The wife is like "you are NOT blogging those pictures, are you?" and I am like
"well, NOT ALL...and NOT the least appetizing ones.....besides, my blog has been a bit tame lately..."
OK, so I really didn't want to talk about it beforehand, plus I was hungry and tired in the lead up, but I had an endoscopy and a .....well, clinical look at the other end, if you follow me. A fairly complete view of me, from mouth through the stomach and intestines and....well, the rest.
Many of you are not 50 yet. I am not either. I will be soon, though, and the endoscopy was the bonus. Many of you remember that there was time when there was MORE of me, and I ate nearly any type of food....but ten+ years of a stomachache and a fast loss of 25 percent of my body weight (you read that right) meant something wasn't right.
Getting the gluten out a few years ago and the dairy out ten years ago did the trick, as far as getting rid of the constant stomachache. BUT, some small problems persist, as in, continued anemia (very few men have anemia, and if they do, there is a good reason for it) and thyroid problems, and other small things I won't bore you with.
These are all symptoms consistant with celiac disease, the one where gluten causes the small intestine to damage itself. I had my DNA done, which is COOL. And there it is, several genes on each side, from each parent: CELIAC. The endoscopy may or may not show anything but good health at this point, as I removed gluten from my diet years ago.
OK, so, many of you have had the colonoscopy, but maybe some of you also the endoscopy? I had both, is what I am saying, and the doctor, bless her, shared the photos! GLORIOUS!
You hear the prep is AWFUL: no food followed by TURBOLAX (remember DUMB AND DUMBER with Jim Carrey?). Anyway, I thought it was no big deal. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it all was.
SO, early yesterday the nurses and doctor get me comfortable and ready for the camera down the mouth and say to me "OK, we're going to stand here and wait until the IV sedation knocks you out" and next thing I remember is waking in another room with the wife. It is all a big vague, from there, until 7-8 hours later when I got out of bed feeling like a million bucks, but I am told that:
I got up off the bed and was standing there, amongst the nurses, naked, making a heroic effort to dress myself and staggering around, and they pushed me back into the bed. Lastly I was shoving my feet into my shoes, but I hadn't taken off my surgical booties...and while I was being wheeled out I was babbling THANK YOUs to one and all....over and over again.....then back home made lunch for the wife and me (it scares me now to think of my sleepwalking self making tea, but there you go) and then asleep a few hours.....
I FEEL LIKE a NEW MAN! My insides all squeaky clean.....
OH: made a vegan frittatta with garden veggies for dinner, mmmmmmm....
w.JPG)
9 comments:
Good for you, Gary...isn't it nice to be over with, and hopefully nothing will show any problems. A friend also just had the same thing done to make sure she didn't have ulcers, etc. because her blood count was low too. Nothing hunny. Love the Penny is starving look at your dinner.
In all seriousness, thanks for sharing. Hopefully all of ours go as well as yours did.
Hope the results suggest peak health for you. Wow scopes north and south at the same time! Best to you.
Been through the colonoscopy, not fun but not as horrible as the stories I had heard. I think the prep is a little easier than it used to be.
Glad to hear that things went well.
Isn't it weird that "endoscopy" isn't the one for the "end" parts? I was very anemic about 7 years ago, so I got the endoscopy and colonoscopy at the same time. I only remember that I didn't remember anything either. Sending a prayer for good results! XO!
I too remember not remembering and I too suffer unexplained (other then being female) anemia. Doctor always worried and questions if I am tired. Too busy to be tired. Drs these days so lucky with all the visual information they can collect. If we let them in! Good to hear you are feeling good!
Oh, this made me snicker!
My oldest just had an upper GI scope right before school started. All is well with him, but his recovery was pretty funny for me to watch. No pictures, though.
Hi, birthday buddy,
Glad to learn that you quit dairy. I am now gluten-free, and, thanks to a conversation with you, so's my kitchen. Best of results wishes for you. Your pottery is lookin' good in my kitchen.
Warmly,
Cathy Stuckart
I'm glad to know now that you're okay! My husband sent photos from his colonoscopy to all the relatives via email with the subject line, "Clean as a whistle." Yes, we're that weird down here.
My dad is severely anemic too and has been on a test drug from Switzerland that is working well. Sadly the test only involves his blood going to Switzerland and not a trip with his favorite daughter. Rats.
Post a Comment