A Diagnosis for Hops

First things first, we finally (only a month to the day after he had his first really bad day) found out Hops' diagnosis. He went in for his upper GI check on November 4th and we thought they would go in, stretch it out and he would be all set. Turns out, the doctor couldn't stretch his throat out. It was so swollen and so tight from the swelling that there wasn't much he could do in there. They woke Hops up, brought me in to sit with him while he woke up and then had us wait for the doctor. I find this pretty funny - while Hops was waking up from the anestesia, I could tell he really wanted to say something. He mumbled a few things first then he finally came out with, "They gave me the same stuff that killed Michael!" Haha. Yes, dear. The nurse got a good laugh out of that one.

Once he was up and awake, we met with the doctor who told us the news that he wasn't able to do much while he was in there. He showed us the pictures they took while Hops was under. There were mulitple swollen rings around the bottom of his esophagus. The doc told us he thought they were due to an allergy but we would have to wait for the diagnosis to be sure. We waited 10 business days to finally get the diagnosis. That really frustrated me. No one at the Raleigh Endoscopy offices seemed to want to help us when I would call. I explained that my husband "can't eat solid foods" and that got him a prescription for Prevacid. 8 days later, I finally got a hold of his nurse who apparently is the only one who is able to give us his diagnosis, which I find ridiculous. Turns out, his problem is an allergy to something in the air or in food. He has Eosynicphillic Esophagitis. They gave him another prescription - this one for an inhaler called Flovent. The nurse then told me she would call the allergist and they would call to set up an appointment. Well, guess what? Thursday and Friday went by without getting a call. I guess I'll be calling them on Monday to set up that appointment.

Can you tell how frustrated I am with doctors offices right now? My husband has been eating soft foods for over a month. We're coming up on Thanksgiving. Is he going to be able to eat turkey? I have no idea. I'm super frustrated with how long it's taken to get this all figured out, though. Not only does Hops have to go to the allergist now to see what he is allergic to but then, of course, he has to go see the doctor who did his procedure after he finds out his allergies for a "follow-up." Frustrated!

I'm hoping the Flovent will at least alleviate some of the swelling so he will be able to eat a normal Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday!