EGD Report

Hello ICLWers! The post below this one will give you a little bit of a rundown on my story.

I survived my EGD, only very slightly scathed.

I woke up at 5:15 am to leave the house by 6:15, to be at Surgicare by 7:30, for the procedure at 8:30. We got there on time, registered, waited for a bit, then did the business/financial talk with one of the receptionists. After a little more waiting in the lobby, they took me back for the initials. They checked my blood sugar, blood pressure, weight, pulse, etc. Everything in order. Then I had to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test (oh irony), and slip in to the ever fashionable hospital gown. Then the nurse sat me down in a recliner, got me a heated blanket, in inserted my IV (my first ever). I thought it would be about as bad as any other blood draw, and it wasn't too much worse. JP got to come back and sit with me while I waited to be taken into the procedure room.

Two more nurses came to get me at about 8:35, took me to the procedure room, had my hop up on to the table, hooked me up to the heart and blood pressure monitors, put the little oxygen tubes in my nose, and then informed me that the doctor wasn't yet in the building. Keep in mind that I am completely terrified of this whole process. Nervous as could be, and had been since waking up that morning. The SOB doctor didn't show up until 9 am. 30 minutes after the scheduled time. I could understand if he'd gotten backed up from patients all day, but this was his first appointment! He popped in for 2 seconds to ask me if I had any questions, and then one nurse is spraying the numbing agent into the back of my throat while the other is injecting the sedative. The next thing I remember is a few moments of gagging, and then being wheeled into the recovery room, where I zonked out for 20 more minutes.

In the end, I just had a bit of throat soreness, and discomfort when I eat, but that is already starting to subside. I apparently have a bit of acid reflux damage, for which I was given a prescription.

The nurses were wonderful, but I can't comprehend why any doctor thinks its ok to arrive at the site of a procedure 30 minutes after it was supposed to have started. When did he lose his empathy for his patients? It really makes me appreciate the doctors that I've been to that are so caring and wonderful. I need to remember to tell my RE how much appreciate his time and care.