This guide has been put together to give patients a more complete understanding of what happens on the day of their colonoscopy.

When you arrive for your colonoscopy at your appointment time, a nurse from the endoscopy lab will come to the waiting room and take you and your family members back from the waiting room.  Your family member(s) will be placed in our private lounge, and you will be taken into the lab.

You will be asked to get undressed, and then you will be directed to your assigned stretcher to begin the process of getting you ready for your examination.

The nurse getting you ready will ask you many questions, some of which are:

"How was your colon preparation?"
"What medications are you allergic to?"
"Are you allergic to latex?"
"Are you diabetic or do you take heart / blood pressure medications?"

Once these and other questions have been answered, the nurse will proceed to put an I.V. into your arm.  This I.V. is used for a few different things, namely the replenishing of fluids lost due to colon preparation, and also as an access port for the sedative medications, and other medications that may be needed.

At this time, the nurse will let Dr. Early know that you are ready for your procedure.  Dr. Early will speak with you, and then the nurse will give you some pre-sedation medication.  This will help you relax and also help your body get used to the sedation.

Soon after the sedation is administered, you will be wheeled on the stretcher, into the procedure room.  The colonoscopy usually takes 20 to 25 minutes.

Once finished, Dr. Early will speak with you and your family members.  The recovery nurse will awaken you from your sedation, and you will be given something to drink and the nurse will take you to the restroom.  Sometimes an amount of air is left in the colon, so you will be asked to expel as much of the air out as you can.
 
After the nurses determine that you are nearing your discharge time, you will be given instructions on aftercare, according to what happened during your procedure (i.e. polyp removed), etc.  You will then be asked:

Not to drive,
Not to sign any important papers,
Not to use any dangerous or heavy equipment, etc.
(The nurse will have full instructions)

The nurse will also give you dietary instructions, according to your procedure.

Lastly, the nurse will get your family and wheel you out to your car.

Follow up is usually within 1 to 2 weeks, but if there are any problems, do not hesitate to call us.

We hope that this information will ease your mind and help you to understand what happens on a typical day for a patient having a colonoscopy.