Cordelia's Mom, Still

WHAT IS A COLONOSCOPY REALLY LIKE?

Posted on April 21, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

No one ever wants to talk about it. The mere uttering of the word causes cringing, often accompanied by nervous giggling. Yes, we are going to discuss: colonoscopy.

According to the American Cancer Society:

“Overall, the lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is: about 1 in 22 (4.49%) for men and 1 in 24 (4.15%) for women.”

Those statistics don’t sound like something to get terribly upset about, do they? But if you have a disease that puts you at risk for colon cancer, they become dramatically more meaningful. One of those diseases is ulcerative colitis – and for those on long-term Remicade treatment, the risk is even higher.

That’s why my primary physician and my GI specialist both recently urged me to undergo a repeat colonoscopy. It was my fourth colonoscopy, which I believe makes me a bit of an expert on what to expect.

Tomorrow, I will begin boring you with my most recent colonoscopy experience. I will publish that story in two parts – the first dealing with the infamous prep prior to the test, and the second covering the test itself and the recovery afterwards.

I apologize to those readers who are a little squeamish – I am not going to sugar-coat anything. The two-part post will be a bit long, but I do promise that there will be a fair amount of humor which you won’t want to miss.

If you are facing a colonoscopy, or have already had one, or are just curious about what’s involved, please join me starting tomorrow for: “Are we having fun yet?”

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

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Image by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Health, That's Life | Tagged colon cancer, colonoscopy, colonoscopy prep, medical procedure, rectal bleeding, ulcerative colitis | 21 Comments

The Dream

Posted on April 18, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Such a beautiful day! As I sit looking out over the luscious green grass in my new backyard, I think of all the wonderful things to do this summer. I can get a picnic table and host a family barbecue while Puppy Cody frolicks through the flowers and chases bunnies. I can plant trees along the newly erected back fence, and watch them grow. Or I can simply lounge outside, drinking wine and reading a good book. The sunshine streaming in the window brings with it the warm spring air. The robins and butterflies have arrived. Finally!

***

Yep, it’s a dream. More snow is on the way tonight. sigh

Granted it won’t be a lot of snow and it won’t stick, but still …

As a longtime resident of Buffalo, New York, I’ve never much been affected by dark winter weather, yet even I am suffering the beginnings of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Ugh. Too much cold for too long a period of time. Surely, Mother Nature will take pity on us soon?

One can only hope.

BTW, for unrelated reasons, I will be away from WordPress for the next few days. Please be kind to each other in my absence. Have fun, but don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Says Mom.

See you in a few.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

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Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in That's Life | Tagged Buffalo NY, dream, lamp, SADS, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Western New York, winter, WNY | 19 Comments

Dare Me?

Posted on April 13, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Lunch Break

“oooo, it has a lens cap!”

I’m sure the camera salesman chuckled all evening over the silly blogger lady who spent mucho bucks to buy a “real” camera with lots of features she’ll never figure out how to use. But he did ask for the URL for my blog site, so I’ll forgive him.

And I suspect that at least some of those people who have faved and repicced my photos on Flickr and YouPic are probably photography teachers who plan to use my pictures as perfect examples of what not to do. But as long as I get those views, I’ll forgive them, too.

And I intend to keep on doing it.

‘Cause it’s fun.

Maybe someday spring will actually arrive, and then photography will be even funner – bringing warmer weather to give me some motivation to take outside pictures for a change. One can only hope.

BTW – the fence has been scheduled for installation at the end of May, on the assumption the ground will be dry by then. If it doesn’t snow, and if the spring rains aren’t torrential. Fingers crossed. Puppy Cody needs to run.