S2 QOAR Episode 17 My Experience Having A Colonoscopy & Endoscopy

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In this episode, I discuss my experience with having a colonoscopy & endoscopy as a woman with a disability. So Come Roll with Me!!!

Transcript

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Hey, everyone, and welcome back to

Queens On A Roll podcast.

This is Latavia here, and I first want to

say thank y'all for continuing to rock with me,

even though I have been on a hiatus.

Your girl has been on a hiatus because

she had to get her life together.

And one of the things that I had to do to

get my life together was have an endoscopy and a colonoscopy,

which is what this episode is all about today.

And I wanted to share this story with y'all

because as a person with a disability, sometimes

these routine checkups that we have to get as

we get older can be an experience.

And boy was mine and experience, and I just wanted to

share that with y'all so you can know what to expect,

know what it was like from my perspective as a person

who has a disability and is in a wheelchair.

And it explains why your girl's voice is

a little bit froggy, because I am still

trying to recuperate from the procedure.

but before we get into it

(It's Time For Roll Call Sound Effect)

I would like to thank Shontae Usman and Eric Green for

their donations to Queens On A Roll podcast.

I thank y'all so much for

supporting the podcast, for supporting me.

Thank you so much again.

And you guys are amazing.

(Cheering Sound Effect)

All right, let's roll.

(Instrumental Music)

So before I get into my story, I just want to explain

to you guys what an endoscopy is and a colonoscopy is.

An endoscopy is when they take an endoscope, which

is a flexible tube that has a camera on

the end of it, and they put it down

your throat to see your throat and your stomach.

And a colonoscopy is the same thing, except they take a colon

scope and they put it up your rectum or your butt to

get a good picture of your rectum and your colon.

(Story time Sound Effect)

So I had to have these two procedures done, and

I did these procedures because my mom was like, you know after

30 years of constipation, I think you should have a

colonoscopy just to see what is going on up there.

Because due to me having cerebral palsy, I

have struggled with constipation for a long time.

And my primary care doctor agreed, so

he referred me to a gastroenterologist.

And the gastroenterologist said, I agreed too, but I want to

do an endoscope because you have been on iron for a

long time due to anemia, and sometimes being on iron for

a long period of time can cause internal bleeding.

So I just wanna make sure everything is okay in

your rectum and in your colon, and then I wanna make

sure everything is okay in your throat and in your stomach.

So y'all know I was not a fan of

this at all because I had seen my mom go

through colonoscopy preps, and it is not fun.

So I was not a fan of it.

But when the gastroenterologist explained how important this was and

how serious it was, I was like, okay, I'm going

to suck it up and I'm going to do it.

So I had to take a COVID test

two days prior, and that came back negative.

And fast forward to prep day.

On prep day, I get a call

from the hospital, like, around 2:30 pm.

And the receptionist informs me, you're not

supposed to have anything to eat or

drink 24 hours before the procedure.

And I said uh oh I wasn't informed of

that because my gastroenterologist told me, don't

eat anything after 3:00 p.m.

So I had seafood to eat, like, around two.

And she's like, okay, well, I guess this

is okay, but usually you don't have anything

to eat or drink 24 hours before, so

you can make sure everything's out your system.

She said, but the Gavilyte is

a laxative, and you're young.

Hopefully it will clear out everything.

And she was just giving me the details on what the

procedure was going to entail, what I should wear, that I

have to come an hour before my procedure cause it was

scheduled for 11:00, so I had to come at 10:00 a.m.

And you know just giving me the details about everything.

So we hung up, and at 3:00 p.m., I

started drinking the Gavilyte, which is the laxative.

And let me tell you, that drink is so disgusting, okay?

I mean, it tastes like salt with lemon.

It was just disgusting. And guess what?

You gotta drink 8oz of this every ten to

15 minutes, and it's a gallon, you guys, a gallon.

Now, drinking it every ten to 15 minutes was a

problem for me because when I drink fluids, my stomach

gets full really fast, so that was hard to do.

And then to top it off, one of the

side effects was abdominal fullness, so you feel full.

So I could not drink it every ten to 15 minutes.

I had to do, like, every 20 to 30, and

around 5:00 p.m., it started running me to the bathroom,

and I had to sit on the toilet from five

all the way till about minutes to 11:00 p.m.

Because I have a lift system that

takes me to and from my bathroom.

But the way that that stuff runs through you,

you don't have time to get in the lift

to go to the bathroom at all.

So it was just best for me to

sit there so that I could avoid accidents.

