My colonoscopy experience in Lagos Nigeria
Colonoscopy! Me?? How???
I'm 28; 28 on the dot; cos' it's my birthday today. Colonoscopy, however, is an examination that is only routinely advised for people that are 40 years or older. In essence, a lot of people would say I'm too young for a colonoscopy. Actually, that's what an older friend of mine said when I told him I'd be going for a colonoscopy the next day. |
| The only reason this is here is to gross you out but yeah, the toilet bowl came close to being this red during that 1 week (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematochezia#/media/File:Bloody_stool-1.jpg) |
The colonoscopy at the Lekki hospital which I got treated at costs 90k, but fortunately, I have an employee HMO plan that covered for it. Although, I had to wait for a little over a month before the hospital called me to confirm that my HMO has approved of the procedure. I guess it could have been faster if I was keen on it, but again, I recovered after just a week and have not had a repeat episode since then.
Preparation for my colonoscopy
From the doctor's office - after he reviewed my stool test result, I was directed to a particular nurse who vocally instructed me on preparing for the colonoscopy. After that, she also printed out a copy of the colonoscopy preparation procedure for me.To summarize, I was not to eat any solids from the eve of the colonoscopy up until after the colonoscopy. The only liquids I could consume within that period were water, see-through and pulp-free soft-drinks (think 7Up, Sprite, apple juice), pap + sugar, custard + sugar. No milk. No yoghurt. In addition, three times between 5 pm on the colonoscopy eve and 6 am on the morning of the colonoscopy, I was to consume a copious amount of Epsom salt solution for its laxative property, along with Dulcolax (Bisacodyl), another laxative. I had to poop out my entire guts before the procedure. The instructions stated to drink copious amounts of water as well to ensure that the purging process did not lead to dehydration.
Last week Tuesday, I got a call from a staff of my Lekki hospital that the gastroenterologist would be available to examine (or scope) me on Thursday. This was at least, two months after I was first recommended for a colonoscopy. The call was to remind me to start preparing for the colonoscopy from the next day - Wednesday.
On Wednesday (colonoscopy eve) morning, I had myself a humble helping of custard and sugar at a restaurant. That was all I had until late afternoon when I helped myself to a bottle of cold Sprite. Later on in the evening before leaving work for home, I had a bowl of street-side pap in Victoria Island, Lagos; served by a friendly young woman who surprisingly spoke good English. After that, I had a bottle of 7-Up and with that, I closed up my pleasure-consumption for the day.
Being someone who has not fasted in what, years? I came very close to convincing myself to cancel the colonoscopy appointment and help myself to some yummier food. Milk! Meat! Eggs! After all, the bleeding had not re-occurred since after it stopped the first time. However, again, since I was not paying out of pocket, if there was actually a serious problem with my gut, better to discover it now rather than later.
A month prior to my getting a colonoscopy appointment, I had already gotten the Epsom salt and what was meant to be Dulcolax (but turned out to Buscopan 🤦♀️🤦♀️) from the hospital pharmacy. However, after the first dose of Epsom salt solution and what was meant to be Dulcolax, upon scrutiny of the strip containing 10 white tablets, I noticed it has Buscopan written on it. After googling Buscopan and concluding that Buscopan was not a valid replacement for Dulcolax, I keke'd (took a commercial auto-rickshaw) to the nearest MedPlus store in Victoria Island to get a dose of Dulcolax.
Dulcolax turned out to be 4350 Naira. Quite costly for ten tiny tablets of medicine meant to make you poop frequently. As I had to pay out of pocket, I decided to take a risk and not buy it. Before going to the pharmacy, I'd actually done an online search for colonoscopy preparation procedure, and I found one from the UK NHS where the only laxative used in preparation was an Epsom salt solution. Based on that, I had faith that just taking a lot of Epsom salt was going to do for cleansing my guts.
Just before going to bed, I had one watery-ass bowel movement which had just one small solid mass of stool in it.
Colonoscopy day
Immediately I woke up, I had another bowel movement which this time, was entirely loose; watery. It felt just like I was pissing out of my anus; down to the way it squirted out. As soon as I finished that, I downed another 25g sachet of dissolved Moko Epsom salt and sent it down with three cups of water. All the shit must go!Between waking up on Thursday (colonoscopy day) and the start of the procedure, I defecated four different times. Each time, the stool got progressively clearer. My very last stool before the procedure was not visually distinguishable from urine. I'd read it the day before from an article online that this would happen, so when it did, I knew that my cheap-ass risk of not buying Dulcolax paid off good. Let me tell you, beyond being as clear as urine, I noticed from putting a tissue paper to my nose that my water-poop also didn't smell gross like poop anymore.
In the colonoscopy room at the hospital, a friendly nurse was the first person I met. She explained to me what this would entail, most of which I already knew. I was really surprised though, seeing from a picture on the wall, how far into my body the scope would go. Thereafter, I was asked to change completely into a blue disposable hospital gown. It was after changing, just before coming back out into the room that I had my final pre-colonoscopy bowel movement. I strained a lot to ensure my colon was as empty as could be, so I wouldn't make a mess during the procedure 😊.
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| Yes. All the way to the head of my large intestine (cecum)!!! |
Actual colonoscopy experience
After changing into the hospital gown, I came back out to the room and was asked to lay on the 'bed' while the team prepared. Apart from the gastroenterologist and the nurse who had guided me so far, there were three other people (the doctor's associates/assistants) in the room. I never asked why so many people needed to be there though since only the doctor and one other person were active during the procedure.Before the procedure, I was IV-infused and injected with a painkiller to help relieve me of abdominal cramps I would feel during the procedure. As soon as the doctor was ready, I was asked to lay on my side, just like in the picture above. Unfortunately, the screen happened to be behind me in my own case, so I couldn't see my own insides throughout the inspection process 😭. I was hoping a video was going to be recorded, however, this was not the case. Had I known, I would have told them to record the event with my phone camera.
After lying on my side, the doctor who was quite outspoken and humorous explained to me in a jovial manner that he was about to invade me. He warned that during the process, I might feel cramps in my abdomen, similar to the feeling that one gets when they eat bad food and get food poisoning. After that, he inserted some lube into my anus with his finger(s), shortly after which the scope followed.
The scoping process took about 15 minutes, during which I was entirely conscious. The process was pain-free and seamless, apart from - as I had been pre-informed - three different episodes of strong cramps which made me grit my teeth but only lasted for a few seconds at a time.
After the procedure, the doctor and his crew commended me for my stillness and quietness and the fact that I did not fart (😁) throughout the procedure. Essentially, for having taken his scope like a champ. He told me that a lot of his patients - especially the Yoruba ones - through most of the process, are screaming. And of one particular patient - just a few weeks ago - whose screams were so loud, the hospital janitor heard them from outside the room and had to come in to beg the doctor on the man's behalf.
Post-colonoscopy diagnosis
Haemorrhoids, the gastroenterologist said as the last of the scope slid out of my rectum. The investigation result print-out read: Hematochezia which just means of passing of fresh blood through the anus. According to him, the haemorrhoid from which the bleeding had occurred was already dried up, from what he saw through the scope. There was very little to worry about.After the gastroenterologist left the room, one of his assistants advised that I could prevent a reoccurrence of hematochezia by avoiding straining while defecating. Before leaving the hospital, on the advice of the attendant nurse, I consulted with the GP who prescribed an oral drug, a rectal cream and sitting in a warm-water bath for 30 minutes every day for managing the haemorrhoids. Since it had been at least two months since I had last bled through my anus, I took the liberty to completely ignore the prescription.
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