Endoscopy

This morning, Louie and I went to our hospital, and I had my scheduled endoscopy procedure done.                             This is Dr. Atienza, our hospital surgeon. He is also the same man who did my hysterectomy almost 11 years ago, and a few years ago, my colonoscopy.  He is a wonderful doctor, and the nursing staff is just as wonderful.                                My appointment was for roughly 9am, but I got a call at 6:15am and was asked to be there at 7:45-8am. No problem! A couple less hours to be hungry! The procedure went fine. I was scared that I would know what they were doing…and maybe I did know, at the time, but they gave me a wonderful drug so that I wouldn’t remember. The only unpleasant thing about the whole procedure was the ‘stuff’ (just a LITTLE less of the consistency of hair gel) that I had to ‘swish, gargle, and swallow’. NASTY STUFF! When I had that down, they gave me another one. Ick! Those yummy ‘shots’ were to numb my tongue, throat, and esophagus. It did it’s job well. 

The results?  I have some ulcers at the bottom of my esophagus. They took biopsies, and those will be tested for infection. Infections can cause ulcers. If I have infections, my regular doctor will prescribe a ‘cocktail’ of medications  to clear the infections. In the meantime, I got a prescription for a medication my insurance refuses to pay for, so the pharmacy recommended Omeprazole, in half the dosage, but I will take two pills a day until I hear back from the doctor to see what route I will take for treatment. More than likely, I will continue on this medication taking one a day for only ‘God knows’ how long. What it does is reduce the amount of acid my stomach produces. Dr. Atienza explained to Louie that with the ulcers at the bottom of my esophagus, my swallowing is ‘like trying to swallow a golf ball’. Yep! That’s a good explanation!

I was done, and home by 9:15, then promptly fell asleep again for about an hour. Louie said he was going back to work, and would see me at noon. I slept again, until he returned. When he went back to work, I answered a couple emails, then laid back down and slept a couple more hours.

I think I’ll get dressed and let him take me to the DQ for some ice cream, then I think it will be back to bed for me. I have needed to catch up on sleep, and I plan on trying to catch a few more ZZZZzzzz’s. 

One more thing about my doctor. I have never seen him in person doing this, but I hear that he likes to dress up and do Elvis impersonations. I guess he sings very well.  I’d love to see him being Elvis. This picture is actually of Dr. Atienza dressed up before performing at a Valentine’s day event held here in our town.  I hear he is quite a hoot out on the golf course, and a friend to many.                                         

Thank you so much to all who prayed for me. It made such a difference and it helped me feel calm, relaxed and comforted knowing so many cared. May God bless all of you!

Michelle

UPDATE: My biopsies came back clear….no infections, so I continue taking my medication, and go see my regular doctor at the 3 week mark. I take my current meds for 4 weeks, then do what the doctor prescribed.