Today I had to wake up at 4:30 am and I do not remember the last time that I had to get up so early. I took a quick shower, put on some make up and had my husband drive me to Beverly Hills. It was still dark outside but the sky was lit in bright orange due to the severe fires we are currently having in Los Angeles.
Traffic was really good and we arrived way to early, everything was dark and Beverly Hills seemed to be a ghost town. Even the parking garage was still closed. As we were sitting in the car and waited for the garage to open I thought about all the Dinners and Lunches I had there, about all the food and desserts that contributed to my weight gain. I wondered what dining would be like after surgery and if I will ever enjoy going for fancy Dinners again. I really like going out and enjoy Dinners with good friends. Not that I had second thoughts about surgery, I was just trying to envision what Dinners may be like... but came pretty fast to the conclusion that no Dinner can make me feel better than what being slim, fit and healthy feels like.
The longer we waited the more nervous I got...not about the Upper GI Endoscopy but the IV and specifically the needle that had to go into my veins. I am more paranoid of needles than of anything else, It has always been like this. As a child I would even run out of Doctors offices because I was so afraid and my mother had to follow me in the car to collect me. Unfortunately this fear stayed with me all my life and even though I know that it is not really painful, just the idea of having someone put a needle in my veins scares me.
When the parking garage finally opened we parked the car and took the elevator but nobody was there to open the doors. We waited and waited and waited and finally after 30 minutes a person would come and open the door. She apologized for being late, she overslept and all I could worry about was that she is hopefully not the person that will put the needle into my vein. She was not :-)
She handed me a lot of paperwork, I read everything carefully to make sure that I am not signing my life away. I did not sign the optional forms because I did not feel that I had to. Shortly after I was asked to come to the back, had to dress in one of those fancy robes. Who invented these? Honestly... I find them to be degrading...
She gave me two robes in two different sizes, I believe one was XL and the other one XXXXXXXXXL (?)... The XL did not close from the back and I was really worried to walk with exposing my behind to the entire medical staff and the other one was so extremely huge, that I could have fit in at least 3 times (and I am already 294 lbs). I choose the bigger one and wrapped it all around me. Before I opened the door I put on the funny socks, the even funnier hat and swallowed my pride and followed all orders that were given.
I had do do a pregnancy test first, which of course was negative and then I had do lay down on a bed. The anesthesiologist introduced herself to me and I right away gave her a friendly speech about my needle phobia and that I prefer baby needles and extreme caution. She promised she would take good care of me (and she did)
She put the IV needle into my right arm, it did not hurt at all but unfortunately it did not work. She became more and more nervous and instructed the nurse to hang the iv bag higher, she even became more nervous which made me more nervous. So I told her before anything goes wrong to please remove it. She removed it and inserted it into my left arm, it worked, it did not hurt and all was well.
My Doctor arrived and explained the procedure to me, I was moved into a different room and knocked out. I woke up a couple of minutes later, did not feel any pain but was extremely high, I mean HIGH, I was in a party mode, ready to go out and party all night, but it was only 8 AM and I still had to lay there for another 45 minutes until my blood pressure went up again and was released shortly after.
My Doctor talked to me after the procedure and said that I had acid reflux (did not know and had no symptoms) and showed me the pictures, which really fascinated me. I have never seen a picture of my inside before, so I asked him if I could have a copy and that I was more than happy to pay for it. Unfortunately the machine was already turned off but they had another copy that was printed on the wrong side of the photo paper, and I was allowed to keep it.
Traffic was really good and we arrived way to early, everything was dark and Beverly Hills seemed to be a ghost town. Even the parking garage was still closed. As we were sitting in the car and waited for the garage to open I thought about all the Dinners and Lunches I had there, about all the food and desserts that contributed to my weight gain. I wondered what dining would be like after surgery and if I will ever enjoy going for fancy Dinners again. I really like going out and enjoy Dinners with good friends. Not that I had second thoughts about surgery, I was just trying to envision what Dinners may be like... but came pretty fast to the conclusion that no Dinner can make me feel better than what being slim, fit and healthy feels like.
The longer we waited the more nervous I got...not about the Upper GI Endoscopy but the IV and specifically the needle that had to go into my veins. I am more paranoid of needles than of anything else, It has always been like this. As a child I would even run out of Doctors offices because I was so afraid and my mother had to follow me in the car to collect me. Unfortunately this fear stayed with me all my life and even though I know that it is not really painful, just the idea of having someone put a needle in my veins scares me.
When the parking garage finally opened we parked the car and took the elevator but nobody was there to open the doors. We waited and waited and waited and finally after 30 minutes a person would come and open the door. She apologized for being late, she overslept and all I could worry about was that she is hopefully not the person that will put the needle into my vein. She was not :-)
She handed me a lot of paperwork, I read everything carefully to make sure that I am not signing my life away. I did not sign the optional forms because I did not feel that I had to. Shortly after I was asked to come to the back, had to dress in one of those fancy robes. Who invented these? Honestly... I find them to be degrading...
She gave me two robes in two different sizes, I believe one was XL and the other one XXXXXXXXXL (?)... The XL did not close from the back and I was really worried to walk with exposing my behind to the entire medical staff and the other one was so extremely huge, that I could have fit in at least 3 times (and I am already 294 lbs). I choose the bigger one and wrapped it all around me. Before I opened the door I put on the funny socks, the even funnier hat and swallowed my pride and followed all orders that were given.
I had do do a pregnancy test first, which of course was negative and then I had do lay down on a bed. The anesthesiologist introduced herself to me and I right away gave her a friendly speech about my needle phobia and that I prefer baby needles and extreme caution. She promised she would take good care of me (and she did)
She put the IV needle into my right arm, it did not hurt at all but unfortunately it did not work. She became more and more nervous and instructed the nurse to hang the iv bag higher, she even became more nervous which made me more nervous. So I told her before anything goes wrong to please remove it. She removed it and inserted it into my left arm, it worked, it did not hurt and all was well.
My Doctor arrived and explained the procedure to me, I was moved into a different room and knocked out. I woke up a couple of minutes later, did not feel any pain but was extremely high, I mean HIGH, I was in a party mode, ready to go out and party all night, but it was only 8 AM and I still had to lay there for another 45 minutes until my blood pressure went up again and was released shortly after.
My Doctor talked to me after the procedure and said that I had acid reflux (did not know and had no symptoms) and showed me the pictures, which really fascinated me. I have never seen a picture of my inside before, so I asked him if I could have a copy and that I was more than happy to pay for it. Unfortunately the machine was already turned off but they had another copy that was printed on the wrong side of the photo paper, and I was allowed to keep it.
The pictures are gross. I am very worried about the endoscopy, good to hear that it was not that bad.
ReplyDeleteHello~
ReplyDeleteI had an upper GI done, that the other surgeon I was looking into had requested. Now I am in the process of having my lapband done by your doctor, is this endoscopy a requirement from him? Since I had the Upper GI done do you think I will also have to do the endoscopy?