More Tests & Stuff

Dec 3^rd 1996 THE THROAT DOCTOR AGAIN -

The following Tuesday I went back to see Dr. Gould the internist, about my swallowing problem which was still an issue for me. He was brought up to speed by Dr. Wolfe about my heart condition. He was very proud of himself, in that he discovered my heart problem. Almost gloating. So he should be. It turns out he very possibly saved my life. I am thankful. (Although I'm sure that Dr. Marlow would have eventually heard the murmur at my next annual physical which I usually have in January). Gould felt it would be ok now for him to do his procedure to hopefully fix my throat. My condition was caused as a result of a pre-existing hiatus hernia. The acid reflux from my stomach created a fibrous ring around the base of the esophagus which would restrict the food from going down smoothly. So we agreed to book a date for the procedure which I will describe later.

That same day I spoke to either Dr. Wolfe or his nurse, Mayva and was told the MRI didn't tell them anything new and they still didn't get the pictures they were looking for. He now really wanted to do the one test we've been putting off. (Because it's truly horrible). A Transesophageal Echocardiogram (or TEG - I know I've probably spelled it wrong, but who the hell cares. The test really sucks. It deserves to be misspelled!)

January 7^th 1997 THE HORRID TEG -

I went to Toronto General to have this done. The test is an ultrasound (ECG), only they do it down your throat! (Esophagus). Apparently the esophagus is right next to the aorta and by putting the ultrasound sensor down your throat they can get a real close good view without your ribs and stuff in the way. I won't go in to any more detail, but it was one of the worst experiences I can remember. It probably wasn't made any easier by my already existing swallowing problems (which started this whole mess remember?). Anyway if I ever have to have that again, they better put me out for it!!!!

January 20th, 1997 -

I saw Dr. Wolfe and he said that the bump they were trying to figure out turns out to be nothing (and I really didn't need the stupid TEG). He recommends that the next final step should be a stress test just for good measure. We discuss the fact that one day I will probably need surgery but right now he doesn't think my situation is truly critical. There might be advantages to putting it off as long as possible as technology improves and in future years methods might be better and less invasive. So we agreed that if the stress test goes fine, we would just monitor my condition by having an ECG done every three months.

Jan 21^st - MORE HORRID DOWN-THE-THROAT STUFF -

The next day I went into Women's College Hospital to have Dr. Gould do his little procedure, which again turned out to be an awful "down your throat" experience! It involved being in a sterile operating room. The nurse sprayed some stuff down my throat to freeze it and the procedure required the doctor to slide three blue rubber snake-like tubes down my throat and pull them out. Each one was a little thicker than the other, thus stretching out my esophagus. He said I could either have this done with just the freezing and we'd be done in ten minutes, or he could put me out and I would have to stay for a few hours in recovery. I tried the first tube. Again it was undescribably horrible. So they put me out and I awoke all dopey, but happy.

I am pleased to say that so far (two years later) the procedure has been a success. I am swallowing fine and take Losec daily to prevent any further reoccurrence.

January 28^th 1997 - The Stress Test.

This went quite well. Basically walked a treadmill for a while with electrodes attached monitoring my heart rate etc. Dr. Wolfe was present and was pleased with my performance. Which was apparently pretty good for a guy who basically gets very little cardio exercise and has a heart condition.

Dr. Wolfe is really good. Very to the point and explains things well. We're pretty close in age and it turns out we grew up in the same neighborhood in Toronto. I appreciate his approach in this matter. Gradually easing me into the idea of surgery. (He probably knew all along that I would be doing this thing sooner than later).We agreed to meet again in three months and do a ECG to check the width of my aorta.

Back to Index / Part 4 - Decision Time