Thank you MypinchofItaly and Windigo. Due to a series of unfortunate events (long boring story) I have some internal injuries that have caused problems with my GI tract. Several years ago they were forced to insert a feeding tube which I had for a few months. That was incredibly painful so I don't want another one.
I am scheduled for another endoscope and colonoscopy in late March but it doesn't really matter because there is permanent damage.
Thank you both for your kindness.
Thank you, dear.So I can only imagine what that must be like. I am really sorryI had a GI tube through my nose once, at least they attempted it three times but it didn't work because my nose was apperently too narrow. It's the most panic inducing thing I ever experienced in the hospital, and I've been through things that cause PTSD, this was so bad I never want another one.
Hope this gets sorted pretty fast for you, without a tube.
How are you doing?
That sounds terrible. Glad you don't have one anymore, and praying with you that you will be spared of that now. Hope your fast helps you to recover!Thank you, dear.
They punctured my abdomen and put the clamp inside the stomach wall so I had a carry bag if it wasn't attached to the IV pole.
I've never had the nasal one but I've heard from others that it's painful. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Yeah, you described it pretty accurately, though my nose was bleeding after they tried to insert the tube three times and couldn't get past the back of my nose because the bone is apprently lopsided. It was absolutely awful. I totally understand why this was the worst experience you had.Here's my spoiler story, not too bad, but still thought I'd share:
I had to have a nasal probe inserted into my sinuses several years ago. That remains the single most unpleasant medical experience I've ever had.
Unlike a colonoscopy, they don't put you out for a nasal probe or give you any kind of local anesthetic. The sensation of something the size of a marble traveling all around my sinuses is one I don't ever want to repeat. It's like an itch you can feel, you know where it is, but if you scratch it, it doesn't feel like you've quite gotten it, so it kind of messes with your sense of reality while it's going on - a sort of "I can feel something on my face...but there's nothing on my face." - that's because it's under your face. Things aren't supposed to be under your face, you know?
If I think about it, I can still conjure the exact feeling of that thing going along the topside of my gums, like I could feel it stimulating the roots of my teeth. Think about that for a minute...
All the while, I was watching this guy feed more and more tube up my nose...another inch...another inch...another inch...and it was like a surreal magic trick, like, "How's he doing that, because there's no way all of that is fitting up my nose!"...another inch...another inch...
I don't know if it's related, but ever since that appointment, I can squirt stuff out of my right eye. They used to have a guy on TV when I was a kid who would drink, say, a glass of milk, and then he'd squirt milk out of his eye. I can do that.
Obviously, I'm not in the habit of squirting whatever I'm drinking out of my eye, but it does cause an issue because I can't really give my nose a good blowing if I'm congested, because it'll send some of it out of my eye.
Thank you MypinchofItaly and Windigo. Due to a series of unfortunate events (long boring story) I have some internal injuries that have caused problems with my GI tract. Several years ago they were forced to insert a feeding tube which I had for a few months. That was incredibly painful so I don't want another one.
I am scheduled for another endoscope and colonoscopy in late March but it doesn't really matter because there is permanent damage.
Thank you both for your kindness.
Our NPR (National Public Radio, kinda like the BBC) did a whole series a few years back on healthcare in the US versus Europe, and one of the installments was on the vastly different attitudes toward pain and pain management.
). The feeling was, as long as the pain isn't causing further physical harm, then you need to just accept it and move on.
Yes, it's much harder to get pain medication here even though doctors here are still concerned we might get an opioid epidemic anyway because the US has one. And there seems to be this firm belief that anything the US does or has happen to them, will happen to us.Our NPR (National Public Radio, kinda like the BBC) did a whole series a few years back on healthcare in the US versus Europe, and one of the installments was on the vastly different attitudes toward pain and pain management.
That story echoed what you say above, and went on to detail how "the European attitude" is geared more toward teaching patients to accept that pain is a part of healing and sometimes, unfortunately, a part of life, and instead of treating with medicines to reduce/eliminate, they prefer to teach techniques to minimize pain and to learn to live with it (it reminded me of the old joke: "Doctor, my knee hurts when I do this!" "Then don't do that."
The upside was, Europe hasn't had nearly the outbreak of opioid addiction that we've seen here, but the downside was, there are apparently a lot of Europeans walking around (or not) in pain that would be treated here (with medication) without a second thought.
I live near pretty much Ground Zero for the opioid problem here, not too far for one of the largest (if not the largest) illegal pill mill in the entire country.
Glad you are doing fine. It sounds like a good plan to forego the wartime cooking for now. Like you said, you can always get back to it when the time is right.
Mental strain is way worse than physical strain for me. I hope you are able to get some rest and relaxation soon.
I count myself as fortunate in this regard. I've tried cigarettes and marijuana (safely with my husband at the time), drank beer and wine and have taken pain pills in the past. I have never become addicted to anything. I've seen what those things can do and how relatively quick the downfall actually is. Heartbreaking.