Gastroenterology Visit

The other day I had an appointment with a new GI doctor. Digestive issues are something that I have struggled with for many years, but we have never been able to find any answers for why. I had a bunch of GI tests ran about four years ago, but that GI doctor just said it was irritable bowel syndrome because he couldn't figure out what else it would be.

I first met with the GI doctor's resident who was very sweet and knowledgeable. He took down all of my symptoms, asked me what I had tried in terms of medications and diet modifications, and what my main concerns were. He then went and spoke with the doctor and they came back in about 10 minutes later.

I had stated that my main concerns at this point are nausea and nutrition/lack of appetite. He knew about my autonomic dysfunction and connective tissue disorder (EDS), so we discussed how those can effect my digestion. He wants to be careful that we don't just assume my digestive issues are from these chronic conditions and miss another potentially harmful issue that is separate from my other conditions. For that reason he is ordering an ultrasound of my pancreas to rule out any issues with it and an upper endoscopy. I still need to schedule the ultrasound, but the upper endoscopy (EGD)is scheduled for July 17th. It is a quick, painless procedure during which they put a camera down your throat to look at your esophagus, stomach and small intestines. While he is examining these structures he will also take biopsies to check for a variety of conditions including celiacs disease and infections.  It is done under twilight sedation which means that you are sedated enough to not remember anything, but are still breathing on your own. The test itself will only take about 10 minutes max.

I also got blood work done when I was there to check my nutritional status and a couple of other things. The lab at Rush wouldn't draw through my port, but I went up to the oncolocy and hematology floor and they were nice enough to do my blood draws through my port even though I am not one of their patients. I have not gotten the results back from those tests yet due to the delay caused by the 4th of July.

The doctor ordered me two medications: an IV nausea medication and an under the tongue, dissolving acid reducing medication. Sadly, I am having some problems with insurance for both of these, so I haven't gotten either one yet. Hopefully we will be able to figure out these things this week.

After all of these tests are completed and the results from the biopsies taken during the EGD come back I will have another appointment with the GI doctor and we can discuss what his findings were and what kind of interventions he will do.

This week I so far only have an appointment with a primary care physician on Monday to remove my stitches from my tethered spinal cord release. This should be quick and easy as well.