Blogmas 2022 Day 5 (GI testing)

Blogmas 2022 Day 4 (rest day) Blogmas 2022 Day 6 (brunch date)

Blogmas 2022 Day 5 (GI testing)

On Mondays I get my weekly visit from my home health nurse–primarily to access my port (which means sticking a needle in it so I can use it), sometimes to take labs, and also just to do a general check-in. Today was my monthly “supervisory” RN visit, so I had the nurse I see less often (turns out it’s her last week full-time with the company, which is sad). Also, look at my Christmas tubie tape from Threads of Kindness Co.! I love her stuff so much!

I was able to do about an hour of work (finishing an MSP piece and starting a mattress review piece) before it was time to head out. I had some GI testing today that I’ve been putting off for literally years ahaha. Here’s the fit–Birkenstocks truly are the superior hospital shoe. (In the words of the Frey Life, do what you think you can’t do, uh-huh!)

Today I was at a branch of my GI hospital in Atlanta that I hadn’t been to before. It was a freezing cold and rainy day. (Me: “Birkenstocks are the superior hospital shoe. [My friend] Shannon says so and she’s right.” My mom, as we’re running between buildings: “Unless it’s raining in December. How are your superior hospital shoes holding up now?”)

When I was done, we headed back up this way with a stop at Panera. I often get asked if I can eat. For all intents and purposes, the answer is no; I can no longer eat by mouth because of the severe GI symptoms I get when I eat or drink orally (pain, nausea, extreme fullness, etc). And I don’t need to eat because I get complete nutrition through my Kate Farms formula in my feeding tube every day. However, I’m encouraged to eat as I can–for pleasure and to hopefully retain whatever function my stomach has left, as well as to boost my blood sugar when needed (I can easily drop into the 40s when not hooked up to feeds or an infusion). So, although my symptoms vary by the day and I hardly ever have an appetite (except when aforementioned blood sugar is low), I will generally try to snack once or twice a day on basic, bland, easy-to-digest things like animal crackers, cheerios, Italian ice, etc. Sometimes I drain these foods right back out of my stomach through my G port so I get the satisfaction of eating but don’t have to go through the pain of digesting them (that’s what I ended up doing today). Anyway, long story short, I was craving something sweet and warm after this freezing rainy hospital day. So I ate something from Panera, and it was worth it (even though five hours later, just looking at this picture is making me sick!).

This evening I got all cozy in bed with my kitty (fairy lights, Christmas tree, and candles included) and watched a movie (since my migraine had lifted and my library books hadn’t come in). I watched The Golden Compass, which I had actually never seen before (I remember not being allowed to watch it as a kid when it came out–yes, I was homeschooled). It was pretty good, but it made my afternoon migraine come back. So after some time researching the results of today’s test, I’m going right to sleep.