So I went to see a GI specialist at the University of Washington Medical Center today. What did he tell me? Here's the dramatized version...
Dr: It easily could just be IBS.
Me: Wait... you're telling me that I have had such crippling pain that I've almost gone to emergency rooms and moved 1,000 miles to be closer to doctors, and this is something that I just have to deal with?
Dr: Maybe. But since this really seems to be bothering you, we'll do a colonoscopy, endoscopy to take a biopsy of (insert technical thing regarding gluten here), a full blood work-up, and more labwork on a stool sample.
Me: What is that going to tell us?
Dr: Probably everything will come back negative and it's just IBS.
Me: So I just have to live with it?
Dr: Yes. It could be Post Traumatic IBS, which would mean that it could go away eventually, but that can take years.
Me: So we're just going to test for everything rule out other possibilities?
Dr: Yes. Oh, and for the biopsy to work, you have to eat gluten for at least two weeks before.
Me: So I basically get to eat whatever I want again.
Dr: Yes.
Me: DONUTS!
Dr: Oh, and I want you to start consuming more fiber. Try citrucel.
Me: Awesome. Or something.
So where does that leave me right now? The same place I was over six months ago. What the heck stomach?!?!?
1 comment:
I have also been told that I may have IBS (such a wonderful syndrome that can neither be conclusively diagnosed nor treated....), and I DID go to the emergency room for it. Perhaps we need to have a little conversation about this.
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