More research...

So I'm looking for personal accounts of endoscopic exams today. Not a whole lot of blogging going on about the subject, probably due to the aforementioned drugs. No one seems to actually remember the procedure. Did find one post from a woman who's friend underwent the procedure without the mind-altering drugs, just the local and the friend's recommendation was: TAKE THE DRUGS!!!!!! Have yet to find any horror stories and, quite relievedly, no posts where the last post ever made to the blog was, "I'm undergoing an endoscopy tomorrow..."

I believe I've mentioned that my digestive tract is operating at a snail's pace and I constantly feel bloated. My stomach looks distended and yet I've lost 10 lbs. over the past month. How I managed to do that on a steady diet of chocolate and doughnuts is beyond me and if I think about it too long, I'm sure I can diagnose myself with some rapidly progressing form of cancer quicker than you can say Dr. Kevorkian was just released. The whole point of the previous is that one of the things they do during the procedure is to pump you full of air in order to give the camera some room to maneuver and have a clear view. I pray that the drugs will make me ignore that feeling and hope one of the medications does something to suppress my gag reflex. I would hate to be the patient that hurls all the contents of her stomach across some unsuspecting doctor. It's a small town, I'm sure the word would get around...

On the sleep front the news only gets better. I'm used to performing some combination of sleeping positions during the night to fend off lower back pain. My modes are:

1. On my back with a pillow under my knees
2. On my left side with the body pillow tucked between or under one knee and right arm slung across the top of it
3. The reverse of item 2

Because of the odious discomfort and pain caused by my condition, I've only been able to sleep in position 3 which does nothing for my low back. This morning I woke up in position 2, the first time I've been able to sleep on my left side without pain for over two weeks. And that's a victory, folks!