So I had my consult at Barnes. The surgeon was good and had some good ideas and agreed that a fundoplication was good to have on the list. But he wants to run another test first. Since my 24 hour pH monitor last year came back pretty normal (either because I was having a good day or my pH really is close to normal), he wants to see if I'm having regurgitation/reflux of non-acid stomach contents. There's a test similar to the pH monitor to check for that. They're supposed to call and schedule me for that.
He also said there was something called visceral hypersensitivity. It's entirely possible that my body doesn't tollerate a normal amount of acid and is breaking down and reacting to what would be "normal" to any other person. He said this can be treated non-surgically, with things that I haven't tried yet (since we weren't looking for it before). If that's what it is, that would mean one less surgery, but a lifetime of some kind of pill/treatment and probably another diet change. So both have pros and cons.
We'll see what the impedence test shows.
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Saw grandpa after my appointment. And I couldn't have been happier when I walked in and he recognized me immediately. He was really doing much better than I was expecting. He still has a large clot in his carotid artery to worry about, but is much more stable now than he was before. He is completely blind in his right eye (I thought she said left before)....no light, no shadows, no movement, no nothing. It's just gone. And he has some facial paralysis. He has to work to keep his eye open and mouth closed (grandma had fun reminding him every five minutes to do so, payback after years of hearing the same commands after her stroke). But the paralysis on his left side is improving. He can bring his hand up to touch his nose, he was scratching his right shoulder with his left hand, playing with his IV tubing with both hands (the nurse in me was watching that a lot closer than the rest of the family....that takes a LOT of fine muscle coordination....I was really pleased to see him doing that, just threading it through his fingers, back and forth, and not dropping it), he wasn't moving his left leg quite so well (the right one was doing fine), looked like his toes were drooping quite a bit already, but he's going to be getting a lot of therapy, so I pushed my worries back on that one. He still doesn't have bladder/bowel control yet, but he'll start to get that back when he starts moving around again. The more he gets up on his feet, the better his bladder will begin to function. They took him off thickened liquids while we were there (he's been moved lower and lower on the scale the last few days), changing him to regular liquids with 100% supervision and prompting to tuck his chin, which he was doing very well without any choking trouble.
It was just so great to see him doing so well after such a traumatic CVA. It was great to see him cracking jokes and making light of the situation. He's still worried whether or not he'll get his driver's license back or not (I really don't know if they'll give it back to him if he doesn't regain his sight in that eye, given his age and 2 CVAs), and he's worried about his leisure activities, but we promised him we'd teach him how to shoot left handed and that since he usually only crappie fished anyway, he didn't need to cast a rod like a pro anymore.
He'll be okay. Surgery is on Tuesday. I pray that it goes smoothly and uneventfully and that his recovery will be just as quick as it has been going. I really think he's going to be just fine when all is said and done here.
I took a short nap before work when I got home that night, and woke up to a voicemail from my little brother. Called him back and he told me his girlfriend was pregnant! OMG!! I can't believe it!! It's still absolutely amazing to me! They've got a lot to figure out, but they'll do this. They're really excited and happy and I'm happy for them!
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Thought I was finally going to get some sleep after two days of running around. Even took a sleeper to make the transaction complete. Then my body stepped in and screwed me over. I woke up a lot. It was a very unrestful sleep. And I woke up hot and in pain and in a drug-induced hangover because I didn't get to sleep it all off. I'll be so glad when I start sleeping nights again, because I really think I'll sleep much better then.
I woke up with HORRIBLE jaw/facial pain Thursday. That was probably the worst my mouth has ever hurt like that. Had I not already been in a sleeping pill haze, I would have gotten into 'the stash' and taken something stronger. I hate narcotics, I hate taking anything at all really (even tylenol on a regular basis), but sometimes, pain meds are necessary. That's what I have them around for. Darvocet and Vicodin, emergencies only.
I also think having a different job will help. Because my pain has really been minimal this week since I've been on the "light" hall. It's much like what I'll be doing at the hospital, more time on my feet, but less straining and pulling and wearing and tearing on my joints. Which I'm looking forward to.
Got home from work yesterday morning and had a small bowl of cereal. I have to eat something when I get home to keep my blood sugar from dropping while I sleep and because I need food on my stomach with a handful of morning pills. But 5 minutes after I ate I felt like crap. My stomach has been seriously hating on me lately. I think I'm about to have another go round with IBS. The rheumatologist gave me a new prescription for IBS meds to try if I want to (if that's what I'm about to endure), but what I have works pretty well for me right now, so I think I'll stick with it. No use in messing up a good thing.
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Went over to Matt's last night. At first I wanted to go out and do something since we hadn't seen each other in a while and it was so nice out (75 and sunny and beautiful), but since I still wasn't feeling well and he'd had a crappy day too, we opted to stay in. We bummed around, went on a grocery run, made yummy food, and bummed around some more. And fell asleep cuddling on the couch for a while, because that's the best end to any night. What more could I ask for?
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I just downloaded I Spy on my iPhone....I'm definitely going to play that for a while before I hit the hay!!!
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