Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006 - 5:45 a.m.

Welcome to my ulcer

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Well, if I didn't have an ulcer 9 months ago, I probably do now.  I went back to my doctor yesterday to reevaluate my acid reflux as it seems to be moving into my esophagus of late, and now I have pain behind my sternum, not to mention that despite my daily dose of Zantac, my stomach still hurts.  5 vials of blood and one nasty track mark bruise in the crook of my elbow later told my doctor that I tested positive for the bacteria that causes ulcers.  Apparently this was not the case when I went to see him last May for my original diagnosis.  So now I get to go on a REGIMEN of antibiotics and Prevacid for something like 10 days, then Pravacid only for a month, then NO treatment for a month then I go back in for a breath test.  I guess it can detect the bacteria.  He ordered an upper GI scan but I had coffee yesterday morning with cream, and they wouldn't take me because of that.  I have to go back Monday morning for that test.  Of course it can be attributed to stress which I have in abundance of late.  But once I leave my job, I will hopefully alleviate MUCH of it.  Hopefully this little GI issue will work itself out in good time.  Yea me!

Also, I have been having this really annoying tingling in my left arm which is sometimes accompanied with a little pain and sometimes a cold feeling in my muscle right below my elbow.  At first I thought it was carpal tunnel syndrome, but the tingling and numbness is in my pinky area and that area is not affected by carpal tunnel.  I had carpal tunnel when I was pregnant, and that caused numbness and tingling in my three middle fingers.  My middle finger in my right hand was totally numb.  It went away about a month after Travis was born.  But I digress.  This tingling in my left hand is my pinky and the fleshy part of my palm below it.  Turns out it my ulnal nerve, which is the nerve that is hit when you bang your "funny bone."  I fall asleep each night with my arm bent and underneath my pillow, on my left side, and tend to stay that way a good chunk of the night.  I am not really a tosser and turner.  And for good measure, to rule out any heart issues, as it is in my left arm, he ordered an EKG, which turned out to be just fine.  So no real problems here, just the way I sleep.

Other thoughts.... why am I compelled to read any story I see in the news about children who are injured or killed?  I do it all the time, and each time I do, it makes me sick to my stomach.  The only reason I can think I have for doing this is to see what happened to that child and to play a scenario over in my mind as to what I would do if my child were ever in that situation, or think on how to prevent that dangerous situation.  Of recent note:  a woman was bathing her one year old, the door bell rang and she went to answer it.  When she returned to the tub, her baby was submerged and was life flighted to the hospital nearly drowned.  Why a mother would leave her baby unattended in the tub is something I cannot even fathom.  I don't know if the child survived or not.  I never heard anything else about it.  In the last couple of days there was a roll over accident here in Houston and a 4 month old was killed.  The driver of that car, a sixteen year old without a license, was attempting to pass another vehicle, lost control and rolled the car.  That baby and another were not wearing any seat belts, or they were in car seats that were not secured in the vehicle.  The baby died in the accident.  Then elsewhere in the state, a Jeep was rear ended by a truck, caught fire, and a baby and a 4 year old were caught in the fire.  The 4 year old died as a result of her injuries.  All of these stories sicken and sadden me, but yet, I am compelled to read them.  I honestly never knew what profound impact being a mother would have on me.  And its events like this that convinced me as well to quit my job and stay home with Travis.  He is only a baby once, but he will be my baby forever.


Song Virus du Jour:   "The Can Can"  written by somebody French


Useless Trivia du Jour:  From WebMD:  Most stomach ulcers are caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori bacteria or by medication (such as aspirin) that damages the stomach lining. Rarely, stomach ulcers are a result of stomach cancer. The role stress plays in a person's developing a stomach ulcer remains unclear.

 

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