4 year update!

Wow, so I completely forgot that I used to write in this blog about my health issues!
I found this by accident today, and to my surprise saw that I had TONS comments and filtered Facebook messages from readers who found my blog about gallbladder problems and sphincter of oddi and had questions.
I wanted to write this blog post today to provide a 4 year update!!

I am 10000000000% better now.
What happened?

Well, as you saw from my posts below, I went through months and months of random bouts of GI pain after my gallbladder was removed. I had test after test after test with no answer and was eventually prescribed a low dose or Nortryptiline to treat sphincter of oddi dysfunction. And it did help me for almost a year! I'm grateful for that. It brought a lot of normalcy back to my life.

One thing that I neglected to ever write about was the fact that I had also been suffering from chronic pain in my feet ever since I was in my early 20s. I could write a book about my feet issues over the years. Over a course of 9 years, I saw 2 different podiatrists and 2 neurologists and was eventually diagnosed with tarsal tunnel syndrome via a nerve conduction study. In early 2014, I decided I wanted to have surgery to correct the tarsal tunnel syndrome in both of my feet. My podiatrist (Dr. Scott Smith in Monterey, CA) was very reluctant to do the surgery because I did not fit the profile of a typical tarsal tunnel patient - I was a skinny, healthy, under-30 (at the time) woman. He sent me to see ONE more neurologist for a final opinion. This third neurologist conducted yet ANOTHER nerve conduction study in both of my feet. This guy's opinion was that I actually didn't have tarsal tunnel at all - it was chronic bilateral peripheral polyneuropathy. In simple terms, the nerves in both of my feet were showing signs of decreased functionality and damage. That's not tarsal tunnel at ALL, and could actually be much worse depending on what could be causing it. Dr. Smith wanted my results to be reviewed by yet a FOURTH neurologist. I met Dr. Laura Banks in Monterey and she agreed with the diagnosis of neuropathy - and NOT tarsal tunnel.
One just doesn't "get" neuropathy - something has to be causing it. There are a lot of really bad things that can cause it (like lupus or another auto-immune disease). What Dr. Banks decided to do was to send me out to get a crap-ton of blood work done to test for all of the most common things that cause it.
All of the really awful things that cause neuropathy came back negative - and the only thing that popped up in my blood work as abnormal were my Vitamin B12 levels.
I was B12 deficient! B12 deficiency is one of the most common things that can result in neuropathy. B12 is crucial for a healthy nervous system. Seriously?? 9 years of agony all because of a vitamin deficiency???
I have been taking a Centrum multivitamin daily for years - which has B12 in it - but Dr. Banks said that for some reason, some people just require more than the average person. And that's not a bad thing! She told me to take a 5000 macrogram B12 supplement with my vitamin for 3 months, and she was confident I would see a difference. I started crying in her office from happiness and relief (I am such a drama queen). I did not need surgery and I am FOREVER grateful for Dr. Smith's cautious approach to my situation!!!

After ~3-4 months of B12 supplements, I did notice a giant difference in my feet. But to my surprise, I ALSO NOTICED THAT MY STOMACH PAIN WAS GONE.
Yes - B12 supplements for 4 months CURED all of my GI pains.
At a follow up appointment with Dr. Banks, I told her about this and she said she felt it was very likely that I have been chronically B12 deficient for a really really long time, and it could have had a huge impact on the healing of the nerves around the area that was operated on during my gallbladder surgery. She encouraged me to stop taking the Nortryptiline and see how I felt - so I did and the pain still hasn't come back - it is 2017!

I would encourage anyone reading this to get your B12 levels checked. I would also encourage you to add a B12 supplement to your diet. Just give it a shot for 3 months and see how your chronic pain feels. It changed my life.

Nortriptyline. Sphincter of Oddi. IT WORKS.

I'm writing this blog for the purpose of it showing up in google searches and hoping I can help someone out there find some relief.

