it was scheduled for 8.30am, and i last ate anything about 6.30pm the night before. the leaflet i was given told me to not eat or drink anything from midnight, but my last herbal tea was about 9pm to be on the safe side.
the hospital staff were running a little late even though i was first of the day. they were dealing with other patients who were already in there, not just visiting like myself. the nurses were very nice and explained everything to me. i imagined it to be like visiting the dentist, but it was a more 'hospitally' visit than i imagined it would be: having to wear one of those gowns that split up the back, and giving me a name tag around my wrist, then wheeling me through on gurney.
the camera with the light on it could have been damaged by my tongue piercing so they asked if it could be taken out. i wasn't allowed to watch the monitor and see my insides unfortunately, only if you were getting the tube up "the other end" could you watch i was told. they sprayed the inside of my mouth a few times with an anaesthetic spray which tasted of bananas. laying down on my left side a nurse gave me one of those plastic things with a hole in it so that i could still breathe and not bite down on the camera tube.
my left arm was laid across in front of my right arm and resting on my right hip. they put one of those things to measure pulse or whatever on my index finger and a reassuring hand was laid on top of mine. this was probably not to reassure me but to prevent me from pulling the tube out if i started to gag and my body's normal self defence measures kicked in. who knows?
the endoscopy procedure was really quick, well once i had actually swallowed the tube. this is difficult when your throat had been numbed, the swallow muscles just didn't seem to want to swallow. having a camera/light down your throat brought to mind the facehugger from Alien, but it was mercifully short and didn't implant anything in my chest. on the contrary actually, a little bit of my stomach lining was taken out to biopsy. my stomach hurt a little after that, but was given the all clear. that means the rheumatologist can start testing me like a guineau pig on different meds.
after a wee lie down getting the tongue piercing back in again was difficult the most difficult part, almost creating a new hole in the process with the metal stud, not a sharp implement. i must have ripped away the protective layer that had built up on the inside of the tongue. this is actually the second time that's happened, it will heal soon.
after going to the hospital and having a sleep, Bulbgirl woke me up with a chocolate soya drink. perfect way to wake up.
