I went to the Gastroenterologist yesterday. He checked out my stats and is now trying to narrow down what causes my stomach to be so prone to irritability. Since it has been going on for the last 20+ years he says he can rule out cancer and most ulcers and such. He thinks he can narrow it down to either a buildup of bacteria in the digestive system or the more common irritable bowel syndrome. To further narrow it down I need to come back next month and they will take a series of breath samples to determine the bacterial content of my digestive system. While sitting around in a doctor’s office for 4 hours, breathing in a bag occasionally sounds boring and tedious. I have to believe it is a much better option than a colonoscopy. I was relieved to hear that he sees no reason to do one and that I don’t need one till I am 50.
He also gave me a prescription for Hyoscyamine. It is apparently an anticholinergic sedative. Which means it relaxes the muscles in the bladder and intestines while reducing stomach acids. It is a mixture of belladonna alkaloids and barbiturates. So, I am guessing it will come with one of those warnings to not operate heavy machinery while taking. So, I guess I better lose some more weight. It would be really nice if this works to reduce or mitigate my symptoms. I guess the only way to find out is to take it and see what happens.
On a funnier note, I have some friends out visiting in the valley this weekend. The husband is on this survivalist kick and I think his wife is just along for the ride. It is pretty funny to see the suburbanites come out to the woods. I am not saying that my wife and I are die hard outdoors people. But, I will say that we have learned a lot living out in the middle of nowhere. They are technically roughing it out in the woods in the rain right now. But, once they got everything setup last night it kind of looked like a Pottery Barn catalog picture morphed with a LL Bean catalog picture. It is truly amazing how much stuff some people think they need to survive in the woods. I am thinking that if they continue down this path much longer that they will reduce their foot print considerably. Mainly because they will tire of carrying so much stuff with them to their campsite and getting it all setup. Oh well, at least it is entertaining to watch. As soon as I am done with this blog I need to go deliver them water since they accidentally let their seven gallon jug drain out last night when they left the spigot open.
Well, off to make breakfast and deliver water. Then we will see what the day has in store. I think the wife wants to blow some of our tax return windfall on a new washer and dryer. Woo hoo…. :-/
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