Camera Endoscopy is tomorrow.

At least this time I get to eat until noon and then no liquids after 8pm. I bought the OTC stuff already. Compared to the prep for the Colonoscopy, this small bottle will be easy to get down.

I just hope it’s not nasty. It states “pleasing lemony flavor” on the label, but who’s kidding who. The manufacturer isn’t about to put “taste nasty” on a label.

Saw Cheryl this morning and we played “catch up”, since I haven’t seen her in months.

I did ask how much longer I needed to be on this pump and once again, I received no definite answer regarding an end date. Oh well.

I did mention that Edema was back. It appears to be one of those “off and on again” type of things. I asked her for a script so I can wear my sneaks when things flare up. I don’t want to have any “issues” at work when I have to wear them on certain days.

We redid my scripts for the next few months and I’ll see her again based on my lab test results.

Speaking of which, my arm is sore. There are twelve pre-printed lab test on the form; I’ve been marked for seven of them; and on top of that, she wrote down two more.

This is Misters kind of weather. He truly enjoys the brisk (cold) weather we’ve been having lately.

It’s getting harder and harder to get him back in the house when we go out. It’s not so bad in the afternoon and at night, but first thing in the morning, I’m sooo not in the mood for his playfulness. I need to get him back in the house and get ready for work.

He’s a beautiful sight to see. Head up and tail flying as he runs across the field. He’s in his element and looks happy.

This is his type of weather.


Alas, it’s no longer mine.

I drove to Baltimore this weekend. Left the house about 3.25am (that’s right!!) and arrived in Baltimore at 8.03am – this is my BEST time ever!!

We did ok, had the heat directed on my legs and the window open. Mister was in his crate and slept most of the way.

My cousins and I went back to Six Flags over the weekend for the FrightFest. This time the kids weren’t quite as bad about riding some of the rides. In fact, one of them actually conquered his fear of heights. You go boy!! But for the most part, they’re still chickensJ. One didn’t’ even want to go into the Haunted House – in the middle of the day!

We didn’t stay too long after dark. It was getting colder and my cousin was ready to go. I wasn’t. Nighttime is the Best time for the park, especially for an event like FrightFest. After dark is when all the ghosts and ghouls come out. We did see a few before we left, but it wasn’t the same as being in the park with the all the special effects in full blast.

To be honest, the colder it got, the worse my feet and legs hurt; by the time we actually left, they were both hot and burning.

I did spend some quality time in Aunties Jacuzzi after we arrived back at the house. I miss my bathtub.

Whenever I get my front bathroom floor fixed, I’m going to look into how much it would cost to have a deep tub put in. A Jacuzzi would be nice, but I’m not ready for the additions to my electric and water bill.

Got a call from Jackie @ Rex. She works in the clinic where they are going to do the M2A Capsule Endoscopy (I take the pill which is actually a camera to take pictures of my Small Bowel Track), with instructions for the prior day and day of the test.

I have to BE at Rex at 6.30 in the morning. Nov 1st going to be a long day.

At least with this test I can eat until Noon the previous day. After lunch, nothing by clear liquids for the remainder of the day, and nothing at ALL after 8pm.

I’ll still have to do a “bowel prep” the night before, but it’s not that “only by script” large jug of stuff this time. What I have to use this time is called Magnesium Citrate and it’s an OTC med. I just have to make sure I buy the “green” kind and not the “red” kind.

As we were going over the rules & regs for this procedure, I was instructed to say away from Ham Radios etc and I was asked if I wore a pacemaker. I said no, but I wear an insulin pump with a WiFi™ meter; I asked if this would interfere with the camera & computer operating correctly and once again, I’ve stumped the tech’s.

How can these people NOT know the answer to this question??

I can’t be the first person to wear an insulin pump OR have a WiFi™ meter taking this test.

Jackie also told me that I can’t have a MRI until 30 days after this test. I told her that hopefully, this will be the LAST “non-invasive” (yeah right-by who’s definition?) test I need to do in a very long time.

The swelling in my ankles refuses to go away. Once again, the swelling in my right leg is worse than my left.

The numbness has contained itself in my toes, the right being worse than the left.

I’ve also noticed that I’m back in the habit of getting to bed earlier. Not to sleep, but rather to just be able to lie down comfortably and stretch my legs out.

I haven’t started on the other Med’s yet. I don’t know what I’m waiting for. Part of me knows it will help with the pain, but at the same time, I don’t want to take them. It’s like I’m waiting to see just how bad it’s going to get before I do anything about it.

It is so pretty up here.

I didn’t realize how tired I was yesterday. I sleep through the night and slept late today. Well late for me anyway. I was up around 8.30am.

It’s a beautiful day.

As we were out and about town today, Austin bought another comforter to put on the bed for me. Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight than I did last night.

