A Trip to the Cardiologist

Another day, another doctor. Not for me this time, but for my 3 year old, Nanoo. There are a lot of heart problems in my family and it was recommended that all of my girls be checked for heart problems when they are 2 or 3.

I put it off for a while, but after seeing the area between her top lip and nose turn blue a few times, I decided it was time to see the doctor. They did an echo, an EKG, an x-ray, and an exam and thankfully it was almost all normal. The only thing abnormal is her pulmonary valve, it's 1/10th of a mm enlarged. The doctor wasn't worried about it, but did say they'd keep an eye on it.

No evidence of ASDs or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - so that was good news. She did say that she wants all of the girls to be seen every few years and that I should continue to be seen as well. She was impressed by my family history and mentioned something about having research done on our family. LOL!

Follow Up Results

I went back to the gastroenterologist last week, 2 weeks after the blood work was drawn. This is what they told me to do. Imagine my surprise when I was told he didn't want to see me until the next week and they had tried to cancel the appointment. No, in fact, I had a call confirming the appointment. They then tried to tell me it hadn't been 2 weeks since the blood work, but I informed them it sure had been, that I had left their office last time and went straight to the hospital to have it done.

So, he agreed to see me. So nice of him seeing as I had an appointment. After a long wait, he came in and told me the blood work was normal! Yay!! No ulcerative colitis!!! That made me happy. He asked if I was better. No. He asked if I was still using the medicine (Rowasa). Yes. It surprised him, I think, that nothing had changed with the medicine. I told him it was the same, no better, no worse.

He told me to continue to use the medicine (I had 3 days left) and come back in a month. I think I laughed. 11 days of medicine hadn't helped, but the last 3 sure would. But, okay. He told me that it was probably an acute proctitis... yes, because acute means since forever, right? Does he think I'm completely stupid? I've had this my whole life? But, it's acute. Whatever.

I asked if it could be IBS, he said it could be, but IBS doesn't cause inflammation. So, it could be IBS AND something else. He said if it didn't get better, he'd run more tests. I asked what tests would be next and he said a test where you swallow a camera in a pill and it takes pictures of your insides and then you go home and it naturally :) comes out.

That doesn't sound cheap. Since I won't see him again until January, that means my insurance deductible resets and I don't think I can afford a test like that.

I really don't think he has a clue. I think I've stumped him. I'm thankful that it's not cancer or chron's or ulcerative colitis, but I am frustrated that they can't figure it out. And I'm not sure what to do next. Go back to him? Go get a second opinion? Or just live with it?

Colonoscopy Results

I went to see my doctor on Thursday. First off, I have to say that all doctors should have a file outside the door to look over, so when they walk in the room, they know who you are and what they've done with you. This doctor walked in, shook my hand, told me it was nice to see me again and asked me if I was better.

Um... no. I had a colonoscopy, maybe you could tell me the results and then make it better?

He asked me what my symptoms were and I told him and then he asked if they had gotten better. Nope, you didn't give me medicine, why would I be better?

He finally checks out his computer and pulls up my file. Then he tells me "On November 12th, we tested your blood for anemia, it was fine. We also checked your kidneys and liver and they're fine." EXCELLENT. "We also did a colonoscopy on the 12th..." NO???? Really??? "Did you feel any of it?" Nope... good drugs.

He then told me that the biopsy results were fine, nothing abnormal there. YAY!!!!!!! He said there was no cancer there. Big relief there!!! He said there was inflammation called Proctitis near the end, the rectum area and that the most likely cause for that in a person my age is ulcerative colitis. Lovely. So, he prescribed a medicine called Rowasa and told me I needed to go for more blood work. Oh goody!!! Stupid, shiny vampires. And of course, I should come back in 2 weeks.

I asked a few questions and he told me that most of what I read online wouldn't apply because my UC is only in the rectum area and he's not worried about that. I also asked about the diverticulosis. He said I had that, but NOT diverticulitis. Not too sure on the difference, but I think it means the pockets are there, but they're not inflamed.

I'm then told that I need to go to the hospital to have the blood work done because it's a special, expensive test. They give me a big box to take with me. Great. I decide to do it then because the hospital is right there. I begged them to find me a bed so I wouldn't faint, they were nice enough to do that. This test is supposed to tell the doctor if I do have UC.

I also filled my prescription. I took it last night for the first time. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. It's an enema :( YUCK! And NOT an enema that you put in and then poop right out. You are supposed to go to bed, put it in, and stay there for 30 minutes. THEN you can move, but you are supposed to retain the medication in there for 8 hours!!!! Thankfully, I was able to do that last night. I'm hoping tonight goes the same way.

So, that's where I am... waiting for my next appointment to find out what the blood results show and see if this medication helps any.

First Steps

Enough with the yucky colonoscopy stuff for a couple days.

My baby is walking. Bells started taking more than just a step Thursday night. She took a whole bunch and hasn't stopped since. I just can't believe how fast the past 10 months have gone. I knew it would zoom by, but this is ridiculous! Blink and the year is gone. Blink again and they kids will be gone. I'm trying so hard to remember absolutely everything.

I didn't even try to rush Bells. I told her to take her time and what does she do? Walks at 10 months. It's so exciting and so sad at the same time.

