On Friday I went for one of the non-invasive stomach tests that the GI wanted. It only has a 10% change of giving me the results we were looking for, but since it was non-invasive the GI thought it was worth a try. I was expecting a few month wait for the test, so I surprised when it was booked so quickly. But hey, I’ll take it!
The test I had was called a Small Bowel Follow Through with Abdominal X-Rays Wrapper.
The test its self was painless. It was just x-rays. The fact that it was X-Rays meant I had to continually confirm that I’m not pregnant. But oddly, even knowing that the vasectomy was recent, they didn’t make me take a pregnancy test to confirm.
It seems as though with every single GI test, the prep was horrible. I had to drink 2 big glasses of a barium drink in 15 minutes which would make my small bowel appear in the x-rays. The drink looked like chalk and tasted like chalk. Needless to say by the end of 15 minutes I was ready to vomit. Fun times.
The test could take up to 4 hours depending on how quickly your body processes the drink, with x-rays ever 15 minutes. I was told to walk and to go to the bathroom as much as possible to help speed up the process. I walked the hallway over and over again, all 46 steps. And it turns out I was the quickest ever to digest the barium concoction, so the test took less then 1 hour total.
At the end of the test, I was told by the radiologist that my small bowel looks fine and that DO NOT have small bowel disease. Which I was also told is a good thing because according to the radiologist it is the worst disease you could ever imagine in life. (Oddly enough, this isn’t what my GI was looking for, but I figure having confirmation that I don’t have the worst disease you could ever imagine in life, is a good thing). So, I guess I’m in the 90% of people who don’t get any sort of diagnostic confirmation from this test.
The only negative of the experience was that apparently the barium completely dehydrates most people and causes white diarrhea immediately, and sever constipation over the next few days.
So I ended up with a wicked headache all day Friday presumably from dehydration. And, I spent the day sleeping only to be woken up to the desperate need to go the bathroom. Once I got past the feeling of vomiting, I loaded up on liquids to try to help prevent the sever constipation from happening. I’ll just say, it’s been an uncomfortable weekend!
Today I’m off to have more blood work done. Which thankfully I know will not have any long lasting side effects.
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Remember how way back when I was all worried about Little MPB’s language development? As in, freaking out over it and eventually got a referral to a pediatrician to make sure he was developing on track?
Well, my obsessive worrying over his speech actually makes me laugh now, because I was so wrong to be so insanely worried #FirstTimeParentWorries. One day a few months ago, it was like his single word use exploded. And now, all he does is talk in little sentences, using new words every day.
When we are in the car we hear I see tree, I see car, I see big truck, I see snow. Snow cold.
When we are playing with toys we here I like car. My truck. Kick ball. Read books. MPB no like BB-8. I help Daddy. Paw Patrol?
When we are eating dinner we hear I like cheese. My Goldfish. Milk please. I like I like toast and jam (which actually means toast and butter, if we put jam on his toast he freaks out). I like cookies (which actually means baby rice crackers, poor kid doesn’t know that a real cookie is way better then rice crackers).
And most recently, while having an evening family dance party Little MPB stopped, looked up at us, and declared loudly enough for the neighbours to hear, I SWEATY BABY as he lifted up one arm and wiped sweat from his arm pit. I laughed so hard I cried. And now I’m left wondering how he knows what sweat is?
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