egd

The other day I had an EGD done.

On the last physical I took, they had changed the grade of a stomach polyp, which caused a "red flag" in my charts.

So, instead of going back to the clinic that I had the physical at, I went to the hospital that Satoshi is going to, which is why I had to wait so long that last time.

It was my first time getting this EGD done (why do doctor's faces light up when they hear it is my first time?!).

My BFF, W, has had this done several times and was great with giving me all sorts of advice as well as to tell me basically what would happen. (Thanks W!)

After checking in, they took me in and gave me a thick cloudy liquid to drink, I think they said this was to slow down the acid in my stomach.

Then, they squirt the anesthesia into my mouth and told me to hold it there for 3 minutes before swallowing.

After the 3 minutes, they took me to an area where they had me take off my shoes and lie on my left side. (Can you believe they did this procedure without having me change into a gown?! I can't)

They placed a tray near my mouth to catch "stuff" and also covered me with a paper sheet so that my clothing didn't get dirty.

Then the doctor came in and got everything ready, I happened to glance at the wall, and there was a "television" screen and something blinking...guess what I could see...me. (eep!)

The nurse then gave me a shot (I think this was another type of anesthesia) in my right arm and the doctor put a spray of something into my mouth and then shoved a mouthpiece in.

Then the procedure began, the hardest part was when they first put the camera into your mouth and try to get the camera past your throat.

The nurse was there rubbing my back so that I would "relax", at one point, I tried to grab the doctor to get him to stop, but the nurse grabbed my hand.

Then the camera went down, if you want to "watch" your procedure there is that screen on the wall, I chose to keep my eyes closed.

From what the doctor was saying, everything looked normal, the polyps (there are apparently more than 1) are quite small in size and apparently nothing to worry about. Also, I'm not sure that they took any samples to test or removed anything.

It was about 10 minutes and the whole thing was over, the nurse handed me several tissues to wipe up. My mouth was numb, like when you go to the dentist.

Then I had to wait to pay my bill, you need to pay your portion before leaving the hospital.

After fasting from 19:00 the night before, they told me not to eat for another hour after the procedure was done because that was how long it took for the anesthesia to wear off.

So I went home and ate some foods I had bought the day before (I didn't know what kind of condition I would be in afterwards, so I bought something ahead of time)

My next appointment to get an explanation of the results will be in January.

I have a little cold sore on my lip which I think was from the mouthpiece pressing against my lip during the procedure, but other than that, I'm glad everything went smoothly.