Quick up-date

I don't want to jinx it, but I'm doing a tad better.

Even after a week-long visit with my parents I'm not terribly crashed.  (I still have to spend a good portion of the day in bed, but I'm just not quite as ill).

My roommate J toured my dad around the whole week doing errands: grocery store, yard work, getting gas at the reserve where it's cheaper etc. It saved me so much energy and I'm grateful to him.

My mom isn't too well so her and I were good company for each other.  She napped a fair amount (no where near as much as me) and we sat on the patio together visiting quietly, me in my outdoor recliner.  We even managed two games of scrabble (a favourite of ours).

Both my parents did the annual task of putting in my gardens.  Now all I have to do is some minor weeding and the harvest throughout the later summer.  We also attended to the native wild flower gardens out front (an ongoing project).  I can no longer call them dirt gardens as after three years they are starting to look a bit better. (I'll post some photos at some point).

I've had two more tests in the last couple weeks.  An echocardiogram which was very interesting.  The technician explained all the steps and measurements to me as she went.  It was neat to see my heart there beating as well as all the chambers and valves.

I also had a Cat Scan ordered by the rude, patronizing, gastroenterologist.  That was a less "fun" test.  I had to drink a litre of cold liquid with dye and then sit in a hospital waiting room for an hour.  Then they also injected me with a dye before the Cat Scan, an uncomfortable experience.  

I haven't heard back about either test yet so I'm assuming they were both normal.  I will get the cat scan results from my NP as I said I would never return to the Gastroenterologist.  I thought maybe the echo would pick something up as my OI is so wacky....and getting worse again with the warmer temps. 

My mom had a blood pressure monitor with her and my roommate J (who has a heart condition) and I had fun testing ourselves.  If I stood up for two minutes with the cuff on it would often "error" as my systolic BP would drop below 90 (this happened too, when my NP tried to test me with an automatic monitor).  On the ones were I did get a reading, my BP would drop 20 to 30 from taking it sitting (always under 100) and my heart rate would rise by 50 up to 120.

Overall, I'm not sure if my slight improvement is due to the B12 injections I'm taking.  I think it may be as it coincided with the start of them.  I'm injecting 2 000 ml 2X a week which is a lot.

I'm also FINALLY able to eat a bit more normal food.  I think it's a combination of time/healing and I'm taking ranitidine which is an H2 blocker.  I noticed no change with the proton pump inhibitor, in fact, during that month and 1/2 the pain was worse.  The Gastroenterologist said that the PPI not helping was "impossible".

After more than a month with no improvement my NP and I decided to try the H2 blocker ranitidine again (I tried it 6 mo ago and had noticed a small improvement).  This time I notice a very clear difference when I take the ranitidine.  It is an older fashioned treatment for ulcers and Gerd.  I'm still limited in my eating, however, there are parts of the day with no pain, and sometimes after eating something benign, like rice crackers or soup, I am without symptoms....for the first time since early December!