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Day 5 of 7: Colonoscopy Prep, Vegan Style

It seems these days that nothing is out of bounds when it comes to documenting one's experience of anything. Doesn't seem to matter how trivial or important that experience is so long as it is either recorded and published via a video or a still picture or a carefully crafted written work. Everything is fair game. In the spirit of that no-limits approach and nothing-is-too-boring approach, I will be documenting my own experience. It's not just any experience, mind you. It's the experience of a vegan/plant centered person and it's mine! I will be writing for the full seven days about what is working and what isn't. I hope you will follow along and maybe at the same time, I can provide some useful information. 

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And it's on to day 5! Yay me!

Today is the first "pill" day. My regimen prescribed by the doctor is this: 4 Dulcolax pills on Sunday; 4 Dulcolax pills and 1 bottle of Miralax with Gatorade on Monday. That is 64 ounces of fluid which is ridiculous. I mentioned earlier that the fluid is not only for hydration and replenishment of lost minerals but is also meant to wash down the walls of your colon so that the doctor can better see what is going on. I am hoping that I can do this prep. effectively. I am very afraid of being sick to my stomach, dizzy, feeling unwell, and everything else that may happen (up to and including hyperventilation from anxiety!). I did read that if you expect things to go badly then they will. Well, duh.

Since I am the Curious Housewife, I wondered just exactly how far up into the colon the scope can go and what the colonoscopy test actually shows. The scope can travel all the way up to the end of the small intestine. (The endoscopy can cover everything else only from the other end of your body. Isn't that great?) A colonoscopy is useful in that it can detect polyps or bowel cancer and may help find the reasons for unexplained bowel problems such as diarrhea or blood in the stool. It can also give your doctor a good view of things and give an idea of the structure of your colon or whether or not there is any inflammation. It's an important tool because often times, if there is a polyp or patch of badness, the doctor can do a biopsy right then and there to see what is going on. With a sigmoidoscopy the doctor can only view the rectum and a portion of the colon. This test is appropriate for some situations. With an at home colon test, the fecal sample can only show the presence of blood, changes in your DNA or possible polyps that might exist. I think it is meant for screening in people that don't have any risk factors or people that have already had a clear colonoscopy. The doctor decides on that.

I didn't know this but colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer related death in the United States. And it's preventable but you have to catch it in time. No one wants to talk about their colon or their rear end or what comes out of it or what hurts. It's private isn't it but honestly, I don't think it needs to be. My opinion is that we don't talk enough openly about the things that make us human. We are growing, moving, in-process physiological creatures. We aren't static, in other words. The more we talk about our fears, living and dying, what our bodies do, how our minds work, the better off we will be. 

Colon Cancer isn't something that we like to talk about. (Though we seem to love our poop jokes.) I had never thought about colon cancer or any cancer for that matter until I was diagnosed myself with Hodgkins Lymphoma at age 30. Truthfully though, until that happened, no cancer of any type was on my radar. Cancer was for old people. That ignorance changed for me in 1998, when Katie Couric (then of the Today Show), announced that her husband, the late Jay Monahan, had died of colon cancer. I still remember seeing her on TV talking about his death and her subsequent efforts to get herself and other people screened. It was heartbreaking. He was only 42. Today the minimum screening age is 45. I am now 50. I think there is some wiggle room there with those ages but in any case, I am overdue. So while it feels like I am on a train headed down hill with no brakes at warp speed, I am doing this thing. I hope.

Some observations from Saturday:

1. It only took 2 days to notice changes in my bathroom routine. This tells me that the human body can be very responsive to diet changes. Extrapolating out from that idea, I think it is never too late to discover what foods can make you feel good or bad and what those foods can do to your body in a very real and tangible way. 

2. I miss my beans! (still)

3. If you experienced a life altering illness causing you to change your diet, it would be tough! I have a new found empathy for anyone with any kind of IBD type disease or any other sort of illness that necessitates a change in diet. While my diet adventures are temporary, many people have to make permanent changes in order to live.

If you have been following along at all this far, thank you. Today (Sunday) things are about to get real, so to speak. Stay tuned!

Libby

libbyfife@ymail.com



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