LEAVE THE DOCTORS OUT OF IT
November 2010 Thanksgiving I was with my family in Chapel Hill. With GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) I was beat down. My energy level was down but seeing my de Lima grandkids and my daughter Jennifer, I was lifted.
The GERD thing came on when I was in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, with my Son Craig and his wife Cheli. Normally I can take Mexican food with minimal problems and love the spicy level at medium high. I was surprised that I had any discomfort but this thing came on with a bang. All the symptoms were manifested for a few days but I sought no help for a week. The Mexican doctor, an internist, went right for the diagnosis indicated by the symptoms. He suggested a scoping but since I was already planning to go into Tempe where my other son lived, I decided to wait.
Back in Tempe, I checked in with the primary care doctor who listened to my tale and did a few tests and concluded that the need for a scoping was manifest. It didn't take long... the entered from both ends and found a spot on my stomach. Pronounced not serious the situation called for some pills.
Over a period of weeks, nothing hurt more than the side effects of the pills. I grew unsteady on my feet, developed headaches, sleeping became difficult, there was dizziness at times and my walking was erratic and I struggle to keep my balance by the end of my walks.
Thanksgiving came on and Mark, his Kids and I all took off for Chapel Hill to vacation with Jennifer and her family. It was great to be with everyone but I could not add anything to the festivities. All those little indications that the medication was bothering me continued and I was at my wit's end.
The feast had come and gone and on the Monday after Thanksgiving I took the bus and went down town Chapel Hill. Almost not realizing what I was doing, I left the bus at the stop in front of the theater on Franklin Street. I walked unsteadily up about a mile and a half to the emergency room of the UNC Med Center. At times I thought I should forget about my problems and other time felt I could not make it to my destination.
Ultimately I stumble into the reception desk of the emergency care facility. I explained that I did not feel well and aid out my symptoms. At the mention of headaches, dizziness and having difficulty walking, all underscored, of my course, my obvious advanced age set off the alarms. I was put into a wheel chair and hustled back into the bowels of the hospital emergency quarters, taken into one of the booths with curtain walls and put into a bed. Immediately there was a flurry of activity and in short order I has undergone a complete tests of my 'vitals' as I came to understand them.
For four hours I was tested, listened to, questioned and examined by doctors, nurses and a multitude of medical students who were having a field day with their observations and questions. It seemed every doctor was accompanied by his very own multitude came in.
There was fear of a stroke and of course a heart attack. The stroke diagnoses was eliminated by a scan of my head. There was nothing to indicate there had been any sort of problem. A small growth of some kind was found but eliminated as being 'not significant.' A pool of water was found on the left side of the brain but this was considered also as insignificant.
Someone dropped the idea of sleep apnea and the ideal took wings. It was to become the favorite thing coupled with the medication for GERD and standard signs of aging. Sleep apnea aggravated by Gerd was settled upon as the next thing to be inseminated. Because I was schedule to return to Tempe, the idea of a 'sleep test' was suggested for consideration as soon a I got back. I should take it up with my primary care physician.
Meanwhile, I took control. I stopped the medication, ate nothing that was remotely possibly going to be too much for my stomach. I slept a great deal and the grand kids helped me find and cut a sapling to be whittled into a walking stick. The headaches and dizziness subsided and by the time I got back to Tempe, I was not eager to see a doctor. However, I body was telling me something was wrong; therefore, I set an appointment with the primary care physician.
The primary physician changed the medication and I experimented with it for a week, change from one pill to two pills per day as the doctor ordered. I felt my self slipping back into my past condition and explored the medicine on the Internet. I went to taking an over the counter pill which help, perhaps because I was off the prescription.
After waiting a month to get the records from NCU Medical Center, an appointment was set up with an neurologist who went along with the sleep apnea diagnosis based upon how I explained the sleep environment I had. He set up the sleep tests. There were '26 incidences' to exemplify that I had a problem with breathing at night. My bed was jacked up on one end and I went back to the sleep center to get fitted for a mask. The mask and the attendant apparatus is designed to equalize a constant flow of air (not oxygen) down into my lungs. It is uncomfortable but I feel I will grow to not mind.
The thing is: I have taken control of what I eat, eliminating anything that could possibly aggravate my GERD condition and I am now taking only one pill a day, taking the pill upon arising from sleep with a large glass of water. It helps with a couple of anti acid tablets some time after eating before going to bed.
There seems to be no effort to address the cause, only treat the symptoms. That leaves me with the feeling that I can take it from here... cautiously. Doctors have played a role in helping arrive at the diagnosis, now with the Internet, I can take it from here. I am walking my 2 to 4 miles a day, sleeping at least 6 hours every night and take a nap every afternoon of about 1 hour. I found that ginger snaps help with the gas along with twists of licorice. I have tea and ginger snaps during the moving or news in the evening and a stick or two of licorice during the day. I use ginger in my rice an stay away from tomatoes, which I love. I take half a glass of wine when I care to with my means and limit my coffee to breakfast with food. Any unsteady feeling I experience can easily be laid off on the old age. The weather is warm and I take about an hour of sunshine out by the pool in the afternoon
I know my body better than anyone. I do not abuse it and can anticipate everything that is happening out of the ordinary. I have thee pair of shoes and one pair of sandals. I alternate the shoes when I walk and use the sandals around the house. A fissure on my anus is painful but I can handle it. Sooner or later it will heal, otherwise I will revert to Hippocrates' remedy, the hot poker. That is, if I can get some help directing it at the proper target.
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