The Road of Life Twists and Turns......................... Part 8 of 8

mock turtle

Oh my, please forgive me as I knew I was missing someone very important in my post yesterday...............

I have been so fortunate to make many friends here in the forum and you are one of them.  A friend like you is rare and precious and I will always be thankful for the blessing that is you. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you on this special day.

Gentle Hugs,

Kitt

Kitt

thank you for the kind wishes

i did not feel left out as i sense clearly your heartfelt concern and care for all the people who are part of the healingwell community, whether or not mentioned individually by name

you and the other moderators carry a lot of responsibility and work hard for the benefit of all

may the good Lord bless you for the kindness, and openness and strength you have demonstrated to all of us as you face your challenges and thus we are strengthened by your example

best wishes
mock turtle

AshleyRose, thanks

and how are you doing?...seems we both were on the upswing as august turned to september

the weather here in washington state has turned dismal

alas with the disappearance of the sun (causal? vitamin D?) and eating fewer fresh vegetables (and im embarrassed to say weakening will power lately)...im not doing as well as before...but hanging in there

how are you?

AshleyRose

yes i paid for my thankgiving sins too , and now im back on the straight and narrow

for me it was the gluten free apple crisp my daughter made...had to have seconds....

i knew id pay for that

though i dont live as far north as you, it gets dark early here too in washington state

my wife and i visited so-cal last winter and did some hiking and camping in the los padres national forest around morro bay

it was beeeeutifullll in february!!!...we gotta go back

yes im taking my vitamin D

i read more than one anecdotal account (proves nothing but interesting for further investigation) that vitamin D was a help in taming gerd

not sure why, but i seem to do worse in the winter...strange...?no more fresh veggies from our garden?

im doing ok...not great, but ok...staying physically active while aging is my challenge

i will email some off topic interesting stuff

best wishes
mock turtle

Hello HealingWell Family

I sincerely hope you all had a most wonderful Thanksgiving.

I had a good holiday, I was off work for 41/2 days and mostly kicked back and relaxed. I needed that really. I am feeling better and I hope that once I go to see the Pacer adjuster on the 15th they will know what needs to be done to adjust this thing so that I do not get so out of breath when I do simple chores. I am thinking it is just a matter of an adjustment to the pace.
I am hoping that once my emotions get sorted out, I will straighten out medically. I have finally realized that this year I have put my body through the wringer. I have had two major medical issues within 6-7 months of the other. DUH.. yes I know you all have said this same thing to me and it has just bounced off of my thick head. I just pray that I can get past this and get my health straightened out. NOW to you my friends....

KITT
I am seesawing back and forth as to how I feel. I too am enthused about some new tunes. I L-O-V-E love everything by Lady Antebellum. My granddaughter sings their songs to me frequently.. of course she sings Doe a Deer to me also. And she is becoming quite a fan of Julie Andrews.. My daughter is just the greatest when it comes to being a MOM. She has introduced Abby to musicals of all kinds and she has also made music a big part of her life... I love it.. I am so blessed, as are you, to have such wonderful family. My downhill emotions have to do with my oldest Son moving from here to Virginia this past weekend. It broke my heart to see him leave, but, it was what was best for him. He is now working with benefits and a good 401k and everything else that is good about a good job. Bad thing is, he is 1000 miles away.. now I have only my grandson and husband close to me... all of my children and other grandchildren are 1000 miles away.. KY, TN and VA. Sometimes life just ain't right.... when I finally find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I am going to bring all my chicks back close to the nest and take care of them and their families again... this is what I hope for.. unrealistic isn't it.. I just really miss my family...

DENISE
I hope you were able to spend many hours of quality time with that precious little guy!! Cherish all the "baby" time you can get because they get so grown up so quickly. I thank you for all of your well wishes for my recovery. I have been feeling rather sorry for myself. I need to get back to living life instead of walking on shells... I hope your health issues have been few and they get even fewer..

BILL

Thanksgiving is a time for family and I suppose you and your family had an amazing holiday together.. How is your wonderful wife and your children?? How are you doing now? Are the ribs doing better now? and what about the BP? Do not mess with that my friend.. it is too easy to take care of.. I know, if you are like me, you are tired of seeing doctors.. but we have to do what we have to do for our families... I am on Atenelol too. dr has me on 25mg in AM and 25 mg in PM for the a-fib that hasn't stopped yet.. it has slowed down appreciably, but hasn't stopped... yet.. I am still looking for that cloud that has the silver lining and the rainbow after the rain.. I don't know about you but I am tired of the rain!!!! I am ready for the sunshine!!!

JOY

I am hoping that this season of wonder and Joy will be all that it can be for you and yours. I hope that your health issues remain minor and you do not have any flares to make you miserable... take care...

AshleyRose, Lynda, MMM, MockTurtle, and everyone else who I hold dear to my heart here on the forum...

