It is really cold. Has not been easy to get any new tattoos. I will write about what is going in my life.

Due to both my mother and father getting colon cancer. I need to start getting colonoscopies early. This is both good and bad. The bad is now I have to get a colonoscopy. The good is am still young enough that I question everything.

My doctor gave me a recommendation to this one GI. They called me up the next day. They happily informed me they did not have any time slots for the next month or so. I would need to set this up as soon as possible is what they told me.  They called me a couple of times, trying to get me to agree to a date with them.

The GI also had lots of rules. Exact quote from email: “For 3 days prior to your procedure, you will need to be on a soft diet (no hard fruits, vegetables, nuts or popcorn) and 1 day prior is a clear liquids diet (chicken broth, ginger ale, popsicles).” As this was the rules. I was not really sure what I could eat. I start asking the lady on the phone seemed confused. She would just state these are the rules. Honestly from this it looks like I would be eating only meat 2 days before? What is a soft fruit? The lady on the phone could not really answer any of my questions. I wish I had asked if gummies are on the diet.

The next thing I have from the email. This is what drove me over the line:”If you need to cancel or reschedule, we require 3 full business days notification in order to avoid the $250.00 cancellation fee.
You will also need a driver that can stay the full two hours with you at the location and you cannot drive for the rest of the day due to sedation. ” My first issue with this is. I am now required to have a driver? I need this driver to not have any issues within 3 days of the procedure. If my driver does have an issue, and I cannot find a replacement. I will be charged 250$. My driver has to stay in the waiting room the entire time, and can not leave during the procedure. Why do they care what my driver does while I am getting getting a camera put up my butt? What if my driver wants to run around the building? What if my driver wants to go to Starbucks? Why do they care? They have to just sit in the waiting room?

I asked: Can I show up alone. I will call an Uber and get a ride home. They said no you will need to arrive with a driver. They will not allow you to show up alone, and Uber home. They would not do the procedure.

I asked: What if I am old and I dont have a friend\partner. They started in on some service for 22$ dollars an hour. I would have to pay this is so a person can wait in the waiting room, and drive me home.

As most of this did not make sense to me. I started to look online. I found two things. First: Most GIs will require you to be sedated. Second: Sedation is a GIs requirement not a requirement of a colonoscopy.  If you directly start calling GIs. They will tell you. You have to be sedated. If you don’t have someone with you to drive, they wont do the procedure. They wont even offer the unsedated option. They may say this is a standard and a requirement of all GIs. This is what I was told this when I called GIs.

I really hate just following orders. When the answer is “because I said so”. I came up with a two part plan.
The company I work for has a health advocate. I requested them to find me a doctor with 25 miles that did not require the patient to be sedated. If this was not possible. I would call my insurance company. Let them know that having a driver was a required part of the procedure. What drivers would be covered under my current insurance. That or they could find me a doctor were it was not required.

The health advocates did find me a GI as requested. When I called for my appointment. The person on the phone was much more friendly. They also only required a special diet for one day before, and Movieprep. I was also able to set the appointment with this option: If I have a driver, they will sedate me. If my driver is unable to attend, they will do it unsedated.

I may or may not update again about this after I get the colonoscopy. I just kind of see it as a moral of the story. Don’t just take things at face value. If something feels wrong, find a way out. Try to fix the problem.
Maybe if I was older. I would have just bowed, and allowed these rude people treat me like I was a toddler.
I look forward in life. I hope I don’t end up like a scared old person. Just doing what a doctor said without asking why.

Yes I know what the page is left blank. I still think it stupid.