I'm not sure what to call this blog post.  Maybe something good will come to me while I write it.  This is just a little update on my health and my new "experience" on Monday - colonoscopy and endoscopy procedures.  

I had the procedures because it had been over two weeks with the same symptoms (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea every morning), and multiple antibiotics, acid blockers, and whatnots had not had any affect.  

I thought about my last meal on Sunday evening very carefully.  Dr. Teddy recommended protein, but no fiber, and nothing red.  I settled on french toast.  When I got home from the store and cracked open the first egg I realized from the orange color of the yolk that I had purchased "vegetarian eggs".  I'm not sure what exactly that means, but I decided to try it anyway.  It was getting close to 6pm, the crucial hour when I had to stop eating or drinking anything but water.  After the meal was ready, I realized I had no syrup - no problem, I used peanut butter instead.  I was all set to start my protein-packed evening! 

I spent the rest of the evening preparing for a long night.  I cleaned my room and bathroom, paying special attention to the bathroom floor because I knew I would be spending a lot of time there.  I got all the books ready I might feel like reading, made sure my ipod and kindle were fully charged, and waited until 10pm, the fateful hour when I had to drink the laxative.  

The two bottles of saline and two bottles of water I had to drink.

I had refrigerated the laxatives, thinking they might be easier to choke down if they were cold.  Ugh, just thinking about them makes me gag.  The first bottle wasn't too bad because I didn't know what to expect.  I didn't mix it with water, as was recommended, couldn't imagine prolonging the misery.  I just chugged the bottle.  Wow, it was like drinking an ocean.  I expected it to kick in pretty quickly, but I ended up getting bored waiting around, so I just went to bed.  

It kicked in three hours later.  Don't worry, I won't go into details.  I'll just say, there is absolutely no position of sitting on the toilet or laying on the bathroom floor for 5 1/2 hours that is even remotely comfortable or allows for any sleep to be had.  The second bottle of saline, along with the second bottle of water, was much harder to get down, but I did it!  

At 6:30am, I had to pull myself away from the bathroom and taxi to the hospital.  It was a very long 22 minutes, but again - made it!  Dr. Teddy goes to JICF and is the parent of one of our youth.  He has been keeping a close eye on me throughout this illness and has accompanied me on all of my doctor visits.  Teddy met us at the clinic and helped me know what to expect.  I got changed into my gown and, get this, cotton athletic shorts with the seat cut out!  I would have laughed if I had had the energy.

It took 4 nurses to get an IV needle in my hand, apparently I have very small veins, but they succeeded in inserting the needle and giving me the sedative.  Then I laid back and visited with Teddy until the doctor arrived.  We started with the endoscopy.  The only part I remember is lots of vomiting, and Teddy saying, "Wow!  You still had food in your stomach!"  But I did get to watch the view of my esophagus and stomach on the monitor.  Here is what we saw...

Conclusion: Esophagitis, pangastritis, and duodenitis

From my understanding, that means that my esophagus, stomach, and duodenum are all inflamed.

Next was the colonoscopy.  I remember this part better and could see the monitor more clearly.  It was especially painful when the camera was trying to go around all of the twists and turns.  

Conclusion: Pancolitis (inflamed colon).

They took biopsies at both ends and will test them for all kinds of things.  I'll get the results back in a week.  

I was pretty emotional after the whole thing, and slept until 6:30 that evening. This week is one of the biggest holidays of the year in Muslim culture, so I got to watch 39 fireworks displays from my balcony on the 20th floor.  Went to bed around 10pm.  

Today I was not sick.  Teddy said not to get excited yet, too soon to know anything.  But I'll take a day of not being sick!  Going to celebrate by going out to eat and getting a refill on my drugs.

All the prescriptions I've been taking recently.

So, keep the prayers coming.  It is a blessing to know that I'm being lifted up in prayer to our Father.