The All-Natural Regimen That Has Helped My Reflux Problem

[NikkiB]

Hey y'all.... just a quick reply. My stomach has been acting up this week. Food just sitting and refluxing and not moving! Very uncomfortable OMG. Looking into enzymes! This rollercoaster lol well progress is better than no progress.

I seem to remember that Nikki mentioned a brand she liked here.

Heyley - I use Vega! I've tried others and just found them heavy.

Heading north, Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Pain free! Big Hugs

[NYer]

Well, you stopped taking the Absorbaids, right?
Start taking them.

Have a great weekend, all. I won't be around for three days (yay!) so if I don't post anything, don't think I'm not thinking about you.

NYer

[NikkiB]

Yes I did! I will give them another go... Thx NYer!

[hayleyBW]

Nikki, I hope you are feeling better! Hazel, you too!

NYer, I hope you had an amazing weekend at the beach!

I am having some difficulty regarding pain lately. For some reason it seems worse and I find the oxycodone is only slightly taking the edge off though without it the pain is less tolerable. But the pain does make me miserable and it is hard to feel positive and upbeat when in the throes of it if you kwim. Also I am getting some more burning and I feel it has to do with the oxycodone. I am seeing my surgeon this Thursday July 24th and I hope he can offer me a pain relief alternative such as a pain patch or injection so I can bypass my esophagus. The last thing I need is an exacerbation of my esophagitis due to the darn pain meds. What a catch 22. And the Tylenol is not touching the pain though I do add it with the oxy for a synergistic effect when the pain is very bad. I am trying hard not to get depressed but like I said when the pain is bad (and it has been 24/7 for the last few days) it is all I can do to push away the dark thoughts and feelings. It's hard to remain clear headed when the pain is ruling.

[NYer]

Hi Hayley. Sorry to hear about your pain and issues with the painkillers. I assume you are making it a point to take them with food in your stomach?
If I were you, I wouldn't wait till you see the doctor on Thursday. I'd call his office today and tell him exactly what you said here and see what he can tell you.

And in less important news -
Yes, we had a great time when the weather finally got beautiful on Monday! Saturday was rainy and Sunday was overcast. So we really didn't get beach/pool time till yesterday. But we ate well and saw friends and had a good time.
And fortunately, when we got home last night, there were no surprises waiting for us - unlike two weeks ago when we came home to a dead mouse!!!

[hayleyBW]

Hey Nyer, I'm glad you had a great weekend at the beach house despite the weather not being fully cooperative. And especially glad there were no unwelcome surprises waiting for you when you returned. I remember always being hesitant coming back seeing what might be waiting in terms of breaking down etc. We usually went for 4 day weekends so there was always the potential for something to be messed up upon our return lol.

One more day till surgeon's follow up visit so just going to hang tough till then. Yesterday wasn't too bad and I had some visitors so that helped too. I learned a new card game (Casino) and also ordered a whole load of board games from Amazon including Go, Chess, Chinese Checkers and regular checkers, Backgammon etc. Love Amazon Prime membership. Just trying to get my mind off the pain as best I can and it definitely helps.

Enjoy the hot weather today. As long as my A/C continues to work well I will be OK. Stay cool and comfortable everyone.

[NYer]

I'm impressed that your got real board games vs. video games! Sounds like fun!!

[hayleyBW]

Thanks NYer. They came today and I am looking forward to beating the pants off my dh.

[Hazeleyes]

Hello my ladies,

Haley Im sorry to hear your suffering so. Couldn't imagine the additional pain on top of dealing with the GERD. Keeping you in my thoughts and sending healing vibes your way. Hope you get some relief soon xoxo.

I seem to have turned a corner on some fronts. Tongue and mouth have stopped burning finally, but that paid has been replaced with a consistent pain under my right rib. If its not one thing its another sheesh Had my endoscopy yesterday morning. Doc took 16 biopsies He doesn't want to miss ANYTHING. Now to wait another week for the results.

NYer glad to hear your enjoying the summer. Hearing you say you ate well is music to my ears. Very envious but so happy for you.

Nikki, hope your feeling better.

xoxo
Hazel

[NYer]

Hi Hazel,
Oy! Well, the pain under your rib is probably less intrusive than the burning tongue. (I'm trying to come up with something positive!!) Sounds like your doctor was very thorough! I hope you have good results.
As far as my "eating well"...haha...that's within the limits of being (mostly) careful. No tomato sauce on a dish that was supposed to have it. No guacamole because it has onions in it. But I did have a real ice cream!!!! Yay!!! (Yes, my blood sugar went up. But it was great while I was eating it! )

[hayleyBW]

Hazel I am so happy at least some of your symptoms are improving and that your doctor is being thorough. Fingers crossed you continue to improve!

