Endoscopy

Or as they pronounce it in Taiwan, en-do (long o sound) sco- (again, long o sound) pea.

I got to the hospital before my appointed time, since the walk over took just 20 minutes. Headed up to the fourth floor and showed a lady dressed in pink my paperwork. "Straight ahead," said she, so straight ahead I went. I'm already apprehensive, and I don't like hospitals anyway, so I nervously handed the nurse my paperwork, all the while trying to avoid eye contact with the 10 or so other folks waiting. She took it, along with my national health card, and after signing my name twice on a form that was all in Mandarin, I sat down in a bright orange plastic chair to wait.

After waiting about 20 minutes, (yes, I had a novel with me to help keep me occupied) the nurse stood up and made a loud announcement. In Mandarin. People raised their hands, stood up, and were all given a little medicine cup. They then all brought the cups to their mouths, tipped their heads back, and drank the medicine down. A few minutes later, the nurse asked for my paper, took a look at it, left, and then returned with my very own paper cup. "What is it for?" I asked. "Drink," she encouraged. Oh what the heck, I'm in a hospital in Taiwan, what can possibly go wrong? I drank. (not bad tasting...thick and white...wonder what it was???)

Before long I hear a few belches from folks around me and my own stomach is feeling a bit extended. Oh yeah, this is what Rick told me about. No worries, a tad uncomfortable, but that's it. (the bloating lasted the rest of the day...as did other side effects, but I'll refrain from saying why I needed to stay close to a restroom for the rest of the day!)

Another ten minutes pass (along with some gas) before the nurse starts calling names for the procedure. I occasionally hear sounds of retching from the procedure room, which doesn't make me feel any less apprehensive.

"Brenda," calls the nurse. Oh crap, it's finally my turn.

Into the little room, take off the shoes, climb up on the table, lay on my side. A different nurse squirts my throat with numbing spray. Twice. I'm laying on my side, which sometimes makes me gag on a good day. And with my throat numb, yikes. The nurse then put a plastic mouthpiece between my lips. Yep, that did it. I sat up, tried not to actually gag, and told the doctor I didn't think I could do this. Dr. Chen said,"No worries, it just takes a minute, breathe deep."

So back down on the table I go. Dr. Chen is holding tube. (that sucker is LONG) I close my eyes. Doctor says open eyes. I open eyes, but do NOT look at tube going down throat, and breathe as deeply as I could, doing my best not to make any retching sounds so as not to worry the people still waiting their turn. What's that? Doctor is done, tube coming out? I didn't embarass myself too badly, and although my throat was still numb, I no longer felt the need to gag. (and I KNOW I didn't make enough noise for people to hear me!)

Best part...everything looked good. I can go to Dr. Chen's office at a later time if I want and view the procedure on the computer. Don't think I see the need for that right now.

All in all, while it was uncomfortable, I am glad I had it done. I still don't like procedures or hospitals, but sometimes ya just gotta do it.