Latest Test Results

The last test I had was the Gastric Emptying Study. On an empty stomach, I had about half a cup of oatmeal with isotopes in it, followed by a glass of water.

The test showed normal gastric emptying.

Here's the rub: As I've mentioned, my food doesn't move through very quickly. Even 10-12 hours after eating, it hasn't passed through my stomach, it is still sitting there like a lump. I know this, I've lived with it for over 3 years. If it does move, it moves back UP; I can obviously feel my esophagus filling back up also. Many are the nights that I ate supper a 3:00 the previous afternoon, and at 3:00 in the morning I still can't lay down because my stomach hasn't emptied, and it will come back up into my esophagus - or even further. (Believe me, throwing up a meal that's been "digesting" for 10-12 hours is AWFUL! I happens to me a lot.)

So basically, that test proved that a half-cup of oatmeal, washed down with water on an empty stomach will move. As far as I'm concerned, and in my CONSIDERABLE experience, that's all it shows. It doesn't show that my stomach empties as it should. It doesn't.

Of course, the "nurse" that read the results over the phone pronounced endoscopy as en-DOH-scope-ee, after stumbling over it a few times. And she didn't know what GES stood for. (Hello?? You're giving the results of a Gastric Emptying Study!)

Whatever. All this means is that, as I sit here with a bulging solid painful area sticking out in front of me, that nobody yet has a clue. It irritates the hell out of me, though, that now they will be operating on the assumption that my food passes through my stomach just fine, since that's what the records say. I wonder if I can correct my record to say that a small amount (compared to a meal) of oatmeal washed down with water passes through an empty stomach adequately, instead?

I guess the next step is a consult with a surgeon. In a few weeks.

God help me. Literally.