Endoscopy report

Mark had an Endoscopy done this morning,a few changes,Portal vein more enlarged,now has Varies stage 1, Hiatal hernia,and changes in his stomach requiring a biopsy.
I really don't know much about the varies as he did not have any on his last endoscopy last yr. How quick can they change and at what stage would he need them banded,or is that something like everything else that can just happen in the blink of an eye?
Robin

Robin,
They check the varices quite often.

Yes, they can change quickly or over time.

Mike had stage 1 varices almost to the end, so that was not a problem for him as he evidently responded to the nifedapine they ordered for portal hypertension. As I understand it, in laymen's terms, when the pressure builds up in the portal vein, it can push the blood HARD against the walls of those vessels down stream...and thus blow out an esophageal vein or stomach or in bowel. Then with not clotting well, a person can be in crisis quickly.

Once there has been a bleed, the statistics say it is more likely to happen again. They do the banding to prevent the bleeding if those varices get bad.

However, Mike did have bleeding in small and large bowel that was a problem from time to time. He had the ones in his small bowel fixed twice.

Everyone is a little different.

Is he feeling okay after the procedure?

Carol

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 3/7/2013 3:44:43 PM (GMT-7)

Sleeping after a little of the nice sedation meds is typical, of course.

Note that a bleed is a 911 emergency....don't wait a second!

H-Pylori, oh how I loved having that. It never caused me any issues, but I had it for like 5 years and underwent 3 different treatments before it was knocked out. The last treatment had me taking like 23 pills a day, but it worked.

The last treatment was in November. The antibiotics they use are the same ones they use against anthrax. If I remember right they were doxycycline and clarithromycin. The side effects of the meds you are on for 10 days can suck, but it worked for me and I was clear 6 weeks later. You also take Prilosec 3 times a day and they might add in Pepto Bismol tablets taken 3 times a day.

You might ask them to do a H Pylori culture to determine what antibiotic will kill it. It took me 3 different treatments to have it clear up. After going through the 3 treatments I was told they have a new test where they culture it and find which antibiotic will kill it and then you do not have to go through multiple courses of antibiotics.

Just really make sure he follows the regimen. If you miss a dose or do not take the Prilosec correctly it will not go away.

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 3/8/2013 2:35:40 PM (GMT-7)

Yeah, it took several treatments for me to get rid of it. The first time I got diagnosed with it was in 2006, and they gave me a course of antibiotics for over a month, still had it. This last time he said he was going to give me the 3rd level treatment, which was supposed to for strains that are resistant.

As I said, there is a test they can do of the H Pylori. It is relatively new, I found out about it when I was having my last endoscopy to verify if it was gone, she said they actually test the strain against several different antibiotics and find out exactly which one will take care of it.