It's the Holiday Season

Christmas festivities have begun around here. We had the two holiday walks here in the neighborhood the first week of December. Different parts of the community hosted on two separate nights, and you walk from area to area to eat, drink and be entertained by the Singing Elves of Imagery. It's a great way to meet new neighbors and kick off the season.

one of the Elves hopped into our photo

Last Sunday we went to the Singing Christmas Tree performance, which was held at a local community college. One of my pickleball friends is in the chorale group, so seven of us from our pickleball group went to see the show. There were multiple singing groups (including a children's choir) and dancers performing. It was wonderful!

The Singing Christmas Tree

Thursday our Imagery ladies pickleball group held a fun round robin event, where we dressed in festive attire. Following our play we had a luncheon. About 36 women showed up for food and games. The Imagery Elves even came and sang for us.

Pickleball Party

Today we pick up our daughter at the airport. She will be with us for several weeks as she can work remotely. Then Friday our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter will join us for a few days. To say we are looking forward to this Christmas is a gross understatement.

Wishing all who celebrate a very Merry Christmas, and all the blessings a New Year can bring!

When a Negative is a Positive

Christmas blessings

The biopsy report from my colonoscopy was finally posted in my online medical chart folder. The results on both of the polyps removed were negative, which is fantastic news and an even greater reason to be thankful this Christmas. This is a great representation of when a negative becomes a positive.

Speaking of Christmas, both our children and their families will be with us this holiday. We are really looking forward to having a little one around again. We are in the process of baby proofing the house as Baby W is now mobile. Hopefully she won't pull the tree down on top of herself! We are debating moving it to the second floor to be out of reach, but will probably wait and see if it becomes an issue once they get here.

I have our Christmas cards addressed and ready to go in the mail. Nearly all the presents are purchased, and the ones that have arrived are all wrapped. I'm feeling pretty good about where I stand in the process right now. I need to figure out the daily menus and get a start on the grocery purchases. I'll wait on any baking until we get closer to when the kids will arrive. Until then we have a lot of upcoming fun activities coming up over the next couple of weeks. Ho, ho, ho...

Bottoms Up!

Tuesday I had my first North Carolina colonoscopy. Since I have had polyps in the past, I am on the five year plan with the test. Lucky me! I'll admit that this test was a little overdue. As we know, no one loves having this test done.

Suprep

My doctor, like most, wants his patients to do the two-step prep with Suprep. While it has the benefit of drinking less in one sitting, the downside is that you must drink a second bottle. In my case, the second dose was to be taken 6 hours prior to my procedure - so, at 2:15 AM! You combine the 6 ounce Suprep bottle with water or a clear liquid of your choice into the provided 16 ounce cup. Then you must drink two more 16 ounce cups of water in the next hour.

I used Crystal Light Lemonade as my mixture for the first dose at 6:00 PM the night before the procedure, and even having the drink cold and utilizing a straw to bypass some of my taste buds, the concoction was not pleasant to drink. But I got it down, and managed to not throw it back up. One thing that I experienced was extreme coldness once I consumed the product. Even under my electric blanket and covered with quilts, I had uncontrollable shaking for over an hour.

It began working within a half hour, and let's just say I stayed close to the bathroom the rest of the night. Due to this, being awake at 2:15 for the next dose was not a problem. So I repeated the process, and once I was finished with the two additional cups of water at 3:00 AM, I was not allowed to have any more liquids.

We had to be at the endoscopy center by 7:15. Concerned that I might have an accident on the 25 minute drive to the center since I was still experiencing diarrhea, I wore an adult diaper and carried an extra set of clothes. I ended up being able to make it to the bathroom in the center when we arrived, so it was not an issue. But I felt more relaxed knowing I was covered in case it happened.

The staff at the center was great, and the procedure went just fine. Unfortunately the doctor found and removed two polyps, so that keeps me on the five year plan for the test. Hopefully the biopsy reports will come back negative like they did last time. It can take up to a week before I will know.

The test can be life-saving, I'm aware. But I am surprised that they get as many people to complete it as they do because the diet and prep required are literally a pain in the ass. Which makes me wonder - do the gastroenterologists who do colonoscopies tell their friends that all their patients are assholes???