I thought it wasn’t fair that I told you I was doing some tests and not tell you about them. We’re friends and family, after all, so why not share.

Ok, maybe too much sharing, but I’m ok with that…

Yesterday, as you know, I had an endoscopy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endoscopy, where they stick a camera down your throat to see what’s happening. So, with the endoscopy, no eating 6 hours and no liquids 4 hours prior to the procedure. My throat is still a little sore, understandable and it will be fine in a day or two, I’m ok. I went to work today, so it can’t be all bad and the cups of tea were quite soothing.

The first test I had was called SIBO, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, a very exciting test, let me tell you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_intestinal_bacterial_overgrowth. No eating or drinking after midnight, so I got up and headed to the hospital for the test, sit in a waiting room, waiting…hungry and thirsty. Finally I get called into a room with one other person and they give me 8 ounces of straight glucose. I was so thirsty and hungry the first sip was heavenly, after that, I was surprised I got the rest down! It was so very sweet and gross.

Then, for the next 90 minutes, I blew into a bag every 15 minutes, I know you’re jealous! Turns out, after 90 minutes, there was nothing wrong. Oh good! Now what?

Next…a gastric emptying test, are you excited now? This consisted of not eating anything after 10pm the night before and then when it’s my turn, they gave me some breakfast, wahoo. This consisted of egg whites with radiation in it; the GI said it was a small enough amount that I could hug small children after, ha ha. I also had toast with jam and 8 ounces of water.

The first thing I did was go to the bathroom because I knew I was going to be immobile for about 45 minutes. I got into an MRI machine of sorts, but I was in feet first, a plate of sorts was lowered onto my chest and for 45 minutes I laid there, trying to fall asleep or watch a movie while the camera watched the radiation in my stomach as the food digested.

After 45 minutes, into the waiting room I went to sit for an hour, then back to the MRI for about 10 minutes, back to the waiting room for an hour, this went on for four hours total. The doctor said it was going to be the most boring test and she was not kidding! End result…my stomach empties at a normal rate, maybe even a little fast. Wait, if I have a high metabolism, I should be a lot thinner! ha ha

Now, I’ve had those three tests, what’s next? I’m kind of stoked, she said we might try a Smart Pill! This is where I take a pill and it send signals to a monitor on what’s going on inside, measuring pH, temperature and pressure. Is that cool or what?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CD0QFjABahUKEwiQqsPYxafHAhULVj4KHZLHC28&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.givenimaging.com%2Fen-int%2FInnovative-Solutions%2FMotility%2FSmartPill%2FPages%2Fdefault.aspx&ei=ylTNVZCdJous-QGSj6_4Bg&usg=AFQjCNElXXhXQlCyBWZlc5_ideKe1QYkpQ&sig2=410gmB5MRq-uAljHj8ZkTQ&bvm=bv.99804247,d.cWw

So…there you have it, three tests down, one to go, well, one more to go and if no results there, then I’m sure there’s another test out there somewhere to try.

Bring it!