NYer, yumm ice cream. Definitely worth giving up tomato sauce and even avocados for and I love avocados! Because I am living vicariously through others right now care to share which flavor?

I was hesitating posting my update because it sucks so bad and I am so tired of being such a woe is me person these days yanno? But I do appreciate the support and encouragement you guys offer so here it is. My first follow up was today and the surgeon said it will be 5 months before I can go back to work. I cannot believe it. I thought he said 3 months last time which was bad enough.

But worse than that he once again said I will not recover full function and he cannot promise I won't walk without a limp (I asked that question he didn't offer) but he hopes I will. He said he doesn't sugar coat things (and I appreciate that because I need to temper my expectations and not be a pollyanna and unrealistic about it all but it can be hard to hear) and he cannot promise anything. I almost started crying in his office when my dh asked the question about if I will recover full function which I asked last visit and he answered the same so not sure why my dh wanted to ask that again. Except I know he was hoping for a different answer. My dh still thinks I will be able to do everything I did before as I am not a long distance runner anyway and that is the one thing the doctor said not to do ever again-running. That's not a big deal to me but I am worried about how well I heal and how well I can recover my function and how my leg will look.

My leg looked gruesome when they took off the cast and took out some of the stitches (had to leave one of the biggest line of stitches in however) and replaced the cast with a big heavy boot. And the pain I am in since that visit this morning is bad. I am not sure if it is the boot (very uncomfortable and heavy) or just the fact they manipulated my leg a bit today. But that was 11 hours ago so would that be the reason I am in so much pain now?

Sorry for the boohoo post but I have to say I felt the lowest today I have since the accident happened. I am sad, very scared and overwhelmed and not sure how I am going to get through the next few weeks let alone the rest of the year. The pain is not helped much at all by the meds but if I don't take them it is worse and any little bit helps. They could not offer me any alternative to the oral pain meds i.e. injections or patch but said I should take a PPI to help. LOL. Yes this is my life for now.


I took pics of the post op X-rays and of my leg out of the cast and then with the new boot on...how can I share these here. I am trying to remember how I shared pics here before...but they might be too graphic and gruesome for you guys so not sure if I should if I can figure it out.


Here goes nothing. Not sure if it will work and if it does feel free to skip if you are sensitive to these things.
First 3 pics show the 3 metal plates and numerous screws holding the bones/plates together in my left leg.
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_082601_zpsd9ffb04b.jpg?t=1406204870

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_082715_zpsf787ed3a.jpg?t=1406204931

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_082731_zps7b52b682.jpg?t=1406204952

The next few pics are of my leg out of the cast and before the surgical boot. I have 3 incisions on my lower leg with stitches. One on each side and on on top. In these pics you can see I now have a "cankle" and I don't know if my ankle will ever get back to its normal size...

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_080842_zps3c3af985.jpg?t=1406203831

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_080832_zps5cbf1799.jpg?t=1406203822

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_080826_zpsb472057b.jpg?t=1406203804


and here you can see the comparison of my good ankle (right leg) and my bad ankle. Sorry for the hairy left leg. I have not been able to shave it since June 27th. Yukk.

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_080600_zps070acac2.jpg?t=1406203661


And lastly here's the big boot I now have to wear. I prefer the old cast because as I wrote this thing is killing me and that's with taking pain meds.

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag149/MissyandGreg/20140724_105347_zps9c887ce1.jpg?t=1406213724


I wish everyone sweet dreams and a good night's sleep and thanks for listening to me cry. I have a feeling the next few months will be the most challenging of my life but I will get through it. And I appreciate you guys being so supportive and just letting me vent. (((Hugs))).

[NYer]

Hayley!!
OMG! That is one big boot!!
1. That is not a cankle. That is an ankle that is no where near as swollen as I thought it was going to be from your description! Of course it's going to be swollen for awhile but given how not-nearly-as-swollen-as-it-could-be that it is now, you're ankle will definitely go back to it's normal size. But it could certainly be a year or so till it is.

2. Before I opened the photos, I was laughing to myself that your leg is probably really hairy. But seriously, until I looked closely, my first reaction was that you must've shaved your leg really gently or something. You're quite lucky if that's all the hair you have on your leg after almost a month!!

