In Memoriam: Tony Copple
Colonoscopy 19.04.04
It was a bad night for me. Every 90 minutes or so I was in the toilet, but whenever I tried to pee, something started to come out of my bum, and not much would come out of my penis. My pee stream after waking had been getting slower, but tonight it was the slowest. Around 3 am I realized I should use the mini enema, otherwise why did they give it to me, even though the instruction sheet said it was for the hospital when I got there. It was relatively easy to use. At 4:45 I got L-A a shake so she could take her meds, and then move. I got in the shower with Bioscrub again. I packed a small bag with things I might need, but the only important things turned out to be the admission card and my ear buds. L-A hadn't driven the car for months and her licence had expired but she drove me to Mediclinic with no trouble. We arrived at 6. From that moment everything happened in military precision with a smile. L-A came right in to the prep room and sat in a chair by my bed on her donut (she was fighting a new boil and a retiring carbuncle on her butt.) At one point I had 4 nurses attending to my needs for the preparation for the procedures. See pics. Dr Marais and Dr Britz the anaesthetist visted. Dr Britz confirmed I would have a general anaesthetic, as Dr Marais had promised. When the time came for the enema, I suggested doing it myself since I was such an expert from last night (and I had given an enema to Laurie-Ann, so I knew the drill from both angles). L-A sensed that the nurse who had been assigned the task was visibly relieved. I went into the toilet, used the lubucation and inserted the thing. A few minutes later I came out proudly showing the nurse that the fluid level in the plastic bottle was lower. "Oh no," said she, you must use all the fludi! So back I went, and this time, with the full load of fluid injected, it soon all came back, down the toilet, which hardly changed colour. I had succeeded in the task at hand. The bowel was ready for that little light and camera and anything else they decide to stick into me. We waied another half hour, and they came for me, wheeling my bed to the theatre. At one point Dr Marais did the wheeling (not very well; he nearly hit a wall). Humble man. Soon I was in the theatre, and moved myself from the bed onto another less comfortable structure. Soon the anaesthetist was asking me to make a fist, and he gave me a needle. I knew what it was, but I didn't seem to fall asleep. I looked round the room. I opened my eyes and saw Laurie-Ann. It was done: colonoscopy, gastroscopy, and cystoscopy. Some of these were done by inserting a fibre optic cable plus a camera and scraper into my penis. The scraper was used for a biopsy of my prostate and to remove a small growth. Thank God it was a general anaesthetic. Now see this in the Canadian press very recently. From City news on OHIP - In total, 28 medical services are on the list for potential savings including sedation offered during colonoscopies which would save $16 million. According to the documents, anesthesiologist-assisted colonoscopies have increased five-fold over the past decade and the government has questions about the appropriateness of this usage. Eric Thompson from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada says the proposal is not realistic. “It is unthinkable to have a colonoscopy without sedation,” he says. “It's a very uncomfortable, invasive procedure, so its extremely critical that patients are very comfortable when they are having this procedure.” He adds that not having sedation would discourage patients from choosing to have a colonoscopy. “Any barrier to access would ensure that some patients would opt out of the procedure,” says Thompson. “Patients are going for colonoscopies to detect disease worsening, to see if they have any precancerous lesions, polyps … so its extremely critical that there’s no barrier to access for colonoscopies.” Goodness I am glad to be in South Africa. I went back to sleep for a while as L-A took some picture of me post op. I woke up again feeling wonderfully relaxed and we chatted about my experience. A nurse brought me tea and a toasted sandwich. I would stay relaxing for 90 minutes or so. I was given an a post-op anti-biotic, Cifloc 500, and 30 Uromaz .4 Mg capsules to help my pee stream. They did. I asked L-A to fetch my phone and ear buds and listened to both Goodluck albums straight, just being happy. After that L-A was in pain from the boils and we really needed to be going. Finally the paperwork was all done, they disconnected my drip, I got dressed and we left. L-A drove us home.
