Today I'm feeling pretty nervous. I'm going for a Small Bowel Follow Through tomorrow morning. So no food for me after dinner today, and nothing to eat or drink after midnight. The test involves swallowing some stuff that is visible on an X-ray, usually Barium, and then having an X-ray picture taken every 15-30 minutes or so until it travels all the way through my small intestine. I've read that the test can take anywhere from 1-4 hours! I'm not worried so much about the test itself, other than how long is it going to take (and feeling bad for asking my Mom to come with me, before I knew she would be sitting around for hours!). Although I'm not really happy about all the radiation I've been getting lately (I hope it doesn't affect my ability to have children some day).
What I'm most worried about is what the results of the test will show. My doctor wants to use this test to see if I have other sections of inflammation, or if it is just the one short section. I've been clinging to the hope that it's only in one small spot... and I really don't want that hope to be shattered. These results will also determine what my future treatments will be. Oh boy.... deep breath! I'm scared.
Brightside - Small bowel follow throughs are no big deal in the grand scheme of tests for Crohn's. It's my favorite one actually cause I like to race and see how fast I can get the barium to go through. I've had it reach my colon in ten minutes flat before!! My personal best - ;)
ReplyDeleteA tip to make it go through faster is to pace the floors. Don't just sit and wait - walk, walk and walk. And I have even jumped up and down before.
I will pray that your tests come back and show no further signs of active disease. Please keep me updated!!
Blessings...
Hey, Brightside *pat on the back*, I know how you feel. When I first had this same procedure done, I was a little freaked out, too. Have you not had it before? If not, it's really not too bad. I was shocked about how long they said it would take as well, but it ended up only taking 30 minutes for me (and then I had the runs- lol- which was probably one of the worst parts for me). It really depends on the person, but for people in our age group, it usually doesn't take too long. I hope that everything goes well for you, and that the results bear some good news. Take care. -Autumn
ReplyDeleteAww... thanks guys. You were right, it wasn't too bad at all. Your comments mean a lot!
ReplyDeleteBut how long did it take and what did they say????
ReplyDelete*laughs* You missed my post talking about it by only a few minutes. Refresh my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteNo results yet. I'll have to wait till I have an appointment with my GI. His office will call when they get the results.
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