I had my gallbladder removed 2 years ago.
I found relief after the surgery, but still had some pain. And it was getting worse.
Sharp, squeezing-like pain in the area where my gallbladder used to be with slightly increased pancreas levels (specifically lipase).
Went through every test possible. Everything inside of me is fine. I just had chronic pain.
I most likely have sphincter of oddi. I never went through the tests that properly diagnose it (as the test that diagnose is risky), but my GI doctor ruled out everything else and determined this is most likely what I have.

He prescribed me 10mb of NORTRIPTYLINE a day. It took about 2-3 weeks after I started taking it before I felt relief.

4 months later, I am symptom free!!!!

No pain!! I can eat anything I want and my anxiety is basically non-existent.

Please... there are a lot of awful experiences on the internetz. Please consider my success story and ask your doctor about Nortriptyline (or another TCA type of anti-depressant) to treat your chronic stomach pain.

AT&T Next is a scam!

If you know me, then you know I am an advocate of numbers. One thing that not many people know about me is that I have a Bachelors degree in Math. I was crazy enough to double major when I was an undergraduate.

Which brings me to my point: numbers can be used to prove points. NUMBERS DO NOT LIE. They CAN'T lie. Numbers are numbers and you can't interpret them beyond what they really are. 2 is 2, no matter what you do or say. It's black or white. This is why I love math. If you're a fan of the movie Mean Girls, then you know Cady Herron loves math because "it's the same in every country." Preach, girl!

Hence, the story of why I took it upon myself to find out if the new AT&T Next plan is worth the money, or if it's just a giant scam to make their customers FEEL like they are getting something for their money. My husband sent me this link on Twitter last night and asked me to read it and see what I thought. At first glance, it seems like a great idea. It also sounds like this is a concept that many of the other cell phone providers are jumping on board with. The first thing that jumped out to me was "monthly payments". RED FLAG. Sorry, but anytime I read anything about making monthly payments, I immediately question it's value....

In my analysis, I picked the Apple iPhone, since this is what I use. This method can be applied to any other equivalent smartphone (Samsung Galaxy, etc).

Using this Wikipedia page for the iPhone, the earliest release dates for all past iPhones were the following:

• iPhone 1st Gen: June 29, 2007
• iPhone 3G: July 11, 2008 = 13 months between release dates
• iPhone 3GS: June 19, 2009 = 11 months between release dates
• iPhone 4: June 24, 2010 = 12 months between release dates
• iPhone 4S: October 14, 2011 = 16 months between release dates
• iPhone 5: September 21, 2012 = 11 months between release dates

It takes Apple anywhere from 11 to 16 months to release a new version of the iPhone from the previous release date. The average time it takes for Apple to release a new iPhone from the previous release date is ~12.6 months. So we'll say 13 months is good number to represent the average cycle of Apple iPhones. (Does this mean we can expect a new iPhone this Octoberish? An iPhone 5S perhaps? I have no idea - just a thinking out loud.)

If you are currently with AT&T, then you have to wait for your contract to end in order to buy the iPhone at it's discounted price of $199 + taxes and fees (assuming you buy the cheapest one - I would). Looking at my past transactions, I paid $252.54 after taxes and fees. You then have to make your monthly payments to AT&T for 2 years (~$85/month rate plan that includes voice, texting, and data plans) before you are eligible for an upgrade to the next version of the iPhone. After 24 months, we can say we're 100% sure there will be a new iPhone version out based on history. In fact, there maybe have been 2 upgrades since your initial purchase.

What people don't realize is that you are actually still paying for your iPhone during those 2 years where you are locked in. The reason it is so much cheaper to buy the iPhone when you sign a 2 year contract is because you are actually subsidizing the rest of the iPhone retail price through your monthly rate charges through AT&T. You actually are paying the full retail price of the iPhone, but most of it is over time through your monthly rate plan bill. This is why there are such hefty termination fees for breaking your contract - they are trying to "recoup" the amount of the retail priced iPhone that they lost because you cancelled. The full retail price of an iPhone 5 16GB contract free is $649. Since you paid $199 up front, that means you're paying $450 over 2 years, which equates to about $19/month. This is only my estimate, though. I am unable to find any information specifically HOW MUCH of your AT&T monthly rate plan is actually the iPhone subsidy. Are you they putting in more than $19/month? Does anyone know? If anyone can find this information for me, that would be great.

