My Colonoscopy at Springfield Clinic

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have had some health problems in recent years that have left me disabled. In that post I spoke very highly of the care I have recieved from my doctors, but failed to mention them or the institution they are affiliated with. I would like to correct that error and share my recent experience.

My relationship with Springfield Clinic began in 1959 under the care of Dr. Eveloff. He was the only doctor I saw until the age of 18. I was a healthy child, so most visits were for routine check-ups. Then as today, the staff were always friendly and helpful. Dr. Eveloff and Springfield Clinic had earned my trust through the quality of care that was consistently delivered at every visit.

I met the man who would become my primary physician when he was a resident at SIU family practice. Dr. James Stegeman has been my primary physician for my entire adult life. I will admit that we hit it off the first time we met, and over the years we've become friends. He knows my quirks and has always been willing to help despite them. My trust in him is implicit. His support staff is top notch in every aspect from the receptionist to the nurses.

I went in for my annual wellness visit last month which is discussed in an earlier post. Two days after my visit I received a call from one of Dr. Stegeman's support staff; if I had not yet had a colonoscopy, one needed to be scheduled. These were the words I had been dreading.

I was sent to see Dr.Brad Paris for a consultation. The consultation was short, but very thorough. My first impression was very good. If you have to have this done, the least you could expect is a likeable doctor. Dr. Paris was this and more.

The day before the procedure I started the cleansing process. I had heard all the nightmare stories of having to drink a gallon of the worst tasting liquid ever invented and spending all day and night on the toilet; this has changed. Dr. Paris had prescribed SUPREP, two 6 ounce bottles of fluid taken with water. The first bottle was mixed with water at 10:00 AM and consumed. It had to be followed by two additional glasses of water in the next hour. By 1:00 PM it had done its job, and I no longer worried about my distance from the toilet. A liquid diet for the day; a list of permissible fluids was provided at the consultation. At 8:00 PM the process is repeated. By 10:00 PM the cleansing was complete. Nothing by mouth after midnight. Not a pleasant day, but not nearly as bad as it had been described by others.

My wife and I arrived at the clinic at 5:45 AM the next day. I am not a morning person by any definition, but the clinic is full of them. Happy smiling faces greeted us at every turn. The check-in was painless; the wife was provided a pager so that she did not have to sit in the waiting room. They would notify her when I was in recovery.

After a short wait we were called back to a prep room. Much to my surprise there was a large recliner with a blanket for me to sit in and a TV (remote included) to watch. The nurse went through a few questions to make sure all my information was current. She then provided a gown for me to put on as well as socks. As you know, you wear nothing under this gown. When the wife helped me to put it on, I was surprised to find it was almost as thick as flannel. We cracked the door to let her know I was dressed and in minutes she was in the room with warm blankets. She started an IV and attached the patch to my back that would monitor my vital signs. The anesthesiologist was in to visit and ask a few questions. Dr. Paris then stopped in to make sure we had no further questions before we got started.

A few minutes later the nurse was in to walk me down to where the procedure would be performed. The dreaded walk down the hall with your backside exposed and cold, but wait! As soon as I stood, another nurse was there with a warm blanket which she held over my backside for the walk. They helped me onto the bed, and you guessed it, another freshly warmed blanket. The nurse chatted with me during the short wait for Dr. Paris. When he arrived she told me she was going to start the anesthesia. I watched her push the plunger, and the next thing I know, I'm looking at my wife wondering when they would start. The recovery nurse was waiting with cookies and a soft drink for me while we waited to see Dr. Paris. He was in promptly to explain what was found and to recommend a boost in my fiber intake. My visit ended with a gentle ride in a wheelchair to my car.

The care I received at the clinic for this procedure would rival a first class resort/spa. The staff are friendly people who go above and beyond to make your experience as pleasant as possible. The doctors go out of their way to make sure you understand, and are comfortable with the procedures being performed.

I received a call the next day from Dr. Paris's nurse to check on how I was doing, and to make sure I had no further questions.

I'm not sure when I'll have to go back, but when I do I can rest assured that I will receive the best care available in Central Illinois. Thank you to all involved for making my experience a pleasant one.

Ron Kane

Syria

Why are we even considering any intervention in Syria? If we listen to the talking heads we will learn that if we do not intervene it threatens our national security. They just can’t seem to tell us how. Most now lean towards telling us how badly our credibility in the world will be damaged. Others will tell you it has to be done for moral and humanitarian reasons.

Let’s take the last one first. Moral and humanitarian reasons; morally the murder of innocents is reprehensible, and the use of chemical weapons on women and children does invoke empathy for the victims and their families. As compassionate people we would want to help them under the definition of humanitarian reasons.

There are many organizations that can provide humanitarian relief; isn’t that something the U.N. is supposed to handle?  So, we are left with the immoral acts being committed on the Syrian people, by the Syrian people. Realistically, the morals of the Syrian people seem to be different from those traditionally held in America. When did “we the people” decide to be the morality police for the world? Whose morals are we enforcing?

