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Health update

With the long list of things I have to blog about, it seems rather stupid to be putting up a health update – but I need to do it to help me update my drug trial records.

Overall I have to say I’m doing better than I’ve done in quite a while. I don’t know which medication it is (although I suspect it’s the thyroid med.) but suddenly I don’t come home every night and want to go straight to bed. It’s great to have productive evenings again! And, it’s great to not be feeling so foggy in the head all the time.

I feel like I’m playing a little game with my bowels. If I do nothing, I’ve always got the runs. But, if I take the Lomotil, I seem to be able to control the runs to some extent. The week before my trip, however, seemed to be the exception though. Nothing seemed to work for a few days and I was having a lot of cramps. I don’t want to be taking the Lomotil all the time if I don’t always need it – so I’m playing this balancing act. I get the runs. I take a pill, and if that doesn’t work I take another, up to the four prescribed, to get things in check again. I start taking one a day when things get pretty bad pretty often until things really thicken up and I’ve got the opposite problem. Then I back off and the cycle starts all over again.

When I was traveling to the family reunion, I was having a few problems and managing them on the road without making a big deal (and thus starting a heated HPS conversation) was a bit challenging. When I travel, I try to be very careful about what I’m consuming. I can’t risk eating healthy fruits and veggies if I’m going to be in a car driving across Kansas without easy and frequent access to a bathroom. So, I ate a lot of carbs, pasta, bread etc. I normally drink a lot. I find as soon as I don’t, I develop a bladder or kidney infection. But, again, traveling I was trying to limit the intake – and thus, of course, got a bladder infection. I felt as though I had to go constantly, which was very aggravating. I also currently have three little skin ulcers right under my stoma. They are sore, and they do tend to bleed. The whole time I was nervous about leaks, and did have one. Luckily it was at grandma’s so I could easily fix it (although those little sores hurt like crazy when I did.)

These past two days I’ve had bad acid reflux. I don’t know why as I’ve been taking my zantac. The night before last I’d evidently once again taken off my CPAP mask and not even been aware of it. I woke up with the mask on the floor. In the meantime, I woke up gasping for air with my lungs just burning.

That has got to be one of the most horrible feelings in the world. It’s so scary to feel as though you can’t get any air. And, it’s really scary when you’re totally by yourself and no one knows you’re struggling.

I think some of the reflux must have gotten into my airway. That is really, really bad. I managed to sputter and cough and finally take big gasps of air (that burned like crazy). I coughed and coughed with lots of phehm, took a puff of albuderol as I couldn’t catch my breath and when I could breathe again, took some sips of ice water that at least made my throat feel better.

During the day my tummy felt upset and acid-like all day. Today it’s better.

When we were traveling my mom was very annoyed by all my belching. I’m also hugely annoyed – it’s so embarrassing to be with a bunch of people and suddenly, from out of no where, let out this massave belch which is as much a surprise to you as to anyone else. What my mom doesn’t realize is that this is an improvement. Before I started the Zantac, it wasn’t just a belch.

But, the belching has been worse and if it continues, I wonder if I should be making a little visit to my GI guy.

I’m just so thankful that these are all just minor problems.

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