I am so thankful for you and the others here who have made my life so much easier to live because of your support and caring... Thank You all so much!!!! I hope that your holiday season has begun as it will end.... WONDERFULLY!!!
AshleyRose...watch that stuffing.. the sage and onions will get you every time...
Lynda.. How was your holiday? Great I hope.. and more of that to come to you!!!!

Please remember
Reach for the Sunshine... Rainbows will follow
Sandi

Denise
you are so right, the seasonal bug is coming our way

and what can be worse than getting sick on top of a bout of bad reflux

im sorry you got hit so hard

i have very mixed feelings about the holidays, great to be with family and celebrate...but so many triggers all around us

best wishes
mock turtle

Hi Mock Turtle,

I know...holidays point out how so many others can eat and drink with abandon, while those of us with GI issues have to be careful.  Believe me, I've watched people eat things I couldn't think of eating, and know for sure that they don't really appreciate what they have.  You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, as the song says!

I hope the plague passes you and your family by!  On the bright side it was truly a 24 hour bug.  The second day you're worn out, but the vomiting/upset stomch is much improved.

Enjoy your week!

Denise

 

Oh no - winter vomiting virus! Poor you Denise! Do you think you could all keep it your side of the Atlantic please??!

MMM

I use Propranolol 60mg Extended Release which works well.  For many years I was on Propranolol 20 mg each morning.............of course that only covered about 8 hours so my Dr. noted this and switched me to the extended form last spring.

Thanks for the article link.  :)

Hi Theresa,

I know you addressed your post to Joy, but I'd like to weigh in on the subject as well.  I also had atypical GERD symptoms, and had the surgery in hopes that my very sick lungs would be helped.  I did not know if it would work for me.  If you've done any research, you'll have found that the statistics for atypical symptoms aren't as good as those who have severe reflux symptoms only.

Still, I was sick of being sick, and my PCP finally started pushing me harder to get the surgery.  It wasn't easy to get my GI doc onboard, but that's another story.

I had the surgery with no real assurance that it would improve my lung condition, but since my asthma and PCP docs had tried everything to get me better to no avail, I had to try.  At least having the surgery would rule out reflux as the cause if it didn't work.

Fast forward two and a half months post op, my lungs began to improve dramatically.  Since my surgery, my lungs have been great.  (I do have allergy-induced asthma as well, so I'm on meds for that.)

You know what your life is like now.  If it's bad enough, you'll be brought to the surgery in hopes of improving your quality of life.  Joy and I are both examples of atypical symptoms that improved with the surgery.

Prior to my surgery I generally had two or three bouts of gastritis and a burned esophagus.  These usually lasted up to three months, and I always lost about 20 pounds, as I could eat very little.  I will tell you this...the recovery from my Nissen was far easier than what I experienced with those gastritis/esophagus issues.

You are the only one who knows whether or not you want to go forward.  You have to do what's best for you.  Just know that a Nissen surgery CAN help your symptoms...there are quite a few here who an attest to that.  If you do decide to go forward, we'll all be here to support you and share whatever information we've gained from our own experience with recovery.

Good luck!  Welcome to the forum!

Denise

Theresa,
Denise just echoed my thoughts exactly. As for taking care of the children you will need some help the first week. You'll feel tired, your stomach will be tender, and you won't feel like doing much. If you limit your lifting for a few weeks you'll be able to handle most basic care. You can spend time now teaching your children to help you with some simple housework so when you need help afterwards they can help out.
You can teach them to pick up clothes, toys, and help load dishwasher and washer. They may even help fold clothes if you make it fun to do. It's okay if you don't dust, make beds, or sweep for a few weeks.
Since I've had this annoying Lupus come into my life I've learned what's important and what can wait until I feel like I can do it.
I did score with a mild motility problem during my manometry so my surgeon did a loose wrap on me. Ask about having a 270 degree wrap. It makes swallowing easier.

Hi Liz,

When your doc bypassed NSAID pain relievers in favor of prednosone, I did a spit-take!  Really?  I found prednosone to be quite hard on my stomach.  It always felt irritated and miserable.  Still, hang in there...it's a short course, and maybe he's confident that it will improve your condition more quickly than the NSAIDs.

Feel better!

Denise

Joy and Denise-

Thank you for your responses. How long will I be so tired that I will need to be in bed? I have been reading like crazy on trying to make an informed decision but it's like I have run out of options. And with the normal can't have caffeine, can't have tomotao and the list goes on and on it's not like I am living a normal life now either and on top of what I consider highly medicated. I just don't want to be worse after the surgery. I know you must know what I am going through. I feel like I have missed so much with my children now due to this reflux and I just don't want to miss anymore. We do enjoy eating out so how long will it take for me to go to restaurants with them and enjoy vacations and such?

Thanks so much for being there! It is just a scary surgery

Theresa