On May 14th I had gone out to the grocery store to pick up some food items to have in the house for when my dad arrived from the airport. It was so hot outside that when I got home, I had to stand in my freezer to cool down.

I tried having some Jello after returning from the grocery store but after a few bites my stomach began getting angry, so I decided to listen and not eat anything for the rest of the day.

My dad arrived from the airport at 1:40 p.m. that day and I had such a great time showing my dad all of the designs I had made in the new apartment.

May 15th my dad and I spent the day indoors and he helped me put up the rest of the peel and stick contact paper in the kitchen!

May 16th- Endoscopy Day had arrived! I felt really relaxed going into the procedure day because it was the third time I was getting it done. My dad and I left the apartment early since the elevators were getting fixed at the time that I needed to go to my appointment.

We sat in the cafeteria of the hospital and chatted away until I needed to go in for the endoscopy. At 1:30 p.m. I went in and headed to the procedure prep area. I happened to see my GI doctor in the hallway, and they informed me they would switch their procedures to be able to do mine (it was then that I didn’t realize the initial person who was supposed to do the exam wasn’t them).

As I was getting all prepped, the anesthesiologist came by to talk to me about complications (since my body seems to be a bit weird with anesthesia). It was so pleasant because the anesthesiologist came in and said “I remember you! How are you?”. They told me they had been the anesthesiologist when my central line was placed and that they remembered me because of my backpack and my high heartrate! They said I had the highest heartrate they had seen under anesthesia but that it was so stable. They said under anesthesia for my central line placement, my heart rate was steady at 130 the whole time!

I was so glad to have that heartrate info to use for other appointments to show that even under anesthesia it remains high!!

I went under super smoothly for the endoscopy which I was really thrilled about and woke up feeling nauseous but definitely not as bad as in the past. I didn’t have to use a wheelchair!!!

I walked home holding onto my dad for support and the nausea all came once I got into my building.

I was walking down the hallway heading to my apartment and I told my dad as I began speeding up towards the door that he needed to open it quickly because I was about to-

Ah, too late-

-throw up.

I threw up in my mask :-/ not the most pleasant thing…

I walked into my apartment, took off my mask and continued to throw up on the floor and myself as I walked towards a trashcan. There were little blood clots in the vomit from the procedure I had just came out of.

After I was done vomiting, I headed to bed and napped. I woke up at 6 p.m. from my alarm to change my TPN (one of the times I wish I didn’t have to do that every day) and my dad brought all of my supplies to my bed so I could change it bedside.

That evening I had SOOO many esophagus spasms and it was bothering me so much.

I knew the doctors had taken esophagus, duodenum, and stomach biopsies and I guess that was triggering my spasms but making it hurt a bit more because there were biopsies taken there.

In the evening I took some muscle relaxers and nausea medication to try and help with the esophagus spasms but unfortunately, I ended up vomiting 5 more times.

I chose to send an email to my summer class professor that I wouldn’t be attending the virtual class the following day.

The following day I was SUPER fatigued and breathing itself felt like I was climbing mount Everest. My esophagus spasms were still insane all day. I had some peanut butter in the evening since I was craving it so much.

On May 19th my pathology report from my endoscopy had come out and as I had expected (and told my doctor prior to them doing the endoscopy) it found nothing.

I attended class and had some peanut butter and jello later on in the evening.

May 20th my dad and I headed out to upgrade my phone since it was 5 years old and kept shutting down when I needed it during emergencies. I was reluctant because I prefer the older models, but I knew it was time.

My mom had also wanted me to help her redesign her living room and dining room, so I spent more of my free time working on design plans for that.

May 21st was the day my dad and I were both looking forward to the whole trip. My dad visiting this time around was the first “vacation” he had because the previous two times he visited me I was either injured and on crutches (Black & Blue, In Crutches Too) or ill in bed for 7 ½ months needing constant care (The Escalation- My Dad Enters Into the Flare). This was the first time he was here, and I wasn’t bedridden.

We went to the Museum of Fine Arts and spent the whole morning and afternoon in the museum. My dad had never been, so I was super excited to take him there.

I was proud of myself because I did pretty good standing but had to take quite a few sitting breaks. My backpack had also begun to bother me with the weight of it being on for that many hours.

We spent 4 hours at the museum!

May 22nd we were also looking forward to because I had planned a morning drawing picnic with my dad at the public gardens! I brought my picnic blanket and all of my sketching materials, and we met up with friends to hang out at the park while my dad and I drew in our sketchbooks.

It was so much fun, and our pieces came out super great!

May 23rd I was so fatigued I could barely move, and my nurse had pointed out to me that it was likely because I had spent the weekend doing things 2 days in a row. I tried to remember this for the future to better manage how much rest I was getting.

May 24th my abdominal pain was higher than usual, so I noticed it a lot more and had trouble doing my daily tasks. In the evening I said goodbye to my dad since he would be leaving very early in the morning the following day.

May 25th, I cleaned the house a little and tried to spent time resting on the couch. I had some more jello throughout the day which made my stomach unhappy, but I ignored it anyways.

It had been such a wonderful and pleasant time having my dad come and visit and even though he was technically here only because I’m not allowed to go home alone after having a procedure with anesthesia, the endoscopy felt like such a minor part of the trip and that’s why we had so many other things planned.

Read how Emma’s health continues in, “When It Rains, It Pours”.