On a scale from one to ten....

....with ten being the worst day....yesterday was a nine and a half. 

I started out thinking I could handle everything but it became clear very early that my body had a mind of its own.  When the day started off with a splitting headache, I knew it would be rough.  I had wrapped up my rounds of steroids on Monday and had read a little about steroid withdrawal but figured I'd be okay since I'd tapered according to directions, right?  Instead I woke up with a headache, shaky, and felt like my brain was unattached.  Normally I would handle that with a dose of migraine medicine and a meal, but I was on prep day for my colonoscopy so I couldn't take medications or eat, and could only drink clear liquids.  I prepared some lemon jello cups, purchased some small bottles of Sprite, and tucked a few tea bags and bouillon cubes into my purse and set off for day one of the leadership practices course I'm taking over the next few Tuesdays.

I then spent the next eight hours with a progressively worsening migraine, nausea, and nothing I could do about it.  While I'm trying to pay attention to the class which was really informal and nice, I'm rubbing my throbbing head and trying not to throw up.  It turns out a neighbor was attending too, so he asked if I could give him a ride home.  "Sure!" I said while seriously wondering if I could make it home without vomiting in my car.

I don't know how bad I looked.  I hope I looked a little bad so they wouldn't think the person who was there yesterday was the normal me.  I can't wait to look and feel better next week when I go again.

Anyhoo, I make it home without barfing.  I pulled my car into the driveway, shut it off, and left it there without parking it in the garage.  I didn't even pull it in all the way so it looked more abandoned than parked.  I didn't care because I just needed to get in the house.  I went inside and held my head and put a cold washcloth on my neck.  Then I went straight up to bed to try to rest before I have to begin THE PREP.

At 6:00 I prepare and begin to take my first 32-oz dose of colon cleanser.  I need to drink 8 ounces every 15 minutes, then for the next hour drink 16 oz of water.  Then do it all again with another 32-oz dose.  What happened was I drank 8 ounces, then 4 ounces, then threw it up, then 4 ounces, then 8 ounces, then 8 ounces, then the 16 ounces of water, then 4 ounces, then threw it up, then 4 ounces, then 8 ounces, then 8 ounces, then threw it up, then gave it up.  I did all of this in the middle of a migraine meltdown where I had no relief from the pain or the nausea.

As you can imagine, it was not a very successful prep.  I knew some of the stuff got where it needed to be because things were cleaning out, but I also know it needed to be MUCH cleaner.  I had nothing left to draw on physically, so I went to bed.  I spent the entire night getting up to pee (I guess something stayed down) and trying to find a comfortable position for my migraine.  There wasn't one.

This morning I was still a little nauseated and my head throbbed.  R took me to the colonoscopy and I told them I wasn't sure THE PREP had been as successful as needed.  I also told them I was battling a migraine and nausea and yada yada yada.  The doctor went ahead and I guess got to see most of what he needed to see but found scar tissue that he couldn't get around so now I'm scheduled for a barium enema next week. 

When I got home I went straight to bed and crashed for probably 3 hours.  It was wonderful and I felt so much better when I woke up.  My headache is now a dull pain (they told me the demerol would probably kick it) and I ate some lunch.  And here I am.

I know the colonoscopy is a good preventative test to have and I'm glad I have the opportunity and health coverage so I can have it done, but DANG!  It sucked!  Let's hope I'll be experiencing some dementia by the time I need one again so I don't remember how bad I felt.