Being a dietitian, I love food. I love to eat food and I eat food often (like every couple of hours). My prep for my EGD on Friday meant that I couldn't eat any food after 8:30 pm on Thursday and I couldn't have anything but water or soda the next morning and then nothing after 11 am. This made for an interesting work day. Thankfully, most of my patients were not interested in discussing food. I wouldn't say I had the most energy ever and was fairly easily distracted, but I understood why I wasn't able to eat.
My stomach had been burning since I had my physical (9 days) so I was hoping the EGD would give us some insight.
The gastroenterologist was running late, so by the time I was taken back into the endoscopy prep area it was past my initial scope time. Both nurses I had were about my age. The first nurse is telling me about getting an IV and blood pressures and I immediately say to her "Left arm only."
She pauses and looks at me. "What's in your right arm?"
"I've had my lymph nodes out from breast cancer."
Cut to nurse trying to hide the surprise on her face. She continues to check me in and asks me what the ta...mox..if---n is for. I explain it's the medicine I take for breast cancer. Ok. She explains to the nurse who is placing my IV that I am left arm only. He recognizes me and asks if I work in the hospital. I tell him yes and that I cover the floor directly across from the endoscopy suite. He gets the IV in two tries. I assure him that that is really good for me and it usually takes more. Today, I have no bruising at all in the two sites. This man is a rock star.
Then I get a new nurse, who is wearing a Dustin Pedroia t-shirt. She is instantly one of my new favorite people. She takes a look at my history. "What? Your so young for breast cancer. Have you seen the new Massachusetts license plates? My mom is breast cancer survivor and she is the one who got them made"
We then chatted about that process, which involved signatures, legislative declarations and a lot of legwork.
Then came test time. The physician was asking me why I was there asked me if I drank a lot of coffee or tea with caffeine. I explained to him I drank no caffeine, no alcohol. That got a little bit of a surprised face. They then rolled me into the endoscopy room. They gave me a little fentanyl and versed and I work up in the recovery room.
But, as my test got further delayed and it ended up being nearly 21 hours since I ate, I was not the most rational person when I cam out of the test. The nurse gave me the great news. Normal esophagus, stomach and duodenum. Did they take any biopsies? No. So here is where I loose all rationality. I repeat back to her "Nothing, they found absolutely nothing?" RN:"You seem disapointed" "Well, I'm not pleased that the constant burning in my stomach is all in my head and you proved I'm a crazy person (Yes, because a cancer survivor being disappointed about her negative test results doesn't already lend itself to that)" RN "It's not saying that. Do you want a water" She then proceeds to hand me the worlds smallest water bottle that I drink at once. Put my Dustin Pedroia t-shirt on and meet Mom in the waiting room.
My Mom knew that I wasn't enthused that the test offered no insight, but she did continue to highlight the positive. She was also chalking it up to me be Crank-asauraus Rex because of lack of food and some sedation medication. After three bites of pizza (hey if my EGD is clear, I'm eating pizza) some glucose made it to my brain and a giant smile broke out on my face. "Hey, hey Mom. How great is that that the test was negative? I am having some burning and fat intolerance but it's not damaging anything." She just looked at me and shook her head.
Looking forward to keeping the streak alive in the next couple of weeks. One test down, one more all clear issued. Next up, a MUGA (heart) scan on Marathon Monday.
Also, I ate a cup cake to celebrate. Will work for food.
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