As I’ve mentioned before, 2020 brought all the pandemic struggles alongside an onslaught of personal and familial challenges. One such challenge was watching my beloved baby sister struggle with a new Crohn’s Disease diagnosis and subsequent hospitalizations and treatments.
Genetics can play a role in Crohn’s Disease; siblings and close family members of someone with Crohn’s run a higher risk for similar diagnoses. As a person who likes to tackle worst-case scenarios head-on, I vowed to get any gastrointestinal issues I might experience checked as soon as possible. I’d been having some symptoms since having my oldest son and decided I’d be brave and just get everything okayed by a doctor.
After an initial appointment with a local gastroenterologist, we were on the same page that it wasn’t likely I had anything serious going on, but we scheduled a sigmoidoscope just to be safe.
A sigmoidoscope is essentially a half-pint version of a colonoscopy. You have to do a full cleanse, they stick a three-foot camera in, and you are awake the entire time. It was miserable!!!! I hated the entire process, but was very grateful I went.
During the scoping, the doctor said, “I wasn’t expecting that.” That is not something you ever want to hear your doctor say. I’m a tough cookie, but those words were like a punch to the gut; I felt nauseous and my breathing was hard to keep calm.
Post-procedure, the doctor and I discussed his findings: I had a massive polyp. His exact words were, “This appointment saved your life. Within ten years, it would have been cancer.”
No one wants to hear those words, and I can’t begin to explain the deluge of emotions that flooded me. We immediately scheduled a colonoscopy to remove the polyp and check my gastrointestinal tract for any others that might be lurking.
When I called my mom afterward, I desperately just needed to hear her voice. The hardest thing for me wasn’t even the potential risks or what had just been discovered in my body, but that something could happen to my sons’ bodies. The doctor explained that due to family genetics, they needed to begin routine colonoscopies ten years earlier than I had…which would put them beginning their checkups at 21. I don’t know any 21-year-old men that want to go through with that! As a mom, it was heartbreaking.
My mom, as all good moms do, understood. She listened to my broken sentences through the phone, and she managed to keep it together for me while I calmed down and worked through the heaviness.
My husband is a worrier by nature and he’s always relied on me to be calm, assured, and healthy. He managed to rally, giving me the space I needed that week to process everything while hiding his incessant Google searches and troubled mind.
A week later, I went through the entire process again. I lost ten pounds during both cleanses; at the end of the second cleanse, I was officially down 12 pounds and it was the absolute worst way to lose weight!
The morning of the procedure, I did my makeup, hair, and put on an adorable outfit. My hubby walked in and said, “That is what you’re wearing?!”
My reply was, “Someone is sticking a 6-foot long camera up my ***. That is epic. I’m dressing for epic.”
But the truth is, I was terrified. I was praying incessantly that the doctor wouldn’t find any more polyps, or worse… cancer. I prayed I’d remain calm and not have anyone in my close circle worry, and that all would turn out well. I needed to look good to feel confident.
The process for the colonoscopy was nothing compared to the sigmoidoscope. I was mercifully knocked out and stayed asleep for the entire process. The medical staff was absolutely wonderful; they were gentle but also met my no-nonsense attitude with their own.
When I woke up, the first person I saw was the doctor. I’d never been so glad to see a man’s face that didn’t belong to my hubby!
When he came to discuss my results he said, “It was the only one. Everything else was perfect.”
It took everything in me to keep from weeping in relief right then and there. Knowing that my body hadn’t betrayed me beyond the one polyp, that I’d been given a clean bill of health, that I’d avoided a terrible diagnosis down the road, and that my sons would have a healthy mom were blessings I still cannot stop praising God for.
Preventative medicine saves lives. I can’t say it enough. If there is anything bothering you, I urge you to get it checked out. The peace of mind is absolutely unmatched.