Why is it that the first year passes SO quickly, but the teen years DRAG on?

More Colonoscopy Updates

Saturday - 10pm (the day after my colonoscopy). My stomach has quieted down, but I'm still passing a little gas. I have not had a bowel movement yet. The two times I went into the bathroom to try, only blood and mucous came out - YUCK! It's bright red blood, so I'm not TOO worried. However, the papers and nurse told me bleeding for 24 hours was normal. Well, it's been 36+. I will probably wait until Monday and call if I still haven't had a BM or if I'm still bleeding.

Sunday - late morning. I finally had a BM, wasn't bad at all. Wasn't real hard, wasn't diarrhea. It was fine at first, but blood at the end. I'm thinking it's from a hemorrhoid. Stomach only talked a few times. No other problems or issues.

Monday - things have been fine. BMs are okay. Just a few drops of blood here and there, nothing out of the ordinary. Not like Saturday at all. Anxious for Thursday's appointment.

Post Colonoscopy

I was feeling okay after the procedure, so we stopped at Denny's to eat. I had french toast. It tasted SO good! When we were done, we picked up the girls and went home. It wasn't until I was snuggled in bed for a bit that I read the paperwork they gave to my husband.

It reads:

Initial impressions from your exam are as follows:

-Diverticulosis sigmoid colon

-Diffuse moderate inflammation was found int he rectum secondary to proctitis ulcerative colitis. This was biopsied.

-The examined portion of the ileum was normal.

-The examination was otherwise normal.

HUH?

I'm confused. I googled proctitis and that is inflammation, but what is the ulcerative colitis and does wording it that way mean I have it or they're not sure? And what is a diverticulosis sigmoid colon? Does that mean I have it? And why didn't the doctor mention these two things to either my husband or me?

So, now I have to wait until next week to find out what it all means. Frustrating.

I did nap. Maybe an hour and a half or two hours, I would have slept longer, but the kids were sleeping in the room with me and they woke up. I was tired, but felt fine. No pain. No other side effects. For dinner, I had half a sandwich and some cheese. I kept it easy. I had a small dessert, my taste buds needed something sweet!

We watched TV for the rest of the night, just relaxing. My stomach never stopped grumbling and growling. It didn't hurt, no cramps, just noisy! In fact, it's still making noise and it's 11:30am the next day. I'm starting to wonder if it will ever stop.

I do want to let anyone going through this who is breastfeeding know... it was fine. I breastfed all day the day of the prep, that night, and right before I went in the morning. When I got home, I pumped and dumped once. Then I started nursing her again. She has been fine. There is no reason you can't breastfeed while going through this procedure!!!!!

The Colonoscopy

After dropping the girls off at a wonderful neighbor's house who was willing to take all five of them at 6am, we made it to the hospital at 6:30. I was very impressed at how nice the staff was. The receptionist was nice, the admitting lady was kind, empathetic, and even funny. We got checked in and back in the prep area.

I had my own little room which shared a bathroom with one other room. There was a flat screen TV hanging on the wall. I loved that it was private and not all out in the open. The nurse was sweet, but I don't know if she was new or not too good with needles - because she stuck me THREE times. Now, those of you who know me, know I'm NOT good with needles. Push a baby out, no problem. Stick a needle in, big problem.

First she had to draw my blood... now WHY she could not do this when she was doing the IV, I don't know. Every other time I've had to have something done, they did it while putting in the IV. After drawing my blood, she switched to the other arm and started going on about the small veins in my hand and she was going to use that area on the other side of my elbow - don't have a clue if that is actually called something.

She gets it in and makes a mess. From what I could tell... blood everywhere. My sweet husband shielded my eyes. Once in and taped down, she made a face... I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, the IV wasn't working. She had to take it out. She called in someone else to put the IV in. This person put it in between my wrist and elbow. It HURT! But, it worked.

Then they brought me 2 nice, warm blankets and turned off those awful fluorescent lights. I was only in there a few more minutes before they came for me. I was wheeled into the procedure room, which was cold! The nurse checked my ID bracelets, put the blood pressure cuff on my arm, the oximeter on my finger, oxygen in my nose, and leads on my chest. They did a "time out" and made sure I was the right patient in for the right thing. Then the anesthesiologist verified I was breastfeeding, told me to pump and dump 1-2 times and then warned me that the sedation medication would burn as it went in and then go away... which is exactly what it did. Then I felt fuzzy and warm and......... I was out!

I remember I was dreaming... no idea what about though.

Then I woke up, slowly. The nurse said "good morning" and immediately started taking off all the things attached to me, including the nasty IV. She informed me that "all the doctor found was proctitis". I had NO clue what that meant and wasn't awake enough to ask. She wheeled me back to my private room where my husband was waiting for me.

The nurse told me once I was awake enough to get dressed and I could go. She brought me ice water and saltine crackers - yummy! Still it felt good to drink and eat a little something. I didn't want to move though. I was warm and tired. My husband told me that the doctor had told him my colon near my rectum was inflamed, that they had taken a biopsy of it and would have the results by my follow up on Thursday.

I finally got dressed and dh went to get the car, they sat me in a wheelchair and brought me down to the exit. Every time I have something done at the hospital and I get wheeled out alive, I praise God. I thank Him for returning me to my family.

To be continued...