On 7-22-13 I met with a PA (physician assistant) in gastroenterology. She was very nice and answered all my questions. Based on my genetic history, regular history, and elevated IgG and IgA she was very suspicious of celiac disease and ordered an upper GI (gastrointestinal) scoping. I was very excited it wasn't a colonoscopy! Also at this point I was overdue for my period and pregnancy tests were saying negative, so we were in the clear to do a scoping. Since celiac disease can also cause malabsorption she ordered a ton of tests that basically checked my vitamins and minerals. I had about 12 vials of blood drawn! ewww.... So I'm too lazy to post all those results right now, so the summary is they weren't too bad other than my ferritin levels were very low and she had me start on an iron supplement.
We did the scoping the next Monday, 7-29-13. I had to be NPO (nil per os - nothing by mouth) for 6 hours prior to the procedure and I was scheduled for pre-op at 9:45AM. Nate took me in and stayed while it was done. The worst part for me was having them put in the IV catheter. Everything else went so well. They give you heavy sedation via fentanyl and midazolam, which caused me to not remember a darn thing, and the wake up after was very good. Also there was a risk of a sore throat, and didn't have that either! The doctor met again with me after, but unfortunately I was super in la la land. What I did take away though is that they saw a gross change in my duodenum that was scalloping, which is usually indicative of celiac disease. Good news is there was no -itis, ulcers, barrett's esophagus, hernias, foreign bodies, signs of reflux, or cancers. They took a few duodenal biopsies and would call with the results, the biopsies are the gold standard of diagnosing celiac disease. Nate had to wheel my butt outta the hospital cause I was too goofy to walk yet and he drove us to lunch. I'm sure the people at the burrito place thought I was nuts :)
Prior to all this GI testing I still had to eat gluten, otherwise I risked falsely negative results. Once my scoping was done I immediately went gluten-free. Ever since I cut out the gluten I've been feeling so much better!!!
The next day after the scoping the doctor called, yup, celiac disease. My sister and I are now in the celiac disease club with our other family members. Treatment is to basically eat gluten free and hope you don't somehow get a refractory case. In a couple months I could be feeling loads better, but it could even be years for my GI tract to heal. What I'm hoping for is that my Graves' disease will improve now that we can try to get this under control. Normally they do a bone scan test, but the PA is going to leave that up to my endocrinologist to decide if needed. She did order me to meet with a registered dietician to help with planning gluten free, even though she knows I already have a good handle on it. In about October I will repeat the IgG and IgA tests to see if they're dropped to normal or if I may be exposed to 'secret' gluten sources. I also have to stop using all personal care products that have gluten in them.
I'm excited to report I did get my period on my own on 8-10-13. So 2 months after my last one. The important part is I had one on my own though. Now we need to get these on a normal 28 day cycle so we can start planning!
No comments:
Post a Comment