| JULY 19, 2002 My appointment with the liver doc was very long. It was the longest I had ever spent with a doc. 2 HOURS!?! He did leave toward the end for about 10 or 15 minutes to see another patient but he spent all that time with me. My BP was good 108/78 and my weight was 144 clothed. After getting my history he asked why I was there to see him and I told him I had no idea. I told him my internist said I needed to see him due to my liver profile. He looked at all my blood work and said that my ANA was normal. ASMA is not back yet. Wilson's Disease, negative. Liver profile and triglycerides were up but had come down some in the 3 weeks between when they were taken. He noted the weight loss and said that losing weight is probably my saving grace. He felt that with my blood work and symptoms I may very well had been bordering on Diabetes. I explained that there could have only been 10 pounds at the most but he didn't seem to care about that. He also said that if I were to go off the diet I would probably develop Diabetes. That did not come as shocking news at all. He continued to look at my blood work and abdominal sonogram and decided that most likely there was nothing wrong with my liver. He felt my problems were either in my stomach or colon. He was particularly concerned with my change in bowel habits. Having never used laxatives in my life, I have had to use them continually for the last month or two. He was most concerned with the fact that I wake up in the middle of the night to vomit. It never happens during the day. I am nauseated constantly but the vomiting is always at night while I am sleeping. He says there are two pathways that produce proglastin which protects the stomach. Steroids block one of these pathways and Vioxx blocks the other. Also, he said that fact that I am consuming less food may be providing less protection. So, what does he want to do? Well, he ordered a Prometheus test. It seems there is only one lab in all of the US that does this test and only one lab in our area that collects it. Since it has to be handled by courier, I have to do it in the early morning preferably. This tests for gluten intolerance. Although I eat little to no bread, I do LOVE pastas. And he wants to do a colonoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy [EGD] to rule out, yes, the cancer word. Wednesday, the 24th, I have to have some pre-op blood work done. Wednesday, the 31st, I have the colonoscopy and EGD. For those not in the know it means they will run a scope down my throat and look at my throat and stomach. This will take about 30 minutes depending on what if anything is found and whether he has to do any biopsies. Then a scope in put up the other end where it runs the course of the bowels. This can take an hour or more depending again on what he finds and whether or how much he has to biopsy. I will be given a mild sedative for both procedures and should be able to go home a couple hours later barring no complications. I will be given SoluMedrol to prevent shock [due to the Addison's Disease] and antibiotics to prevent any infections to my heart [due to the Mitral Valve Prolapse]. Of course, prior to all this I get to do the lovely prep the night before. Lovely stuff, GoLytely. lol... have no idea why they named it that because it makes you GoMuchly. |
You are listening to Memories from the musical Cats, written by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S. Eliot. I felt this song was a perfect
selection
for this site because of the affiliation I feel with Grizabella. Although
for her,
it was age and not health issues that changed her, neither of us are who
we
were before, on the outside, and it can affect how we feel on the inside.
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Since December 19, 2003