I took a blogging break. The funny thing is, it wasn't really intentional, but I've been doing a lot of inner processing lately and I really needed to internalize some things before I externalized them, if that makes sense. I find sometimes blogging is like a journal even though I never really intended it to be like that. And, as a result, I took a journaling break :)
Some of you may recall that I've had a couple of scopes. The first one showed some anomalies and some higher than normal levels of eocinophil - a white blood cell associated with allergy. It was thought that this was due to one of two reasons: severe acid reflux or Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE), an esophagus disease that has to do with protein allergies. After the biopsy results came back from the first scope, I was put on an anti-acid reflux medication for 4 weeks. After that came scope number 2. The point of the medication was to see if it reduced the levels of eocinophil. If it did, then the high levels were due to acid reflux. If it didn't, the levels were caused by EoE.
The first scope also saw my esophagus needing a dilation as there was some tightening that would have made swallowing food difficult. For a while, I had felt as though food was going verrrryyyyy slloooowwwlllllly down my esophagus when I swallowed and it wasn't an entirely comfortable feeling.
The medication resulted in feeling no different. I still had the same discomfort (and sometimes it turned into downright pain), the same amount of heartburn, the same nausea, the same gross feelings. At the second scope, I was told I could stop taking it since obviously it wasn't doing much for me.
The second scope resulted in a multitude of biopsies and I swear the next day I could feel every single place they took one. It felt like food was going into all these little holes and every time I swallowed, I wanted to scream a little. Thankfully, that feeling only lasted for a couple of days and then I felt okay again.
In the second scope, they found rings on parts of my esophagus (they took a picture and showed it to me too - super cool to see the inside of your body! I'm going to ask when I go to my appointment to see it and take a picture of it so I can show you all) which is synonymous with EoE. The biopsies will measure the levels of eocinophil in different parts of my esophagus and then we'll know one way or another.
Here's what I know so far: I'm not dying. No kidding, that's what my specialist told me when he called after my first scope. Some may think that's a terrible thing for a specialist to say, but I have to say I love this guy. He's funny, insanely informative, and always makes me feel really comfortable about all my questions and concerns. He knew that I needed to be reassured because I was feeling pretty nervous about why I was feeling so much pain, and reassure me he did.
I go on Tuesday for the results of the second biopsies. I'm guessing the result will be EoE and then we'll go from there. It will likely result in more food changes, but to what degree I have no idea yet. I know that EoE affects about 1 in 10,000 people (and the joke in my family is the rarer it is, the more likely it is that I'll get it) and there's not a ton known about how to treat it. So it will be a discovery IF this is what I have. Chef Husband is coming to the appointment with me (this is the first time I've ever wanted/needed him to come to a doctor's appointment with me) to find out what the next steps are. He's the one that does 80% of the cooking and 100% of the grocery shopping (I hate grocery shopping) so I figure it's good for him to come.
So blog friends, your thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated as I wait these next couple of days to find out what happens next.
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