You will be Miserable the Rest of Your life"
When I was working again, at the Harris County Appraisal District on the Appraisal Review Board, I got sick. After four years, I was developing a colitis type mess, and sciatica type pain from sitting on cheap, horrible chairs all day long. I quit last September 1st.
Since that time, I felt awful most of the time. But the sciatica pain was the worst and I was given pain management drugs so I could work and do my daily chores. But that also masked a bad GI problem. That is med problem hell. You miss something important because the other problem is pain and therefore gets your attention.
I ended up having a raspy voice. I was trying to see private clients and do workshops of 2 hours in length, and I was very difficult to understand. I did go to the voice doc at Baylor and he said that with acid reflux, it can wash up over the voice and wash off the mucus that the voice needs to work. It will take 4-6 months to be back to normal after I started my new self-management plan.
Then I ended up in the ER, the St. Luke’s over by Kelsey. The first time, they said it was colitis and I “needed to do something.” The second time, my chest hurt so bad, I was convinced I was having some heart thing. It wasn’t, it was reflux. I insisted they do a CT scan, that time. The technician told me that they had the new scan, by GE, that was state of the art, used by MD Anderson, and other top of the line hospital. This time, something was spotted that did not look right. That day, my GI doc had me come to his office and said he doubted it was anything because I got colonoscopy every two years. I had had polyps, so was checked more often. I did get a colonoscopy when he got back from vacation. He said it looked like something that might need surgery, was not a regular polyp. I did not worry much because my cousin’s doctor told her she had four aneurysms in her brain and the next day said, “Oooops.” And this anomaly I had turned out to be an oooppps. It was benign, but I need a yearly colonoscopy to make sure all is well.
So, here I am, a 72-year-old, skinny most of my life as I loved to dance, haven’t cooked in years, live on junk food, drank enough Diet Cokes to kill somebody (quit drinking alcohol in 1974 and smoking in 1984), my blood pressure which had always been perfect is going up. I live alone and have for years, so to prepare meals or have somebody do that is not on the How-To List.
Most people expect the doctors to fix them. That is dangerous. They have 10 minutes max to see you most of the time. I knew I had to find out what causes the reflux mainly and how to do a natural approach I could control, and work with the doctor instead of being passive and having 30 doctor appointments a week, and making it their problem. It’s my problem and I have to be proactive, and committed to my part of it if it is going to work.
I have come up with some solutions, some sites to read, some people to read, and some ideas that are causing me to lose weight and feel better. I still have plenty to identify and solve, but I am on my way.
I will divide this blog up into sections. If you want to read more, it will be here. If it does not interest you, you can just delete.
Yours to better health, less stressing, and more fun…..
Dr Kay Van Cleave
