Friday, April 13, 2012

a busy few weeks...

The past several weeks have been busy. I saw my GI in March and he scheduled a Sitz Marker test as well as a Flex Sigmoidoscopy to see how my small intestines and remaining eight inches of colon were functioning. The Sitz Marker test was the first test of the two. It was hard. I had a lot of pressure pain. I started the test on Saturday after cleaning out on Friday. With the test being a five day test without any laxative medications, I knew food wise I didn't have a lot of room. I never realized how much room my colon provided me. By Monday, I was so full and miserable it was debatable as to if I would make it and how. Over the five days, I ate two orders of french fries, two cups of greek yogurt, a handful of chips and a few cookies. I was so miserable Monday I was to the point of not caring and decided to give the bathroom a try on my own. I learned that if I get to the point of being so full and miserable my muscles will work for me. (The question is is it really worth it?) I got my results back and I passed all of the Sitz Markers! In almost four years, I have never had a GI test come back with results like that. I was nice to hear I admit even though it would most likely mean that I would continue cleaning out.
I had to Flex Sigmoidoscopy the following week. The prep for a sigmoidoscopy are enemas but I have trouble using those due to my muscles. Luckily my GI let me do my usual clean out routine instead. I had heard from one of the nurses that I would be awake for the test and I was not thrilled about that. Who wants to be awake for a test similar to a colonoscopy? Not me. When they were checking me in they checked with my GI and he said he was going to put me under for the test. Thank goodness! They used Fentanyl and Versed. It was the normal routine of not being able to find a vein because of bad veins and dehydration. Whenever I got back into the procedure room I talked to my GI about the Sitz Marker test. We decided that since I was able to go on my own after being so full, I would try adding an extra day in between my clean outs to see if I could go more on my own and because I'm drinking so much magnesium citrate. We also added Miralax to the combination as a push to my system. When they were getting everything ready the nurse told my doctor that I was tachycardic with a pulse rate of 126bpm. He agreed and said that my pulse ran higher. I however didn't even realize that my pulse was running that high. The test went well. The remaining eight inches of colon looked good. It was not laying flat as suspected, the hook up site looked good and there was no bleeding. I would not need surgery to remove it!
With my clean outs, I generally dehydrate from not being able to drink enough, more goes out than I can get in. A week ago Thursday I woke up and my pulse was running around 125bpm. As the morning went my pulse kept creeping up. By ten o'clock my pulse was 135 and stayed there for several hours. I had a dermatology appointment in Winston so as we were leaving I called my GI to ask what I should do. Since my pulse has started running higher, my energy level has begin to drop off. I called my GI office because my chest had started hurting and I could not get my pulse to come down. They said to go on to the ER and get checked out, a pulse rate of 137bpm with chest pains needed to be looked at. The ER really didn't have much to offer me. They did an EKG, chest x-rays and some blood work to make sure my levels were okay due to so many clean outs. Everything came back fine. They said as long as there was no left arm pain, shortness of breath or my pulse did not exceed 170, I should be okay. I called my GI doctor on Monday due to the Easter holiday and talked to him about the increased pulse rate. I was concerned about damaging my heart. The increased pulse rate was just one of the effects of cleaning out so often and being dehydrated. If my pulse exceeded 150bpm that is when possible damage could occur. He scheduled a tilt table test for next Tuesday to make sure nothing else was going on. This morning my pulse was up to 146bpm after cleaning out last night.
Saturday was my brithday and we had scheduled a lunch with our close family before my dad had to leave for Los Angelos. It was a last minute lunch. Friday night I was cleaning out and had started feeling really achy and attributed it to the magnesium citrate. Unfortunately I was wrong and had cough a virus which set up bronchitis. I've been taking azithromycin so my GP has been edgy. The last time I took azithromycin, it flipped my flora so we will see what happens. My weight is not good. I weighed eighty-eight pounds this morning. I told Jacob yesterday that I look really rough. I try to take in calories but I just run out of room and time. My nausea has been flaring more than usual and the cleaning out every other day does not help either. The two day break in between did not work out. It was too physically demanding and painful. I wasn't gaining anything doing it. I feel good though. Whenever it goes into those periods of running high after a clean out it drains me but other than that I feel good. I have learned to live with my GP and I am very happy.