The Endoscopy

It didn't begin well. We arrived for the procedure at 9:30 for a 10:00 check-in then waited until 11:45 to be called upstairs for it to begin. It was a long wait. I slept a bit but was worried about being in a room of a lot of sick people waiting for surgery along with their families.

Upstairs, we ran into a well-oiled machine. These people knew what they were doing. One woman brought me to a bed in a corner, told me to undress and put everything into the bag. When ready, a young anesthesiologist peeked in and began to ask a lot of questions about my health and what medications I had taken in the morning. Then, the anesthesiologist arrived dancing. I fell in love. She was so amazing and we found out that she had 38 years of experience. Perfect! Just what I wanted.

Initially, I thought we might have a problem. She wanted to give me general anesthesia, which would put me into ICU for a couple of days. I told her about my experiences with the liver biopsy and my nose implant where I asked to have mild sedation and it worked just fine. I was tough.

She was worried about aspirations flowing into my lungs during the procedure, causing a specific kind of deadly pneumonia. We talked back and forth before she said, "I choose to phone a friend." Just like the TV show. And she did. She actually phoned the anesthesiologist who deals with the lung patients. They chatted and he supported light sedation along with several other things like a certain spray on my throat and a horrible drink of something to knockdown all the acid in my stomach.

I told her that I absolutely trusted her and whatever she decided was the safest choice was fine with me. She decided to go with the light sedation. Thank goodness.

The surgeon arrived. He confirmed to her that the entire procedure should take 15-20 minutes, which also seemed to confirm her decision not to give me general anesthesia. When the surgeon was leaving, he pointed to her behind her back and mouthed, "The best!" to me.

She talked to me throughout the procedure. I was floating and drifting and sleeping but remember gagging while the instruments went down my throat, but was not concerned as I had a lot of lovely drugs on board. She kept checking in with me. In the end, she asked how I was and I replied, "Fine." She said, "You are an amazing patient."

Thank you very much.

I was wheeled to recovery, met a nice nurse who was amazing that I was awake and doing so well so quickly. I had no pain. I had no problems, even standing up to get dressed. We were out of there by 2:00. So unexpected.

Now the bad news. The doctor spoke with Michael while I was in recovery and told him that he was shocked that the Nissen was too loose, the exact opposite of what he had expected. He also told Michael that they found something "odd" in my stomach and took a biopsy. I should know what it was in a few days. I so pray it is not stomach cancer.

I think the results of the biopsy will determine the next steps regarding the Nissen. Again, everything is on hold.