My Running Diet and the Colonoscopy

I turned 50 earlier this year and like many others do when that happens, I had a colonoscopy test. Mine was this morning. I knew the 'drink' they give you was atrocious. But no one warned me - The diet was AWFUL! 

This was my dietary schedule the last few days:

Friday upon waking:

• Cut out all fiber rich foods (there went my Dave's Killer bread!). 
• Cut out all fruits with edible skins and all fresh veggies (are you KIDDING me!?!). 
• Cut out all nuts and seeds. 
• Cut out all red and purple foods. No tomatoes. No hot sauce. No salsa. 

I had to go pay money for white bread, cheap pasta and canned veggies. Eating them was even harder than paying for them. At least I could add grilled chicken to my yucky pasta and eat a banana for desert.

Saturday: I ran 8 miles on the food I ate the day before. Then I ate the same diet throughout the entire day to 'feed' my muscles. Luckily there was skinless chicken, and a Gatorade Recovery drink. But I was really missing my fresh fruit and veggies. It is a habit of mine to eat two servings of blueberries every day I do a long run. Not this weekend. At one point earlier in the day, I almost ate a fresh cherry tomato off the plant I have by my front door but it was a skinned fruit, it had seeds and it was red but I caught myself in time. I was miserable.

Sunday: LIQUID DIET. Remembering, my muscles were still recovering from yesterdays 8 miles I was pretty frustrated. I drank my clear chicken broth and my 8 ounces of yellow or green gatorade once an hour. I had sugar free lime jello and white grape juice. My recovering muscles were not amused. I had muscle cramps and headaches by bedtime.

MEDS:  While I won't explicitly describe the liquid hell I had to drink Saturday night, Sunday night and at 5:20am this morning (and the nasty effects it created) I will tell you that I had no sleep Saturday or Sunday nights.  Also, I had the shudders and had to fight throwing it up while drinking it. I had bad chills for hours after each dosage. I literally cranked my electric blanket up to "4" while wearing sweat clothes under the covers.

Procedure was this morning: While the anesthesia girl was prepping me for my IV she saw my resting heart rate of 48 and asked if I was a runner. That made my day! I went to la-la land with a smile on my face.

They found and removed FIVE polyps. They said two had to go to Biopsy. That disappoints me not because of what 'could' be, but because that means I now have to have this procedure once every 3 years now, instead of once every 10.

Once home, it felt so good to grab my Dave's Killer Bread, grill up a Jenny O turkey patty, add fresh red onion, a fresh heirloom tomato from my garden and fresh green lettuce. Best sandwich EVER!!!!!  

I asked the nurse about recovery from the procedure and if she thought Hammer Endurolyte pills would be helpful. She said it was a wonderful idea because yes, a LOT of fluids are lost in the two days prior to the test. I was going to take them any ways and surely, once I did, my leg cramps stopped.

Doctor said no driving or equipment for 24 hours after. I am taking tomorrow off since I was told not to drive until 11:30 am and I deserve a break (AND SLEEP!!!) after the last four days.