This past Friday I had two more pints of blood, making nineteen in all. I felt like King Kong from Saturday until Monday
afternoon. The blood is now gone again. Hemoglobin is now 8.6.
They say I have watermelon stomach. The small intestines are bleeding in a few places, but not bad, after a capsule study.
I go into the Cleveland Clinic this Friday for the third time to cauterize the vein endings to stop bleeding.
Today I was told by the gastroenterologist (GI) doctor, the only permanent solution may be to remove a portion of the stomach.
What do you know about that? What is the down side? I am sure it is not good.
Ray New email address needed 07-18-06 SLE Old Email Prefix: rayn1 Story edited 05-07-05 Story posted 05-23-05 SLE ISN Senior Artist: Sherrill Knaggs Story Editor: Judith Devlin |
LINKS Watermelon Stomach |
Sherrill Knaggs, ISN Artist, created the digital photo to illustrate the story on this page. Sherrill lived in New Zealand. Her story was featured in ISN's book, Voices of Scleroderma Volume 2.
Judith Thompson Devlin is the ISN Story Editor for this story. She is also lead editor of the ISN's wonderful Voices of Scleroderma book series!
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