When I was dismissed from the E.R. in early January, I was given a week's worth of Percocet and had an appointment with a GI doctor pending. A couple days later I got a call from the hospital wishing to schedule an appointment at the end of January. I was shocked that they were going to let me go about three weeks without seeing a doctor, but I agreed and scheduled the appointment. Less than five minutes later I got a call from my doctor asking how I was feeling and to check if I had scheduled an appointment with a GI. I told her the Percocet made me feel really loopy and honestly didn't do much for the pain. I also expressed my concerns about waiting three weeks before seeing a GI. She agreed that it was way too long to go without getting answers. It took her a few days, but she found a doctor who would see me sooner. She also prescribed me a week's worth of anti-biotics.
I met with a GI doctor later that week, about a week after leaving the E.R. He ran a couple of blood tests, listened to my stomach and lungs, talked to me about my symptoms and decided to schedule a colonoscopy at the end of January, about 2 and a half weeks away. By this time we had the pain under control with anti-biotics and I was able to stop taking the Percocet. I was happy to be pain-free so I was okay with scheduling the colonoscopy at the end of the month. To be honest, I was in no hurry to have that test done!
A couple days after that GI appointment my anti-biotic prescription ran out and the pain came back almost immediately. I called my regular doctor and asked her what I should do. She made an appointment for me with the Surgery Clinic at the hospital for the next morning. She was still convinced that I had appendicitis. The next morning I met with a Surgical Resident, probably one of the most helpful doctor's I had seen so far, but he was totally helpless since we had determined my problem could not be fixed with surgery. He was determined to have the hospital GI Clinic see me, but they refused because they didn't consider my condition to be an emergency. The Surgical Resident explained the dilemma and suggested that we basically con GI into seeing me by admitting me to the hospital. I was admitted to the hospital that afternoon.
While I was there they ran another CT scan, this time I had to drink a liquid that somewhat resembled sugar-less lemonade (not to be confused with sugar-free lemonade which still tastes sweet). Later that evening GI agreed to perform a colonoscopy the next day. They wanted me to start the prep work at 10:00 that night. 10 pm?! For those of you who've had a colonoscopy before, you know you should be done by 10pm in order to get everything out of your system so you can sleep. I didn't get to bed until 3:30am. I was miserable. the last place you want to be is in the hospital when you're preparing for a colonoscopy. Another thing you know, if you've ever had a colonoscopy, is that you refrigerate the liquid so that it is easier to swallow. The hospital has apparently never performed a colonoscopy before because the liquid I had to drink was warm. Not room-temperature, WARM. Anyway, I spent the entire night in the bathroom with this nasty, salty, warm liquid by my side. ( I'll spare you the really gruesome details).
The next morning they took me down to GI to perform the colonoscopy. I waited for a short time with one of the nicest nurses I've ever met before they wheeled me into the "operation room." They gave me some drugs in my IV that is supposed to put you into a deep sleep. It isn't an anesthetic, just a concoction that makes you fall asleep. My mom calls in the Michael Jackson cocktail, but I'm sure that isn't PC. Anyway, notice I said it is supposed to put you into a deep sleep. You got it, I woke up in the middle of my colonoscopy. It feels somewhat like a dream, except I vividly remember feeling incredible pain in my stomach. I don't remember if I said anything but at that moment a doctor or nurse said "Oh my god, she is awake." At which point the guy administering the sleepy drugs said that he would give me more medication to make me fall back asleep. Which I did.. My experience was somewhat like Grey's last week, except I wasn't cut open, Thank God.
After the colonoscopy the GI doctor wanted a Barium Test done, another test where I get to drink some nasty liquid that a doctor figured would be fun to force people to swallow. I'm convinced that a GI problem is the worst problem to have. Anyway, once again I was told that my condition was not considered an emergency so they refused to see me unless I stayed another night in the hospital. Well, you can forget it. I decided to go home. This time the hospital sent me home with two weeks worth of anti-biotics and three narcotic pain-killers. At least they are understanding the kind of pain I was in.
About a week later I had my barium test done. I went to diagnostic radiology where they had me change into a hospital gown and robe. I stood on a platform and drank a white liquid that somewhat resembled yogurt in consistency, a little more "pourable" but close. While I was drinking the liquid an x-ray machine captured a video of the liquid running down my esophagus and into my stomach. After a few minutes, they laid me down on a table, had me drink some more liquid and again watched as it went through my esophagus, stomach, and eventually reached my intestines. They had me take a tablespoon of what felt like Pop Rocks on my tongue and washed it down with about a teaspoon of water. The Pop Rocks made me feel like I just drank a soda (i.e. it made me want to burp) but they had me hold it in. Every 15-20 minutes they took another x-ray video of my stomach and intestines. Between x-rays I would drink more thick, white, liquid. This went on for about 2 hours before I was dismissed to go home. An interesting tid-bit: I pooped white for about a week.
Still, after all of these tests and doctor's visits and hospital stays, I didn't have any answers as to what was causing my pain and how to treat it.
Finally, yesterday I had my "final" GI visit. The visit with answers. I have Chrons disease. It is not curable, but it is manageable. I will be on medication for the rest of my life and most Chrons patients eventually need surgery to treat the disease. The treatment is loosely divided into four phases, I am beginning phase two of treatment by taking two medications in the form of pills. The fourth phase, or the most rigorous and aggressive phase, would be medication in the form of shots and surgery to remove part of my intestines. Kinda scary. Chrons certainly isn't the worst news I could have gotten but it is a little unnerving.
So where do I go from here? Next week I have another CT scan, a more detailed scan that will show how progressive my disease is. In two weeks I meet with a nurse to talk about my treatment plan and possible side effects of the medication. In four weeks I meet with my GI specialist to see how I'm doing on the medication and how I'm responding to the treatment. This already seems daunting. What I thought would be the end is really just the beginning.
