Here I go again - UPDATED

UPDATE - One very small polyp removed. And I do get a break until August, 2014! Guess I can start rolling now on all those plans we have for next year. Can you say "relief?"

This morning I'm "prepping" for my afternoon colonoscopy - the fourth prep I've done in 2 1/2 years.

In May, 2012 I had my first, life saving, colonoscopy. I didn't eat the night before, drank nasty stuff before going to bed and again the next morning, had the procedure done and was home by lunch. It wasn't too bad, the nasty stuff was tolerable.

The following week I prepped for the afternoon colon surgery which removed the cancer discovered during the earlier scope. That prep was fairly simply - drink a LOT of laxative diluted in gatorade.

I actually asked to do that again for my follow up colonoscopy last August, but its harsh effect is only appropriate for surgery. Instead I had to drink even nastier stuff. After a couple of rounds I cried, I trembled, it was misearable. Fortunately, I got close enough that my failure to drink it all didn't affect the exam. Another polyp removed, I've lived to come around again.

In July of this year the FDA approved a new colonoscopy prep that involves drinking a 5 ounce solution at night and again in the morning. It is stated to be more effective than the traditional solutions such as Movi-Prep (which I used the first time.) My doctor prescribed this new regimen for me, but alas, it is not on the market until October.

(Time out......gotta' go. Be back in a few.)

Instead I'm doing pills - four salt pills taken with water every 20-30 minutes. I can even have a couple of cups of coffee. Through five of the eight rounds it's okay. No tears, no shakes. I will finish about 8:45, after which no more drinking until I wake up in recovery.

I wish I wasn't so bad at drinking the "koolaid" usually prescribed. Most people, including my husband, tolerate it pretty well.

Thank goodness there are alternatives and continue to be medical innovations improving the effectiveness of colon screening.

Colon screening saved my life. If you are due for this routine test, don't put it off! (And say a prayer there are no polyps for me today so that maybe I can go TWO years before I need to do this again!)

Remember the Jetsons?

If you can imagine it, then someday it will happen.......

Planetary Resources, Inc. Announces Agreement with Virgin Galactic for Payload Services. “Planetary Resources, Inc., the asteroid mining company, announced today an agreement with Virgin Galactic, LLC that will enable multiple launch opportunities for its series of spacecraft, including the Arkyd-100 low-Earth orbit (LEO) space telescopes.”

Best news this year

I've been a horrible blogger - there are reasons, but I would have to blog to explain....

But I've finally been shaken from my apathy. This news is worth sharing, especially as I am working my way through a stash of dark chocolate Hershey Kisses to keep me going during tax season.

March 27, 2012 9:18 AM

 

Eating lots of chocolate helps people stay thin, study finds

By

Ryan Jaslow

 

(Credit: istockphoto)

(CBS News) What's the best way to stay thin? A new study finds it's exercising and eating a healthy diet full of - chocolate?

The study found that people who frequently ate chocolate had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who didn't.
Is it time to ditch fat-free for fudge?
For the study, published in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers examined more than 1,000 healthy men and women who were free of heart disease, diabetes and cholesterol problems. They were all enrolled in another study that measured the effects of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, but for this study researchers assigned them questionnaires that gauged how often participants chowed down on chocolate.
The researchers found that the participants - who were an average age of 57 - ate chocolate for an average of twice of week and exercised roughly 3.5 times per week. But the more frequent chocolate-eaters had smaller BMIs, a ratio of height and weight that's used to measure obesity.
What explains the effect? Even though chocolate can be loaded with calories, it's full of antioxidants and other ingredients that may promote weight loss, the researchers said.
"I was pretty happy with this news myself," study author Dr. Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego, told USA Today. "Findings show the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining ultimate weight."
Does that mean all diet regimens should include a daily chocolate bar? The researchers say it's too soon to tell.
"Our findings - that more frequent chocolate intake is linked to lower BMI - are intriguing," the authors wrote. However, "It is not a siren call to go out and eat 20 pounds of chocolate a day," Golomb told HealthDay.
This isn't the first study to suggest a daily dose of chocolate can do the body good. Last summer, a study of more than 100,000 people found those who ate the most chocolate were 39 percent less likely to get heart disease and 29 percent less likely to have a stroke, HealthPop reported. Months later a 10-year study of 33,000 women found a 30 percent reduced risk of stroke among chocaholics.
But experts warn not all chocolate is created equal, and some could contain lots of sugar and calories, which could lead to other health issues if consumed daily.
"I would not want people reading this to think that all [they] need to do to lose weight is eat more chocolate," Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Conn., told WebMD. "That would be a huge mistake." Katz suggests dark chocolate, because of its bitter flavor, may suppress appetite whereas sweet chocolate may stimulate it.