July 31, 2017 - Barium Enema:
Surprisingly, the prep (clear liquid diet the day before along with two bottles of magnesium citrate and two dulcolax pills) didn't put me in the bathroom that much. In fact, I had some formed stool in the morning before my appointment. It still make my stomach hurt though.
They took an initial x-ray to make sure my bowels were clean enough for my procedure. I had a lot of stool in my bowels, so the tech had to get the PA. Thankfully, the PA also has Crohn's disease and didn't want to make me reschedule and reprep unless it was absolutely necessary. He talked with me to determine why I was there and what we're looking for. He consulted with his supervisor, the practicing physician, and they decided to remix the barium into a thinner consistency to give it a better chance of finding any abnormal pathways.
Typically the tech would insert the enema tip, but because I have a stricture and considered to be a "special" case, the MD wanted to do it (she was in dress clothes, not scrubs, so I don't think she usually has to do barium enemas). Since my bowels weren't empty, they didn't use air like they usually would.
The barium enema was very uncomfortable and it felt like I was going to shit all over them. The barium leaked a little, but the PA assured me that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. They have 90 year old men that shit the table all the time. The whole thing was a traumatizing and felt somewhat like an out-of-body experience.
After the MD signed off on the images and said I was done, the PA (the one with Crohn's) came into the room and let me know he isn't supposed to say anything, but he wanted me to know they didn't see any abnormal pathways. Seriously, I've never felt as well cared for as the team at SimonMed made me feel. While this seems like good news, it does not provide answers to my symptoms.
July 31, 2017 - Gastro Office Appointment:
I got the official results of the barium enema, which did not show any abnormal pathways. How the heck are feces getting into my urinary tract?? The Doc gave me a list of shit I have to get done. More on that later.
August 7, 2007 - MR Entorography (MRI of Small Bowel)
Since the Barium Enema only looks at the large intestine, my gastro ordered an MRI to look at the small intestine to see if maybe that's where the issue is coming from. I had this done a few years ago; however, it was a lot different this time around. I had to drink three 16oz. of barium (1 of 15 minutes) before the exam. The barium was new and improved from last time. It tasted better and was easier to get down than I remember, but it still made me nauseous.
Once the nurse (Juan) called me back to get my IV hooked up as I finished my last glass of barium, he complimented me on finishing the barium and mentioned that most patients can't drink them all. Hell, I didn't want to drink them all, I thought I had to. Had I known I could cheat on drinking all the barium, that would have been tempting.
The last time I had this done, they made me lay on my back on put me in the MRI machine feet first so that my head didn't go in the machine. This time around, they made me lay on my stomach (the radiologist explained that we want the bowels to move as little as possible and it helps to lay on them to minimize movement) and put me in *GASP* HEAD FIRST!!!! It was fucking terrifying!!!
I put in earplugs. They put some kind of temporary gastro paralysis in my IV that lasts for 30-45 minutes to slow the bowels. There was a huge strap the size of my back that hooked on each side of the table to secure me in tightly. The radiologist put the emergency ball in my hand (to squeeze if I need help or freak out) and started moving the table... which made me go head first into the fucking MRI machine. I can't remember the last time I was that afraid. At first I kept my eyes closed. My chest was tight, it was hard to breathe, and I felt like I was gasping for air. I was tempted to squeeze emergency ball, but somehow I found the strength not to. In that moment, I told myself that I wanted the chance to get answers more than I wanted safety (outside the MRI machine in an open room).
Tears slipped onto my check when I decided to open my eyes. I was somewhat relieved to find that the back of the MRI machine has a hole in it, so I could see the wall and a light in the distance. Still freaky, but better than it would have been had it been completely enclosed. It took about 45 minutes to go through a series of breath holds. Holding your breath as they take images also minimized movement. Afterward, the radiologist complimented me on how well I followed instructions and that made her job easy.
Before I left SimonMed, I went to the bathroom. I had very obvious symptoms of fecal matter in my urine and I passed gas out of my urethra. I'm hopeful the barium passed through whatever pathway it needed to in order to show up on the images.
I got a call today (08.09.17) from SimonMed asking me to come back in for "additional views". I'm going back on Friday the 11th. They couldn't tell me specifics because they are not allowed to allude to any diagnosis, but the lady did say they want to image lower into the pelvic region. Since it sounds like they didn't take images of that region before, the reason for additional views cannot be because of poor images from the first appointment. Perhaps they saw something and want narrow in on it...but that still doesn't make sense if they didn't take images of that region before. My mind is racing wondering if they found something, anything that might help explain my symptoms.
The bad news is that I have to conquer that damn MRI machine again. What's worse, a barium enema or a MRI where you go in head first? I don't know if I can answer that as they both seem like the same level of hell to me.
