Do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night prior to your examination. There is no actual bowel preparation that you need to take, just keep your stomach empty.

If you are taking Pletal, bufferin or aspirin please stop taking those one week prior to the examination. If you are taking long term anticoagulants including Coumadin, Plavix, Eliquis, Xarelto or Pradaxa your prescribing physician should make the decision as to when to discontinue usage. If you are diabetic, you should not take your pills or insulin the morning before coming to the hospital. You should take heart or blood pressure medications with a sip of water on the morning of the procedure.

The morning of your exam, you may shower and brush your teeth as usual. However, do not eat or drink anything, not even coffee or tea.

Report to the admitting desk and you will be directed to the 2nd floor endoscopy suite and preparations will be made by the nursing staff.

Following the procedure, you will be returned to your room and discharged shortly thereafter. Anesthesia rules require that someone stay with you for four hours after your discharge from the hospital. When you return home you may resume normal eating habits. If you experience severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or passage of blood in your stool, please contact me immediately day or night.

If any tissue or a biopsy has been taken, we will call you concerning the results as soon as they are available; usually 1 week.

You will be notified by the office of any follow-up plans that may be necessary.

Because you will be given intravenous medication during the procedure, New York State Law dictates that someone must drive you home. You may not drive yourself.