The drive up here was uneventful. It’s colder up here than I expected.

I’m chilled to the bone and I can’t seem to get warm.

The numbness in my toes is still here, and it’s spreading. The Edema is back as well.

My last IVIG was three weeks ago and I have another three weeks to go before the next one on the 7th of November. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have asked Karen to schedule the “camera test” on the same day instead of the 1st since I’m already going to be at Rex that day anyway.

Too late to change the date now. They probably would’ve told me “no” anyway. That was my answer the last time I tried to double book on an IVIG date.

My next appointment with Nancy is in January of 2007, and quite frankly, I’m not trying to see her before then.

Now I’m starting to worry.

My legs have been bothering me for days, but I’m not worried about that part. Just yet.

Walking Mister last night, I could actually feel my legs tightening up.

I kept walking anyway; I need the exercise and so does he.

After a while, I noticed something unusual; not only did my leg hurt, but my toes were numb as well. Say What??? Where did this come from??

I’m telling myself not to panic and give into paranoia; it could be a number of things.

****************

Took a long hot shower (I miss my bathtub) to ease the pain in my legs and my nerves.

Also took two Motrin before I went to bed. Slept most of the night and didn’t get up for a bathroom break until about 4.30am. I also didn’t hear the thunderstorm we had, which is very unusual for me.

So much for “making it through the weekend” and “no news is good news”.

Yes – Karen called me this morning with my Small Bowel Follow Thru test results.

In a word – Inconclusive.

Seems I have a Prominence [(n) bump, lump swelling or protrusion] in my lower Bowel and the techs and the doctors won’t / can’t commit to there being nothing wrong with me.

Capsule Endoscopy take pill with large glass of water. Pill is actually a camera. Ain’t technology grand? Nano, nano.

The camera will take a picture of my small bowels every so many minutes. After the end of the day, I’ll express the camera and that’s the end of it. I’ll return to Rex later that day or the next and the tech’s and the doctors will read the recorded images and hopefully WE will have a complete and correct diagnosis of what is or isn’t going on.

I need to find out what Crohns disease is all about. That’s something that came up in my conversation with Karen. She doesn’t think that I have this disease since I have no systems of anything, but this test will definitely rule it out.

Shades of last year – “we don’t know what it is, but we do know what it isn’t”.

Sounds like we are working backwards again.

Once again I’ve stumped the doctors and the tech’s. I asked Karen about my pump and meter which works with radio waves interfering with the camera and giving incorrect results. Silence. She then tells me that my question is a good one, but she doesn’t know the answer to my question and she’ll have to call me back.

Once again, I’m the guinea pig

I don’t know what’s going on.

Dealing with these leg pains is getting on my last nerve. They’re almost as bad as last years. It hurts when I sit and hurts when I stand up.

I may have to get this scrip renewed.

Friggin antibiotics.

Just when I think that I’m in the clear and everything is fine, I catch a yeast infection. At least, THIS can be cleared up with OTC meds.

It’s a cool morning and my legs don’t feel any better. I was hoping not to have these “weather related” issues with my CIDP this year.

Being at the church today was okay. Not much going on there because it rained most of the morning and off and on for the remainder of the day.

Mother could tell that my legs were bothering me but didn’t comment on it too much other than to ask me where my cane was.

I’m going to soak in the tub later tonight. I’m looking forward to a long hot bath.

My legs hurt. Why now? Our CIDP group meeting is tomorrow morning and I’m supposed to go. I want to go, but if I don’t feel any better, I may not make it.

After the meeting I’m going to visit and help Mother at her church. Mister and I will probably send the night.

Today is Thursday and I’ve yet to hear from Karen regarding my x-rays. If I can get to Friday without hearing from anyone, that’s good news. The doctors don’t call you unless they need to see you again for some reason.

I’m still flushing this Barium out of my system. They could have told me that this stuff would “change the color of things” as it goes through a persons system.

On the Good News side of things, Sunday should be the last day I need to take PrevPac©. Hopefully my taste buds will return to normal and I’ll no longer have to deal with this nasty aftertaste.

Back to Nastiness

I had my Small Bowel Follow Thru today.

Basically, it’s a procedure which x-rays a person’s lower intestine. They accomplish this x-ray by having the patient drink Barium first, and then take x-rays every ten to fifteen (10-15) minutes to “see how things are moving”.

I don’t care what flavor it is or how cold they keep it, Barium is STILL nasty. Once you get it down, you are fighting to KEEP it down. One of the things the technician tells you is this; if you throw it up, you have to start all over again.

The highlight of my morning was when the tech asked if there was any chance that I might be pregnant, I immediate response was “Oh Hell No”. She burst out laughing and said that they like to hear such “definite responses” to that question.