It's been a strange 24 hours...

In my last blog entry, I think I talked about some of the problems that I've been having with keeping food and liquids down.

Well, I just got back from Barix/Langhorne. I had my first (and hopefully only) endoscopy with dilation. I'm 8 weeks out today, and my hole opening to my pouch had strunk down to only 4 mm (should have been 12 mm).

It started a few weeks ago when I'd eat something and occasionally throw up. It progressively got worse until this weekend when I was even having problems keeping water down. I finally called Barix on Monday and Dr. Boe had me come in for chest x-rays on Tuesday. The x-rays did reveal a blockage, and I was scheduled for an endoscopy next Tuesday.

Well, I threw up all night on Monday night (all I drank was a few sips of water) and I feared I was dehydrated. One call to Barix, and they had me come in yesterday for observation and a planned endoscopy. (The staff at Barix/Langhorne is so wonderful --- a huge "shout out" to all of them!).

Anyway, before the endoscopy yesterday, they drew blood and it turns out that my potassium and sodium levels were critically low -- Dr. Boe wouldn't do the endoscopy yesterday because of it. I was severly dehydrated. Seriously, I had no idea it was that bad. I was a little tired and feeling a little cranky, but wasn't lightheaded or dizzy or anything. I guess never having experienced dehydration, you don't know what to look for!!!

So, they admitted me last night and put me on double time on the IV (they poked me 5 times before finding a vein that would work -- that came from the severe dehydration). I slept on and off last night and woke up feeling like a new woman this morning!

Dr. Boe did the endoscopy this morning and I feel much better. Clear liquids for a day or two until everything heals, and then I can gradually reintroduce foods. All in all, this was a huge lesson for me: call your doctor the minute you feel like something's not right. And don't be afraid to speak up if you're feeling like things aren't happening fast enough for you. (I dread thinking how badly dehydrated I would have been if I would have waited until next Tuesday to go in for this endoscopy).

So, hopefully this pothole in my road to success has been fixed. There is a chance that I'd need another endoscopy if the hole shrinks again, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed (cross your's for me too!).

If you want to see photos of what a stricture looks like (and you have a tough stomach), go to this website. This is another gastric bypass patient who seems to have had it much worse than me:

http://www.immafooker.com/blog/_archives/2005/12/18/1454873.html

Take care!