Mum had her endoscopy today . Fortunately she slept through the whole event . When she woke up in the recovery room , she apparently asked the nurse when was it going to start ! She was completely zonked and a bit shivery afterwards which is hardly surprising as she was given a drug called Versed ( a heavy-duty sedative ) and extra Fentanyl . When she returned to the hotel, she had some pain in her legs and took Oxycodone . Consequently, she is sound asleep and I doubt she will wake up again until the morning . She managed to have a little soup before crashing and hopefully she will not have any problems as a result of the procedure. Mums endoscopy showed that it is most likely that she has something called "Gastroparesis" which is an abnormal function of the muscles of the stomach. Her gastroenterology doctor, Dr Schiff explained that the stomach muscles have to work properly to propel food from the stomach and into the small intestine. If the muscles or the nerves that control the muscles are not working normally, food remains in the stomach longer potentially causing nausea. This is often seen in people with diabetes or as a side effect of narcotics which slows everything down .
Hmmmm ...... it's quite ironic that the very thing that makes mum virtually pain-free has other side effects that can be almost as distressing . Mums painkillers work very well for her. She is alert and active ..... I've never noticed anything that might make her think twce about taking them . Hopefully, this particular problem can be resolved now .
Mum has been prescribed metaclopromide (Reglan) which has the effect of speeding up digestion, which in turn, prevents acid from staying in the stomach too long. This will hopefully take care of the nausea and will increase her appetite.
Amazing ..... it was 64F this morning in Buffalo . WOW .....hard to believe such mild temps in January . Not that we really notice as it's been three straight days in the hospital . We have'nt been outside once. We are both looking forward to picking up Colin from school and going HOME !
