My husband and I didn’t want to see the food part so much. We had more of a staycation as it’s called. We conveniently scheduled scopes for ourselves: me an ileoscopy, him a colonoscopy. Both of us were due to have them, and since taking off from work is more inconvenient than using the already given time off that Spring Break provided, we just made a scope sandwich with mine being on a Monday and his on a Friday. We didn’t even allow ourselves time for a weekend trip. I don’t know about him, but I tried to avoid anything to do with food. That included feeding my son the day before my procedure. (I had to be on clear liquids all day.) Daddy had to take care of it. I have the habit of popping food in my mouth during the preparing of it, and I didn’t need to take that chance.
On clear liquids, you’re allowed Jello. Of course, it can’t be red or purple in color (the best flavors). I don’t care for lime. And the only other color left where I was shopping was orange. Let me just say that Jello is delicious when you’re hungry. Well, until you get to that third bowl. And fourth. Okay, Jello isn’t delicious. It didn’t take me long to remember why I don’t care for it. I was slightly nauseous and dizzy by the next morning and more than ready get the test over with.(Here is where my staycation was social.) The time before the test, when you’re in holding and waiting your turn to be scoped, that went well. Smoothly actually. They let my husband come back with me. And they respected my wishes to remain unsedated (unlike the time before when the anesthesiologist got his undies in a wad when I said I didn’t want any drugs). They did put an IV access which I suggested they do to make everyone see that I’m not hard to work with and to make them feel better to have access if something were to happen to me. But I just don’t get being drugged for a test that takes five to ten minutes and that, at most, is uncomfortable right at the end of the test and with all the air they blow in your intestines to widen it for visibility. I know because I’m awake watching the whole thing. (This was my staycation experience and where I got to see things most other people never see. Exciting, I know!)
The travel part of our staycation was not so much getting to the hospitals for our respective procedures but navigating the hallways once we got inside. It seems that every time I’ve been, the location is moved. However, it’s not the location but the areas surrounding it (where once was a door is now a wall, the entrance is moved 25 feet down from where it used to be, the restrooms were there at one point but aren’t there now) that actually change giving the illusion that all is different. I used to be good at getting around the hospital, but now, thankfully, I don’t have to go enough to know where I’m going.
Although this isn’t the ideal spring break, things went well. My husband did get away for a little while and spend time with his parents who live a few hours away from us. This gave me some “me time” as well as our son was with him. We made it to our procedures on time, the tests went well, and we got good results. We even took the time to enjoy a movie as our son stayed with his grandparents.
