A Happy Patient

I woke up bright and early this morning for my EGD and colonoscopy and my mom picked me up to drive me to the doc. She's been my "nurse" through every one of these procedures I have ever had and I am so grateful for her help.

Once there, I got poked with an IV and hooked up to other things. When I was wheeled into the procedure room, I was thinking positive thoughts and hoping everything would come out ok. The music playing in the room calmed me down--I remember hearing Adele's Rolling in the Deep, George Michael's Faith (I was thinking to myself--have faith in this doctor and what he will do today) and then as I started to get sedated, Dido's "Thank You" came on the radio. The nurses started talking about Dido--one nurse didn't know who was singing the song and the other nurse said she loved Dido's voice. Dido is my favorite singer and has been for some time, so I told the nurses, "Dido is my favorite singer and I think this is a sign everything will be good today." That was the last thing I said before I was out and getting my procedures.

About an hour later, I got woken up by a nurse back in recovery and saw my mom by my side. She later told me at lunch that I was mumbling while I was in the recovery room. He he. Hope I didn't say anything weird.

The doctor came in the room to talk to us about what he saw during the EGD and colonoscopy. I wanted to cry with happiness when he told me that everything looked excellent and he had pictures for me to keep that proved how healthy I looked. He said that he didn't see any ulcers in my esophagus or in my colon. He only took some biopsies to check for celiac sprue in the small bowel, for H.pyloi (a bacteria that causes ulcers) in my stomach and in my colon to check for my irritable bowel disease. I got a discharge sheet that said to stop one of my meds and then to adhere to a special diet of fruit and vegetables with plenty of fluids. Yay! I can do that! The doctor also told me to keep exercising, eating well, resting, etc. and maybe I will keep feeling as well as I have in the last couple of months. I guess I am confused because I still have ulcerative colitis, but it seems to be in remission with the medicine I am on and with my healthy life habits.

Also, before my procedure, the doctor talked to me about my lactose intolerance experiment with the lactose free week. He said that if I didn't feel all that different from it, he doubted I was lactose intolerant. Another piece of good news. He said he would rather have me getting my calcium through the dairy products I already eat vs. supplementing me with a calcium pill.

I don't even remember getting dressed to head home, only that I was dizzy. My mom helped me out of the building by holding onto me. I rested once we got home and I also ate half of a whole wheat bagel with pumpkin cream cheese. When I looked at the picture below on my camera, I said to myself, "I barely remember putting that cinnamon on top." My memories of earlier today are kind of fuzzy.



I do remember that the pumpkin cream cheese was tasty!

My mom stuck around until the afternoon so we could try to get $1 subs at Jimmy John's today.



Unfortunately, the line was wrapped around the store and I don't think I would have had the energy to stand in line. Craig managed to get one on his work lunch break today though, so I am happy he could take advantage of the deal!

Instead, mom and I headed to Subway to get a deal of our own with a coupon she had--two footlong subs for $5!



I only ate half and then a few bites of the other half because I was starving. I was told to take it easy with eating today, so that's what I did. Don't want to overwhelm my stomach and become sick--I have had enough of feeling ill over the last day.



I slept all afternoon because the sedation really seems to hit me hard and makes me want to sleep the day away.

This afternoon, I had a Fage 2% yogurt with some Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves thrown in. Aaah, it felt so great to have dairy again since I couldn't eat it for the last two days.



This arrived in the mail and after watching TV yesterday and all of the coverage on Kim Kardashian and her mom, can I just say I am so sick of the Kardashians?! I don't have cable, so I've never watched their show. Maybe you readers love her and if so, I am sorry, but I just don't care about their lives. (I sound like a hypocrite though getting a free trial of People mag in the mail where I seemingly care about the lives of other celebs, ha ha).



Although I am starting it three days late, I am going to join Tina's Be Thankful Challenge. How ironic that the last song I heard before my procedures was "Thank You" and I was thinking of all of the people and things in life that I am thankful for.

Today, I am thankful for my mom taking care of me and for a healthy colon and esophagus!

Hope you all had a lovely day! Anything you've been feeling extra thankful for lately?