Let's say you buy the iPhone for $252 and then faithfully pay your monthly AT&T bills on time for 24 months. Technically, your iPhone is paid in full. Why doesn't your bill go down? The amount of your monthly rate plan that accounted for the iPhone subsidy should go away since you made those payments for 2 years. WRONG. According to this CNET article:

"AT&T doesn't adjust the price of your monthly service based on whether or not your phone is fully paid for or not. This means that the price of your service when you buy a new phone with a subsidy is the same at the beginning of your new contract as it is 24 months later when the contract expires and you have finished paying off the phone. Carriers force customers to pay a hefty early termination fee to cover the cost of the device if they leave the service early. Of course, it would be better for consumers if AT&T and other carriers had a policy so that when you finished paying off the subsidy your monthly service cost would be reduced, but most do not. Why? The simple answer is because AT&T and the other carriers who have set up their plans in the same fashion want to wring as much revenue out of you as possible. And the truth is you are an ideal customer for them right now. You paid off of your phone subsidy many moons ago and now you're still paying for the service."

Bottom line: AT&T is a bunch of crooks. Think of like this. In November 2012, I went in and made a $199 downpayment towards a new iPhone 5. After 24 months (November 2014), I will be done making the payments on the rest of the retail price of the phone through my monthly rate plan payments. But they will continue to make me pay for the iPhone subsidy even after 24 months because they are assholes and think we are too stupid to know the difference.

People were catching on to this horseshit, and because of that, other providers were starting to do away with their subsidies altogether.

Enter: AT&T Next.

With this, you can choose to pay an extra $32/month for your new Samsung Galaxy. I am going to assume the iPhone will be about the same monthly installment.
If you do this for 1 year, and a new iPhone comes out (which we know based on history, there probably will be), then you can have the option of trading in your old device and receiving the new device at no charge. OR, if you like your old device and don't want to trade it in, then you can make the $32 payment for 20 months and then you don't have to make that payment anymore.

This press release says nothing about if the current $85/month rate plan will decrease. In theory, it should, since you are no longer subsidizing your phone for 2 years but instead making $32/month payments. But I have a feeling it won't....

You'll be paying $32/month for 12 months = $384. And then you must give up your old device. Since the retail price of the iPhone is $649, then they are forcing you to give up your old phone to pay for the remaining balance = $265. Keep in mind that now AT&T has your old iPhone, which they already got $384 from you for it, and they will turn around and resell it to some other poor soul. On the AT&T website, they are selling refurbished iPhones for a retail price of $599.99. So they are essentially going to get ~$1000 from one used iPhone. About ~1.5 times more than what it's worth.

So let's break it down:


Current AT&T Plan:
Initial payment: $199
Upgrade fee: $35
24 months x $85 rate plan (includes subsidy for iPhone) = $2040
TOTAL amount over 2 years: $2274
~$94.75/month
You could elect to sell your used iPhone on eBay or whatever, and possibly reduce this amount.

AT&T Next:
Initial payment: $0
Upgrade fee: $0
24 months x $85 rate plan = $2040
24 months x $32 AT&T Next Fee = $768 assuming you traded in your old phone for a new one sometime within that 2 year period
You no longer have your old device to sell.
TOTAL amount over 2 years: $2808
~$117/month

Say it with me now: LOL. NICE TRY AT&T.

Here is my recommendation.
Virgin Mobile offers pre-paid, no contract plans for iPhones. Seriously Look here.
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and plethora of other providers also have pre-paid, no contract options, but I haven't been able to find any that extend that option to iPhones. The only one I can find is Virgin Mobile, which runs their network off of Sprint. If I'm wrong, please tell me.

With Virgin Mobile, you are required to purchase your iPhone at retail price. When you receive it in the mail, then you can activate your pre-paid plan online.

