My diagnosis

Well, I finally have a diagnosis! I have Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction- or a Disease of the Common Bile Duct Sphincter. Wow, a lot of words! What does it all mean? Basically it means there is obstructed flow of bile through my sphincter of oddi, which can cause retention of bile in the biliary tree and pancreatic juice in the pancreatic duct.

After getting this diagnosis the first thing i did was look up what the Sphincter of Oddi is…: a muscular valve that controls the flow of digestive juices (bile and pancreatic juice) through the ampulla of Vater into the second part of the duodenum.

 

So, the doctor is going to do a procedure, a Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). He is going to do an endoscopy to go into the common bile duct area and inject dye. He will then look at it on an X-ray, clean the sludge out of the common bile duct, and cut the sphincter to make it so that bile can flow through without getting caught up. I will be completely knocked out, and this will be done in the OR. I am a little freaked out as this is a pretty serious procedure, but I am thankful to finally have an answer.

The procedure will be done on August 18th in the morning. Thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!