Peering into the crowded looking glass
Today I went to my next stomach appointment and it wasn't pretty. Just before i went on NYC trip #2 (post to come), I had met again with my stomch doc who then pawned me of to do 2 more sets of tests from other doctors. I'm seriously starting to feel like a pinball now!This round of testing is a very popular medical procedure for people with any stomach issues. The Barium Swallow is a procedure where you drink radioactive barium and they watch as it passes through your digestive tract. What are they looking for? Not sure really, but let's hope they know! :P
The best part about it was the phototaking. It honestly felt like a photoshoot! Here i am standing half naked in my hospital gown and the radiologist is saying to me: "OK, so move slowly to your side.. slooowly.. a little more.. that's it! hold our breath and freeze! don't move!
Man it was hilarious. I have to say I felt like the model rather than the agency/client behind watching the model do all this stuff. heh. Let's hope the pictures turn out well.. however, i think they could have used halogen rather than fluorescent flicking lighting, and they didn't take as many shots of my right side (which is clearly my better side). We'll see when the results come in next week.
Anyway, the bad part was about 2 hrs later I started getting stabbing stomach pains. This happened while at work and wouldn't go away. I called the clinic again and the technician assured me that it wasn't the barium. When i called them 2 hrs after that saying that the pain is still prevalent they said they were not qualified to give me any more advice and go see my GP.
Hrm. So i haven't had anything to eat since the night before, only drinking barium this morning (and a ton of fluid after to help flush it out). I wonder what else it could be.. Geeze. Anyway, it got to a point where i couldn't walk and i ended up leaving work to get myself checked out. SBF told me it could be my appendix, would would NOT be good! Thankfully after getting it checked out it wasn't that but just my sensitive intestines reacting to this shit. Not a suprise, given i drank a whole pile of that crap and i've had a relatively clean system for the past 4-5 months.
Anyway, i have my next set of tests next week. Let's hope they aren't as bad as this experience. It's almost been 10 months since i first came to the doctor telling them about my problems, and so far all tests are negative. High five to the conventional medical system!
Take care,
RE
"eat drink and be merry"
2 Responses to “America's Next Top Barium Model”
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eh-hem....the barium swallow...or modified barium swallow is a procedure used to assess a person's potential for aspiration...ie choking on food. often times, people "silently aspirate", meaning that they swallow their food, and it goes into their pharynx instead of down their esophagus. this is obviously bad as it can lead to pneumonia (or more specifically aspiration pneumonia) or a multitude of infections. food in the lungs is so not appetizing....
a person who is identified as aspirating is classified as someone having dysphagia, or swallowing disorder.
there now, don't you feel great about having a future speech language pathologist in your family?
~mer
so the second half of my spiel goes a little something like this...
what you went for is actually a barium swallow or upper GI series. this test
is an x-ray test used to examine the upper digestive tract (the esophagus, stomach, and small intestine). Because these organs are normally not visible on x-rays, you need to swallow barium, a liquid that does show up on x-rays. The barium temporarily coats the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and intestine, making the outline of these organs visible on the xray pictures. This test is useful for diagnosing cancers, ulcers, problems that cause narrowing of the esophagus, some causes of inflammation in the intestine, and some swallowing problems. i am assuming that they were looking for some kind of reflux or like i said before swelling or irritation.....
how do you like that?
i swear i am done commenting on your blog now...feel free not to make these visible...
~mer