No Contract, Pre-Paid Plans at Virgin Mobile
Initial payment: $549.99 (retail price of iPhone 5 on Virgin Mobile's website)
Activation Fee: $0
24 months x $35 rate plan (300 minutes, unlimited data and texting) = $840
There is no contract - I just picked 24 months as a comparison to the AT&T plans above.
TOTAL amount over 2 years: $1600 (I estimated taxes and fees and factored it in)
~$66/month


If you are concerned with making the best bang for your buck, the AT&T Next plan is NOT the way to go. But if you're like most Americans, and only care about the up front cost rather than what you're paying for, then sure... go for it.

Since when did we stop asking "How much does this cost?" and start asking "What are the monthly payments?" Really, the only bad thing about getting a pre-paid Virgin Mobile plan is that you have to pay for the iPhone up front. But the rewards over time outweigh that.

Assume you buy the iPhone at retail price from Virgin Mobile. You are now only paying $35/month + taxes to use it. (Assume $45/month after taxes). With AT&T Next, you're paying $117. That is a difference of $72/month. Assuming that the newest iPhone will come out in 13 months from the time you buy it, you only need to stash away ~$45/month over those 13 months into a savings account in order to be able to pay for the next one. That frees up about $30 a month! You could even elect to put that $30 into your next iPhone savings account, and after 13 months you'll have $975 in there. That's enough to buy your iPhone, and you're already half way to saving up for the NEXT iPhone after that!

See - isn't math amazing?

My Celebrity Prediction

Kanye West will try to "change" Kim Kardashian to be more private. She'll try to avoid the paparazzi and the tabloids, which will annoy Kris Jenner and the E! network to no end. Kim will realize her entire "career" is based on the paparazzi following her and tabloids. This will lead to the upcoming and unavoidable Kim and Kanye split. Kanye will go nuts and then write songs for his daughter (North) and insult Kim forever. Insert the 500 magazine covers about the Kim vs. Kanye battle for the next decade. YOU HEARD IT FROM ME FIRST.

Everything will be okay, right?

There has been a lot of good going on in this life of mine. I have a lot of general anxiety, and sometimes writing it all out will help me realize that YES, everything is going to be okay. 1. My dad had a very scary thing happen to his heart recently. He has a condition called atrial fibrillation (aka "a-fib"). He has had it for many many years, but recently he has been having dizzy spells, fatigue, shortness of breath, and even had a fainting spell that resulted in him bumping his head. His cardiologist was at a loss, because it seemed that every single test he had on heart showed that it was perfectly fine (besides the a-fib). He went in for a routine cardioversion procedure to attempt to get his heart out of a-fib, and it didn't work. While he was there at the hospital, he very suddenly went into flash pulmonary edema, which is a very scary and life threatening heart condition that results in fluid leaking into your lungs. Luckily, the medical doctors rushed him into the ICU and were able to stop the edema and reverse the effects from it. He was then transferred via ambulance to a heart failure specialist in Pittsburgh.
I am only 28 years old. I realize that my mom and dad were older when they had me (my mom was 41 when she had me! Yeah!) but I was not prepared for something so sudden and life threatening to occur to my father. It didn't help that I was over 2,000 miles away from anyone in my family, and on the day that this happened, Chad was scheduled to leave for work related reasons for 2 days. I was completely and 100% alone, scared, and emotionally unstable. I did my very best to go to work and keep my mind off of it, but all I could think about was my poor dad sitting in that ambulance because his heart was failing and the doctors did not know why. I am very greatly for my sister Sarah, who was constantly texting and calling me and letting me act crazy on the phone.
After spending a few days in Pittsburgh, he had a team of cardiologists who put their heads together and did several more tests. They found that he has a condition called mitral regurgitation, which is where the hear valve does not function properly and can result in some of the blood regurgitating backwards into the heart everytime it pumps. What's even more interesting is that he could have had this condition for decades, and that there is a chance that it caused his a-fib. The doctors determined that the regurgitation fraction, while noticeable, was not severe enough to justify open-heart surgery so he will be treated with medication. He was sent home! He will be okay. I am so thankful for medicine and cardiology. Yes, Megan, dad will be OKAY.

