Living with a Hiatal Hernia … By: Kathy D, Contributing Author

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The “C” Word

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Cancer? Despite someone’s bed alarm going off at that precise moment, it got really quiet, an almost creepy calm. I was having a “not me” moment. “Ok, hold on a minute doc, you said cancer?”

I was in shock. Thoughts were racing. He said the “C” word. I’d been healthy all of my life. I ate right. I worked out regularly. I had to tell my husband. I was frightened. What about my son? My mom? My business? What about . . .

I barely heard doc when he said, “We’ll set up an appointment for your endoscopy; it will be an outpatient procedure, and the results of that will show us how to proceed.”

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My husband. “Oh my God!” As I tried to tell him the results of the test, tears of fear started flowing. I was no longer in control. He was strong until later, when he thought no one was watching.

“What if’s” violated my mind. I couldn’t dismiss the thought that there might be a possibility of cancer. I had seen people who had cancer. I have known people who had cancer. It can’t happen to me. I won’t let it. I’ll be alright . . . I’m not in control.

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The Endoscopy Results and Other Stuff

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After the procedure I was taken to the recovery room. Once I was coherent, I was taken to the waiting room and . . . you guessed it, I waited.

Finally the doctor came in with my results. He was upbeat. His first words were, “There are no signs of cancer.”

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My chest deflated. Until that moment I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath. He said, “Basically, we should be able to control your acid reflux with medication.”

“Thank you Jesus.”

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Several years have passed since, and I am happy to report I still have no signs of erosion and with the help of my good doctor, we’ve been able to control the acid reflux with medication. I take a 25mg. Proton Pump Inhibitor once a day for the acid reflux.

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I also have had to:

• avoid foods that contain acid like tomatoes, orange juice caffeinated coffee and beverages
• lose weight (oh yes),
• eat small, frequent meals (this one is hard, I’m not hungry all the time),
• avoid lying down for 3 hours after a meal

Believe me, this routine is not an easy task, being human, but I give it my best shot.

When I backslide, and sometimes I do, I can expect the possibility that I will be awakened in the middle of the night with the worst pain in my chest.

Just in case, I keep a stash of antacid tablets by the bed for relief.

So far, so good. By maintaining a strict regimen, I’ve been able to keep the reflux under control.

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Now comes today. As I did a little research for this article, I learned something. I found out that stomach exercises can cause acid to back up in your stomach. Me, who just got finished with doing my daily sit-up routine. “What the . . . is next?”

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So what have I learned?

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It takes sitting in a waiting room for hours to make us realize, no one is really in control.

We bounce from task to task doing the best we can with what we have. We eventually learn to control what we can and let God handle the rest.

What’s going to pop up next? Who knows.

What is a girl going to do? A girl is going to Live!!!

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Thanks for taking the time to read my story. Hope it helps you or someone you care for.

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Kathy D

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See Pt. 1-5: Living with a Hiatal Hernia and Acid Reflux

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Living with a Hiatal Hernia … By: Kathy D, Contributing Author

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It Was My Turn . . .

“See you when I get back,” I smiled and waved at my husband and mother-in-law as I walked through the door for the procedure. We all had on our game faces, although I was pretending not to be nervous, I failed miserably.

The procedure, surprisingly, wasn’t uncomfortable and didn’t seem to take too long. I don’t remember feeling a thing. After they wheeled me back to the recovery room, the nurse placed a weight on my incision area to keep pressure on it.

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“Ok,” I’m thinking, “I’m laying here in a hospital bed, with a heavy weight on an incision, on an empty stomach. How much more am I going to have to take? ” Hospital visits tend to make some people irritable. I am normally in control of emotions but I was beginning to understand their rationale.

After about an hour, an orderly, or somebody, came in with some juice for me to drink and a light snack to munch on while I continued to wait for my results from the testing.

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Crunch time (so to speak)

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As I sat up in the bed eating every drop, the doctor came in and said, “We have the results and you’re fine in that area, we’re giving you a clean bill of health. You don’t have any blockages.”

Relief flooded through me. Yes! Thank you God!

Feelings of anxiety returned within a half hour.  Even with the news of no blockage, to lift my spirits, I was still having major chest pains before I arrived home that day. I had to find out what was causing them.

After scheduling the earliest appointment I could get, a week later I went to see my regular doctor. I didn’t sit down because it hurt too much to get back up. I said, “We have to find out what’s going on with me. I can’t take much more of this.”

He could tell right away something was wrong and scheduled me immediately for more x-rays. Off to the hospital I went.

