EGDs and Bowling...

Next Tuesday I am having a procedure called Esophagogastroduodenoscopy or for those demanding fewer keystrokes - EGD. It's an examination of the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and upper duodenum with a small camera (flexible endoscope) which is inserted down the throat. Dr. Kermode decided I should have one of these since I saw him on the 11th and I am still having these problems eating and then getting sick and throwing up. He thinks it might be a stricture or a closing up of a flap in the opening where my small intestine was reattached to my little stomach. What happens in this case is, the food gets in the stomach, but won't pass through into the intestine, hence the making you sick part. The good news is, this hasn't happened to me since I saw the Dr. ('natch), but I'm still going to have the procedure!

So anyways, Dr. Kermode and I talked about the whole fainting thing also so he sent me to an internist in Grinnell named Doctor Gonduwe (GAWN-doo-way). He's South African and has beautiful skin and a very cool English accent. So he did a bunch of tests to see if there was some other underlying condition causing the fainting symptoms. I went to MMSC Saturday morning where they took 3 of my 5 pints of blood (ugh) and then I had something called a Holter Monitor hooked up to me. This is basically a heart monitor that you have to wear for 24 hours and the little iPod thingy you wear on a belt records all your heartbeats and stuff. It was kind of cool... at first. Then along about bedtime I got really tired of it. But I survived and I had it removed this morning. Anyway he is going to let me know what he finds out. Hopefully after this whole thing on Tuesday I will be good to go for a while... I hope.

A week ago Saturday (Dec. 9), my great niece Katie (remember her from the last post) came to stay with my sister Anita. Saturday they came over and Katie wanted to go bowling. Really? Bowling? So I called Totem Bowl and they were having Cosmic Bowling from 1 to 3. So I made a reservation.
We went over there and had lunch first and then they turn on the black lights and disco balls and we bowled with fluorescent pink balls and they played loud music. It was a BLAST! I got alot of exercize and I had so much fun! Until I pulled a hammy... that's right. So I had to limp around for a little bit, but remember I haven't been able to do much physically for a while now. But this was really freeing! I think it's my new sport. (Like I had a sport before - well, watching TV) The photos are not actually at Totem Bowl but it looks just like that. I think when everyone gets home for Christmas, we should go do this. Like I said, it's a BLAST!

So today I got the rest of my presents wrapped and things straightened up. Eric is seeing a surgeon on Wednesday. He has an "intermittent small intestinal blockage" so we don't know if he's going to have surgery or not. This has just been a weird couple of weeks. I will keep all posted. If I don't talk to you soon, I will see all y'all at Christmas!

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