Thursday, October 7, 2010

Day 26- Endoscopy Day

Thur 10/7

Today's the day! I just want to get it over with.
Lots of people are asking what they're looking for. Here's what I understand (anyone feel free to correct me if there's anything inaccurate):
Basically, there are two things. The first is they want to look at the condition of the small intestine. If it's Celiac, they might be able to physically see scalloping on the lining of the intestine (the top picture shows healthy anatomy, and the bottom is what it looks like with Celiac).
Sometimes that damage isn't visible though. So they also plan to take a biopsy of the lining, which contains villi, finger-like projections which absorb nutrients from our food (shown on the right photos). If the villi look short and worn down, that means it's Celiac. Celiac results in damage of the villi, so this is a definitive diagnosis.
I'm actually hoping for the diagnosis because otherwise I think it's going to be a long, difficult road to figure out what's wrong. I've been feeling so much better just from reducing gluten, I'll be really surprised. But it might take a couple weeks to get the biopsy results. This process drives me crazy!

3 comments:

  1. Hey Shayna,
    My dad found out he had celiac disease a couple of years ago. He went through a similar transition that you seem to be going through. At first it seemed totally impossible, then just really frustrating with a lot of slip ups (although I realize you need to slip up for your test), but now that he's figured out alternatives (and my mom has learned a bunch of gluten free recipes) he's feeling better than ever and has no problem sticking to the diet! If you're into baking at all, I really suggest trying out a few of the gluten-free recipes. They are usually incredibly complex and involve like 8 types of flour, but they last forever because you only use a small amount of each, and the baked goods actually come out moist and awesome, unlike the dried up crusty "GF bread" they sell in the freezer section. This is literally the best brownie recipe ever http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/01/dark-chocolate-brownies.html.
    Anyway, just wanted to say good luck and hope you start feeling better soon! Love the blog!
    -Katie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the suggestions, Katie. I'm definitely curious about the GF breads... we'll see when I get that adventurous! Is this a Katie I know?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yep! It's Katie from NIH/Walter Reed. Glad to hear you're surviving!

    ReplyDelete