Are we there yet?

Firstly, Happy New Year!

I have been reflecting on my 2018 and how much I have been through trying to get a diagnoses. Its been a horrible, difficult and frustrating year but somehow, with the help of my nearest and dearest, I have made it to today, still fighting and the end is very nearly in site (I think)

Since I last checked in, I’ve had my scans to

test for bile acid malabsorption, it was few days of hell as I couldnt take my tablets but I managed to push through! I had 2 scans, a week apart, the first scan, I had to swallow a radioactive tablet (sounds scary!) and then the scan collected a base number of how much I had absorbed. The second was just a scan to count how much of the tablet I had retained, the nurse told me it looked like I had retained a lot of the tablet, therefore, it was unlikely bile malabsorption and I left feeling slightly defeated, so if that’s not the issue then .. what is?!!! I got home and called the hospital straight away to book a colonoscopy, which I have been trying to avoid for obvious reasons! But at this point I had no other option and I was desperate to find the problem, So that’s this Friday. And again, I cant take my tablets and I have to eat a low fibre diet for the next 2 days.

But yesterday, the final day of the awful year that was 2018, a letter arrived! (I know, very exciting!) and the letter contained the results of my scans, it turns out, I didn’t retain lots of the tablet, and I do have a problem with bile malabsorption (yay?) and medicine is available to help me! However. I can’t start taking it until after the procedure on Friday but we now have an answer, and I can now start treatment and hopefully start to feeling a lot better, and Fridays going to be a good way to put my mind at rest, to check there’s nothing else going on!

So now, all things being well, this year is mine and I’m going to never ever take the small things for granted. 2019 is the year I get my life back