Capacities

I started my morning by drinking 450 mL (about 2 cups) of Readi-Cat 2 (Mochaccino smoothie flavor with a picture on the label of an elegant, cafe cup-of-something topped with milk foam, sprinkled with cinnamon and garnished with various chocolate delights arranged around the saucer- sell it, baby). Readi-Cat 2, for those familiar with CT scans is a Barium Sulfate suspension, also known as "contrast".  Drinking it before a scan makes your gastrointestinal track magically appear when activated through an IV dye injection just before your spin through the doughnut.  I know, it sounds like a delicious experience.

So the taste is not delicious but it is also not horrible.  One swallow at a time, it all goes down.  Since my biggest worry is the capacity of my stomach, a small but unknown volume, I cheated (with permission) by injecting about a third of it into my J-tube.

This stomach capacity thing is a real issue.  If you have been reading this blog all along, you know that my stomach is stretched vertically inside my chest cavity and all above the diaphragm.  There is no valve at the top so sort of like an open jug.  When I get hungry, I get hungry just like I did before with a feeling in my belly.  It must be that the brain send its signals to the gut regardless of where your stomach resides.  I eat and then after a while I feel full (also in my gut).  And just like a normally arranged stomach, it is possible to eat too much before you get the internal warning to stop eating.

Last night I experienced what happens when I over-eat.  Overeating, by the way, is consuming about half of what I used to eat at a meal.  I have to learn to eat about a third of a "normal" portion.  I also have to refrain from drinking at meals.  Sips of water only.  If the food is particularly appealing and I forget myself and drink a half a glass of water, by the time that feeling of "okay, quit eating" comes along, I 'm topped off pretty well.  Again, the feeling is in my gut.  That one or two bites or sips over the line expresses itself in a fairly standard way.  Skip the next paragraph if your imagination is good enough.

Both Mary and I have been worrying about vomiting with the new anatomy.  We just didn't know how it works.  Well, I'll tell you.  For all but the morbidly curious, you have been duly warned!  Normally we feel that pressure and the impending volcanic eruption building from below the diaphragm.  We have a little bit of an early warning system in place giving us time to run for the bathroom.  With no esophagus or stomach valve to launch through and without the propulsion from a cramping diaphragm, a gurgley cough tells me that the contents level in the stomach is just a little to close to the opening of the windpipe.  A bit of a deeper cough and my mouth is full of the last few bites of supper.  No retching.  No pain. No taste of bile.  Just a mouthful and a brisk walk to the sink or toilet.  I'm topped off and I know enough to skip dessert.  I think I'm going to get better at estimating food volumes.

Back to my story, I arrive at St. Mary's radiation with a full 450ml of Readi-Cat 2 under my belt.  The first thing they do is give you another 450ml bottle and a straw.  I warned them about the size of my stomach and they advised me to do the best I can.  I'm joined in the waiting/drinking room by someone I know, my Dominican-Sister friend, Jude.  She already knows the drill about having to drink 2 bottles.  We swap stories.

The Radiation nurse soon brought me into another little room where he was supposed to administer an IV but he noticed that I already had one.  Yesterday, I was successful in convincing my vocal cord procedure nurse, Ilsa, to just package up the perfect IV she had just administered in a to-go package.  She thought it a reasonable request and she taped it up to the back of my hand real good.  The radiation nurse tested it and gave me the green light to use it without enduring a new poke.

The CT scan was easy enough and uneventful until they did the pass where dye is injected.  They warn you that activated contrast may give you a sudden feeling that you have to pee.  I felt most of the discomfort in my face.  My eyes started watering and my mouth salivating and the end of my scan was punctuated with a sneeze.  The Radiation Technologist seemed concerned about the sneeze.  That was a warning sign of an allergic reaction.  I told him that my tongue felt all prickly and breathing was a bit more labored.  he called in his boss and they sent me down the hall to get a shot of Benedryl and they marked me up on my chart as allergic to contrast.  I guess this is the case in 5% of patients.  And you'd think that means I would not have to drink Readi-Cat mochaccino smoothie ever again but apparently it means next time I get the shot of Benedryl first.

So I've been sitting around all afternoon with a fat tongue in a Benedryl haze, feeling sorry for myself.  I still feel full from this morning.  All this new capacity to eat seems wasted.  On top of that, yesterday's vocal cord procedure, while soothing my cough, introduced a new side effect:  The left half of my tongue is numb.  I can barely taste anything.  It is not an unusual side effect and the sensation will eventually return but along with my squeaky voice, I am a 3D picture of a semi-defeated man.  Well, an uncomfortable man, anyway.  It can only get better from here!