More Test with the GI Doctor...

Yesterday, I actually had a pretty good appointment with my GI doctor from Duke. He was not thrilled to see how I lost so much weight since I last saw him. Just this week I have lost 4 pounds! So here is the update. He wants to do another CAT-scan with contrast; since the last one has been a few months and that when he was feeling my stomach/abdomen it was hard as a “rock”! It’s not like I have been doing really any abnormal exercises to make them “rock hard”…hehe! J The scan will be done next Thursday, September 29^th. Also, what we can see on the scan since he is doing my abdomen & pelvis is if any large endometriosis cyst are present…which I have been having endo pain again! L Then, he wants to do the colonoscopy and the Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), where he will inject the Botox into the pyloric sphincter. These procedures are going to be done at the same time and have to be done in the hospital so very unfortunately, the earliest was Thursday, October, 20^th! As it stands, if the Botox doesn’t work and/or I do not do well with it…the next step with be them putting a Jejunostomy (J-tube) feeding tube /percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (PEJ) this one would be used for draining my stomach, due to the intensity of my nausea, as well that I throw-up! So I could have an onboard “pluming system” to help me get my nutrition…hehe 

                The liquid Phenergan, which I am now taking, is just BRILLANT!!! Also, my acupuncturist started me on this great product from Gentle Warriors called “Grow and Thrive” it is a liquid formula designed for pediatrics to help weak digestion, poor appetite, and low resistance. 

FU N C T I O N S

A nutritive tonic that fosters robust growth by

Strengthening the Spleen and Kidney (the sources of

post-natal and pre-natal Qi) and promoting the adequate

assimilation and smooth passage of food and fluid

through the Stomach and Intestines

 IN D I C AT I O N S

Poor appetite, aversion to food or a limited eating

capacity • Indigestion with belching, bloating, colic

(cramping or gas pain), constipation, or diarrhea • Aides

in reducing food poisoning or food sensitivity reactions

• Indigestion, nausea, or loss of appetite accompanied by

slight fever or chills following exposure to windy, humid,

cold or hot weather

 CO N T R A I N D I C AT I O N S

Vomiting • Watery or explosive diarrhea • Dysentery or

food poisoning with high fever  • Suspected bowel

obstruction or appendicitis

These are all the Chinese herbs that Grow and Thrive has in it:  

ü  hyacinth bean (bai bian dou)

ü  Chinese yam rhizome

ü  (shan yao)

ü  lycium fruit (gou qi zi)

ü  poria (fu ling)

ü  Job’s tears seed (yi yi ren)

ü  lotus seed (lian zi)

ü  euryale seed (qian shi)

ü  roasted Chinese hawthorn fruit

ü  (shan zha tan) 

ü  platycodon root (jie geng)

ü  tangerine dried rind of mature

ü  fruit (chen pi)

ü  radish seed (lai fu zi)

ü  phragmites rhizome (lu gen)

ü  fennel fruit (xiao hui xiang)

ü  magnolia bark (hou po)

ü  fried kudzu root (chao ge gen) 

Check out this herb solution as well as the other ones that they have for digestion it could really help you out with your journey! As always hang in there and no matter what you are going through look to God, your friends and family! YOU CAN AND WILL GET THROUGH THIS!!! 

Love.Hope.Prayers.

Sarah

Crazy Days...

Well, this week has been a rough one, but these past two days...wow…intense! I don't know what's going on but, I have been more intense pain in my stomach and in my liver/rib area with the pain level close to 6/7, then at times going higher. Then on top of the fun pain, I have its friend nausea. I like to think of nausea as pains "school yard bully", it likes to come by way of more force with more intensity to slam ones opponent to ground like a bully would do! Yes, I have nausea 24/7 and it does come in waves of bad to worse...but these past couple of days I haven't been able to keep food down! That was with my anti-nausea medicine...now I can't even keep any pills down...

Yesterday, I came VERY close to going to the ER...I do not have insurance so that would be an easy $1000 for one visit and that's if they just kept me for a couple hours...what is a girl to do? But, I will tell you this if I continue to get worse I will go into the ER! But, as I laid in bed today my wonderful mother was calling my GI doctor at Duke to see if he could call in another anti-nausea medicine that was in a liquid, dissolved strip, injection or any other form besides pill for me to take...still waiting to hear back from him since he was in procedures all day today! With all of this I have had a bad migraine headache I get this a lot and take two kinds of medicine for them...but you guessed it...I haven't been able to take it since I am throwing-up all the food and pills! YAY!!! FUN TIMES! :-) Last night, I got only about 3 hours of total sleep...

There is a silver lining! There is ALWAYS one! ;-) Today, like every Thursday I had my acupuncture session with Andrew Nowosad at the Acupuncture Healing Center. He was able to help tone down the nausea a wee bit as well as the pain! Also, he always helps take away my head aches! I encourage you to try to find a well trained and a great acupuncturist like I have found in Andrew. Now, acupuncture does work, however you have to be in it for the long term...you can/could see short term results although the breakthroughs are scene after you a couple months treatment or sometimes it might take shorter or longer! I have heard of a lot of people trying it and they quit after a couple treatments, due to the fact they didn't "see" the results as "fast as they wanted"; so stick with it! 

Last thing I promise...my GI wants to see me to talk about doing a colonoscopy finally and doing the procedure for the Botox injections to relax the pyloric muscle in the stomach...also about the marvelous feeding tube! So it should be a very interesting appointment on Tuesday. 

Faith. Hope. Love.

Sarah