Medical update

[feuervogel]

I got in for ultrasound this morning. The radiologist on duty took a look at them as soon as the technician finished taking pictures, and he said it looked fine. But my doc hasn't received the report yet, and I don't know if she wants to do further testing or just make me take the nasty-ass metronidazole empirically. I'll probably hear back Friday while I'm at the con.

According to the website I linked yesterday,

* Ultrasound accurately detects gallstones as small as 2 mm in diameter. Some experts recommend that the test be repeated if an ultrasound does not detect stones, but the health care provider still strongly suspects gallstones.
* Air in the gallbladder wall may indicate gangrene.
* Ultrasound does not appear to be very useful for identifying cholecystitis in patients who have symptoms but do not have gallstones.
* Ultrasound is also not as accurate for identifying common bile duct stones or imaging the cystic duct. Nevertheless, normal ultrasound results, along with normal bilirubin and liver enzyme tests are very accurate indications that there are no stones in the common bile duct.

So, if I have tiny gallstones, or no gallstones at all, ultrasound won't pick them up. A friend who had her gallbladder out last year (or the year before?) said it took u/s, HIDA, and CT before they found hers. Yikes.

Other options to consider, I suppose, are IBS, IBD/Crohn's, and adult-onset food allergy.

Comments

[feuervogel]

Yeah, no blood, which pretty much rules that out. But IBS is still a maybe, except that I can't definitively link it to any foods, or foods at all.

A mystery!