Digestive issues

Sorry haven't blogged for a while.

Quite a lot has been happening but it's actually past my bedtime so I'll just write a little bit for now.

Well the ultrasound appointment came through really quickly. It was in a private clinic - our GP surgery seems to have a contract with them. There's not much to an ultrasound but I had to keep holding my breath which wasn't easy. They didn't tell me anything but at one point the sonographer called out to the woman sitting at the desk "Can you write these measurements down" and called out several figures. The only thing I could think that they might have been was gallstones and when I went back to the GP she said yes they were so she would refer me to a doctor at the hospital to decide what to do about them.

Then I had the endoscopy. You get a choice with this - a local anaesthetic and a tube down your nose or sedation and a tube down your throat and you're not so aware of what's going on. I've had one before and went for the down the nose option and it was fine - not much to it at all really although the anaesthetic didn't seem to really work very well and I could feel it go down my throat but it was just a moment's discomfort. Apparently that feeling does make some people panic though.

There was quite a long wait - about an hour which made me feel a bit nervous really. Anyway the staff were all really nice. Nurse put some stuff in my nose to dilate it a bit. Waited a bit more then taken into a room and told to lie on the trolley. Then the doctor said he would squirt some anaesthetic into my nose and throat and it would sting a bit but it stung a LOT. In fact I would describe it as acutely painful and I think it was actually the worst part of the whole thing. He spent what felt like a long time exploring my stomach during which I wished I'd gone for sedation but I was confident he wouldn't find anything cos gallstones is enough to be going on with but then he said:

"You have a 5 cm hiatus hernia."

I have a what???

Totally not expecting that.

Apparently it's a bit of my stomach which is moving up into my oesophagus through a hole in my diaphragm. The problem is that my stomach contains acid producing cells so I now have acid at the base of my oesophagus which can very easily travel upwards causing acid reflux symptoms.

Usually they don't operate for hiatus hernias and often they don't cause problems but it seems that mine is. It's a matter of 'lifestyle management' ie working out which foods trigger symptoms and taking drugs to reduce stomach acid and avoiding lying down or bending after eating and not eating very large meals or less than three hours before bedtime and some other stuff I can't remember.

On Saturday I saw a doctor at the hospital who said my gallbaldder isn't inflamed or thickened - it just has gallstones floating in it. He thinks the hernia is the main cause of my symptoms and it's impossible to tell what effect the gallstones are having. He recommended a low fat diet and other lifestyle changes plus medication.

So that's where I'm at. A low fat diet isn't all that easy really but I'm trying to get to grips with it especially now I'm back from my holidays.

More about the holidays to follow.