Testing, Testing...1,2,3....

When a doctor has no idea what is wrong with you (which happens quite often), they typically will run batteries of tests to see if they can help narrow it down.    When I was sick, the doctor was pretty much at the end of his rope.   One day, he pretty much checked off every test I hadn't yet received and it came back with a positive that nobody really expected.   That is how it works sometimes - you get tested for some random condition that seems impossible for you to have, and it ends up being at least a part of the problem.

Colleen will going through a similar situation, though it is not really a doctor checking off every box not yet tried - instead, the boxes he checked are aimed to get at the root of her digestive problem, whether it be Gastroparesis, something else, or a nasty hybrid.  

The first test Colleen will have performed is a CT Enterography.   Unlike some other tests you may have seen or heard of, this test doesn't require you to drink a (disgusting) shake 2 hours before the procedure; rather, you drink a few glasses of liquid over the course of an hour.  This test is used to take a close look at your small intestine to see if any anomalies are present.  It appears to be a quick and painless test (though I will assume the liquid is probably not very tasty).    

The standard test for Gastroparesis is a gastric emptying study, which is used to see how fast food travels through your system.  The standard test lasts four hours, though the test ordered for Colleen will be a 6-hour antroduodenal manometry test instead.  Although information is a bit vague, it seems that this test is a much more detailed version of a standard gastric emptying test, and requires two consecutive day visits to the hospital.     Different people have different experiences with how the test works, but the basic premise remains the same.     She will be having this test done in September, which was the earliest date they could get her in for the test.   She previously had a 90-minute test which lead to her diagnosis of Gastroparesis, but the 90-minute test is no longer considered to be reliable enough.    This is probably the test that I am personally most interested in (though they are all important), because it can give us a definitive yes or no on her Gastroparesis and its severity.  As a side note, when it comes to Gastroparesis, severity is hard to define.  There are people who have gastric emptying just out of range who feel awful anyway.  Severity is measured in how your loved one feels - not by a percentage placed on a piece of paper.

Colleen will also have what is called a Capsule Endoscopy.  As someone who is into gadgets and technology, this test intrigues me.  The patient swallows a vitamin-like capsule that has a wireless camera inside.  The camera takes pictures of the person's digestive track (thousands of them) for analysis.

As a whole, all of the tests that Colleen is undergoing will give the doctor a lot of new information that is needed to see what is going on with Colleen.  In the end, the answer may still be Gastroparesis with nothing else attached to it.     Although that wouldn't be a perfect diagnosis for her, at least it would be definitive and can allow her to move onto whatever treatments she can possibly find to help her.  If it isn't Gastroparesis, or if there is more going on than Gastroparesis, these tests should give us those answers as well.

No test can tell a patient how they are feeling, however.  If you took a test and it told you that you have pain in your shoulder, but you don't feel any pain there, you would probably conclude the test is wrong.   There has to be a mix of test results plus how the patient is feeling physically.  

This is why we have have a few doubts about Gastroparesis - Colleen is very ill, but some things just do not completely add up.     Of course, often with Gastroparesis, rarely does anything really add up.

As a loved one, you just have to continue to give your support in as many ways as you can.  Tonight, Colleen said something powerful:  "At least I have someone in my life who understands". The reason why I think "understands" is such a powerful word is because that is exactly what a loved one needs to do:  Understand.  You can't feel their pain, you can't live their pain - but you can be understanding and supportive.  Your loved one is not expecting you to be a miracle worker; he/she just wants the peace and comfort of you being there when they need it most.    Believe it or not, having a loved one's support will often lead to a healthier ending - because without support or encouragement, they may just give up.