The Scheduling of the CT

Yesterday’s appointment went well. After a month on 10mg he’s finally tapering me to 5! My hemoglobin was 11.9 and my platelets had risen from 100 to 110.

I spoke to my hematologist about the Protonix. Since it is on a short term basis, he was fine with me increasing to 40mg.

In regards to Tuesday’s fainting spell, the most likely scenario is a simple vasovagal syncope, which is a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure leading to fainting, often in reaction to a stressful trigger. The doctor said there is no reason to worry or investigate further unless it happens again. If it recurs, we will need to involve a cardiologist and run a handful of tests, such as a tilt table test.

My next appointment is Monday the 19th. He’s hoping that my numbers hold and he’ll be able to switch me to 5mg every other day at that point, which honestly sounds amazing!

I also called today to schedule my CT Enterography and they want to take me on Monday. CT Enterography is a special type of imaging performed with intravenous contrast material (after the ingestion of liquid) that helps produce high resolution images of the small intestine in addition to the other structures in the abdomen and pelvis.

I didn’t expect my appointment to be so soon but I’d rather get it over with. Luckily, my GI isn’t expecting to find anything. Since my inflammatory markers were high, though, and I’ve been having some troubles, she wants to rule out IBD. Again, very unlikely that I have it. All signs indicate that my symptoms are a result of the prednisone but it’s better to be sure that it’s not something more serious. According to the doctor, the most likely IBD diagnosis for me would be colitis.

Colitis is an inflammation of the large intestine. There are many causes of colitis including infections and poor blood supply, but the most common is an autoimmune reaction. The GI warned me that once you have one autoimmune disease it is easy and common to contract another. I think that is the main reason she wants to be sure it’s not IBD before proceeding forward with treatment suggestions. Fingers crossed that it’s not colitis because my hematologist told me that the most common treatment for that is steroids. Steroids?! REALLY?!? Not an option.