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Pill Cam - any words of advice?

I'm scheduled to do a pill cam on Monday. I've planned out my prep (http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=430880#post430880)

I haven't decided if I'll go to work, work from home, or just go home and watch TV until I have to return the equipment

I'm not even sure what I'm wondering about, I think I'm just nervous, I'm doing this test to make sure I don't need surgery before I can try to get pregnant again.

I'm guess I'm just wondering if anyone who has been through this has advise.

thanks :)
 
I had a Pill scope last year. It is painless and and it is finished usually in the same day. You have to wear a recorder type thing around your shoulder (it stores the pics). For me, they did an endoscopy also, so they just put it immediately in my stomach so it could pass faster. My results came back within 3 hours of the passing of the camera. Oh ya...They will fish out the camera out of the feces when you pass it (i guess its a really expensive camera!).
If you need anymore info, I'm here.:)
 
oh no, they collected it after? I think I've read others didn't have to do that, guess they do it differently everywhere - fingers crossed I don't have to do that. Did they send you home with one of those toilet "hats"?

I, the goofy person that I am, was worried about having been constipated for the past few days, so instead of taking a delcolax, I drank the bottle of cherry mag cit (that I bought before connecting cherry = red = bad). That was 14 hours ago and I'm still afraid to fall asleep...

The instructions for tomorrow said to "clear liquid diet starting at 6pm... 2 bottles of Magnesium Citrate in the evening" but now I'm concerned that if I eat normally and just drink the mag citrate throughout the evening that I'll be up all night and I have to leave a little after 6:30am the next morning to be sure to get there on time... ug

oh well, at least the prep is the hard part, I just wish they'd all do it the same way so I could learn what to expect

One kinda funny thing, I had to inform my family that they would not be hearing from me right away about how it went. They of course asked why, so I explained that to do so would basically be sending out a poop report and that's just weird :)
 

PsychoJane

Moderator
I think every place as different rules for the prep. For my pill cam they would ask me to be on clear liquid diet for the whole day before the exam starting at 8 am I think. Then I had to get up at 5 or 6 am to drink golitely and show up at 7 am for the exam. This method was different than the first time I had that test were they had me drink the golitely in the evening previous the exam. Even if it is annoying because it's hard to get to the exam, it had the advantage that within 3 hours the pill was out as opposed to 12 ish hours the first time.

I don't know if you need the pill to get out quickly on your side, but for me it was important as I was hoping to assist a class in the afternoon, but if you want it to be out faster, keep in mind that the more you walk, the faster it gets out. Also, chewing gum helps.

As far as fishing the cam go... Ive been told to throw mine's away. No fishing on my side.

As previously said, the prep is the hard part, the test is easy on its own... the worst is being hungry lol.

Good luck!
 
I'm outpatient as well for the pill cam

They are weird about what they want to see in the hospital. I hated having to use the hat to track my pee. And then depending on the nurse I either got in trouble for not telling them to empty the hat or other nurses acted like I was being demanding telling them I'd peed. I eventually made a spread sheet and just wrote down the amount and then told the one nurse who cared

PsychoJane, with taking the prep that morning - did you not find yourself needing a bathroom while driving or getting setup? that would scare me

and now I'm curious, how do you know the pill has passed, does it still light up or something?

I'm not anxious to pass it by a certain time, but I am looking forward to being able to get on with my life once I pass this pill.

I'm just really hoping I don't have to "fish" :)
 

PsychoJane

Moderator
PsychoJane, with taking the prep that morning - did you not find yourself needing a bathroom while driving or getting setup? that would scare me
I have a ileostomy so I'm lucky in that aspect I don't need to rush for a bathroom considering the situation. That's probably why they have me doing it in the morning rather than at night when I think about it. That would explain the why.

nd now I'm curious, how do you know the pill has passed, does it still light up or something?
Yep, the pill contains like three strobbing led. So you see it clearly when you pass it, or just close the light to make sure :p

And seriously, as previously said, the worst is the prep. For the rest, other than having to carry the case on, there are not much worries to have. :)
 
well, that wasn't bad. I ended up going to work in between taking the pill and returning the monitor bc the route home there was crazy traffic and it would have taken hours.

I felt some pain at 3 different times in the 2 places where I sometimes feel pain when digesting. I wrote down the time, I'm kind of curious if the pics are time stamped and if those spots look different than everything else.

I'm def more gurgle-y now than what I remember after a colonoscopy but I'm also in decent shape now and the 2 colonoscopies I've had were done when I was in bad shape so its possible I just didn't notice bc I was use to feeling sick

I'm still not convinced I was prepped enough but I guess I'll find out soon enough, he said he'd get back to me with the results in a few days
 
well, the exam went well but the pill never left and my GI said it looks like all scar tissue so I'm suppose to get a call from the surgeon's office next week to schedule surgery. I didn't do the dummy pill bc my plan was always to go to surgery if I was too narrow for the pill. My biggest concern was avoiding a blockage when pregnant so I'm not thrilled about surgery but its better than the idea of a blockage while pregnant and really better than a blockage leading to surgery while pregnant

on a humorous note, a coworker reminded me of this magic school bus episode where they go into the digestive system. He suggested they should make the pill look like a yellow school bus :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkqSapSsLvc
 
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