After the whole, I think I'm dying, incident, it really hit home how important it is that I, you know, make doctors appointments for myself, and get my stress level under control. First stop was the GI doctor. I mostly made the appointment because, since I don't chew my food like an adult, I swallowed a piece of crusty bread that basically cut it's way down my esophagus, into my stomach. After a week of pain, I decided that I should consult with an actual physician, since images of said crusty bread turning into a giant, festering, wound, danced in my head.
Turns out, I wasn't so far off.
After speaking to the doctor, she recommended I get an endoscopy. I have a history of reflux, and other fabulous stomach issues, especially since having kid #2. I'm not a fan of anything medical, especially when I have to be sedated/put under, but I put on my big girl panties and kept the appointment. I am OK with making appointments, it's the keeping them part at which I do not excel.
So, long story short (sidebar: waking up during an endoscopy is horrible and painful and next time I will make sure they know to drug me up good), it was discovered that I have "multiple stomach ulcers".
I guess all those jokes I made last year, about our fight with the school slowly killing me, were not all wrong. That and other things have left me with, I believe, 3 beautiful ulcers. Three. Not one. Not two.
Three.
I was instructed to basically never take ibuprofen again, and up my Prilosec to twice a day. I actually didn't remember about the Prilosec until yesterday, because they give you this information while you are still mostly drugged up, not thinking it important to maybe send you home with any written instructions.
I have a follow up with GI, but not until the end of February. It was an appointment I made before the endoscopy, but I am sure if they want me in sooner, they will let me know. There's really not much to be done for ulcers, besides avoiding certain meds, and probably easing up on the Franks Red Hot. I just have to take my Prilosec and hope things heal.
Of course, now I am basically afraid of all food. Every since the bread incident, I've had pain every time I eat (and sometimes when I'm not eating), and now that I know there is actually something wrong, well, all food seems like the enemy. I am guessing maybe the bread attack angered the ulcers, as I never had pain before that, or else it's all just a big coincidence. Who knows. The whole situation just stinks, basically.
Oh, did I mention that on the way to my endoscopy, probably two whole minutes (or less) from the hospital, we were rear-ended? Yep. As though my nerves weren't already shot, some college kid decided braking wasn't a mandatory thing, and slammed into us as we were stopped so the person in front of us could turn. SO, the same bumper we just had replaced last August because of a similar accident, now has to be fixed again.
Anyhow, moral of the story? Take care of yourself. Making sure you are healthy needs to be a priority. I'm not telling you to take a vacation, or go get a pedicure, because, I get it, there's not always time (or money) for those types of luxuries. I'm telling you make sure you are around for your kids for as long as possible. That's what's important.
So, join me on the year of actually going to the doctor. Don't let your one stomach ulcer become three.
Did the GI prescribe you antibiotics?? I'm not a doctor, but the nice folks at the CDC seem to think they're caused by INFECTION and are thus cured by antibiotics:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/consumer.htm
I hope you feel better soon! And your doc should be giving you (and any other woozy patient) WRITTEN instructions. Heck, even non-woozy patients should get written instructions on how to care for themselves. (People in doctor's offices tend to be scared/distracted/in pain and thus unlikely to remember all the little details!).