Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sarah's Beauty is More Than Skin Deep

Today I learned that my daughter is just as lovely on the inside as she is on the outside. I will take you with my on a journey down Sarah's throat. That is exactly what you see on the left, Sarah's throat. As you can see it is perfectly smooth and has no sign of ulceration. The little valve at the bottom of the throat is perfectly normal as well. I asked about the little bumps on the right side but the doctor told me that those are normal and nothing to be concerned about. Next we enter the stomach. We have two pictures of the stomache. In the first picture we are actually at the bottom of the stomach looking up at the top. If you look carefully at the top of the image you can see the black tube coming out of the stomach wall. That would be her throat and that is where her food enters when she eats. In the third picture we are at the top of the stomach looking down. The entrance into the intestines is on the bottom right corner. You can't really see it. The pictures of the stomach again show nice, clean walls without any signs of irritation or ulceration. This is all good news because we can conclusively say that what ever is bugging her is nothing really serious. I think the big thing that no one is mentioning is that we can eliminate cancer. I know for me personally that is a big relief. The final picture is the initial part of the intestines. It too looks good. The doctor also took some biopseys from the throat, stomach and intestines so she was careful to point out that we can't say anything definitive until the results from those tests come back but I could tell that she isn't expecting to see anything. I guess this brings us all the way back to her first diagnosis which I think is what they say when they really don't know what it is. She says that if there is an infection below the surface then you can't see it and because it is viral they can't treat it so we just wait and let the body do it's thing. A very good friend of mine is the head of the surgery department UCSD. He told me that doctors get credit for curing a lot of illnesses that they really didn't cure. He said that if the doctor did absolutely nothing that 98% of all the patients that come to them will be cured. I guess that is what we are looking at with Sarah. Wait it out. That is much easier to do now that I can see with my own eyes that there aren't any gaping holes or growing tumers in her belly.

4 comments:

Lynn said...

Oh that is GOOD news!
WOW! to those pictures. That is so cool. And almost freaky to me..... that we have come so far in technology. That is amazing. I have never seen any photos like that before, ever.
Here's hoping that what ever is bothering Sarah will disappear quick!

Kira said...

Crazy awesome!!!! Sarah IS beautiful on the inside! I am glad that they didn't find anything serious, but I am sad that there are no answers ... I hope that she feels better soon.

Kimberly said...

Awww, give Sarah a big hug from me! She is such a cutie! And, tell Lisa I said "Hi!" and that I love that she reads my blog! ~Kimberly DowDell

Anonymous said...

The first picture should come with a warning. I thought it was an eye when it first popped up:)
What an experience for all of you. We are happy that Sarah has a clean bill of health. How does Sarah feel about seeing her insides?! Something to show her future husband:)
From The Cahoons in NY