Upper Endoscopy question

Hi there everyone, I was wondering if someone could tell me how long does the scope procedure take.?  Lets say your appointment was at 1 pm what time would you be walking out of the hospital? And were you awake during it? was it difficult to swallow the tube? Can you feel it going down? I'm scared I am going to gag.... any information will be much appreciated.

Thank you so much, The reason I'm asking about how long it takes is because I m needing to book a flight home afterwards so would like an approximate time.

They give you an i.v. and you are asleep for about 3 minutes. You don't feel a thing. You can't drive after, you will need a ride.  

I wasn't asleep for mine but did have an iv to relax me, couldn't drive afterwards. Think i was may e an hour but i had upper gi and colonoscopy both done. Neither were as bad as i expected.

You will be given a "conscious sedation" which means not a full deep intubated type of anaesthetic. You will not remember the scope being done at all. Also, you cannot drive for 24 hrs after a conscious sedation and I would think you should mention your intent to fly home that day to the anaethetist just to make sure it's ok. You should not be alone and will not be discharged alone from hospital....it's a safety issue.

Terri

I had mine done at Humber Church site. It took a few hours to get registered, get an IV in, get the scope, see the doctor with the results, etc. You never know if they'll be running on time so I'd leave yourself a 4 to 6 hour window to be safe. If your flight out is the same day be sure to tell the RNs so they know you're on a very fixed timeline. Hopefully they'll be able to take that into consideration. Being extra nice goes a long way too... they see enough miserable and demanding people in a day!!!

I was surprized at how easy it was. One second I was being told to turn on my side and the next I was back in "recovery". I was a little groggy afterward and had a sore throat for 3 days, but other than that it was easy-peasy. I got a ride home but felt quite alert on my own. Everyone is different though.

What hospital will you be at? Are you flying Porter?

Mine was done in a private clinic and I have had 2 done previously to the latest.  I have never had an IV for an upper endoscopy before.  I had a 45 minute wait to actually be seen, then I was in and out (including seeing the doctor after in about 30 minutes).  The actual procedure takes about 3-5 minutes.

I can't sugar coat it, the procedure is awful (the doctor said I was the best 'awake' patient he's ever had), I was pretty frozen and you have a plastic bit to bite on (the tube can go through it) which helps a lot.  You do feel it going down, and poking around and it can be very uncomfortable.  If you are having doubts/can take the time, you might want to go for the IV.  I had to catch a greyhound 30 minutes after I was done and had no issue doing so.