3. It was Moose Tracks. OMG what a great ice cream flavor!!

4. Yeah, so no running. Big deal. You weren't really planning on it, were you?

5. After I tore a muscle in my calf, for about 5 years after that, my leg would hurt if it was going to rain or snow. Now it's fine. These things do take time but they DO get better. And they get better to the point of being FINE.

6. Not surprising that your leg is really hurting now, even though it's 11 hours later. Your leg was already hurting your BEFORE they started manipulating it this morning and then putting a heavy boot on it. You're still early post-surgery and you have a badly broken leg. Anytime you do something to it for the next month or so, you're gonna feel it for the rest of the day. So, there is nothing unusual going on. This will probably start calming down in a month or so. But the pain from this morning will probably ease up while you sleep tonight and go back to your usual level of pain that you've had this week, prior to the poking around this morning.

7. You will walk without a limp. The doctor has to prepare you for the worst so he can be a hero when it doesn't happen that way. You will go to Physical Therapy and they will get you walking back to normal again. But, again, that's quite a ways away. You will INITIALLY walk with a limp. You're leg and muscles and ligaments and tendons are all re-growing and that's a slow process.

8. Although you have Frankenstein stitches, your leg does NOT look as gruesome as YOU think it does. I was expecting a lot more bumps and discolorations.

9. Regarding the doctor suggesting PPI's. Oh Jeeezzz. Clueless. But he's a leg-bone doctor. Not a GI.

10. As always, your pedicure looks lovely.

11. It could be much worse. You didn't hit your head. And your leg is still connected to your body. Try to focus on the blessings that you do have.

12. You have a good husband and good friends. And you have us here, for whatever that's worth.

((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))) )))))))))

NYer

[hayleyBW]

Thank you NYer. Loved your response and totally agree with everything you wrote. But mainly loving that Moose Track ice cream. So delicious! I remember I used to get that in Ocean Grove NJ at a small place called Days. They have awesome ice cream there.

I am still in so much pain. Worse than before yesterday's visit and boot fitting. I am really hoping it is normal because part of me is concerned something went wrong with the boot fitting or something yesterday. I hate that it is Friday because not sure if I need to call the doctor's office or just tough it out. I am supposed to be getting a visiting nurse visit today so we can schedule the Home PT (passive exercises only for a month for range of motion and flexibility) visits starting next week and they have to get a visiting nurse OK before the PT can be set up. Hoping for today for the Nurse visit and just waiting for the phone call to see if that will happen. If so I hope they can say if the boot is OK or not. I know if I call the doctor's office they won't be able to say if it is normal so not sure if that will do anything for peace of mind. Hoping it is normal and I just have to tough it out. Darn pain meds not touching the pain enough right now.

I am so glad you are fully recovered from your torn calf muscle NYer. Thank you for your strong support and common sense and for taking the time and energy to share your wisdom with me. I am more vulnerable now than my usual self and I appreciate your kindness and patience and hugs too. (((HUGS))) to you too.

[NYer]

If you want the visiting nurse to come today, call their office and get them to confirm it. Otherwise they show up when it's convenient for THEM. And stop being so shy about calling the doctor. Call his office now, tell them you're in more pain than you were before you went there, and ask them if there is anything that can be done about that.

[hayleyBW]

Hey NYer, thanks. I did call the visiting nurses a short while ago and they just reiterated that someone would be calling me today to check I was home and then come. Whether or not this is true I cannot say but I did call to try to get a more accurate time and info. As for calling the doctor's office I don't know what I can get out of that. I know the PA said it is normal to be in pain as the surgery wasn't too long ago and he won't be able to say if my increased pain is due to just the manipulation yesterday or something more unless they see me and so I am not sure if I should call. My mom (who also had a broken leg a few years ago) told me of course it is normal to have varying amounts of pain and they did manipulate my leg yesterday yada yada...maybe I will try and get in touch with the PA. They are notoriously bad about getting back to me though so far the very few times I have called.

Calling now and on hold. And so it begins. This office is super busy all the time. Sigh.


ETA: OK spoke with the receptionist. PA is off Fridays and Dr Wellman is in the OR all day. Well that's that. I left the message re my increased pain since getting the boot yesterday and that's all I can do right now. Thanks for your advice.

Visiting Nurse just called (11 AM) and will be here b/w 2-4PM today. OK process in motion now. Fingers crossed it all goes well