Stricture is gone, but endoscopy capsule still MIA

Well, I got good news and bad news.

The good news is that the stricture that was holding hostage the endoscopy capsule and the patency capsule remnants is no more. Dr. Radwin dilated it during my double-balloon enteroscopy on Tuesday.

The bad news is that one of the balloons vital to the enteroscopy’s success popped inside me, making the capsule’s retrieval impossible on the way out of my gut.

Here’s what the stricture looked like before the dilation.

Notice the clear, domed end of the endoscopy capsule in the bottom left corner of this image. The endoscopy capsule is about the same as the end of my ring finger, from the last knuckle to the tip. Next, look directly above the capsule at the small, round, dark opening at the end of the pink tunnel. The dark opening is the stricture – the narrowed area of my small bowel before it was dilated. The pink tunnel is the normal-sized lumen, or inside tunnel of the jejunum of my small intestine.  No wonder the capsule couldn’t get through!

Now that I’ve seen this, I can’t help but wonder how the small bowel follow-through study I had before could have possibly shown, as the report said, a normal small intestine with no sign of any strictures. Hmmmm. I’m not a radiologist. It would be interesting to find out if a different reading by a different radiologist might yield different results.

Theoretically, the indigestible items should find their way out on their own, now that the stricture has been dilated. That is, if there are no strictures farther on to trap them. Nobody knows whether there are or not. I haven’t seen any evidence of the capsule leaving, though I admit I could easily have missed it. I’m supposed to have another X-ray (Can you say more radiation exposure?) in two weeks to see if anything inorganic remains trapped.

I’ve requested copies of the capsule endoscopy and double-balloon enteroscopy reports. I’ll post again about any information that’s helpful.

Meanwhile, imagine that you swallowed a frozen garden hose, left it there for two hours, then had someone yank it out – Got it? OK. Then you know how my throat felt after the enteroscopy.  Swallowing? Not fun. It finally feels on its way to normal again today.

Next, imagine that a huge, blunt thing (like a fist, but abdomen-sized) hit you just below the belly button a few times. That’s pretty much how I’d describe my gut reaction – that is, once the nausea waned. And lots of trips to the restroom. Not pleasant.

Today, the pain is only intermittent instead of constant. And I only had to dash to the restroom 8 or 9 times today. Mostly earlier. So I think it’s getting better.

Because the pain twinges feel a lot like the pain that warns of impending bowel obstructions, I don’t know if the capsule is still in there, getting stuck intermittently in a yet-unknown stricture, or if my intestines are just still complaining about being roughed up on Tuesday.

Today was better than yesterday. That’s a good thing.

Take care,

Beth