The Colon Club

It's been awhile since I've posted. So 1st, an update. DH is officially cancer free 3 years and change out from dx. While we celebrate his cancer free status, we mourn the loss if his brother, who died in Nov from Lung cancer. I was a daily reader of Colon Talk and still check in a couple times a month. Many of you will understand what I mean when I say I had to take a break from CT to heal and move forward. It was especially hard after Beansmama passed. But something happened to my husband that I never saw as a topic before so I decided to post about it. DH had 4th colonoscopy today. Again, polyps were found, and an area of erosion (something else I never heard of before). So back again next year. Anyhow, he completed his Miramax prep and was on the potty when I heard a thud. I hollowed his name...no answer. I tried to open door but he had locked it (grrrr). Finally, he started answering me. Well, apparently he passed out, fell of the toilet and hit his head. I called the off hours emergency number twice and the on call Dr never returned my call (until 6 AM when she called to apologize for having slept through the call). Anyhow, I guess I want to share the importance of staying hydrated during prep. Dr said it was a vaso vagal episode, but it was scary since Dr didn't return call, DH hit his head, And I didn't know what to do. One phrase kept Comming to me last night : Cancer doesn't end when treatment is over. Truth.

That had to be so scary for you. I hope he wasn't hurt too badly. I've come very close to fainting once during the prep. For me it was a really bad reaction to the dulcolax pills. I haven't had it happen again since refusing to take those.

This has happened to me both times I’ve done the prep. They both happened at the same time too. I had taken the second does of Miralax around midnight, then went to sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later to go to the bathroom and then the fun started. On my first colonoscopy prep I got really light headed. I didn’t faint but I did throw up. Second time around I actually did faint on the toilet and ended up on the floor. Woke up wondering why I was on the floor. Got the same feeling again when I tried to stand up so i had to quickly lay down on my bed to prevent me from fainting again. I can easily deal with the going to the bathroom part of the prep but this light headed/fainting/throwing up makes it really miserable.

Tdubz wrote:This has happened to me both times I’ve done the prep. They both happened at the same time too. I had taken the second does of Miralax around midnight, then went to sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later to go to the bathroom and then the fun started. On my first colonoscopy prep I got really light headed. I didn’t faint but I did throw up. Second time around I actually did faint on the toilet and ended up on the floor. Woke up wondering why I was on the floor. Got the same feeling again when I tried to stand up so i had to quickly lay down on my bed to prevent me from fainting again. I can easily deal with the going to the bathroom part of the prep but this light headed/fainting/throwing up makes it really miserable.

For me what I've found really helps is to chug the gawd awful prep, do my business on the toilet, and then drink half a glass of gatorade. Obviously don't do the gatorade for every glass of prep but I keep getting gatorade in me. The fullness of my stomach feels awful but I figure the electrolytes in the gatorade are helping me not get dizzy.

How scary! I'm so sorry that happened to your husband!*hugs*