The News Was Mostly Good

I spent half a day at the gastroenterology testing unit at the Central Utah Center in Provo. Dr. Thorpe, the doctor I was referred to by the doctors in Nephi, was mostly pleased with the results. The good news was that I have no cancer nor pre-cancer of the esophagus. I do have some scarring from GERD and the hiatal hernia, a condition in which a portion of the stomach protrudes upward into the chest through an opening in the diaphragm, is a bit larger but, other than that, I seem to be faring quite well and I am not an immediate candidate for surgery. He did change my prescription and I ended up with one that my insurance will not pay for and that will, and did, cost me $75 for a one-month supply. He said that it is highly successful in people with my family history at keeping cancer cells from forming. It has made my life more pleasant. I can sleep at night without choking. In addition, while he was doing the test, he found that I had a fold of some sort and blew a ballon up in my esophagus which made it pop out so now I can swallow better. I also need to lose 10 pounds to make Dr. Thorpe happy. (Good luck with that!!!!!!)

I also had a bone scan done because people who have had my history of GERD usually have bone loss. I do not have those results back.

Other than my usual reaction to the anesthetic--sleeping the rest of the day--I am now in good shape for another five years.

Shawn wrote: Thank you for the update. That is good news.