I just spent four days in the hospital after my PCP sent me to the ER and came out with a diagnosis of gastroparesis and IBS (plus a UTI.) I had never heard of gastroparesis before... I’ve been sick for a long time but just in the last six months started experiencing GI issues that were giving me such pain that eventually I couldn’t eat any more. Zoom in to the week before last and I literally was forcing myself to pick at food so I could take my meds, after an ODT zofran, and hope they wouldn’t come back up. I had this awful pain in my lower abdomen and back that made me curl up into a ball with my trusty friend, Mr. Heating Pad. Then this Monday morning I go see PCP (where my mom works) and explain to him while in tears what has been going on...he draws blood and does urinalysis. No blood in urine or anything that makes sense to him so he looks me in the eyes and says “Go to the ER, now.” (It’s right across the street. We live in an island.) There is so much I could say about the ER itself... this hospital is not known for being too notch. They would put in orders for nausea/pain meds but the nurses took hours to get them to me. There were no ER beds available, so for about six hours I was on a bed in the hallway. A patient coded right next to me. (RIP to that lady.) CTs, MRIs, blah blah... you’re gonna be admitted. Oh. Then I was there til Thursday. I have a lot of follow-ups and things to do and learn. I still have no appetite at all. I have lost almost 20 pounds. Not the way you want to lose weight, y’know? Anywho... If you actually read that...wow, thanks for listening. ❤️