Dribs & Drabs from Down Under
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DustyKat
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Sarah has just returned from overseas, US and China…
She had a good time but was plagued a bit with a UTI. When she came home on Tuesday she brought Mum with her so it will be nice to have her here for a couple of weeks before I fly back down to Sydney with her.
I have had some upper abdo issues for a while but recently they have escalated in intensity with the last attack necessitating a visit to the ER. Bloods in the last few months are pretty much normal/negative…blood counts, pancreas, liver, renal, coeliac, ASCA. U/S shows some gallstones but not of a troublesome nature. With that said I personally am still leaning toward chronic cholecystitis, my symptoms don’t fully fit but then they don’t with anything. The GP is leaning toward Crohn’s, I don’t agree but understand that any diagnosis is a process of elimination so must be explored. Next step is scopes, upper and lower, which I have booked with the kids GI in Port. Having them done the 3/12 and hoping that I can squeeze an appointment in for Matt as he will be due for a review.
Pressing on.
Dusty. xxx
She had a good time but was plagued a bit with a UTI. When she came home on Tuesday she brought Mum with her so it will be nice to have her here for a couple of weeks before I fly back down to Sydney with her.
I have had some upper abdo issues for a while but recently they have escalated in intensity with the last attack necessitating a visit to the ER. Bloods in the last few months are pretty much normal/negative…blood counts, pancreas, liver, renal, coeliac, ASCA. U/S shows some gallstones but not of a troublesome nature. With that said I personally am still leaning toward chronic cholecystitis, my symptoms don’t fully fit but then they don’t with anything. The GP is leaning toward Crohn’s, I don’t agree but understand that any diagnosis is a process of elimination so must be explored. Next step is scopes, upper and lower, which I have booked with the kids GI in Port. Having them done the 3/12 and hoping that I can squeeze an appointment in for Matt as he will be due for a review.
Pressing on.
Dusty. xxx
They tiptoed around my gallbladder for years with lots of maybes and perhapses. Then one of the little black gallstones popped out and blocked off my pancreatic duct. They had my gallbladder and the other 150 odd small black cholesterol stones out in short order. Ron.
DustyKat
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Lol, naughty Trev. Dusty, hope the prep and the test are as pain free as possible, that they get to the root of the pain and that it is something mild and manageable. Take care, honey x
DustyKat
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@Hawkeye: Too bloody right it is. 
@Trev: Feck off.
All over and done with now. The prep was just lovely and went down a treat (insert sarcasm here). Started with 2 Senekot yesterday morning. Then in the afternoon a sachet of Picoprep. Followed by a litre of Glycoprep at 7pm, that was like going to beach and scooping up a glass of salt water, and finally another sachet of Picoprep this morning. To say I was pissing out of my arse would be an understatement. :lol:
The procedure went well and the sedation was magic. The last words I remember were roll onto your left side before you fall asleep. Not a problem, wide awake, roll over, don't remember another thing.
Anyway...
Lower: only abnormality was a small polyp/lymphoid tissue in my caecum. That was removed. No other abnormalities. Biopsies taken.
Upper: a small hiatus hernia, small enough to be of no significance whatsoever. No other abnormalities. Biopsies taken.
So no Crohn's and no obvious reason for my pain. Which brings me back to my suspicion of a feral gallbladder.
Dusty. :ybiggrin:
@Trev: Feck off.
All over and done with now. The prep was just lovely and went down a treat (insert sarcasm here). Started with 2 Senekot yesterday morning. Then in the afternoon a sachet of Picoprep. Followed by a litre of Glycoprep at 7pm, that was like going to beach and scooping up a glass of salt water, and finally another sachet of Picoprep this morning. To say I was pissing out of my arse would be an understatement. :lol:
The procedure went well and the sedation was magic. The last words I remember were roll onto your left side before you fall asleep. Not a problem, wide awake, roll over, don't remember another thing.
Anyway...
Lower: only abnormality was a small polyp/lymphoid tissue in my caecum. That was removed. No other abnormalities. Biopsies taken.
Upper: a small hiatus hernia, small enough to be of no significance whatsoever. No other abnormalities. Biopsies taken.
So no Crohn's and no obvious reason for my pain. Which brings me back to my suspicion of a feral gallbladder.
Dusty. :ybiggrin:
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So will they test for that now, Dusty? x
DustyKat
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The ultrasound did show gallstones hawkeye but what it also showed was there was no sign of infection, disease or blockage. I don’t have the classic signs and symptoms of a gallbladder attack and the pain doesn’t match it either but to me that doesn’t mean that a stone doesn’t occasionally mobilise, block the duct and then move off again.
Dusty. xxx
Dusty. xxx
Even after they removed my gallbladder I still had considerable right flank pain and diahorrea. I asked about various scenarios including the possibility that the stones were actually forming in the bile duct in the liver. I was assured that although it can happen it is exceedingly rare and unlikely. My neprologist gave me the answer when I asked if it could be bile salt malabsorption. He told me that at least ten percent of gall bladder removal results in salts malabsorption. I was put on questran lite (cholestramine} it absorbs bile salts and cholesterol and takes them thru un absorbed. No more problems. It is quite a complicated system and has more than one way to cause pain. Ron.
DustyKat
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Wow! Haven’t updated here for ages! :eek2:
Me: Touch wood, I haven’t had any further episodes of pain since last October. Cut back some stuff from my diet so either that has made a difference or it is a fluke! :lol:
Sarah: She continues to do well Crohn’s wise but has had a set back in her personal life. She moved in a guy a little while back, all went well for a time and then he told her he didn’t think he could be attracted to someone with Crohn’s, I was fit to kill! :ymad::ymad::ymad: Jesus, tell her it wasn’t working out or something but not that! Anyway, she moved back home and although it has naturally hit her hard she seems to be moving on now and is much happier.
Matt: You may or may not have seen my updates in the kids section but if not he has been flaring and commenced on Humira a month ago. Just back from a follow up with the consultant and they are happy with his progress.
Can’t post an update without a pic, and this one is random to say the least!…
They say it is blue moon, well it sure as hell doesn’t look blue to me! :ylol:
Me: Touch wood, I haven’t had any further episodes of pain since last October.
Cut back some stuff from my diet so either that has made a difference or it is a fluke! :lol: Sarah: She continues to do well Crohn’s wise but has had a set back in her personal life. She moved in a guy a little while back, all went well for a time and then he told her he didn’t think he could be attracted to someone with Crohn’s, I was fit to kill! :ymad::ymad::ymad: Jesus, tell her it wasn’t working out or something but not that! Anyway, she moved back home and although it has naturally hit her hard she seems to be moving on now and is much happier.
Matt: You may or may not have seen my updates in the kids section but if not he has been flaring and commenced on Humira a month ago. Just back from a follow up with the consultant and they are happy with his progress.
Can’t post an update without a pic, and this one is random to say the least!…
They say it is blue moon, well it sure as hell doesn’t look blue to me! :ylol:
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Dusty, I too am seeing red!!! :ymad::ymad::ymad::ymad::ymad::ymad: FWIW I think it was just a pathetic excuse from a commitmentphobe and he obviously wasn't worth Sarah's time so it's better to get rid of him now than years down the track but it must have been hard :ghug:
Glad you all are doing well healthwise!
p.s. really enjoying scrolling back throught the photos in this thread :thumleft:
Glad you all are doing well healthwise!
p.s. really enjoying scrolling back throught the photos in this thread :thumleft:
