Hallelujah! Only one appt. today. It was an endoscopy at Shadyside Hospital which is about a mile and a half from the hotel but part of UMPC. For those who have never had an endoscopy they suck. Literally.
We should have known it would take a long time. The doc was working on patients left and right. It took a good 3 1/2 hours or so from start to finish.
Dr Jobe, the GI specialist, was pretty cool. I wasn't present in the consult since they were readying Lee for the procedure but I did talk with him post procedure. And I felt good about what he told me. He said he found no surprises during the endoscopy. Not sure what sorts of surprises he expected though. And he performed a biopsy for Scleroderma while digging around in there. "Scleroderma is a connective tissue disease that involves changes in the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. It is a type of autoimmune disorder, a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue." **
Doctors have long thought Lee has this disease but his tests always come back negative.
Dr Jobe thinks that since Lee is otherwise healthy besides the bad lungs and esophagus concern, he would be a good candidate for a transplant from a GI point of view. He also thinks Lee would recover well but would probably have to have that Fundoplication surgery I mentioned the other day. And Lee has age on his side. He's younger than most PF patients.
More reassuring words.
For dinner, we decided to try out a well known restaurant in town that's also a microbrewery in a 1903 church. Church Brew Works was quite an experience. Beautiful inside and out. And the food was tasty. Although I can safely say that I don't like fries on or in or even around my salad. People in Pittsburgh love fries in food. When we walked in I noticed the incredibly strong odor of what I have read to be wort emanating from the brewing vessels. For me, it was
down right stinky and at times overwhelming. But then again, I don't drink beer. Never have.
After dinner, I dropped him off at the hotel so I could pick up some pepto for him.
Endoscopies can often upset your tummy. Lee is now resting on the bed watching busty models in bikinis whale watching in Hawaii. Great.
And to end the evening for me, I just went for a warm soak in the hot tub followed by a short swim. Instead of taking it easy, I messed around trying to take goofy photos of myself. I really need the exercise though as this trip has totally screwed my diet. I had lost almost 6 pounds, wasn't eating sweets or many carbs but this week it's all gone to hell. Friggin'
stress.
Serenity now. Serenity now.
** http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001465/
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