To start off, if you grew up in the early 90’s you may enjoy the beautiful ‘Guts’ reference in the above title. If you do not fall into that category, the ‘Aggro Crag’ was the coveted trophy awarded to the 1st place winner of the Nickelodeon show ‘Guts’. BEHOLD:

If you think this post is about that beautiful, green, glowing piece of greatness, it’s not. It’s about actual guts, my guts. Sorry…

I’ll understand if you decide to stop reading here.

For those of you that don’t care about 90’s pop culture references, let’s carry on shall we?

Today I visited my gastroenterologist, Dr. Fayek. Since before the bowel obstruction there has been talk of me having a colonoscopy due to thickening of the colon seen on January’s CT scan. My doctors are unsure as to what this means but the Boston doctors would like me to have the colonoscopy as a precaution as it has been seen that the study drug can cause colitis (inflammation of the colon).

It has been a few weeks since I was discharged from the hospital for the bowel obstruction so the consult was for Dr. Fayek to examine me and see if I was in good shape to follow through with the colonoscopy. After feeling my abdomen she said that she still felt some distention and was very concerned about performing a colonoscopy.

In the event that my guts are still jacked up and she were to perform a colonoscopy it could be dangerous. The result could be possibly triggering another bowel obstruction or perforation (which is super scary and could lead to surgery/infection/extreme unpleasantness). In order to perform a colonoscopy your doctor pumps air into your colon in order for the camera to get a comprehensive view (fun right? you suckers should have stopped reading when I told you to).

The colonoscopy is scheduled for Friday, March 13th at Women and Infants but we will have another consult before that to determine if it is safe or not. Dr. Fayek consulted with Dr. Robison and they both tend to agree that it may not be the best time for this kind of procedure.

I am appreciative that Dr. Fayek is erring on the side of caution and being very conservative when weighing the cost/benefit of this procedure. Ever since the FIRST surgery in December 2012, my intestines have never been quite right. Who would have thought that cutting them in half and sewing them back together would make them angry? Is there such a thing as colon-karma? Hmm…

As details unfold about the fate of this procedure, I shall let you know.

In other news…

1.) I’ve been back on the trial for a couple weeks now. It still makes me feel crummy and I still hate it. I am due for a CT scan in April and will weigh out my options at that time. For now I’m working on incorporating some more holistic/healthy practices into my life, abstaining from alcohol (wahhh wine, I still love you), eating VERY well thanks to the generosity of many, and sweating it out in hot yoga/beasting it weight training with Matt. All of this helps, I just need to keep the momentum going to maintain healthy behaviors.

2.) I’ve been receiving a boat-load of extra help lately. Thank you for everyone that has signed up/cooked a meal for me through the CaringBridge page or sent a donation through Young & Brave or otherwise 🙂 Between my cousins alone, I think I have enough individually portioned, healthy, tasty freezer meals to last me another month! (Sara and Teri, you seriously need to quit your jobs and go into business!).

Additionally, I have received many thoughtful gifts, cards, and treats that melt my heart. These acts of kindness resonate with me deeply.

THANK-YOU!

Love & gratitude 🙂