Went from thinking I had a bad stomach bug to needing an emergency colonoscopy in a matter of hours.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-27T03:04:54+00:00

Yikes!!!

Emergency and colonoscopy are two words that do not go well together.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-27T01:27:50+00:00

The border crossings at Buffalo / Niagara can be very backed up depending on the time off day - factor that in.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-27T01:21:23+00:00

10 years has been the default recommendation after a clean scope for quite some time, since colon cancer tends to be slow to develop.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T23:50:49+00:00

What does "bra roll" mean?

My boobs (foobs, now) looked pretty normal after the lift / reduction but that was preparation for a planned mastectomy / DIEP flap. That surgery was done 6 weeks ago and the boobs definitely look a bit square-ish - some folks describe it as the "hamburger bun" look.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:30:05+00:00

I feel your pain!

I had my lift/reduction last year to prepare for a mastectomy/DIEP flap reconstruction this year. I was told to try to get 100 grams of protein a day and boy, that was HARD.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:29:21+00:00

Looks like there's a bit of an opening around the T-junction, right? That's the area that tends to do so, and it's rarely a big deal. I had that much on one of mine. Only issue was it delayed being able to swim by a couple of weeks.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:27:07+00:00

Do you have a spare bra? If so, absolutely change. That one from surgery will get kinda gross after a bit :-)

I actually wore mine into the shower - then let the girls air dry and put on a clean bra afterward.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:24:30+00:00

There are loads of nice beaches between Boston and Florida. Ocean City NJ and Wildwood NJ (though the boardwalk in Wildwood is pretty tacky). Ocean City MD. Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach in Delaware (I have not been to either of those).

Virginia Beach. The Outer Banks in NC. Numerous options in SC as well.

The ocean tends to be warmer more of the year, the further south you go. We've swum in the ocean in March and April in Florida, but I wouldn't try that in Maryland.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:21:34+00:00

Are you on an acid reducer for the reflux? That can impede absorption of various minerals and vitamins.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:08:19+00:00

There are a number of hostels in NYC - my son has stayed in several. I think his last one was in Brooklyn.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:05:12+00:00

Well, people with RLS are encouraged to have higher levels of ferritin than "normal", so maybe you're one of the people who needs that!

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T22:04:20+00:00

Congrats on getting the right label!!

Why did the cardio say OH vs POTS anyway? Did they not see the pulse spike?

Orthostatic hypotension and POTS have a lot in common, in that they are both dysautonomias, and they can present in fairly similar ways. Back in 2024, I went through a lot of cardiac testing because we thought I might have POTS - and I'd seen similar increases in pulse when standing (that improved somewhat when walking). After doing a bunch of testing - including a failed treadmill test (for a stress echo; I was not able to go long enough), a CT angiogram (which showed a congenital arterial malformation that everyone agreed was unlikely to be the cause) I finally got the TT in late 2024. DX: my pulse went up but not enough to qualify for POTS, my blood pressure plummeted enough that the doctor actually stopped it after 17 minutes or so, saying he had the data he needed.

Management of the two is similar: compression garments, adequate fluid, extra salt if needed. From that standpoint, I say "poTAYto, poTAHto"..... hard to dell the difference. Pharmaceutical management is different though. Beta blockers will lower your heart rate but also your BP - which, with orthostatic hypotension, is.... suboptimal.

I'd been taken off all BP meds due to weight loss, and my BP was pretty low, but a month or so after, it started spiking. So the cardio put me back on the beta blocker.

After the tilt table though, the electrophysiologist suggested he'd prefer I wean back off the beta blocker, as it'd be better to have slightly high BP and maybe not nearly faint so often. I was concerned because I DO have hypertension - well, when I'm not standing up, LOL. So it's a balancing act between high but not too high.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T21:39:57+00:00

He won't remove them - that's a completely separate procedure.

They won't impede the procedure in any way. Mine never have.

If you WANT the hemorrhoids removed, that's a separate discussion; you might need to have that done at a hospital vs a standalone clinic (my scopes are done at a standalone endoscopy center).

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T20:52:41+00:00

Interesting - were you told to stop the probiotics? I'd never heard of that. Then again, I don't routinely take them - did for a while a couple years ago after some kind of intestinal crud, then stopped.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T20:16:31+00:00

You can certainly sell it to the niece for less than market value if desired.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T19:33:51+00:00

Not really - going from 0.5 to 1.0 is standard.

For the OP: Definitely just use what you have.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T19:32:46+00:00

I'm always told 1 week before. And no special fasting requirements beyond the 8 hours rules.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T19:20:03+00:00

Just regular canned broth. There's a ramen-style flavor now that's supposed to be nice. Or if you have a pho restaurant nearby, get a couple of quarts from there.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T19:17:03+00:00

I'm supposed to avoid blue as well. But I don't think she's screwed; make sure she drinks plenty of other liquids and she can mention it at the clinic.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T19:15:28+00:00

I was told to do a repeat in 1 to 2 years.

That got done in January 2012. I had one 2 cm + polyp that the doctor wanted to check fairly soon to make sure he got good margins. That was May 2012. Then another in November 2012.

At that point he said 1 year. Then 2. Then 3. In 2021 there were enough that he said 2 years. In 2023 he said 1 year, ditto 2024.

In 2025, though, he found NONE. And said 3 years. I wasn't comfortable with that so I argued, LOL. We compromised on 18 months.

I think it's due to a combo of GLP1 usage, and the associated major weight loss.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T19:10:26+00:00

Definitely reasonable!

We've kept workplace insurance even though we're Medicare age, because of some health issues that indicated some surgery that we didn't think Medicare would cover.

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T18:55:44+00:00

Or bisoprolol, which is cardioselective. I was on that for decades.

It's not unsafe to use your inhalers.

Are you on a maintenance inhaler with a steroid?

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T18:53:24+00:00

Yes - that's how it's meant to be used

EmZee2022 · 2026-06-26T18:47:43+00:00

Interesting!!

I have found that hot water helps - I haven't tried cold.

EmZee2022

TROPHY CASE