The wonders of technology. Using the brand-new iphone, Jerry took the picture of me getting prepped. If he'd waited a minute he could have gotten one of me grimacing as the nurse tried to find a vein for the IV. She finally did, so I wasn't conscious while they sent the little camera down my gullet (more wonders of technology). I won't try to reproduce the resulting pictures, because all the squishy bits inside look ... squishy. However, Dr. Krishna got a great shot of the ulcer, a gray squishy -- well, you get the idea. And it explains why I've had periods of pain and nausea. The report they gave us describes the ulcer as "large and deep." Yuck.
What happens next could be explained better with a tree diagram than in prose. Dr. K sent tissue off for biopsy. Unfortunately it will take a week or so to get the results back. He thinks that this ulcer is related to the one I had in December, and if so it probably isn't cancerous, because that one wasn't. Obviously, if it should turn out to be, the tree diagram would take us in directions I don't even want to think about, though at the moment I'm hanging onto my optimism. Meanwhile we wait.
But, meanwhile, there's the ulcer itself. I have been taking Pepcid since December. This is a med that has been superseded by the new proton-pump inhibitors, Nexium and Prilosec, which unfortunately I'm allergic to. Dr. K says I need something stronger than Pepcid, so he's prescribed Sucralfate and Pantoprazole, though it may turn out that I'm also allergic to the latter. He told me to wait until Monday to start taking it just in case. Hey, neither of us wants the weekend interrupted.
So stay tuned.
3 comments:
Beautiful picture, Lucie! Hope you feel better soon.
Love,
Connie
Dang, we are all very concerned Lucie. That is, Rita, Lonna, Dick, Mary, and howard. We were with them today and talked about you. We are pulling for you! Caring, Russ
i hope everything turns out ok. we will be praying for you and sending good vibes.
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