So you have to drink it till it's gone.

So thankfully, I had my lovely mother here to help me

and I realized that I could not do this alone. Like

If I didn't have my mom helping

me, it would be extremely difficult.

So shout out to mom for

helping me throughout this whole thing.

(Cheering Sound Effect)

So I finished the Gavilyte around 08:00 p.m.

And I stayed on the toilet, like

I said, until minutes to eleven.

By that time I was done, the prep was over.

Now we're fast forwarding to the day of the procedure.

So I'm a little hungry cause I haven't had anything

to eat since two the day before, so I'm hungry.

And we arrived to the hospital for

the procedure and they're checking my vitals.

They're telling me everything that the procedure going

to entail and making me sign a consent form, cause certain things can happen during the procedure.

So they're checking my vitals, and mind you, I

am scared out of my mind because I really

don't like being put to sleep for procedures.

I really don't like it because it just puts me

in the mind of when I had my 18 surgeries.

So I really don't like it.

So the nurse tells me, oh, we need a

urine sample because for people under the age of

55, since you're going under sedation, we need to

make sure that you're not pregnant.

So I'm like, well, that's not going to

happen because I can't hoover over a toilet.

And let's face it, who sits on a public toilet seat?

And then not only that, but I haven't had

anything to eat or drink since 2:00 p.m.

The previous day, so my bladder is completely empty.

If I knew that I had to take a urine sample,

I would have done it at home and then I would

have brought it in, but nobody informed me of that.

So she's like, oh, okay, well, we can do a blood test.

I'm like, okay, fine, let's do the blood test.

They have to put the IV in

anyway since I'm going under sedation.

So they were trying to get the blood

while they were putting in the IV.

So the nurses tried three times to get

the IV into my arm, but they were

unsuccessful, so they had to call the anesthesiologist.

And before he put in the IV, he tells me you know what they're

gonna put me under and how it's gonna go.

So they were going to

use something called propofol

So I said, okay, that's great, but just be mindful that due

to my CP, I do have a very strong gag reflex, so

you might have to put me all the way out.

So he said, that's understandable, but I

don't want to use anesthesia for

you because then we have to intubate.

I rather not do all that cause then that  requires

so much more and I don't think you need it.

So I said, okay, we could try.

I don't know what to expect, but we can try.

But I'm just letting you know that my gag

reflex is very strong due to my CP.

So he says, okay.

He's then proceeded to put the IV in my arm.

I sat there and waited for the blood work to come back.

They came back that I was not pregnant.

Now it is time for the procedure.

So I'm doing the endoscope first.

And they had me gargle with this thick, nasty

substance because the anesthesiologist said that she does have

a strong gag reflex let's numb her throat.

So they had me gargle, then you had to

swallow it and then put the propofol in.

The last thing I remember is they said, oh,

wow, she does really have a strong gag reflex

We're gonna have to put her all the way out.

And then I woke up in the recovery room.

So when I woke up in the recovery

room, I felt like I couldn't move.

And that's because since they had me under the sedation

or propofol, it got rid of all my spasticity.

So my spasticity helps me move.

So when that's gone, it is extremely

difficult to move around to do anything.

I felt extremely, extremely weak.

So I remember calling the nurse and I

said, nurse, I have to use the bathroom.

And she says, okay, I'm coming over to help you.

So she's trying to put the bed pan underneath me

and she says in a nasty tone, look, you have

to roll over so that I could put it under.

And I remember saying, well, first of all, excuse

me, please do not talk to me like that.

Second of all, I have cerebral palsy, stastic

quadriplegia, which is the worst form of CP

because it affects my whole body.

And I was just put under sedation.

So it gets rid of all my spasticity.

And my spasticity helps me move.

And because my spasticity is gone momentarily, it

is very hard to do, like simple tasks.

So I'm going to need your help.

If you cannot help me, I'll just wait for my mom.

So she apologized and said she

was sorry, and she helped me.

Then my mom came in the room and we were

waiting for the doctor to come back with the results.

So the doctor says, as I've told you before, you know if we

saw anything in there, we would take a biopsy of it,

remove it and then test it to see what it was.

But in your case, everything went fine.

Everything went well.

Your colon is a little loopy, but we were

still able to see everything and everything was fine.

There was nothing in there in terms of the stomach.

There was nothing in there either.

But we did see a little redness,

which can be indicative of H.

Pyloria, which is a bacteria infection or celiac disease,

which is a condition in which your immune system

like overreacts to gluten and cause inflammation and problems

with the small intestines and everything.

