Suffering Due to Procrastination!

Linda's Thoughts from Duluth
You haven’t heard from me lately because I have dealt most of the week with eating issues. I wasn’t able to keep any food down since noon on Tuesday. I’ve dealt with acid reflux disease for years, and just when I thought I had it under control, pain wise, I started having problems with pain after eating, something new the last few months. I’ve had several attacks, but the attacks usually only lasted for a day, then the next day I would be fine. I usually blamed it on eating the wrong food. I have known all fall that I needed to make a doctor’s appointment with the gastro, it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve seen him, but the procrastinator that I am, I kept putting it off. Well, I suffered from the procrastination this week. I kept waiting for it to get better, and when I realized that it wasn’t going to get better, and that I wouldn’t be able to eat or drink, I was forced to the hospital yesterday morning for an emergency endoscopy with my gastro doctor. Thankfully, he had an open spot. Apparently the acid caused not just constriction of my esophagus, but caused a pouch where all my food was going to, instead of going to my stomach, which is why it kept coming up with coughing fits when I would be sleeping. He did a procedure which he hopes will take care of the problem. If it doesn’t, he assured me that there are other things that can be done. I learned my lesson, to keep after this disease, especially after Wednesday night at 12:30 am when I thought I was going to choke to death, a really, really scary feeling. Last year about this time my regular doctor sent me to a pulmonary specialist, thinking that I might have lung or asthma problems. He declared my lungs healthy, sent me for a sleep study, and diagnosed me with sleep apnea. A few weeks ago I went to the doctor thinking I had a very bad chest cold, and he said I was having an asthma attack (even though the lung doctor said I didn’t have asthma.) Ummm, we are beginning to realize that my breathing problems are connected to my acid problems. Too much acid can cause many problems.

I ate a small bowl of cereal and a cup of tea for breakfast this morning, and it went down well, with no after effects. So far, so good, I am attending a women's luncheon at church today. I will be eating very carefully, hoping all goes well.

If you have severe indigestion on a regular basis, or have pain after eating, feel like you need to throw up after eating, or cough excessively at night when you don’t have a cold, please go to the doctor. Check it out; get treated, before it becomes worse! Don't procastinate!