It was ah..... interesting. I didnt think I could be embarrassed after all you survive with rectal cancer, but aparently I do still have some modesty
The radiologist was none too gentle with the rectal exam, sheesh. Really hurt. But they put all the barium liquid in (and then breadcrumbs) in - it has to be thick like a bowel movement after it has coated all the walls like they do for a barium enema.
They took some pics of me lying on my left side and on my back and then put me on the throne. I had to push it out - which I failed miserably at - I was watching the screen as sometimes I do pass stuff but cant feel it. No more than a dribble and very little movement of anything on the screen at all. I felt no urge, none at all when they filled me up, and consequently, I had difficulty with the act of defecating - you need an urge to be able to do it efficiently. The radiologist kept saying "are you sure you dont feel like there's more in there?"
They put me out of my misery quickly though and sent me off to the bathroom where a few blobs did come out. Then two more xrays. I was told "there's still a fair bit of barium in you, make sure to drink a lot and eat high fibre for the next few days". Sheesh, the reason I was there is coz I cant poop, fibre and water make no flipping difference. So I am currently in posession of about 100 mls of barium, which is probably turning into a rock as we speak. Its ten hours later and I havent so much as farted all day. No urge at all, no sense of it being there.
so....... its interesting, we shall see. There's definitely a problem there. The other thing was my pouch and colon didnt look like a pouch and colon at all. It didnt look like any of the pics and images I've googled - its all tortured and has outpouching and narrow areas etc. Definitely nothing resembling a reservoir at the end. Of course though I have to wait for the surgeon visit to find anything out, the technicians were not going to tell me anything. I dont really know what I'm looking at as I've only seen pictures of normal rectums on barium studies so I must remember not to fret over this, it could look perfectly normal for my situation - but sheesh, it looked an awful mess to me.
I just want answers, so really, the worst outcome would be that it showed nothing.