Whoa I've been seeing a ton of doctors lately. The past few years it seems like all my medical appointments fall in August/Setpember, and then I got most of the rest of the year with only a few appointments. I suppose at least I get it all over with quickly.
Today I met the GI doctor and I really liked him judging from the first appointment. I brought a write-up of all my doctors, conditions, and medications which I think really helps when meeting new doctors, and they seem to like it and talk to me like I know what I'm talking about when I hand it over.
The doctor's first comment after looking at the list was, "Wow, you use an insulin pump, that's high-tech stuff!" Then he asked about the pump, admitting that he knew the basics of how it worked but not the specifics. He thought it might be a closed-loop system, so I'm glad he asked. I didn't mind him asking at all, I have had doctors make totally incorrect assumptions about the pump rather than admitting they didn't know something and asking. I really got the impression I was the first patient he had seen who used a pump, he kept going on about how that would make preparing for the procedure so much easier (once I explained basal/bolus and how I could just not bolus if I didn't eat).
His next comment about the list was, "Wow, you're anaphylactic to potato? I've never heard of anyone with that allergy." Which got into a discussion about how I found out I was allergic, and me saying that no doctor I've met had ever heard of someone being allergic to potato, and the doctor's comment that just because no one had heard of something didn't mean it didn't exist.
Overall I liked him and the appointment was productive and I did not feel brushed off or rushed at all, took everything I said seriously, etc. I'm getting an endoscopy on Friday, which I'm nervous about just because I hate getting drugs that sedate me. I am always afraid I'll go low or my heart rate will go out of whack or something else go wrong, even though I know they monitor you and this is a super short procedure. I have been sedated a few times in my life and never had any problems, except when I was given one drug that caused freaky hallucinations as I came around, so I'm sure it will be fine.
To prepare I am supposed to stop eating at midnight the night before and stop eating AND drinking at 9:00 AM. My procedure is at 2:00 PM so that seems a long time to me, but the pump should make it easier. He did say I can drink small amounts of apple juice if my blood sugar goes low when I asked.
He said the two most likely causes for my swallowing problems are rings that some people have in their esophagus, or the condition eosinophilic esophagitis which is related to allergies and the one that I've been wondering about.