I had nearly finished writing a heartfelt entry about my trip today with my daughter to find a dress and ensemble for her upcoming First Holy Communion. It was wonderful, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding (if not quite expensive.) The punch line: after many try-ons, we found (and bought) a dress, veil and shoes.

But somehow, in my brain fog, I closed the window and lost the entry. It discussed the importance of this day to me and the rest of my Polish-Catholic family. I talked about ancestors, traditions, and lifetime milestones.

But instead of trying to recreate all that good stuff, my colon is barking at me to give an update on its current status.

Apparently, ladies and gentlemen, The Fudge Factory is closed. Or at least it feels that way! I had not mentioned it publicly, but since November I had been having bouts of excrucitating upper-gastric (ie - in my stomach) pain. These "episodes" would last a few hours, and no medicine seemed to help. I would just try to relax and put a heating pad over the painful area. Of course I went to see the doctor right away, but was not offered any solution.

Since they have a glut of patients, my Gastroenterology group made me wait 6 weeks to get an endoscopy to find the source of the problem. I finally got my test results: liver & pancreatic functions are normal (phew!), the H.Pylori biopsy (the bacteria that causes many ulcers) was negative, but the doctor noted, "stomach shows signs of chronic inflammation. Bile was seen in the stomach."

What all this yukky info means is that apparently the lessening activity of my lower gut has now caused such a traffic jam, that bile from my small intestines is surging back up into my stomach. Bile doesn't belong there, causes massive irritation, and can eventually cause stomach tissue malignancies.

Tomorrow I see an endocrinologist to see if in fact a thyroid(or similar)  issue could be holding up the production line. If not, I have no idea what to do next. "Not eating" doesn't seem to work, and a pure clear liquid diet is pretty tough, too. I'm hoping for some good news after tomorrow's visit. Fingers crossed...