2. My GI doctor put me on a medication called Nortriptyline in order to help take the edge off of the pain caused from my Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. It has HELPED SO MUCH. It took about 2 weeks to fully kick in. I seriously do not remember the last time I have felt this good. I even ate FRIED CHEESE STICKS and DEEP FRIED ARTICHOKE HEARTS and had no pain! YUM!!!!!!!!!! Amazing. I do still have some acid-related issues, probably a minor recurring ulcer or stomach erosion, but it comes and goes and doesn't really cause much of a disturbance on my life. Yes, Megan, you will be OKAY.

3. Chad and I started mandatory 1-day-a-week furloughs from our job because of the government-wide sequestration. No one in Congress seems to care, Chuck Hagel doesn't seem to care, and not even President Obama seems to care. It's almost as if they using DoD employees as pawn to further their own political careers. The House wants to say "OMG look how much of a terrible President he is! Everyone must vote Republican in 2016!". The Senate and Obama want to say "The Republicans are to blame because they block everything and refused to compromise!". The average American doesn't seem to believe that sequestration has done anything negative but that is because it is not in their face. They also hate federal employees and believe we are overpaid and lazy. Our household income has depleted 20%. However, because of the Dave Ramsey budgeting style, we know exactly how to handle this problem. We have eliminated all credit card debt, we have nothing financed, and we have paid off 5 of the 6 private student loans I took out. All we have left are student loans. We are so far ahead on the remaining student loans that the minimum payments are either extremely low or non-existant. We have entered into what Dave Ramsey calls "storm cloud mode" and we plan to live this way until the furlough is over. I look around at co-workers who do not know how they are going to make their car payments, mortgage payments, or how they are even going to have food on the table to support their families. Religious or not, the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace systems WORKS and because of that, we will be 100% okay during the furlough. The worst part about the entire furlough situation is that our student loans will now be paid 26 years and 3 months early, and not 26 years and 6 months early. HA! Yes, Megan, you will be OKAY.

4. I am going to my beloved Stone Harbor, New Jersey in 25 days. It is the only other place in this entire world I can go to and feel at home. My family and I went to this beach every summer for my whole life and we have so many wonderful memories. After my dad's health problems, I am so excited to go and spend time with him, my mom, my siblings, all of my nieces, my new nephew!, my cousins, and of course my husband. It is a much needed vacation and frankly, it will be the ONLY vacation Chad and I will get to have for the rest of the year. (see #3 - storm cloud mode means no travel at our own expense!) Chad's parents are coming to California to spend Christmas with us, so if I go anywhere else this year it might be for Thanksgiving or shortly after Christmas. And it won't be at my own expense. I am so excited and ready to go!!!

I WILL BE OKAY!!!!!!

Complications: Sphincter of oddi

SOOOOOOOOOO!

I had my EGD (upper GI endoscopy) with EUS (endoscopic ultrasound). As usual, I was scared shitless beforehand. And it didn't help that my doctor was running 4.5 hours behind schedule. Luckily, my nurse gave me a Valium and it actually HELPED calm my ass down. Thank you, nurse! My procedure only last about 45 minutes. The last thing I remember is my anaesthesiologist putting a mask over my face and saying "I'm going to give you some nice oxygen now..." and the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. I had no pain, but did have some bloating and gas pains in my lower stomach from the air they had to blow around inside of me to take pictures. It wasn't bad, though. It resolved itself quickly. The worst part: my throat!!! YIKES! A mixture between the scope and breathing tube really tore up the back of my throat. I had some trouble swallowing solid food for about two days. It was relieved with Tylenol.

The results: My bile ducts are fine. Yay! No blockages, stones, tumors, nothing. No ERCP and therefore no pancreatitis!

They did find some very minor stomach erosion, possibly the onset of ulcers. They did a biopsy, but nothing came of it. Plus, they were not located anywhere near where I am feeling pain. It was so mild, that they didn't feel the need to prescribe anything for it. They will probably just go away.

