My Experience of Digestive Disorders
Date:	26/03/02 (795 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's the only way the doctors can be sure of finding the problem.

Disadvantages: Pain!

GASTROSCOPY

HOW IT STARTED

A few months ago I invited my other half's family to my place for Sunday dinner. Roast beef with all the trimmings followed by a traditional trifle - scrummy! Lovely eh? Not for me it wasn't - after swallowing just one small piece of beef my throat became tight - I tried and tried by although the meat had been swallowed - it wasn't going right down. It was stuck - somewhere in my lower throat. I made my apologies and went to the bathroom - highly embarrassed and mortified that this was happening the first time my future in laws had visited.

I spent 4 hours trying to dislodge the offending morsel - the doctor was called and he said I needed to go to casualty - I didn't fancy this so tried retching (sorry if you're eating tea!) and eventually it shifted. Once it was gone everything seemed back to normal - but then I went to see my GP and he (after giving me a course of tablets) sent me off to the local hospital for a gastroscopy. I joked about how would they get the camera and crew down there if a little piece of meat wouldn’t get through? It’s good to laugh – when the s*** is scared out of you!

THE GASTROSCOPY

I was told not to eat anything the morning of the procedure and got checked in by a very friendly and reassuring nurse. She explained what would be happening and asked if I would be having a sedative or not. It was a difficult decision – If I had the sedative then someone had to stay with me for the next 24 hours – if I didn’t then I could drive myself home ten minutes after the procedure! John (my partner) had taken the morning off work but had a very important meeting in the afternoon. He was pacing the floor in the waiting room – unaware of the decision I had to make. Pain but freedom or little pain and having to find a babysitter – for me! I agreed to try without the sedative on the condition that it could
be administered at the last minute if necessary.

I waited and waited, I was the 5th to be seen and soon the friendly nurse came and told me to take off my sweater and put a white gown on – pop up on the bed and await my fate. By this time my nails were bitten down to nothing and the nice nurse was getting irritated at my tendency to spit out the bits all over the nice clean gown! Nervous? Who me? !!!

Then along came another nurse – this one meant business (no she wasn’t there to apply micro-surgery to my now 2cm shorter fingers!) She introduced herself as the theatre nurse and she would be taking care of me during the procedure – I was beginning to get fed up with their reluctance to call it a Gastroscopy! Anyway – she wheeled me in my bed through the ward – out of the double doors and into a small room. There was a monitor (no not the school type) a long metal hose type thingy (I guess that’s what did the job!) and two or three members of staff. The Doctor introduced himself to me and began to explain what was going to happen.

“ I’m going to spray the back of your throat a few times with a numbing spray – it will make the camera go down easier. Then I will need you to try to swallow – it will feel a bit (!!!) uncomfortable for a few minutes – but once down it will be much easier. All you have to do then is breath – nice calm deep breaths – through your nose.” Oh great – my nose always becomes blocked when I panic – and boy was I gonna panic!

He continued
“Once the tube is in place it will be able to see down into your stomach (YUK!) And through to the duodenum (Oh whoopee!) – don’t worry – we’ll soon get to the bottom of this” not THAT far surely!

And so it began – my journey to hell. He sprayed his spray; my throat went so numb it felt like it was completely clo
sed. I panicked – “I can’t breath” I cried, “Yes you can,” he said. Now they were telling me to bite on a round plastic mouthpiece. No sooner had this been put in place than all sorts of stuff was being piled into my mouth – I was gagging, spluttering, panicking, hyper ventilating – what the hell were they doing to me? I felt like my stomach was going to be pulled out onto my lap for them to examine. I wanted to scream at them to “STOP – I’ve changed my mind!” but my voice was only able to let out groaning gagging sounds. I kid you not – I was not a happy bunny. They just got on with the job. Doc was saying stuff only the medical staff understood – then they started passing very thin tubes down the main tube – this was (I think) for taking biopsies. They repeated this 4 or 5 times. Time became immaterial – I was unable to do anything – I had to just wait until this unbearable nightmare was over. I’m not exactly sure how long I was filmed from the inside but it was probably longer than average – maybe 10 minutes or so, not long you might say – but 10 minutes that felt like 10 hours.

Tubes out, my throat feeling like it had been put through a shredder, I was told by the darling doc that I had a hiatus hernia and a severely inflamed oesophagus, I had to lose weight – AND – that he would have to repeat the gastroscopy in about 5 week time! Now I don’t know what other kind of medieval torture he gets his kicks from but telling me this seconds after having gone through it was not wise!

I was wheeled back into the ward where John was permitted entry. I was very upset – I’m not good with pain (I bet you never guessed!) I have given birth naturally, twice, and had a hysterectomy but never have I felt like this.

The nurse brought me a prescription for some tablets I have to take for
the next 3 months – I got dressed and we went home. I was shattered. I tried eating a bowl of leek and potato soup – but my stomach was hurting from the biopsies. I slept for hours. Now – 24 hours later I’m feeling better. My throat is still a bit sore and now and then I get little pains in my stomach but it’s not too bad. Will I go for another one – honestly? I don’t know, I know it’s foolish and I can have the sedative next time but I don’t think I could face it again. There were lots of other people being seen at the same time as me – they all seemed ok – maybe I’m just a wimp, a sissy, a cry baby……I don’t know – all I do know is that it was one of the most frightening things that’s ever happened to me. I was totally out of control. I had to trust the staff totally – which I did – and I’m still here to tell the tale.

I am now dieting and will not eat any beef again for a long long time (if ever!) I expect I will go to see the doctor again but I don’t think I will be persuaded to repeat the gastroscopy – even with the sedative.

I am sure if I’d had the sedative, the procedure wouldn’t have seemed so horrific to me. That was my decision and I regret it.

FINALLY

If anyone out there is awaiting the same treatment I would say GO, but have the sedative unless you really enjoy gagging (and I’m not talking jokes!)

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