And it’s gone!

Thank goodness that’s out! I know I said it wasn’t that bad, and really it wasn’t. But it was irritating! I’m so glad I no longer have to write down times I start eating, what I have, and when I finish etc. My phone is full of pictures of times next to the food I started eating just so I could remember without carrying the paper round all the time. (Ok not completely full, I didn’t eat that much!!)

But today was pretty quick and completely painless. I got up with a sore throat, and had to get used to the feeling of the tube all over again. I’m definitely coming down with something too so my throat is raw and I’m coughing loads anyway, so that really didn’t help. I had breakfast then drove all the way to Salford again to get the tube out.

This time I was in and out in minutes. There was a woman in the waiting room about to get the tests started and she asked me how it had been. I told her that I personally didn’t find it too bad, stay relaxed and you’re fine, but that after a while your throat is sore and you just can’t get used to the tugging sensation if you have too big a mouthful of food!

I’m glad my little “friend” is gone. I’m glad I won’t need another one of those again. And I’m hoping they did find something that maybe they can do something about. I’ve never had reflux symptoms until they stopped the meds for this test, so it shows it’s really well controlled even if I do have it.

Now to wait for the results 🙂

Another test to add to the list…

So my consultant in Preston decided to send me for an oesophageal manometry and a 24 hour pH test. They believe reflux could be playing a part in making my asthma bad. If they think that, I’ll do anything to see if they can find something to fix!

So today I went to Salford hospital, it took almost an hour to get there, ages to find a parking space and even longer to find the right place to go! I gave in my name then had to sit and wait (I got there a fair bit early just in case…) I saw two people come out with the ph tube taped to their face…I heard lots of coughing going on, and one lady made a comment about how unpleasant the whole thing had been uh oh!!

So a man came and called me through, he explained who he was, what the tests were for, and what would happen. Then he asked me about symptoms. Now I’m sure they thought I was completely weird…because I don’t think I’ve had reflux symptoms in my life until this last week! I had to stop taking meds in preparation, since then I’ve felt bloated of an evening, had nausea after eating, and sometimes a bit of acidy reflux…nothing major though!

First test was the oesophageal manometry. I had a tube inserted through my nose down into my stomach…for the medical staff out there it was similar sizing to a rhyles tube, slightly bigger than the fine bore NGs we use to feed patients. It wasn’t actually bad at all going down, I just had to keep sipping water…no problem! When it was in, I had to lie down on a bed while the tube was hooked up to monitors and then it was slowly pulled out 1 cm at a time. Then at a certain point he stopped and made me swallow 10 mouthfuls of water, all spaced out. I just did what I was told, then he went back on pulling it out 1cm at a time til it was over and he took the whole thing out. That test, from lying down to having the tube right out took just over 15 minutes.

Straight after, he inserted a smaller tube into the same nostril, passed it down to a measurement he had got from the test, taped it to my cheek and neck and then explained the diary sheet I have to fill in.

The tube is connected to a little box and I have to just record the times from the box when I eat or drink, write down what I have to eat or drink, and if I get any symptoms. I also have to record when I go to sleep and when I get up. The box also shows the pH at the end of the tube on the screen…so I can see what’s happening myself. My starting pH was 8.4.

I literally sat watching the number when I was eating, the lowest I saw was 6.9 so I was thinking this was a waste of time and would rule out reflux. But then I lay down on the couch to watch some tv (I’m not feeling too great so still trying to take life easy!) and I felt a little bit nauseous, had a look at the box and voila!

A pH of 2.8! Maybe there is something going on! We will see what happens! Hopefully it gets less annoying, it’s worsened an already sore throat, just because I can feel it pressing on the back of my throat. The tube also tugs when I talk, eat or swallow, and the whole thing is making my nose run more than it already was with a stupid cold. But hey…I can do this! I’m getting more experiences under my belt that I can sympathise with patients over! And maybe this may be a contributing factor with my asthma. Whatever happens, roll on 10.30am tomorrow when I have to go back and have it removed!