Tag: guts

I don’t have coeliac disease, gastric ulcers, Helicobacter Pylori, or intestinal parasites. Nor do I have bowel or esophageal cancer.

I did have a polyp in the bowel, which would probably eventually grow into a cancer, which as been removed. But considering my age, that is a bit of a worry, and a good thing we found it sooner rather than later. It also means that I will have to go through this whole process again every three years. Joy.

So, the summary. Gastritis is pretty normal. Polyps happen to people with a family history of bowel cancer (which I do, but it’s not a strong one), and I have a “mild” case of reflux (doesn’t seem mild to me, but who’s to argue with the expert?). The current theory is that as a vegetarian I had good iron in my bloodstream, but relatively low iron stores, and giving 2 litres of blood in a year probably made my iron levels critical. And that last donation was enough to tip me over the edge into anemia.

And I have fatty liver disease, so I have to reduce my body weight by 10%, and give up the turps. I wonder which will be harder?

The Guts Man found a polyp and gastritis, and took a few biopsies, the results of which I will get on Saturday.

In the meantime, I get to go back on the iron tabs, and stop eating wheat – one of which was making me feel heaps better, but I had to revert so that the tests wouldn’t be a waste of time.

Oh, and I have gastric reflux, which I have known for about 4 years, but now I can see a picture of it.

And the worst part? A toss up between the foul liquids you have to drink before hand (and the fasting for nearly 2 days), and the horrible, violent liquid diarrhoea, which I still have, despite being allowed to eat this afternoon.

The best bit? Apparently I’ve lost 6 kilos since I’ve been ill. No idea where I left them, but having no appetite might have something to do with it!

So. Now to play happy and nice until Saturday without freaking out.