Question:
I am getting scoped in the morning and very scared

as I've never been scoped before. My surgeon is an hour away and on vacation so I've been to the clinic in my home town (which doesn't do gastric bypass) and had an upper GI today and they feel I have a stricture and (the local gastro doctor) will scope me at 8:00 in the morning and dialate my stomach. I'm terrified of being scoped. Could anyone thats had this done before describe it to me and tell me if its painful? Also do you think this doctor will know what he is doing? Could he strech my stomach too much? Thank you so much for your help, this site is so wonderful with all the support I've received.    — Kelly S. (posted on July 1, 2004)

July 1, 2004
I think you mean he'll be stretching your stoma, not your stomach. The stoma is the opening from the stomach to the intestine. Scopes are very easy & painless. You're put into a twilight sleep, and won't know or feel a thing. There's absolutely no pain, and only because of the drugs, they will not allow you to drive home afterwards. Don't worry, it's a piece of cake! (sorry for the pun:)) Will the doctor know what he's doing? Well, you have to ask him that. You want it stretched enough so that you'll be able to get food down, but not too much that you won't get a feeling of fullness in our tiny stomachs. I always interview docs ahead of time to see if they're familiar with our plumbing. It's up to you to find that out.
   — Leslie F.

July 1, 2004
Kelly--don't worry too much. I too was scared because I had been throwing up for 3 months, had gotten a blood clot 1 month out, and had some problems and had to stay an extra 3 days after my bypass. The scope was a piece of cake as Leslie said. I was put completely to sleep, woke up and my DH took me home all in about a 4 hour time span. And I've had NO problems since that. I'm off the blood thinner, no throwing up since the scope, and I went from 245 to 125 before my year anniversary in April. Best of luck to you and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. Let us know.
   — Tammara D.

July 1, 2004
Kelly: Tammara & Leslie are right about the scoping being a piece of cake. You will definitely go to sleep and won't remember anything. You've endured the worse of it today with the laxative and the liquids. Good luck & God bless. Judy
   — juju524

July 1, 2004
Dont worry you'll do fine. EVEN if your surgeon was 'in town' he wouldnt have done the Endoscope. You'd be using the same doctor your getting... Its painless ....
   — star .

July 3, 2004
Please don't stress about this procedure. I have had about 10 of them in four years. Other than an IV being started, and some yucky stuff to numb your throat, the extra nap is pretty nice. The twilight sedation has no real after effects either.
   — kultgirl

July 3, 2004
Please don't be afraid of being scoped. It's no big deal. I've had it done twice (the first time several years pre-op and once about 8 weeks post op). If you've had an upper GI series done and they have seen a stricture at your stomal site, then you need to have it stretched. It's an easy process where they put a balloon catheter into the pouch and into the stoma and just blow it up to stretch out the strictured site. The entire process from beginning to end is about 10 minutes. You'll be given an IV with some pre-op meds that put you into a "twilight" state. You have to swallow when they tell you to and they sort of "numb up" your throat with a spray before they insert anything. It'll be over before you know it, and you'll feel so much better to have the stricture eliminated. No more vomiting or uncomfortably full feelings after eating a couple of bites. Good luck and God bless.
   — Katherine F.

July 7, 2004
I want to thank everyone for the comforting words as I apparantly was a real baby about this. Everything went great as I don't even remember it. I just remember them spraying something in my throat and then waking up with my girlfriend next to me. Piece of cake! The worst part was the IV. LOL. They did find an ulcer not a stricture so I'm on my way to recovery with that. Once again thank you to everyone for your help with this, the anxiety was driving me nuts.
   — Kelly S.