Colonoscopy 19.04.04
It was a bad night for me. Every 90 minutes or so I was in the toilet, but whenever I tried to pee, something started to come out of my bum, and not much would come out of my penis. My pee stream after waking had been getting slower, but tonight it was the slowest. Around 3 am I realized I should use the mini enema, otherwise why did they give it to me, even though the instruction sheet said it was for the hospital when I got there. It was relatively easy to use. At 4:45 I got L-A a shake so she could take her meds, and then move. I got in the shower with Bioscrub again. I packed a small bag with things I might need, but the only important things turned out to be the admission card and my ear buds. L-A hadn't driven the car for months and her licence had expired but she drove me to Mediclinic with no trouble. We arrived at 6. From that moment everything happened in military precision with a smile. L-A came right in to the prep room and sat in a chair by my bed on her donut (she was fighting a new boil and a retiring carbuncle on her butt.) At one point I had 4 nurses attending to my needs for the preparation for the procedures. See pics. Dr Marais and Dr Britz the anaesthetist visted. Dr Britz confirmed I would have a general anaesthetic, as Dr Marais had promised. When the time came for the enema, I suggested doing it myself since I was such an expert from last night (and I had given an enema to Laurie-Ann, so I knew the drill from both angles). L-A sensed that the nurse who had been assigned the task was visibly relieved. I went into the toilet, used the lubucation and inserted the thing. A few minutes later I came out proudly showing the nurse that the fluid level in the plastic bottle was lower. "Oh no," said she, you must use all the fludi! So back I went, and this time, with the full load of fluid injected, it soon all came back, down the toilet, which hardly changed colour. I had succeeded in the task at hand. The bowel was ready for that little light and camera and anything else they decide to stick into me. We waied another half hour, and they came for me, wheeling my bed to the theatre. At one point Dr Marais did the wheeling (not very well; he nearly hit a wall). Humble man. Soon I was in the theatre, and moved myself from the bed onto another less comfortable structure. Soon the anaesthetist was asking me to make a fist, and he gave me a needle. I knew what it was, but I didn't seem to fall asleep. I looked round the room. I opened my eyes and saw Laurie-Ann. It was done: colonoscopy, gastroscopy, and cystoscopy. Some of these were done by inserting a fibre optic cable plus a camera and scraper into my penis. The scraper was used for a biopsy of my prostate and to remove a small growth. Thank God it was a general anaesthetic. Now see this in the Canadian press very recently. From City news on OHIP - In total, 28 medical services are on the list for potential savings including sedation offered during colonoscopies which would save $16 million. According to the documents, anesthesiologist-assisted colonoscopies have increased five-fold over the past decade and the government has questions about the appropriateness of this usage. Eric Thompson from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada says the proposal is not realistic. “It is unthinkable to have a colonoscopy without sedation,” he says. “It's a very uncomfortable, invasive procedure, so its extremely critical that patients are very comfortable when they are having this procedure.” He adds that not having sedation would discourage patients from choosing to have a colonoscopy. “Any barrier to access would ensure that some patients would opt out of the procedure,” says Thompson. “Patients are going for colonoscopies to detect disease worsening, to see if they have any precancerous lesions, polyps … so its extremely critical that there’s no barrier to access for colonoscopies.” Goodness I am glad to be in South Africa. I went back to sleep for a while as L-A took some picture of me post op. I woke up again feeling wonderfully relaxed and we chatted about my experience. A nurse brought me tea and a toasted sandwich. I would stay relaxing for 90 minutes or so. I was given an a post-op anti-biotic, Cifloc 500, and 30 Uromaz .4 Mg capsules to help my pee stream. They did. I asked L-A to fetch my phone and ear buds and listened to both Goodluck albums straight, just being happy. After that L-A was in pain from the boils and we really needed to be going. Finally the paperwork was all done, they disconnected my drip, I got dressed and we left. L-A drove us home.