The Results are In

The procedure went well at the hospital yesterday, but we ended up staying there a lot longer than we had anticipated because the endoscopy clinic was "backed up" - I kid you not, that is how they described it (stop and think - this is also the place where they do colonoscopies - need I say more????).


Anyway, what should have been a 3 hour process at the very most, ended up being a 6 hour process. The ERCP was scheduled to begin at 1:00, and it didn't start until 3:15. They gave TP some heavy duty meds to combat the nausea, so it took her an extra long time to wake up. By the time we left, it was after 6:00p.m. - almost 24 hours since she had anything to eat. We ended up stopping at Bob Evan's, where she devoured a turkey dinner in no time flat.

The doctor gave us absolutely wonderful news - the stent was able to open up the stricture almost all the way, and he was very pleased by that. It looked "clean" in there, in the sense that there was no pathology noted, except for a tiny bit of "feathering". He did state that he thought this was all related to the lupus and the autoimmune process, so who knows if this will occur again, and he refused to predict if it would. However, we will monitor her liver enzymes every 3 weeks from now on, so that we can catch it right away. If it does happen again, it will be treated in the same manner, with the stent. He wouldn't want to do surgery on it, because then that causes all sorts of other problems. He mentioned a couple of other possibilities which could happen to her as a result of the stricture, but I am not even going to consider those things right now because there is no use worrying over "possibilities" at this point in time. That is all in God's hands, anyway.

So, today was a day to get caught up around here. There is something so comforting to housecleaning, in an odd sort of way. It's not exactly fun, but there are definitely tangible results, which give me a sense of satisfaction. DQ was a HUGE help - and she was actually cheerful doing things for me. I think she sensed my change in attitude about some things - which I will share more about in a different post.

Thanks for your prayers and support - I appreciate it immensely! I am finding so many new friends out here in cyperspace - and each of you are a blessing!