The Beginning...

My name is Shark. I am 28 year old male. And I have a story to tell.

In March 2008, I first begin to realize that there was something wrong with my body. My meals and portions were shrinking, my weight was dropping rapidly, and i wasn't able to tolerate food or liquids by mouth without vomiting (in addition to experiencing severe nausea). I see my GI Dr who runs a few EGD's (scope down your throat into intestines) and sees that everything looks good. In search of some other opinions in late April / early May, I am referred to a DR @ Evanston hospital (who will remain nameless) who runs a new test called a Gastric Emptying study. This is absolutely the worst test for anyone who is experiencing nausea and vomiting like I was feeling at this point. They make you eat radioactive, yes radioactive, EGGS, and then take pictures for 2 hours. At the end of 2 hours since I am so nausea I immediately vomit up the radioactive EGGS. Great test. I guess I failed (which I did, but not as bad as some other patients). The test showed my stomach was slow to empty. So, my DR decided that he would try a procedure that would possibly help speed things along in my GI tract if we did a Botox (yes that Botox) injection into my Pylorus (a canal that opens up to allow things to pass from your stomach. So i undergo this procedure which is the same as an EGD with the injection added. If it was working within days I should have been able to tolerate much more by mouth. The days went on, the nausea and vomiting continued, weight loss dropping more and more, and then I was forced to be hospitalized it got so bad. So, admitted into Evanston hospital, I was getting IV fluids and medications and looking for answers at this point. So, we did some research and were able to get to a specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the area of GI Motility and we had a connection to get his attention. So over the weekend while I lay at Evanston continuing to vomit despite the medication, we needed a fast response from the DR @ Northwestern to get me transferred to his care (which I'll get to later on). So the weekend passes @ Evanston, watching Cubs and Sox games and NBA playoffs, and Monday comes and my mom gets a call from the nurse of the DR @ Northwestern that the DR wants to see me ASAP and that I was going to be transferred that day to Northwestern in downtown Chicago. This is an extremely well known hospital that is a teaching hospital as well with lots of different resources. So that Monday night, I was loaded into a Superior Ambulance and we maneuvered the night-game Cubs traffic on the outer drive and were at my room at Northwestern within a half-hour (just in time to actually see the Cubs game on TV). Northwestern Memorial Hospital Room #1404, my new home (for how long I couldn't even imagine)...