In short, I have thrush again. No real surprise there...I mean, I wasn't really expecting it, but that is one of the main reasons I had the test done now. I have an appointment with infectious diseases tomorrow (Tuesday) about why I keep getting infections and since I have been prone to thrush in the past they wanted me to check into that before my appointment. That probably explains my recent cough, chest discomfort and sore throat.
Anyway, while down in my stomach looking around, they also found a moderate amount of undigested food left in my stomach even though I hadn't eaten since 2:00 yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. Even that was not very much because I didn't have an appetite yesterday since I was coughing and slept all day! The test was performed around 3:30 this afternoon. With that much food left in my gut after 26 hours it's pretty much conclusive of a re-occurrence of gastroparesis, one of the two conditions I had in the first place leading to the transplant. He doesn't think it's obstruction/blockage related, more on the motility side again. It's complicated by the fact that I also have dumping syndrome, so I'm not sure how we are going to treat one without aggravating the other...but it could potentially explain some recent things.
The GI doc today didn't want to start me on anything for the thrush or go into much detail on the GP aspect because he's never seen me before and obviously that's something transplant will need to deal with anyway. So, I will call my transplant coordinator Tuesday morning to see how to treat the thrush. They are very aggressive in transplant patients because once we get it, it's very hard to get rid of so oral meds have never been prescribed to treat it before, plus I'm already on one that is supposed to prevent it (although all transplant patients know it doesn't work anyway!!!).
As far as the GP goes, it's a matter of learning to manage things again through diet and meds...which is complicated since the two conditions completely work against each other. But, I'll deal with it. I've always known there was a possibility it could return because we don't know what caused it in the first place, but just never REALLY have let myself think that way and never expected it so soon or to be considered "moderate." My hope is that my transplant doc will know how to modify my meds and other treatments so we can keep both conditions under control better than previously. So, while discouraging, I am hopeful that my amazing transplant team will know what to do. Hopefully, I will have a better idea tomorrow. I know they will tell me what needs to be done about the thrush tomorrow because they will jump right on it, but hopefully over time they'll have ideas on managing the returning gastroparesis along with the dumping syndrome. I still feel blessed to be doing as well as I am. The doctors apparently commented while doing the endo on how good my organs look for someone who has been through as much as I have. Thank God and the Pittsburgh transplant team for that!
Having said that, I'm going to eat my orange popsicle to soothe my sore throat before it melts! (the popsicle, not the throat!)
Love to all,
Carissa
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