Well guys, I just feel terrible. I've wanted to write every night for the past 3, but I just don't have any energy when the time comes. Suffice it to say that this week has entailed 3 trips to Houston, two of which have been completed, and one of which (today) was very difficult for me physically. Stratton came for the week- and it was such a disappointment (to me, not to him) that he had to spend so much time driving, when we had several projects around here that he was planning to do. However, when your doctor says "jump", you ask "how high" if you are dependent on him for getting new lungs. About a year & a half ago, I had a pair of tests that are done through the endoscopy department at the hospital in which a probe is inserted into my stomach via my nostril. Yes, it feels like what you are thinking- ewwww! and Owwww! It wouldn't be so bad if it were just done once, but because of the way they have to take measurements, etc., it calls for a catheter to be inserted, removed, and inserted & removed a second time, followed by the probe which is inserted to STAY for 24 hours. The free end of the probe is taped to your face & nose- it looks so lovely- and then it connects to a small computer. The one thing that has changed for the better since I had this test run not once but twice in 2009: they have reduced the size of the computer- just like everything else that is computer-based, it has gotten smaller. That is carried with you, of course, & you sleep with it. You also have to tell it every time you lie down, get up, eat, quit eating, have heartburn, have pain, cough, etc. Not only do you have to push buttons on the computer, you are supposed to manually create a log that they check against the readings. All of this is to determine the extent of your reflux. Now when I had this done before, #1, I was not nearly so sick and I didn't have any lung pain. #2, I was allowed to take my medication that controls the reflux- i.e., my Nexium & Zegerid. So even though it was a pain to haul around and impossible to sleep normally, it was just for 24 hours, and I didn't have any bad effects from what I ate since I was on the meds. This time, they made me stop my medication that is controlling my GERD, which at this time is 40mg omeprazole morning & night. That is a double dose of Prilosec, in case anyone is wondering. But it had it completely controlled, and I had no more ulcers on my vocal cords, no more hiatal hernia, and the esophagram that I had done in January 2010 was clear. This time, I have been pretty miserable since about Tuesday morning- it takes 3 or 4 days for the drug to clear your system, and after mine was all gone, my body began letting me know. Even though I wasn't allowed to take the big guns, I did take Tums and good old pink Pepto, and that was something at least. Now, until tomorrow morning, I can't have anything. I can drink water but it isn't supposed to be cold, and the same for food. I had to fudge on that- all I can tolerate is vanilla ice cream or milk, and neither of them can I tolerate at room temp. But I'm letting the water get about half-way there, and I let the ice cream melt. Anyway, our frist trip was the Class on Death & Dying which we attended (Steve, Stratton & me) on Tuesday night- that was trip #1. We did have a neat visit with Stratton's friend Suzanne Wheat who is a Physician's Assistant at Texas Children's Hospital. That was the second time we had done that- last week she treated us to a down-home dinner at Barnaby's. Then it was time to head home, as the oxygen was getting low & my heartburn was killing me- I sat there staring at a $26 red snapper dish but couldn't eat it. Today was our second, and tomorrow, Stratton takes me right back to that same office & they will remove the probe. That trip will be quite quick by comparison, and just as soon as the probe is removed, my omeprazole goes in! We will return to Beaumont, and then sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening, whenever he is ready, Stratton will hit the road for Dallas. Right after we got home today, I called Suzanne Ryan, and she came over- we celebrated one month of becoming "reacquainted" since her return to Beaumont, because on her first trip to see me, she brought in the mail, and it included my Vanity Fair magazine. Today the new one arrived. She is getting very excited as she & David leave for Australia to see their daughter & family in less than 2 weeks.
I promise to post more about these very difficult days soon. Right now, I am going to see if I can do anything resembling sleep.
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