Swallow, Swallow, Swallow

I had my endoscopy done today; I have been nervous and worried about this procedure for years but it was surprisingly fast and relatively painless.

Here is a quick medical description of what I had done:

Endoscopy Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (also known as esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy or EGD) EGD is a procedure in which a tube containing an optical system for visualization is swallowed. As the tube progresses down the gastrointestinal tract, the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum can be examined.

The doctor was so nice and he spoke a bit of English too. After chatting with me a bit about my medical history and why I was having this done; he reassured me it was only going to take 15-20 seconds and he was going to give me the pediatric tube to swallow. It was not too tiny, about the size and width of my pinky finger.

I lay down on my left side on the examining table as he sprayed a bitter anesthetic into the back of my throat. He then asked me to swallow the tube. I tried but the first time I gagged and could not, Demetrio peeked around the corner and told me to calm down as the doctor gave me a few more directions. The second time I tried I felt the tube go down into esophagus and into my stomach. I was told to have nothing for breakfast and lunch and no water 1 hour before the procedure so when the tube hit the bottom of my stomach, I felt it. I coughed, gagged and teared from the discomfort but really felt no pain. Afterwards, I had a bit of a sore throat but it went away very quickly. The whole office visit took less than and hour.

The doctor talked to Demetrio a bit more then gave me the results. He tested me for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, this bacterium basically causes ulcers and since the test was negative, he concluded what I have known since college, my tummy troubles are probably from stress.

The lining of my esophagus was inflamed (esophagitis). Note the gastric bubbles in the photo below, he told me my esophageal sphincter did not close properly and was allowing acid to creep back into my esophagus. Usually people with this condition experience heartburn but I rarely do, mainly I have tummy aches and get nauseous quite a bit. Luckily I did not have any ulcers in my esophagus. He did see my old ulcer scar and a little tiny erosion near my duodenum.

Now I have to take 2 medications twice a day each, that 4 times a day plus my blood pressure medication. I am beginning to feel like a walking pharmacy. The worst part of the whole prescription is that I can’t eat any spicy foods, no fruit juices, no tomato, coffee or vinegar in my salad dressing for 40 days. After the 40 days I get to go back and have another endoscopy, Yippee!!