Six more days in the hospital allowed the doctors to find three bleeding ulcers that were making me very sick. We have them under control now and getting on with life as before. Many days now I am feeling really good (in my head) though my feet and legs don't cooperate with the rest of the body vey well.
The cause of ulcers is not clear. I am not a worrier and I handle stress better than most folks. Doctor says it is not because I take so much medicine at the same time. Perhaps no one really knows what brings ulcers on. Could just be that the weakest part of the body succombs when the immune system is low. Anyway, we are past that and I am home again and going full force.
Other than the trauma of dialysis three times per week I am doing well and I am grateful to all of you for your prayers. We are able to get out to church and Sunday School almost every Sunday. ( If anyone needs them, I could loan out a couple knees that need to be replaced and some continuing shoulder pain that inhibits shaving, eating, typing, putting on clothing, etc. Some days these are a real challenge.)
I have had cortizone shots in my shoulders and knees and they help a lot. But they wear off in six weeks or so. So, almost everything is painful. But we're making it, thanks to a wonderful wife and caregiver.
Hope you are doing well too as I know many of us could use our dose of healing.
5 comments:
That is great.
1) I have an outsider and that is what I try to do with him
2) I was the clique leader and spot them easily. This group does not really have cliques no body wants to take the leadership role except for Michelle's boyfriend Sam(long story) so I try to give him as much leadership as he wants to take on... but your advice is always helpful...
We're glad youre back home. I read your post to Dad this afternoon. I don't think he needs your knees to go along with the rest of his achy legs. They've been better the last few weeks after we switched him from Requip to Lyrica.
Howard, the thing with ulcers has changed in recent years. They are "caused" by an infection of H. Pylori bacteria. The questions is what triggers them. The infection can now be treated with antibiotics. In the past it was believed that ulcers could not be caused by an infection because no organism could survive the acidic environment of the stomach. A doctor from New Zealand figured it out.
There are a couple of ways to diagnose H. Pylori. One is a blood test and the other is a breath test. With the breath test you injest a tiny amount of labeled urea and later exhale into a bag. The urea is labeled and only the H. Pylori will metabolize it. If labeled carbon dioxide shows up in the breath, then you have an ulcer. My company Isotec used to make the Carbon-13 labeled urea for the test kits.
Tom, thanks for the helpful info. My doctor told us very little but I take a medicine named Protonix (I think) and that is all. This must be the antibiotic you described.
Can you believe that we missed a 9 am appointment with the doctor? Surprised us when we arrived at 1:15 and found his schedule too full to take us.
Problem is I'm off Coumanin and this is very dangerous for me. They had to thicken the blood in the process of stopping the ulcer.
Being off Coumanin I'm seriously subject to blood clots.
Glad you are home and that you had such a wonderful trip. We got your card.It was great following you.
I understand the coumanin problem. That was one of my mother's problems also.
Protonix is not an antibiotic but rather is to treat acid reflux. That sounds more like what Steve had than ulcers.
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