What's made you grumpy today?

[Thenop]

Had 4 lipomas in my chest and sternum area, went to hospital to get them removed. They did 2, and decided I should come bakc in another 2 weeks. So I am sitting here stiched up with 2 holes in my chest. Harmless lumps, but they became annoying and big to the extent I wanted them gone.
I alwasy underestimate this stuff, my wife keeps telling me this and luckily she went with to drag me home afterwards.

Oh well, I'll live.

Part 2 today, fresh stitches but the lumps are gone, so that is good news.

[Thenop]

Family histories are complicated.. I am digging in next month, going with my mum to the National Archives to find out some darker stuff it seems. Looking forward to that, yet I am not. Will post some basic findings when I have them.

Been to the National Archives today. I cannot post anything now, I found a lot of material, and most of it was unexpected. It is a bit of a chaos in my head at the moment. I will find the time, and the structure to do so. Hopefully soon.

Again: family histories are complicated..even more than I thought. 

[Nickslikk2112]

Been to the National Archives today. I cannot post anything now, I found a lot of material, and most of it was unexpected. It is a bit of a chaos in my head at the moment. I will find the time, and the structure to do so. Hopefully soon.

Again: family histories are complicated..even more than I thought. 

Intriguing. Take your time.

My family history is quite dull. A paternal great grandfather was caught drunk in charge of a horse and cart and once claimed to have been robbed when he'd lost his money playing cards.

[The Picnic Wasp]

My iPad decided to crash and go into start loop. Kaput I think. It's taken the shine off my imminent laptop purchase. Still, must be about five years old so can't complain too much.

[The Picnic Wasp]

I don't own an electric car and shouldn't let this annoy me, but I'm just back from the supermarket having witnessed once again vehicles parked in the charging meter spaces in a half empty car park, to save walking a few extra feet to the store. Invariably these vehicles are enormous gas guzzlers driven by a definite type or their fake tanned spouses.

[Nickslikk2112]

Not a big thing, but we've just come back from a weekend in Bristol and the standard of clothing people are wearing makes it impossible to differentiate the Down and Outs from regular society.
Certainly not all Shipshape and Bristol fashion.

[The Picnic Wasp]

Decided to emerge from the dark ages and ordered BT TV a couple of weeks ago. Openreach were supposed to come tomorrow to install full fibre etc but during a tidy up the TV fell off its stand and the screen broke. So gutted I postponed the engineers who can't come for another fortnight. Ipad packed in last week too. My tech shopping list in getting lengthy and very expensive.

[Fishy]

Our trip to Arran next week now in jeopardy as the new ferry now has a crack in its hull. ffs

[Slim]

Tomorrow, I will be undergoing a colonoscopy. It's probably not serious - I had some mild abdominal pain that came and went for a few weeks. The most likely diagnosis is mild diverticular disease, which is manageable by hydrating properly and eating enough fibre.

But they're going to have a look up there anyway and to prepare, the hospital sent me large pouches of powdered substance to dissove in water then consume over two one-hour sessions, at 5pm then 8pm. It clears you out so that the camera has a clear run up there.

My god it's disgusting - I used a straw to try and minimise contact with my tastebuds but it was like supping salty washing up liquid. But it certainly works. Never known anything like it. At the moment I'm still passing cloudy water in sudden half litre bursts every 15 minutes. It's like filling a bucket with sudden blasts of a pressure washer.

I was supposed to fast all day today. I didn't read the instructions properly, if I had I'd have seen that I was allowed to eat before 9AM this morning. But I didn't. I last ate at 7pm on Wednesday night. I've had two black coffees, a tea with no milk and some lemon cordial today, that's it. Despite that, I haven't felt hungry all day and after ingesting the grim nuclear-powered laxative I couldn't have eaten something if I wanted to.

Scuse me, I think I have to go to the toilet

[Thenop]

Tomorrow, I will be undergoing a colonoscopy. It's probably not serious - I had some mild abdominal pain that came and went for a few weeks. The most likely diagnosis is mild diverticular disease, which is manageable by hydrating properly and eating enough fibre.

But they're going to have a look up there anyway and to prepare, the hospital sent me large pouches of powdered substance to dissove in water then consume over two one-hour sessions, at 5pm then 8pm. It clears you out so that the camera has a clear run up there.

My god it's disgusting - I used a straw to try and minimise contact with my tastebuds but it was like supping salty washing up liquid. But it certainly works. Never known anything like it. At the moment I'm still passing cloudy water in sudden half litre bursts every 15 minutes. It's like filling a bucket with sudden blasts of a pressure washer.

