CT scan & upper GI scope results

Thank you all for patiently waiting for this update, it's been a little hectic around here. We would like to send a big thank you for everyone that has called, visited and sent flowers. I can see a positive change in his attitude after each friendly interaction. So here is the deal since the last email:

On Tuesday morning Little Papa (see below if you have questions) was woken up and carted down to the radiology department for a CT scan of his "guts". However, there was a bit of confusion around his allergy to the dye they use and they had to reschedule the procedure for 6:30pm. He was in such a "good mood" as I walked in at 8:00 just as he was being returned from Radiology.

Later that morning the GI specialist (He's actually my parents neighbor) performed an upper GI scope. This very quick procedure takes a camera into the food pipe, stomach and the first part of the small bowel looking for irregularities. The specialist returned to the waiting room after five minutes and debriefed my mother and I while my dad was in the background telling the nurse and everyone else how much he loved them. The specialist found a pool of acid and bile in his stomach along with a small plastic boat floating around that he removed. He also found additional liquid at the entrance to the small bowel.

On, Wednesday morning we received the results from the CT scan. The scan showed that he had a few small gallstones in his gallbladder, he has a large cyst behind his stomach and a few cysts inside his pancreas. So what does all this mean . .

Let me start it out with they're not sure. The GI specialist's initial thought was since there is backup of fluid in the stomach and entrance to the small bowel there must be an obstruction somewhere further down that the scope cannot reach. However, they consulted a surgeon and he thought that since the dye used for the CT scan went all the through to the colon there is probably not an obstruction. So, now they are all a little puzzled. Both the GI specialist and surgeon talked and agreed the best course of action would be to schedule a exploratory laparoscopic surgery for Friday. This would give them a chance to address the gallstones by removing the gallbladder and look into the small bowel and the pancreas.

So that's where we stand.

Michael