Visit to Boston

Wow, I can't believe it was today! God is sooooo good!!

I will try to be as brief as I can. The way that they work things at Beth Isreal is unique. I saw two doctors, basically a specialist and then a special specialist. LOL Dr. Trinidad was the first doctor. He was awesome! We, both hubby and I, really liked him and felt as though I was listened to and well tended too. We also liked the big wig doc too, but we really liked the other!

So, Dr. Trinidad did my exam and took all the notes. So he is the one who really did the appt and the other doc, Dr. Ch..can't remember his name, just came in after and listened to Dr. T say what I said to him and then he gave the final thoughts. So so so so so...what did they say!!!?

Dr. T did this thing during the exam that I felt was strange but made a lot of sense. He put his stethoscope on my stomach and then shook me back and forth. He was listening to see what he could hear in my stomach. He heard a full stomach! But, I hadn't eaten anything but two bites of a donut, 1/4 of a crossaint, and some drinks. There should not have been that amount of food in my stomach. After he shook me like that I became so nauseous and extremely gassy. I mean like belching ridiculously! With all I told him and his exam, he honestly at this point says it is gastroparesis s. Which is what I thought also. Then he said he would like to see these things happen:
Repeat Colonoscopy
Stomach Emptying study
Test for Celiac

Then the other doc came in and he agreed. LOL He also said at first that I have IBS, which is more that what I thought. IBS is an actually motility disorder. It can affect lower or upper or both. He believes that if it isn't GP then I have a very severe case of IBS through my entire system. But, that was before he knew I had NOT had the emtpying study done yet. So......

We changed my meds around a little. Previcid in am, Zantac at night, and then he wanted me to start taking Probiotics....but I already do. So he wanted me to take this one called Align. Well, I remember that a good friend of mine always said that the Pearl ones are the best and I got two more of those for less money and they are the exact same thing! So I got those in stead. They also did another test for Celiac. If the Celiac comes back negative then he wants me to see the Celiac specialist to be tested or at least explore the possibility of Gluten Intollerance. Honestly I am not surprised at all. The other one they wonder is lactose.

So, I got answers!! Dr. T was very concerned about me and my health problems. Both doctors said that no matter what exact one it is I DO have a motility disorder. Also, Dr. T said that sometimes the emptying study isn't helpful for dx GP because I could be having a good day when I go in but then the  next day is a terrible day and nothing goes down well. So we have to pray that when I do go to get it done that I am sick! LOL I know crazy thing to pray for. Dr. T really believes that I have it. Even without the test he was ready to treat me for it!! He didn't like the way  my stomach sounded when he shook me all around. LOL

I am so happy and thankful for God's anwers to give us answers or at least to be leading us in the right direction.

How am I feeling now? Well, I am back to mostly liquids. When I do eat solids it's not a happy thing for me. Oh well. At this time I am going to just go on the assumption that I have GP and look into how to manage it. Please understand that this is a life long thing. There is nothing that can be "done" to correct it. I even contacted a special herbalist/holistic nurse practioner and she told me that there is nothing holistic that can be done. I need to do what my doctor says. So please don't tell me I just need to do x y or z and I can be better. Believe me, we are exploring everything we can to help. I am going to have to  make huge changes to my diet to see if it helps, cutting sugars, dairy, gluten, and caffine. I will battle this for the rest of my time on this earth. WIll I always be as sick as I am now, prayerfullly  not, but if I am I have a great God who has promised to take care of me! I will trust him! I must!! If you have questions, please ask!!

Here are some sites on GP:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gastroparesis/DS00612

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gastroparesis/

Here are some for IBS

http://www.medicinenet.com/irritable_bowel_syndrome/article.htm

http://www.aboutibs.org/

Hope that helps ya some.

In Christ,
Robin