Esophageal Manometry

So I just had one of the worst experiences of my life. Thank God the worst part is over!! I had my

Esophageal Manometry study done this morning. I had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn (AKA 6:15am) and go down to the hospital. You cannot eat/drink anything for 6hours prior. Also no heartburn meds.

There were 2 tests they perform. The first is the really horrible one, the 2nd is the not-so-horrible-compared-to-the-first one. 

They first squirt some lidocaine gel up each nostril and tell you to sniff. It burns like hell and makes your nose and eyes run. Then you have to gurgle and swallow the stuff. The process makes you gag bc you can't feel your throat. Now comes the fun part. They stick a long tube the thickness of a Bic Pen down your nose into your esophagus. Its really uncomfortable and feels like a hard lump in your throat. They tell you to swallow water to help it go down.

Once it's in, they tell you not to swallow. There's a monitor in front of you and the lady stands there and puts this salty water in your mouth. You have to swallow it in ONE gulp only. If you swallow more than once you have to start over. Once you've swallowed initially you have to wait 30 seconds and you swallow the salt water again for a total of 10 swallows w/30 seconds in between. I ended up with 12 swallows bc I double swallowed twice. 

The tube is really big and it makes your eyes water and if you think about it at all you start dry heaving. The process took about 10-15 minutes and the tube is then removed. 

Next they numb up your nostrils again and stick another long, but much thinner tube, down your nose. The 2nd tube is not nearly as bad going down, but it has to stay there for 24 hours. Yes it sticks out of your nose, and yes everyone can see it. You're given a small monitor to carry around for 24 hours and you have to mark when you start/finish eating, lie down, sit back up, burp, have chest pain, belly pain, nausea, heartburn or regurgitation. 

The monitor shows your esophogeal PH levels. From Natural News:

The human body has a high water content; water is an essential medium for transportation of nutrients, biochemicals and oxygen all throughout the human body. This water-based medium may have acidic or alkaline properties that are measured by a graduated scale known as pH (potential hydrogen). Levels from 1.0 to 6.9 are considered as acidic pH, while 7.1 to 14.0 is alkaline pH. 7.0 is the neutral pH. The lower the pH number, the greater the acidity, and a higher pH number indicates greater alkalinity. The optimal goal should be a blood pH of 7.43, slightly alkaline.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/023526_esophagus_heartburn_pH_levels.html#ixzz33Dv8q2NT

The monitor:

So you can see that yes, it's pretty obvious. I'm not going out in public til 8:00am when I have to get it removed tomorrow morning!

One Step at a Time

One step at a time. I have to keep telling myself this. This is a tough journey for sure. My name's Gabi. I'm 32 and am on my way to getting weight loss surgery!! I can't fucking wait. I feel like I have been waiting a lifetime for this.

4 years ago, my husband got lapband surgery. At that time I was planning on getting it, but I was 10lbs under the weight requirement! Can you believe that? 10lbs? I thought of gaining weight to get it, but in the end decided not to. I was really struggling w/other things at that point in my life, and I am ultimately glad I didn't get it. I'm really proud of my husband for all his weight loss. He's gained a new life, and is really healthy now.

Anyway, flash forward to today. I have decided to get vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery (VSG). I am def. in the weight requirement now. I had a baby last year and let's just say I haven't lost any weight.

I'm between 5'0" and 5'1" and weigh 215lbs. My BMI is 42. If you want your insurance to pay for this bad boy, you have to have a BMI of 40 and above. Hall ay fucking luya! My insurance has NOT approved this surgery yet. I still have one more test to do.

If you know anything about weight loss surgery, you will know that insurance co's love to put you threw the ringer. There are numerous tests you have to get to make sure you qualify. Luckily I've already done all the tests, except for one!

I have premera bluecross. They made me get a 6mo doctor supervised diet. This means I had to see my primary doctor every single month for 6 months and discuss my weight. My dr. put me on a paleo diet. Basically you cut out all grains and sugar and eat fresh, no packaged foods. I lost 3 lbs in 6 months. Not the weight loss I was hoping for.

This Friday is my last an final test (unless they spring on another one). It's called esophageal manometry. Basically they stick a tube down your nose into your stomach and leave it there for 24hrs! EGADS!!!! I had to go off my heartburn meds a week before. I've gotta say that it really sux. I can take Zantac for 5 days, then the last 2 days you have to stop that as well. I can take over the counter stuff, like tums, maalox. Today is the first day it's really bad. Just have to make it a few more days....

If I don't qualify for VSG I am going to get the Bypass. It's a much bigger surgery, but I'm sick of being overweight and unhealthy. I will know next week if I qualify. Then they put my insurance thru. THEN I get my surgery date. PHEW. Getting to the final stages :)