I took 2 Imodium around 90 minutes before the CT scan so I'd sort of dam up whatever stool was in my colon. I also took 1 mg Ativan 1 hour before the procedure (my husband drove me to the medical center). I tolerated the CT scan pretty well, I'm glad to report. The contrast was instilled in my rectum soon after the IV was placed in my forearm after I lay down on the scan bed. The tech was very nice and reassuring, and she padded the place I was to lie with disposable chux and other linen, and I wore a hospital gown. The tube and the contrast was in my butt for the whole scan (no balloon held everything in, unfortunately) and near the end of the 15 to 20 minutes, I could feel the liquid starting to seep out. So when the scan was finished the other tech helped carry my clothes to the bathroom across the hall so I could clean off and change. I passed a lot of contrast and large amounts of loose stool as a result of the procedure while I was on the toilet in the changing area. My husband and I hung around the med. center a while to see whether I had to keep moving my bowels, but they eventually seemed to calm down somewhat.
We then went to lunch at a Wegman's very close by, and I ended up using their bathrooms a few times during lunch, and I had a bit of incontinence, too (But I was wearing my trusty Depends!) So I've been home around 2 hours now and still have been running to the bathroom occasionally, and my bowels are making ominous rumbles, but I'm thankful I could go through with the procedure and hope the doctors will be able to see whatever they need to see.
As a hospital nurse, I'd often received orders for barium enemas and CT scans with rectal contrast and used to always {{{shudder}}} hoping I'D never have to go through what my poor patients endured. I never was really sure what all went on in theses tests either, or what contrast fluid tasted like. I hope I can give back to my patients in the future from all that I've experienced the past almost 2 years and support them as I've been supported by nurses, family, friends, and great folks on forums like these!
Thanks for all your support and helping me to get through my fears and wussiness!