The diagnosis is officially sphincter of oddi. There was no test to confirm that this is my problem, but based on my clean EGD, EUS, and blood work, this is what my GI doctor believes is the most logical solution.

The only known way to "cure" sphincter of oddi is to do something called a sphincterotomy, which is where they go in with a scope and literally remove the entire sphincter of oddi. However, there is actually MORE of a chance of suffering complications from the procedure than actually finding relief. Plus, there is a very big chance of the symptoms returning after a few months due to the scar tissue from the procedure. The best way to manage this is to find ways to manage the pain and learn what triggers it.

My first step in my road to relief of sphincter of oddi is 10mg of a day of nortriptyline. It is technically an anti-depressant, but only when it is given in quantities of 75mg or more. Anything less than 75mg is used for patients with chronic pain. It will help "block" my nerves from the pain signal. I started it yesterday, and surprisingly I think I have found some relief already. Not 100%, but I'm hopeful I will find some relief after using it for several weeks. I am supposed to try this for 1 month, and then I'll go back and see my GI doctor for a follow up. I do NOT want to undergo a sphincterotomy. Ever. I would much rather move on with my life knowing I have this condition and find ways to just manage the symptoms.

Some fun facts about Sphincter of Oddi that I have stolen from the interwebz:
-A sphincter is a muscle (usually round) that can open and close. When it’s working properly, the sphincter of Oddi opens to allow bile and pancreatic juice to flow through and then closes again. However, in a condition called sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, the sphincter muscle does not open when it should. This prevents the bile and pancreatic juice from flowing through and causes a backup of digestive juices. The backup can cause bouts of severe pain in the abdomen. This is probably why I had a very very mild case of elevated lipase levels.
-People who have had their gall bladders removed are most likely to develop sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Middle-aged women also appear to be at increased risk for the condition, although doctors aren’t sure why. That's me!
-According to "DISEASES OF THE BILLIARY TRACT, SERIES #2", a study published in 2010 in PRACTICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY, SOD has been diagnosed in 1.5% of our general population. It has been diagnosed in 14-23% of people who has their gallbladders removed, mostly women. (That's a lot!).
-Treatment of SOD is difficult because of the complexity of the disease.
-When you google Sphincter of Oddi, you find nothing but terrible horror stories of people whose lives have been ruined by this disease. I need to remind myself to STOP GOOGLING IT!!! I refuse to become one of those people. First, my pain is not debilitating. On most days, it's about a 2-3. On bad days, it's like a 6-7. I WILL be okay and I CAN manage this!!!

I encourage anyone else with this diagnosis to comment and tell me your experience. Thanks!

