Code said:
Wow, that sucked the fun right out of the thread.
Isn't there a sponge thing they can implant in you nowadays? I heard of sumpin like that the other day when discussing GIRT/reflux et al.
LOL well he asked, didn't he?
I have had my stomach surgically altered (Nissen fundoplikation). It is now 2/3 its original size with an artificial tightening of the opening between stomach and esophagus. This is the last resort... not the first plan of attack. May will be 2 years since I had it done and hell doesn't begin to describe what I feel most of the time. But I have had suffered with this most of my life so I have just gotten used to it. Problem is it has gotten steadily and progressively worse and there is nothing that can be done (that any of the docs that I have seen know of and I have seen more than I care to remember over the past 10 years or so) to halt the process or slow it very much. I was taking 5x's the recommended daily dose of perscription acid inhibitors and the sides this caused were not worth the relief the meds provided.
The last doc who saw me was passing me off to yet another collegue calling me "an enigma" because I was a competitive bber - very active, in excellent condition, uber clean diet, no smoking rarely ever drinking, no recreational drugs but I still had the insides of a 65 year old, obese, sedentary, male smoker! hehehehee
The lump in my throat is what will cause me to seek a doctor's help (last year the ENT guy I went to see said that I had definite damage to my vocal chords and should have them looked at every 6 mos or so) as it not only interferes with swallowing, is painful, causes me to lose my voice, but it is frequently interrupting my breathing... pretty scary when you feel like you can't breathe no matter how widely you open your mouth.
BUT - as I said, the insurance I do have is so crappy I can't afford even one freaking test in addition to the fact that I am scared shitless of more painful tests, drugs and god knows what else that I just keep putting it off.
Yet another reason why I chose to try to move last year... Once my country (I have dual citizenship) joined the EU (next month) I would have been entitled to health benefits and my kids entitled to one of the best free educations around.
Hey, I am not trying to bring anyone down. The way I look at it I have it pretty good. I have direction and goals which keep me fighting. There are others who lack direction or fight or who have far worse conditions than me.
Another reason I have to be careful what I do just now, until all of the investigations in connection to my kids is complete I must hide this carefully. If anyone that has a say in this matter finds out that my health is failing, I will never be able to regain custody. There is no way in hell I will let that happen. My kids already know not to tell their father, but if I have to start with all sorts of test, etc and he finds out, I am fucked... and so are my kids.
I have waited a year. Another month or two of discomfort won't kill me.
By the way, if there is anyone out there that knows the name of good GI or ENT please PM me... I truly appreciate it. I won't go to a doc that will treat me like something in a petri dish. I have put up with far too much abuse in my personal life in the past to pay big bucks to be abused by a freaking doctor with a "god complex".
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