I was supposed to fast all day today. I didn't read the instructions properly, if I had I'd have seen that I was allowed to eat before 9AM this morning. But I didn't. I last ate at 7pm on Wednesday night. I've had two black coffees, a tea with no milk and some lemon cordial today, that's it. Despite that, I haven't felt hungry all day and after ingesting the grim nuclear-powered laxative I couldn't have eaten something if I wanted to.

Scuse me, I think I have to go to the toilet

Best of luck!

[David L]

Tomorrow, I will be undergoing a colonoscopy. It's probably not serious - I had some mild abdominal pain that came and went for a few weeks. The most likely diagnosis is mild diverticular disease, which is manageable by hydrating properly and eating enough fibre.

But they're going to have a look up there anyway and to prepare, the hospital sent me large pouches of powdered substance to dissove in water then consume over two one-hour sessions, at 5pm then 8pm. It clears you out so that the camera has a clear run up there.

My god it's disgusting - I used a straw to try and minimise contact with my tastebuds but it was like supping salty washing up liquid. But it certainly works. Never known anything like it. At the moment I'm still passing cloudy water in sudden half litre bursts every 15 minutes. It's like filling a bucket with sudden blasts of a pressure washer.

I was supposed to fast all day today. I didn't read the instructions properly, if I had I'd have seen that I was allowed to eat before 9AM this morning. But I didn't. I last ate at 7pm on Wednesday night. I've had two black coffees, a tea with no milk and some lemon cordial today, that's it. Despite that, I haven't felt hungry all day and after ingesting the grim nuclear-powered laxative I couldn't have eaten something if I wanted to.

Scuse me, I think I have to go to the toilet

Ha! Just been through that myself last month!
I've had issues (mild pain in left-hand side of abdomen after passing stools, bloating, wind, periods of constipation etc.) for around ten years on and off. Had a colonoscopy and gastroscopy back in 2017 and was diagnosed with a bacterial infection, helicobactor pylori. Anti-biotics. However, these issues have continued on and off but came back with a vengeance just before Xmas.
Decided to go private and had a consultation where diverticulitis or diverticular disease was discussed. A colonoscopy and gastroscopy was recommended (predictably).
By the time it came around (after a week or so), things had calmed somewhat. I too had to endure the bowel prep you are on. Horrendous stuff! You should end up passing gin-clear liquid.
Everything looked normal, both ends, and some lovely photos of my (normal) guts were presented to me. Nothing to see here, which is a relief. My symptoms continued to improve. Follow-up with the doctor reassured me that nothing serious to worry about. We discussed nutrition and he recommended a dietary expert but I've not followed it up as it is now unnecessary. The one thing I've started having on the doctor's advice is a sprinkle of chia seeds on my breakfast yoghurt. Now I am very regular with no hard stools and not suffering any symptoms. Fingers crossed.

Hope it goes well.

[Thenop]

The one thing I've started having on the doctor's advice is a sprinkle of chia seeds on my breakfast yoghurt

Hope you're not snatched up then, you'll be singing like a bird!

[Slim]

Well - it turns out that there's nothing particularly wrong up there. I don't have diverticulosis, no polyps, no sign of anything sinister. I asked the doctor just as he was about to complete the procedure what he thought the problem was and he said likely a touch of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Interestingly what he said on the letter to my GP is:

"I think this patient's symptoms are functional. I would suggest amitriptyline if symptoms persist"

A bit of googling tells me that functional here means "no clear physical or structural cause".

However I haven't had the pain for a couple of weeks so I guess it's unfortunate that I was examined when the discomfort wasn't active.

Anyway - definitely no sign of cancer which I admit I was a bit worried about, even after the "stick" test and some blood tests.

So I'm taking that as a win. I will eat more fibre and fruit, hydrate more and forget about it. 

But my god the actual procedure is invasive. I declined sedation because I wanted to drive home. I was lying there going OH GOD, AHH GOD etc. They offered me gas (nitrous oxide I believe) and air but I declined, I thought I'd just suck it up.

The compressed gas they feed into you gives you powerful stomach cramps a few times but all of the time it's really tough feeling the tube slithering up your bum.

Curiously, there were four of five medical staff in there. The nurse was very supportive and empathetic. We chatted about cloud storage, AI and music festivals in between OH GOD and AHHHHH

This took place under the auspices of Ramsay Health Care at their modern private hospital in Nottingham. But I was referred by the NHS (my GP in Whitwick) so I'm not paying myself.

I was given a score of "Good" for bowel prep quality. There's a suction machine attached to the tube that goes up there and it was filling a clear canister with what looked like muddy water. Definitely not gin clear, though I did observe the instructions meticulously.

[Thenop]

Glad to hear you're OK.

[David L]

Good news, Slim