Yesterday's MRCP wasn't too bad.  It was the same friendly young fellow as when I went for the MRI enterography a few weeks ago; I really appreciate his casual, direct manner.  I had to sip some awful stuff through a straw again -- different awful stuff from last time.  This one is apparently worse to most people, but I found it less offensive, simply like a really gross creamsicle.  And there was no painful shot to the shoulder muscle this time.

This MRI -- of my gallbladder and pancreas -- took a long time.  Part of it involved time-lapse photography: the radiologist slowly injected something into me via the IV in my left arm, and the MRI guy snapped a picture exactly every 30 seconds.  This way they can follow the progress of the injected stuff as it moves through the bile ducts.  The technology never ceases to amaze me. 

It was very uncomfortable holding my arms above my head, even horizontally as I lay on the "stretcher," for such a long time, especially in that cold room.  My left shoulder and also my neck and back are still sore.  But I'm a very good breath-holder, so they got good, well focused "slices" of everything they wanted to see.

I ended up fasting much longer than necessary or intended.  When I finally got out of the radiology department, I went to visit a good friend recovering from her own colon surgery.  She wasn't interested in all the brighly colored low-residue things they were trying to get her to eat, so I ate them for her -- I was starving!  Though the calories were the "empty" kind, I must report that my empty system found them very comfortable and gentle.  I even slept for almost eight hours straight without being awoken by my jpouch!  This happens maybe twice a year if I'm lucky.  If only it were possible to live on nothing but jello and popsicles...

The MRCP results should get to my GI doctor by tomorrow; I don't know when I will find out what they reveal.  In some ways I hope they show nothing at all -- which would leave me without a medical explanation for all the pain in my gut, but at least would rule out various scary possibilities.  On the other hand I might be sort of relieved to find out, for example, that it's definitely my gallstones causing the pain -- the solution to that is clear and simple: surgical removal of the gallbladder.

Meanwhile, the pain has changed dramatically over the past week or three.  I can't figure out what causes it, or how to avoid it other than by fasting.  I can feel the food as it travels through my system, because it seems to hurt at each point along the way.  It's hard to imagine this is all caused just by "stomach acid."  The pain does seem to settle in on the right side for the longest, which might implicate the gallstones.  Hurts there right now.  But if it's anything like the past week, the pain will slowly move south, wake me up a few times during the night, then finally be gone by morning -- when I'll have to start eating all over again.

I'm scheduled for an endoscopy -- or "gastroscopy," according to the instructions that arrived in the mail -- this coming Tuesday, November 2.  I'm actually looking forward to the required pre-test fasting and low-residue eating.  I even stocked up on popsicles.   Also settled the question of rides that day -- thank you in advance to Bill S. for the ride to the hospital and to David G. for the ride home. 

Soon I'll start making preparations for post-test recovery at home.