Well I kept coming up anemic no matter what vitamins diet and my blood work showed an abnormal amount of white blood cells (Which means there is some kind of infection viral or bacterial or cancerous going on in the body) so on so my doctor First wanted to rule out ulcers.( If I had a cold (viral infection) coming up there was nothing he could do and I rarely get bacterial infections.) so he referred me to a gastroenterologist who did an endoscopy and colonoscopy. I had to go to an intake appointment where I met the doctor who would be doing the surgery (they consider these surgeries because it includes biopsy) and did paper work. Then I met with scheduling person (more paperwork) The day of the day before the appointment I was not allowed to eat anything but soups (Broth) I also had a quart of laxative mixture to drink (highly recommend the orange flavored over the cola you will never want to drink a cola soda after this) The morning of the appointment my therapist and I went to the gastroenterology department with the hospital. I checked in then sat down. With in 5 minutes a woman (it was really cool because this woman used to work for my doctors office but left to become a full nurse) came out of a room and I was take in there to one of the beds. She gave me a gown and I changed into it. While she asked me questions and filled in the chart another nurse was putting my arm in a warm blanket (helps with finding the right place to put in the Saline IV) Just as fast as they completed that I was wheeled into the exam room and hooked up to monitoring equipment for heart beat and so on. The doctor came in and put the versed and the other med into the Iv tube.

An endoscopy is when the person is put under a sort of anestesia (versed and another med that basically puts the person in avery relaxed state but yet aware enough to talk but not move. Basically I think of it like being a combo of hypnosis and paralyzed state of being. The meds are administered through a saline drip IV. When the person starts feeling sleepy a mouth guard with a hole in the middle is put in their mouth. They do this then so that the pseron is aware that something is in their mouth and also so that they can't close their mouth while being told to swallow and closing on the tube that contains the laproscopic camera and tube that allows them to but various "operation type equipment like the one they use to pump air in to the body and those used for biopsy) Once the person is relaxed to where they want the person to be they send the tube down into the esophagus adding air and taking pictues, and in some cases taking a biopsy (cut a small circle or tissue and suck it up through the tube and cauterize (burn) the area cut so that it no longer bleeds. Then they do the same with the stomach. adding air, taking pictures and if they see anything abnormal they take a biopsy of it. Then they enter the upper intestins (small intestins) and do the same thing. Once they have all the biopsies and pictures needed they remove the equipment and I was taken back in the first room to sleep off the meds.

The same thing happens for a colonoscopy only they enter the rectum, colon and large intestines.

Instead of having me come back for two appointments they did both the endoscopy and the colonoscopy the same day. While in my stomach looking for ulcers they found a patch of abnormal tissue. They took a biopsy of it and sent it to the lab. It was Helio Bacter Pyloria (a bacteria that once enters the body lives in the stomach lining and can lay dormant for years or the persons lifetime with no problems at all in other cases it decides to multipy and cause ulcer like problems and create Lymphoma. Which is a cancer desease that travels throughout the body by way of the lymph nodes.

If your white blood cell count is normal then you do not have a cancer. Which is why they didnt run those types of tests with you.