PillCam

I am currently about seven hours into my second capsule endoscopy. My first was a little over a year ago - just enough time to forget the details.

I think the dr.'s office may have sent me the wrong prep (yikes!). I ate dinner last night then did half a jug of HalfLytely at 4:00 this morning. First of all, I don't think the HalfLytely did it's job. Secondly, the instructional paper the nurse gave me after I swallowed the pill said to do clear liquids after lunch the day before. No HalfLytely. Oops. I hope I don't have to do this again. It's $1,800 each time.

Anyway, I swallowed the PillCam at 8:30 this morning after I signed the consent form (which, by the way, stated that the incidence of bowel obstruction with the pill is 1 in 1,000 (yikes!)) and snapped a photo of the pill. I've been avoiding MRI machines and resting on the couch since then. I'm not particularly hungry or thirsty but I had a small snack and a few sips of water at 1:30.

I find it fascinating that there is a camera traveling through my body, transmitting images to a tiny monitor. This is easily the least uncomfortable test I've had and I don't mind it at all. Now, if they could figure out a way to skip the prep and a way to make the stickies easier to remove... oh yeah, and take care of the huge price tag.

I'm off to return my monitor.