What will tomorrow bring?

Tomorrow is the next X-ray to see if the endoscopy capsule is still stuck. 

Meanwhile, today is one of frequent restroom visits and nothing but water by mouth since breakfast. 

Having to leave twice during our two-hour stake conference meeting this morning was a little distressing. And I barely made it to the bathroom in time when we got home. 

Later, watching my daughter, Megan, and her husband, Jeff, assemble a family photo gallery for me on the wall in our front room was a fun distraction from how I was feeling. It turned out great! I love it!

Things are a little quieter now, though. So I might eat a normal dinner.

Crossing my fingers that tomorrow's X-ray looks nothing like the one two weeks ago.

And praying that I will keep being as healthy as I can be.

I let you know what happens.

Take care of yourself,

Beth

Tenacious endoscopy capsule still stuck -- yuck alert!

I’m disappointed, but not surprised.

The capsule is still stuck. Or, rather, it’s stuck again, in a different place. No doubt, it’s entrapped by a different stricture farther along in my small bowel.

Here's an iphone photo I took of the image on the radiology tech's computer screen. The image on the right is the X-ray I had at Granger Medical Center in December. The image on the left is the X-ray done at the same clinic on Monday, January 14, two days ago.

It looks like it's retreated to a higher position. "Geographically," that's true. But remember that the small bowel loops around and up and down countless times in the abdomen. And peristalsis (the bowel’s normal contraction-and-release cycle) does not usually move bowel contents back toward the stomach, but rather toward expulsion.

Anatomically, the capsule is now probably lower than, or distal to its position before the double-balloon enteroscopy, during which the higher, or proximal stricture was dilated.

They want to X-ray again in two weeks to see if it passes by then. I have no reason to expect that it will, given my history. But if it does, Hallelujah!

Meanwhile, it’s obvious to me that the capsule is intermittently blocking the way, preventing normal movement through my small intestine, then backing off. I know this because my bowel patterns are alternating between brief, normal-ish (for most people) periods and “frequent flyer” hours or days that I can best describe as resembling a bowel prep for a colonoscopy. If you’ve had one, you know what I mean. If not – lucky you!

I’m not having complete obstructions, though. I’m grateful for that. In a partial obstruction, anything solid backs up behind whatever is in the way (a tight stricture, for instance, or in this case, the endoscopy capsule and a stricture), and only liquid gets through, causing the bowel-preppish experience, accompanied by cramping and bloating. Then, when natural peristalsis allows, it backs away, letting through the solids that can get through the stricture. This causes the normal-ish bowel movements.

Sigh. I know. More than you wanted to know.

I’m grateful for medications that help me through this. I’m hoping to avoid a full obstruction that would hike my Prednisone back up again, now that I’m almost off of it. But if a full obstruction occurs, I’m ready for it.

Praying for the best, and going on with life.

Take care of yourself!

Beth

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