Our President drew a red line and warned Syria not to cross it. They ignored that warning and have crossed it more than once, if news reports are to be believed, and we have yet to act. Our credibility is already damaged. If the administration were serious they would have put a plan in place that could be put in action immediately if that line were crossed. Instead, we now openly debate the President’s decision to intervene in both houses, on TV for the world to see, at the President’s request. We’ll probably televise the decision and tell Syria what day and time to expect us.

The argument that our national security is threatened by Syria baffles me. Yes, they have tons of all types of chemical weapons, probably biological weapons as well, but they have no method of delivering such a weapon against our country. Yes, these weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists, but that has most likely already happened. The final point for this argument is that it threatens our allies. Look at a map of the region. How many countries in that part of the world are really our allies? If we were not sending billions of our tax dollars to them in aid every year, would they still be allies?

It seems that somewhere in the past our representatives changed the reasons we would make these sacrifices and “we the people” let that happen. We got involved WW I because our allies were attacked. We were attacked which led to our fighting WW II. Both of these wars were supported by the people; we sold war bonds and we rationed many consumables in order to provide what our soldiers needed. We fought Korea and Vietnam to slow the spread of communism when the cold war with the Soviet Union threatened our country. After that it seems the reasons to go to war became less significant.

We defended Kuwait at the request of Saudi Arabia when Iraq invaded. I believe time will show this as the first mistake America made in the region. It was this decision that empowered the Jihadists. The Saudi leadership chose the U.S. over the Arab fighters who had freed Afghanistan. This was a huge insult to their pride, and it would allow infidels onto Muslim holy ground.

After the attacks of 9/11 the government declared a war on terror. We would bring these terrorists to justice at all costs. I believe every American agreed with this decision. We went to Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban and the terrorists they supported. Then we had to invade Iraq again to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be non-existent. We spent billions of dollars and thousands of our brave warriors’ lives in these campaigns. We continue to do so ten years later in Afghanistan. We brought democracy to both of these countries and the talking heads point to free elections and elected officials now governing these countries as our success. This led to the Arab Spring, which toppled dictators for elected governments, and each time the talking heads went out of their way to tell us how our intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan were the spark that ignited this movement.

So, where does that leave us? Iraq is still experiencing daily sectarian violence, and innocent people continue to die. The freely elected government is so corrupt it makes our politicians look good; not an easy task. Afghanistan is no better off. Egypt is a hotbed of violence which was caused by a military coup which has led to sectarian violence, as well as what appears to be ethnic cleansing.  Libya suffers from similar problems. Now we have a civil war in Syria which finds its roots in religious sectarian differences and we want to get involved? To what end?

Every survey I have seen, regardless of network or party affiliation, shows “we the people” do not want this fight. Why then are our representatives and senators even considering a vote to intervene in Syria? What in the history of our recent interventions in the Middle East makes them think this is our job, or that the end result will be any different from the above examples?

Let’s say for the sake of argument we decide not to intervene. The next decision will be whether or not to arm the rebels. Can anyone tell me who they are? What are the rebels end goals? Will the resulting government be an ally, or more of the above? Let’s not forget, it was us that armed Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban fighters when they were fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It was us that armed Saddam Hussein when he was at war with Iran. This is a trend I think we should end.

Both sides seem to be led by men that place little value on human life. Basher al-Assad has proven his disregard for his people for more than a year. He is more than willing to use any weapon in his arsenal to hold onto his position, against rebel forces and innocents alike. There seem to be several rebel leaders, but the most well-known is a rebel commander named Abu Sakar. A Google search brings up some history about him, including a video of him cutting out the heart and liver of a dead soldier and eating the heart. This is who we want to arm?

As a country we are seventeen trillion dollars in debt. Our military has been at war for more than a decade. The cost in American lives and the billions spent cannot be justified by the results of these actions. It’s time we took care of ourselves and our country.

I believe that we should have the strongest military in the world. If our country is threatened by any entity, I believe the full force of our military should be brought to bear. I also believe the key to any such action should be to crush the enemy to such a degree that no one would dare attempt it in the future. The knock it down, and then rebuild it at our expense is ludicrous.  

Mr. President, tell the world we are no longer their policeman; they’ll have to settle their differences on their own, just as we did in our own Civil War. Tell them that when you drew a red line in a country that is not yours, it was a mistake. After careful consideration you've decided that if the other Arab nations are not willing to step up while Assad continues to kill his own people, it is not our place to get involved. The U.S. will change its focus to defense of its borders and the continued hunting down and destruction of those that would do us harm.

“We the people” need to contact our representatives and tell them to sit this one out. If we do not take the time to make our voices heard, we have no right to bitch when we find ourselves at war again.

Final note: There have been several posts recently of people in full military dress holding up homemade signs in front of their faces that all have a similar theme; I didn't join the Service to fight the Syrian civil war. If you are truly members of our military, you should be ashamed. When you took your oath, you wrote a blank check to the people of the United States up to and including your life to defend this country. If that means fighting in Syria, whether you agree or not, you fight in Syria. Soldiers don’t pick the battles they fight, their commanders do. You should know that. Vietnam was not a popular war, but our brave men and women fought it just the same. More than 50,000 gave their lives because it was deemed by their commanders to be in the best interests of the country. You dishonor them and all who came before them in defense of our nation.