Latest adventure in the journey aka "Barium doesn't suck"

Man was I nervous. Paul and I left the house this morning and headed for Binghamton. We dropped his car off at work and took mine to the hospital. He's working second shift this week so thought it would be easier than rushing home. We didn't know what to expect at the hospital, and didn't want to risk him being late.

We get to the hospital and check in. The wait wasn't very long. One thing I can say about Wilson Regional Medical Center is that I've never had to wait for my appointments!

They call me back, and I ask if Paul can come with me. They said yes, but he'd have to wait in the hall during the procedure. As we're walking down the hall, the X-ray tech says "You look nervous".... Well, that was the understatement of the century! I told her I was scared that they didn't sedate, and that I have a very active gag reflex. She told me "don't worry, we'll have a bucket and towels ready." Didn't exactly make me feel better!

So we go around a few corners in this maze of hallways. They show me to a tiny room, and have me "gown up". Now, I was a CNA for 10 years, but had never seen the types of gowns. It took me THREE TRIES to get the thing on. Then I noticed the "instructions" taped to the wall... DUH! I should have noticed them before... maybe they should move them to the back of the door where they are more noticeable... LOL!

After struggling with the gown, I head into the procedure room. The tech starts explaining the process. I had to swallow these "air crystal" things, then some Barium solution...

Um, what?? No scope?? Silly me! I guess I've been out of the health field too long, or else I've been reading too many threads on endoscopy on www.obesityhelp.com, but I seriously thought I was getting scoped today!

I was instantly relieved and started laughing. I told the tech that I thought I was getting scoped, and she said "no wonder you were nervous!"

They send Paul out into the hallway and have me stand on this platform at the end of the x-ray table. That thing was so cool! It rotated to a "standing" position so you could take upright pictures. The tech hands me the "fizzy lifting drink" and tells me not to burp... HELLO! That was easier said than done! Holy cow! Total bubbles!

Next they had me stand a little sideways and fill my mouth with the barium. I have to tell you, this was NO WHERE NEAR as disgusting as I've heard. It wasn't bad at all! It wasn't even as chalky as I expected... in fact, I later told Paul it tasted better than Greek yogurt!

All in all I only had to swallow 3 mouthfuls, 2 while standing, and one when I was lying on my side...

It was so cool when they put the bed down! Here you are standing on this little metal platform, and all of a sudden you're rotating back. I told the tech (whose name was also Tina) that it was like being at the amusement park! She laughed. She had a great sense of humor and put me right at ease.

So all in all it wasn't a bad experience. MUCH better than what I was expecting. I did feel a little nauseous afterwards, but I think that was more from the "fizzy lifting drink" and the bubbles and not eating before the test.

It was all over by 10:15, so Paul and I had a lot of time to kill in the city. We went to browse an antique store for a while. Some very cool stuff in there! The place was HUGE! And since it was right next door to our favorite Chinese place, we had lunch. It will be the last time for a VERY long time I'll be able to eat out so we took advantage of it. It was amazing, I couldn't eat nearly as much as I normally do. Funny how 2 months of only eating 1 cup of food per meal makes your stomach shrink!

After lunch we went to the mall and checked out GNC and Vitamin Shoppe's prices for liquid vitamins.... we also got tickets for a B-Mets game on the 31st after I see the surgeon....

It was a stellar day!