I can't remember the exact date it was sometime in 2001 that I started to notice that when I went to the toilet.There were specks of blood around the toilet bowl, for the first few occasions I just left it. But as time went on the amount of blood started to increase till I decided to mention it to my wife and we made a appointment to see our Doc.
Our Doc did his checks on me (wont go in to detail but it involved bending over) and decided to send me to hospital for blood tests and to see a Gastroenterologist.
I have since found out in numerous conversations with people, that alot of people can see blood after going to the toilet and tend not to say or do anything about it. Mainly through not feeling comfortable to talk to someone or go to the doc because of feeling embarrased. (which is exactly how I felt)
But I can't stress enough how important it is to see someone straight away if these symptoms start to show.
After my blood tests I was sent an appt to have a colonoscopy under the care of my new consultant Dr Klass at North Manchester General Hospital.
With the letter came a box with 2 sachets of a lemon flavoured drink and the details of what a colonoscopy entailed and instructions for the lovely Lemon drink.
A Colonoscopy is a procedure were a long flexible tube with a camera and light on the end are pushed into your bum and all the way round into your colon.
Also on the end of the tube are a very small pair of sharp what I can only describe as clamps that will clamp on to the lining of your bowel and colon and pull off small samples of tissue for analysis.
The day before your procedure you are not allowed to eat or drink anything apart from the lovely Lemon drink.
One sachet of the drink is emptied into a jug and mixed with 2 litres of water to drink by the glass followed by the 2nd sachet.
After about 3 glasses your tummy starts to make all sorts of gurgling and other strange noises then for the next few hours the toilet will become your new best friend.(happy days)
All this is one to clear the bowel and all connecting bits so when the camera is in the doc can get a clear view of the lining of the Colon and surrounding areas.
On the day of the procedure you are asked to strip and put on a gown that fastens at the back.
I was also asked if I would like sedation or to go ahead without.
At this point I asked the opinion of the nurse who said "she believes the procedure can be uncomfortable, but not painful and said if I didn't have the sedation I could go home more or less straight away if everything went well.(The main problem with this procedure is a small tear to the lining that could cause bleeding however this is very rare) .So with the thought of being able to go home straight away decided to be brave and go without sedation. (BIG MISTAKE).
So I'm lay on a table on my side with my knees up to my chest and waiting for train to enter the tunnel.
Now I'm also able to see the monitor the doc is looking at, as the flexible tube is moved round bend after bend till it reached the Colon.
The really uncomfortable bits are when air is blown from the tube to keep the lens clear so the view is clear, you feel like your tummy is going to blow up and burst, the word uncomfortable was not how I would describe it.
Anyway samples were taken and it was all over in around 25 mins so not too long.
Little did I know that this was the beginning of mine and Naz's 10 year journey to Liver transplant.
Paul Spencer 27.11..11
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