Saturday, March 26, 2011

About Last Night.....And Thank You To Those Who Responded!!

This is a photo of my 10th painting for my Daughter Christa.  It is based on one of her photos of the Santa Cruz area on the California Coastline.  I didn't do it justice at all!  I found the rocks to be the most difficult thing that I have tried to paint YET!!!  I can't tell you how many times I redid them!  But since I wanted them to be her Christmas present, I finally had to accept them as they were....sorry Christa!

Hey Ya'll,

Well, since I have been having this ongoing problem with the Tightness after eating, as well as Sliming, Vomiting and Acid Reflux.  I tried another experiment last night.  But first off, I want to say that ever since my last Fill back on February 11th, I have been having problems.  I can eat and feel fine....for about 30 mins to 3 hours.  Then all of a sudden, I feel tight and start Sliming and or Vomiting.  And the biggest problem that I have had, is the Acid Reflux!  It can happen during the day as well as the night.  But of course, when it happens during the day, you are awake and can just swallow it down or spit it up!  Which makes the night time Reflux the worst!!!  The night before last, while sleeping, the worst incident of Acid Reflux I had, was bringing up (regurgitating) my LUNCH from the day before!!

So last night, I changed up my bedtime routine, to see if I could eliminate the Reflex.  So when I went to bed at 1 am, I slept on our over stuffed chair.  I laid across it so that my Head and Shoulders was on one of the chairs arms and my Legs were draped over the other arm.  I placed pillows under my Back, Shoulders and Neck so that my Back, Shoulders and Head was at least in a 45 degree angle.  In this position, I only had one known Acid Reflex (I say this because sometimes I will have minor bouts of Acid Reflex that didn't wake me up.  But when I awaken, I have that "TASTE" in my mouth, so I know that I did have Acid Reflex during the night).

So feeling better, I decided to lay down on our bed, and sleep the rest of the morning there, so that I could relax my body.  I checked the clock so that I knew what time it was when I laid back down (6:30 am).  FIVE MINUTES LATER....I had another bout of Acid Reflux!  Then 10 minutes after that, another one!!  So sleeping almost straight up, did help A Lot!  But still did not completely eliminate them.  And I definitely had a much higher incidence of them, when I laid down in a normal sleeping position.  And before I forget, I hadn't had anything to eat since about 6 pm!  And I took a double dose of Prilosec OTC (making it Prescription strength) and chewed 3 Extra Strength Tums before going to bed!!!

I had a comment from Kathy - My New Beginnings, on my last post asking for help.  What she told me, scared me to death!  I am truly hoping that my problem isn't what her's is!!  She had the same symptoms as I have had, only she lived with them for about a year!  She slept on pillows to raise her Head up, to help with the Acid Reflux issues.  When she went in for another Fill, her husband coerced her into telling the Doctor about her Acid Reflux issues and having to sleep upright.

As soon as the Doctor heard this, "the Doctor said no, I won't fill you.  There is something wrong.  You are too tight.   I want you to have a swallow test (which is an Upper GI)".  When she went in for the Upper GI, she said, "I drank a yucky liquid and the X-Ray showed on the television screen how it progressed down my Esophagus, and instead of going to my Stomach, it went to a side pouch which had developed before going to the Stomach. It was a Dilated Esophagus.  He immediately Unfilled me and I went back after 3 months to see if it was better.  It was a little but not enough.  I am now on my 6th month.  I go back May 3rd for another test.  Run, don't walk to the doctor.  Have them check you too.  The last thing my doctor said to me was, if I hadn't healed completely by the next visit, he may have to remove my Band".

I am glad that I am not waiting for too many Months, or closer to a Year to act on this, so hopefully my issues haven't progressed to the extreme like Kathy's has!!  So I will be eating very easy to digest and swallow foods like Oatmeal, and drinking Protein drinks for the next couple of days, to see if this helps bring down the inflammation of the Band, and stop the Acid Reflux.  If I don't see a significant change for the good, then I will definitely be making an appointment to talk with the Doctor's office soon!  And so far today, I have only had a small cup of Chocolate Milk right after I woke up.  No food, no Protein drink since, and I am not even hungry.....and it is almost 4:30 pm!!!

Well, now that I have spilled my guts to you about this, I guess I should get off for now.  So, till next time....

Aloha My Friends  :)
This is a copy of Christa's sward winning photo.  She entered it in the local County Fair and won 1st place!  I really tried to reproduce it, but I failed!!

4 comments:

Island Bandit said...

sounds awful!

I had a bout of really bad reflux and ended up getting a slight unfill when it got to the point that i couldn't even get water down without it hurting. My doc also prescribed gaviscon and maxalon for me to take. After a few days it eased up and i was no longer waking up in the middle of the night. I also found that putting myself on a few days of just liquids help things settle down on their own. Not a fun side effect at all. hope you get sorted

Rachel said...

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...I love your daughter's pic...I've been there and I really feel that it captures the beauty well. I love your pics because they are so original and I love how you interpret things. I hope your reflux gets better. When I have issues, I just try to eat moderately and mildly (like bland/non spicy soups/liquids only). I hope your issues are resolved soon.

Debi said...

Island Bandit, thanks for the information about the Gaviscon. I have never tried it, but it sounds like it works really fast for you! Do they taste good? If they taste bad, I couldn't take them, no matter how well they would work!!! LOL

Rachel, thanks, my Daughter will love your comment about her photo! And thank you about my paintings. And I have started a totally bland diet for a few days. So far it has helped but not taken the Acid Reflux totally away....but definitely better!

Island Bandit said...

thanks! I responded on my blog before I saw this post here!!!!