Scared about esophageal manometry or esophageal motility test!? Double Update

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Hello!

Thank you all so much for replying and reading! I have just did it a couple of

hours ago. I will explain what happened for others who are worried about the

test. This time, the hospital I went to have improved A LOT! The staff there

were very friendly, and it was so much better this time. The first thing that

happened, was registration, then I was taken to the prep room, (Same area where

I was last time!) and they took my blood pressure, weight, heart beat, and all

the other stuff. The wait time to get into the procedure room was about 15

minutes. They gave me an ipod touch to play with while I was waiting (Last time

I had a game boy). Unlike last time, they explained everything to me, but I was

still a bit nervous. Soon, they took me down to the procedure room, and the

first thing they did was numb one of my nostrils with some gel. It did not smell

bad, it just smelled pretty much like nothing, I also had to sniff the gel up,

but still nothing smelled bad. They showed me the wire, and it was about the

size of a straw. It also flopped around to because it was flexible. There was

droplets of water coming out through tiny holes throughout the wire, to help it

go in easier. There was a TV in the room, and they let me hold onto the ipod

touch. After a few minutes, they started to get ready to begin, and my nose was

numb, but it was kind of hard to feel the numbness. There was three hospital

people in the room. There was a nurse holding the wire, another nurse giving

instructions and watching the monitor thing for the wire, and another counselor

like person sitting in a chair next to me. They were all very nice and humorous.

Soon, the wire nurse rubbed the wire in some gel. The counselor nurse told me to

squeeze her hands very tightly whenever I felt the need to. Sadly, at the last

second, I pulled my head a way. I was still very scared and nervous. I am a

little embarrassed to say this, but it took everyone about an hour to finally

convince me to stay still and relax, because the whole time I was shaking and

crying. The nurses were all very patient with me. Finally, I calmed down enough

for them to do the procedure. The counselor told me to take big deep breathes,

and squeeze her hand. I was also told to swallow as much as I can to make it go

down easier. They told me that if I was still, then it would only take 5 seconds

to get it down. I kind of didn't believe that, but I reluctantly said ok. The

wire nurse put it in my nose and it hurt a little, and it was a very bad

feeling, but amazingly, they got it down in less than 5 seconds. It is a good

thing I squeezed her hand because it was a pretty intense feeling, but I hardly

even gagged. Of course it felt pretty weird afterwards, but not the worse

feeling. You can feel the wire in your throat, but it does not hurt much. They

were adjusting the wire for about 5 min. then it was time for me to start

swallowing water. The hardest part is not swallowing. You have to not swallow

for about a minute then they can move on to the next swallowing of water. It was

literally impossible not to swallow. It is like when someone says don't smile,

you smile. Now I see why it takes an hour. If you make the smallest swallow, you

have to start all over again, and for some reason, when your body gets the urge

to swallow, and you try not to, your body makes you swallow without you even

knowing it. So it took quite a while to do all the swallows. After about an

hour, we did it! We finished! I did 10 swallows. They pulled the wire out then.

It hurted a lot when they pulled it out, especially in my nose, but the hurtness

went a way quickly, and it takes only a second to get it out. Then I had no pain

anywhere, and I was allowed to leave. The test was not fun, but not very painful

either. It was a relief to have it done with. Thank you all for replying, and I

was thinking of all the posts while I was in the procedure room, and your posts

helped me to calm down and do the procedure. I will be sure to let you guys know

what the results are, in fact, the doctor was in the hospital then, and I think

the nurses are going to try to get the study to him today. Thank you!

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> > Has any one had this done before, if you have, what was it like. From what I

know, the doctors anethesize your nose, then put a tube down your nose into your

esophagus while you are awake. I heard it is painful and there is a lot of

gagging! The doctor said it would take one hour!? Why would it take an whole

hour!? It seemed more like a 15-20 min. test! Is this true? I am so scared and I

am going to have it done this Friday!!!!!! (The doctor thinks I have achalasia

due to evidence from an barium swallow and an endoscopy)

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