First Doctor's Visit

The day finally came for my first visit to the Gastroenterologist. I checked in at the desk and waited. We all know what it's like to wait in the doctor's office - a fish tank, some magazines, some more waiting, wondering why you're paying to wait 20 extra minutes. I looked around this large waiting room and noticed that at age 30, I was by far the youngest patient in the room.

A glance at the magazines available told the same story. I seem to remember titles like - Senior Living, Retired and Old, I Have More Wrinkles Than You! and Oh the Places I've Already Been. Ok, so most of those were made up, but you get the idea - this place was for people older than I was... or so I thought.

After the nerve-racking wait, I was summoned to get my vital signs checked. Along the way it seems I got asked a similar series of questions by the nurse's aid, the nurse, and eventually the Physician's Assistant. They would take note of my weight - not overweight at all. I informed them that I was running until this started 3-6 times per week. At first they were straight-forward with their questions, then more disbelieving -

Any abdominal pain? no
Ever been told you have hemorrhoids? no
Do you drink? no
Do you smoke? no
Have you ever drank? no
Have you ever smoked? no
Any family history of intestinal problems or cancer? no

The questions went on and on, and they seemed ever the more skeptical. I felt like they were either terrified of what I might have, or thought I was making the whole thing up.

Eventually the P.A. said something like, "Well, you're too young to have cancer so it's either diverticulitis or Crohn's Disease." This led me to believe that the first thing he thought of was cancer. He said it could also be a parasite. Blood work, a stool sample, and a colonoscopy were ordered. The couple weeks it would be until the colonoscopy seemed an eternity away!