The Upper Endoscopy

Jimmy's carrots, Julie's rice muffins
Yesterday was my third and last upper GI endoscopy -- I hope.

If you’ve ever had or heard of a colonoscopy, the procedure is similar, except the scope goes in the opposite end -- your mouth.

The procedure is guided by an endoscope -- a flexible tube equipped with a lighted video camera. The scope enters through the mouth traveling down the esophagus, and stomach to its final destination, the duodenum -- the upper area of the small intestine.

Images of the interior surface appear on a screen, which are captured and printed for doctor and patient.

My first endoscopy (April, 2008) revealed an extremely inflamed, atrophied surface. The intestine looked like pink, puffy bubble gum. Eight months later, after a strict gluten-free diet, I had a much improved endoscopy. The inflammation had significantly decreased and smooth visible spirals had resumed.

Yesterday’s image is by far the healthiest looking, though I won’t know biopsy results for a week.

One of the most difficult parts of an endoscopy is that I have little memory of anything following the procedure. That’s because they use hurricane spray and Fentanyl and Midazolam IV’s for sedation.

I groggily awoke to see my brother -- my ride home -- sitting in a corner chair, but don’t remember any of the discussion with him or my doctor. I only remember seeing my brother's face.

On the way home, we stopped at Coastal Seafoods for walleye and wild shrimp and then my brother put his skills to work in my kitchen. All that was missing was a white hat, apron, and his set of culinary knives from chef school.

I attempted rice flour muffins, but under my medicated haze accidentally added 1 tablespoon of baking soda instead of ½ teaspoon. (Gag.)

My second batch were probably some of the softest gluten-free muffins I’ve made yet. You can find the recipe on Bob's Red Mill Web site: www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=441

I give these muffins a 9 out of 10 for taste and 10 out of 10 for softness and texture.

My brother’s carrots…amazing. Believe it, they took an hour to make!