So they did take a small piece of

that to biopsy to see what it was.

Then it was time for me to go home.

So I got dressed and said thank you and I went home.

Now, you're not supposed to drive, do anything right,

or do any work cause you're still under sedation.

But of course I had to drive my chair.

But my mom made sure that the car wasn't parked so

far, so I didn't have to drive it that far.

So I got home and my throat was sore and

that's to be expected because the endoscope was down my

throat and I had horrible, horrible gas pains, which is

also to be expected because with the colon scope, they

push air through to the rectum so that it expands

the colon and they're able to see the lining.

So I had horrible, horrible gas pains.

And gas pains are terrible, especially when you're

in a wheelchair, because we're sitting down all

the time and in order to expel gas,

you have to be up, moving around.

So because we sit down all the time, the

gas kind of gets stuck in the stomach and

it just stays there and it doesn't really move.

So it is extremely painful. So I had to put

warm compressors, which helped tremendously.

And that was the end of the ordeal.

And your girl is in perfect health.

But y'all know me, right?

Y'all know I had to look up what a

loopy colon is and see what it's all about.

So I did just that.

(It's fun fact time Sound Effect)

So According to Medical News today, a loopy colon is

also known as a torturous or redundant colon.

And that just means it's an abnormally long colon

that twists and loops to fit inside the body.

It can affect the entire colon, but it most often

affects a part of the colon called the sigmoid.

And they don't know exactly what the cause

of it is because there's many causes.

But some of the causes can be congenital, meaning you

can be born with it, or it can be caused

because your muscle contracts a lot in the colon, or

it can also be caused because there's a genetic disposition,

which means that it's something that was in your family.

But y'all know that I have my theories, right?

So no one in my family has a loopy

colon, so I rule out the genetic disposition.

But some of my theories are because I was born as

an ex 28 weeker preemie, that could be why I could

have been born with it and just nobody ever knew.

Or the more plausible one.

And again, these are just my theories is that because

it's also caused by a lot of muscle contractions and

I have spastic CP, my muscles are always contracting.

So therefore because my muscles are constantly contracting,

that it could be because of my CP

why I have a loopy colon.

Of course that's just my theory, my personal opinion.

But they do say CP causes constipation, right?

So what if constipation is caused not by the

lack of movement cause that's what they like to

say a lot of the time, but because the

muscles, especially for people with spastic CP, are constantly

contracting and it caused the loopy colon?

Again, it's just my personal opinion and my theory, but

I think more research needs to be done into that

to see if cerebral palsy is the cause of it.

And some of the symptoms of a loopy colon are

gas pains and constipation, which your girl doesn't have gas

pains or a lot of gas rolling around.

But I definitely do struggle with constipation and that

is definitely a symptom that is understandable cause the

feces has to go through a lot of loops

and turns if you have a loopy colon.

So it may take it a while to get to the rectum.

Who knows?

(Instrumental Music)

So now it is time for the quote of the episode.

And the quote of the episode comes from the great

Gandhi and he says it is health that is the

real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

And so this quote embodies the episode for

me because a lot of the times, at

least from my perspective, people with disabilities, including

myself, don't really like going to the doctor,

getting these normal routine checkups because we already

know it's going to be a struggle, right?

So we don't really like to do it.

And not only that, but people in general just don't like

to go to the doctors and get themselves checked out.

But health is wealth, right?

And if we don't take care of our bodies,

then we can't do what we love to do.

We can't go out to work, we can't do things.

So we need to take care of our bodies and

in turn, our bodies will take care of us.

So I'm saying all of that to say I

implore everybody to go out, check your health, check

up on things, make sure everything is good and

copacetic and just take care of your health.

And on that note, that is all

I have for you today, folks.

Thank you again so much for

rocking with me during this hiatus.

I know it's been a minute, your girl has been

gone, but I'm back now and so I greatly appreciate

y'all hanging in there with me and thank you so

much for subscribing, for sharing, for running the numbers up.

If you would like to donate to Queens On

A Roll podcast, I have a patreon account.

There's four tiers up there for you to choose from.

Again, thank you for following me on Instagram.

Thank you for following me on Facebook, and

if you have any questions for me, you

can email me at queensonaroll. podcast@gmail.com.

Again, my email is queensonaroll. podcast@gmail.com.

Again.

Thank you guys so much.

I love y'all.

See ya next week!

And we are rolling out! Bye, guys!

(Instrumental Music)

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