After six months of appointments and jumping through hoops...I had exactly one thing left to do... My upper GI, the Xray with the barium swallow. Since I don't have any symptoms of GERD, etc...I figured it would be pretty easy.

The test is pretty nasty. You drink plaster of Paris, essentially, and roll around back and forth like a trained circus dog while they take x-rays...but it's tolerable.

What was less tolerable was being ready to leave on a mini vacation...and having the office call and tell me my results were abnormal.

"You need to see a gastroenterologist for an upper endoscopy to see what's going on."

Great.

So, I'm thinking all sort of bizarre stuff... Do I have cancer? Cause ya know they're not going to tell you anything about what's going on. Then, it occurred to me that I signed up for the service at my hospital where I can access my health history including being able to view test results....so I was able to pull up the X-ray report. It said there were abnormalities consistent with benign polyps. Whew! Ok, i'm not dying...but where does this leave my surgery?

I was so discouraged....the upper GI was the last hoop I had to jump through. I was done! LOL. Guess not...

By absolute luck, the gastroenterologist had a cancellation and was able to get me in within a week.

The sedation was interesting....sort of that twilight stuff...not exactly anesthetic, but you don't remember much. I do have a vague memory of gagging on the endoscope and the nurses patting me and telling me I was doing great.

Afterward, I learned that my polyps were not big enough to remove, but I had chronic gastritis, and they took a biopsy of the inflamed tissue.

I'm thinking...great, cancer again? LOL (yep, my mind always goes there at the word biopsy)

Nope...they were mostly looking for the bacteria that causes ulcers and infections.

Anyway....I got put on Famotadine for the gastritis...and felt pretty crestfallen, wondering how long this would complicate things and if I'd ever get my surgery..and how long I'd have to treat it, etc. I felt kinda robbed...like all my hard work was going to be undone by this complication and I'd be in limbo forever. So discouraging.

Turns out I was free of the bad bacteria, and gastritis is very common, and would not be a complication to the surgery. Whew!

What felt like a major disappointment and major obstacle....turned out to be much ado about nothing.

Wanted to leave this story in case someone had a similar test result and felt as freaked out as I did.

So happy everything is on track! Good luck with your surgery (and hope you had a good vacation!).

Yay!!! I was laughing about "I'm thinking...great, cancer again? LOL (yep, my mind always goes there at the word biopsy)"

Yep! I think we probably all do the same thing! Glad things came out ok and you were able to leave for vaca!!!?

It was a mini vacation with my best friend....this crazy girl I've known for 40 years. (we met the first day of first grade..we talk damned near every day and see each other once a week)

We took a few days to go see some haunted houses and House on the Rock in Wisconsin.

House on the Rock is impossible to describe. It's sort of like witnessing a museum, obsessive freak show collector, hoarder, steam punk enthusiast, tree house, the worlds biggest carousel and doll collection....and Japanese garden....all at the same time. It's an amazing place, but to really enjoy it, you have to be kinda artsy and half nuts.....which is why my friend and I were thrilled out of our socks. Takes all day to see everything and you still feel like you haven't scratched the surface. Don't go if you're afraid of heights.

The haunted house in Chicago was excellent....the Chicago traffic wasn't. This is an annual trip for us, and we had a blast.

My bestie got me a Fitbit for my birthday this year, and we've been doing step competitions and cooking each other healthy meals....has been really nice to have someone so actively in my corner. Love that girl.

Wow! Sounds like an amazing friendship and super fun trip!!!

Holy Smokes! Sounds like a blast!