Complications

So, I have been feeling great and than I had something happen. The area where my gallbladder used to be started hurting. Very suddenly one morning on my way to work. Unlike on a normal day, I couldn't find a correlation between this pain and food. And it kept getting worse. Therefore, I kept getting anxious. I was scheduled to fly to West Virginia for Memorial Day, so I went to Urgent Care to get to opinion of a doctor and find out if this was something ER worthy. I HATE going to the ER and will do anything to avoid it. The doctor didn't believe it was anything, told me it was probably a stomach bug. I asked her to please test my pancreatic and liver enzymes. In my head, I was thinking that if they came back fine then I would know it was probably unrelated to my gallbladder removal. They took my blood, told me to have a safe trip, and said they would call me when they had the results. Two days later, I get a call and my liver enzymes were perfect. However, my pancreatic enzymes were elevated. Granted, they weren't SUPER high (lipase = 416, amalyse = 140), but it was enough to where she suggested I get an ultrasound of my bile ducts when I got home to make sure I didn't have a gallstone or some other blockage that was pissing my pancreas off. When I got home from my trip to West Virginia, I called my primary physician and he agreed to have me come in and talk to him that afternoon. He called my increased pancreatic enzymes "pancreatitis" (that sounds so scary!!!) and referred me to a GI doctor with the recommendation of getting an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy). He was glad that I had this mild episode of pancreatitis documented. I also had a repeat blood test, which showed that my lipase was back to normal (200) and that my amalyse was at 136 (only 6 above normal - practically normal). So whatever was going on with pancreas went away almost as fast as it showed up. Jeez, man. I went to visit a GI PA and talked to her for a while. She then relayed all of my information to my GI doctor, who suggested that I might have 1 of 2 things: 1) A gallstone. I don't believe this. When Dr. Vierra removed my gallbladder in 2011, he told me that I had absolutely no gallstones. However, just because I didn't have them then doesn't mean I might not have one now. When you no longer has a gallbladder, and your liver develops a gallstone, it will just sit in your bile ducts, therefore causing a blockage of pancreatic enzymes and pain. For doctors, this is the most probable cause of post-cholecystectomy pain. They see very often so I don't blame them for thinking this is the cause. They are just going by statistics. It's just hard for me to believe. 2) Sphincter of oddi dysfunction. In my crazy mind, this is what I have convinced myself that I have. I have read a lot of about it on the internet (because obviously the internet is the best scholarly resource ever... ha!) and I feel like this fits my symptoms better than a gallstone. This is where your bile ducts "spasm" and can cause pain and the slow down of bile, sometimes resulting in pancreatitis or liver problems. It can come and go. I'm not really sure how this is treated. I have read a lot of inconsistent blogs about how people had their SOD dysfunction treated. Bottom line: on Thursday, I am going to the hospital as an outpatient to had an EGD performed. This is where I will be placed under general anaesthesia and my doctor will stick a tube down my throat into my stomach and take pictures of my insides. By looking around, he will be able to determine if I have a blockage in my bile ducts. If I do, then he will then perform something called an ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). This is when he will be able to insert dye into my bile ducts and take an ultrasound. He then will be able look at whatever is in there and treat it right there on the spot. If he initially looks around and finds nothing in my bile ducts, then it's probably a safe bet that I have SOD. I have no idea what happens after that, but hopefully they can come up with a treatment plan if it does turn out to be SOD! As always, I have a million things I am anxious about. Here is a list: 1. When googling other people's ERCPs experiences, I read nothing but horror stories about how people ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks with severe pancreatitis as a result of the procedure. This freaks me out. It is said that ERCPs are always the most successful when you have them done by someone who is specially trained in the procedure. My doctor (Dr. Michael Mendoza) is apparently an expert in these procedures. According to his LinkedIn (yes, I am a stalker), he actually trained other people who do to ERCPs at UCLA. Maybe this means I won't get pancreatitis again (but much worse this time) and I can just go home after I wake up from the procedure. Before my gallbladder surgery, I googled it constantly and read a bunch of horror stories but I turned out fine. I hope I have the same experience this time. 2. I have to be put under general anaesthesia. I already had this done when I had my gallbladder removed, but I am scared of throwing up. The first time, I was only a little nauseas and then was okay and ate the evening after the procedure. But then the next night, I threw up all night... and again for almost 3 days until my surgeon called me in a prescription for nausea medication. I don't know if this happened because my entire digestive system was like "WHERE IS THE GALLBLADDER? I DONT KNOW HOW TO WORK ANYMORE AHHHH" and just threw up or if was residual from the anaesthesia. Either way, I don't want to throw up again for 3 days. 3. What if they look inside me and find a scary tumor and I have cancer and I am going to DIE AHHHHHHHHH. I know, this is very very unlikely. But seriously??? What if they do?? I just want to know I am healthy. :( In the meantime, ever since my visit to the GI doctor, I have restricted my diet to less than 10g of at per meal. Most days I don't even eat 20g of a fat a day. After about 2 days of this, I feel 98% better. Despite the results of this test, I have decided that this is my life now and I am going to have to eat this way for a while. In a few months, maybe I'll try to reintroduce more fatty foods in my diet and see what happens. I will update this blog after my test and hopefully my experience can help someone else who might be having the same problems as me. Thanks! :-) --Megan