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The Prognosis

When Doc came into the waiting room, he was smiling. “Further testing has confirmed my suspicions, you have what is called a “Hiatal” hernia. “A what?” I asked.

Doc began to explain. Now this is not his exact explanation, but this is the gist of what he said.

“A Hiatal hernia is an anatomical abnormality, where part of your stomach protrudes through the diaphragm and up into your chest. Sometimes this condition causes acid reflux.”

I had heard of acid reflux.

“You see,” he continued, “your esophagus sits on top of your diaphragm. A Hiatal hernia is located between your esophagus and your diaphragm.

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Because of this, it causes acid to back up into the esophagus. Therefore you experience pain in the upper abdomen.

The pain can be in the form of heartburn, chest pain, regurgitation or nausea, some of the symptoms you were having.”

I’m a woman who likes to get to the point, so I said, “Ok, my question is, now that we know what’s causing the pain, how do we fix it?”

“We have to have an endoscopy done to see if there is any damage to your esophagus,” Doc went on to explain, “the acid could erode your stomach lining and cause cancer.”

“Cancer?”

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See Pt. 3 “For What?”

See Pt. 5 The “C” Word?!

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Join CreateVitality.Com’s “Better Health for Boomers” Free Newsletter by filling in the Sign Up Form on the right panel.

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“Good Health and Success are a Lifestyle . . . Live Well,”

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CK Dillon

Contact: Charles@CreateVitality.Com

On the Web: Http://CreateVitality.Com

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Living with a Hiatal Hernia … By: Kathy D, Contributing Author

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I‘m Thinking, “For what?”

Still not knowing what was going on, I was beginning to become frightened. Scared to death is more like it.

My nature was, and still is sometimes, to keep things bottled up. As I sat patiently in the waiting room with my husband and mother-in-law, they didn’t have a clue.

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I just prayed everything was going to be alright.

After what seemed like hours, they finally called me back into the office.  “Here it comes.”

The cardiologist said, “Because of the results of your tests, and your family history, we’re going to schedule a procedure next week.”

“What kind of procedure?” I asked.

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“We’re going to have to insert an angiography catheter to detect if there is blockage in your blood vessels.

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“OMG!” I’m thinking, “this is getting serious.”

So What’s Next?

On the day of the procedure I was told to arrive at the hospital by 7 a.m., with an empty stomach.

They had me sit in the cardiac outpatient wing, where I waited “patiently, so to speak” to be examined. When my name was called, I was escorted to the bed and given a hospital gown to put on.

The same nurse from before, the one who had snatched me off the treadmill, said, “We’re going to place you under a local anesthesia, “hon,” do you want to watch the monitors during the testing?”

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My husband, who has a notoriously weak stomach, looked at me and laughed out loud saying, “She don’t know who she’s talking to,” because he knew. He is always teasing me about how I like to watch medical procedures on television, (while he leaves the room) so he knew the answer was a definite, “yes.”

Once the nurse got me hooked up to an IV, the waiting began. I was allowed to sit up and watch TV while waiting for my turn in the operating room.

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Now I understand why they call it the “waiting” room. My wait went on for seven hours due to the fact that a few people who were having procedures had heart attacks, while on the table, during their operations. Those were emergencies. Mine was not that serious.

Believe me, listening to all the commotion outside my room did not set well. The stress started to creep in. I don’t know if stress causes hunger but boy, let me tell you, I was ready to eat and even worse, I hadn’t been able to drink anything. Way off my routine.

Finally in the late afternoon, my stomach was in the midst of an exceptionally loud  growl when the nurse came to the door and said, “Time to go “hon.”

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See Pt. 2 Caught Off Guard

See Pt. 4 Time to Go “Hon”

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“Good Health and Success are a Lifestyle . . . Live Well,”
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CK Dillon

Contact: Charles@CreateVitality.Com

On the Web: Http://CreateVitality.Com

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Living with a Hiatal Hernia … By: Kathy D, Contributing Author

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The Stress Caught Me Off Guard

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When the pain hit, it hit hard.

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I felt like I was about to leave this place. I got in touch with my doctor to set up an appointment for a check-up, to determine why I was in such pain.

He performed an EKG on the spot, right there in his office, but could find no indication of a problem.

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It figures. Some times when you go to the doctor your symptoms seem to stay at home, waiting for your return.

Doc prescribed a medication for me to take in case of more pain, until I could see a cardiologist that he was going to refer me to.

In March, I walked into the cardiologist’s office not knowing what to expect. He had set me up with an echo and stress test that took pretty much all day.

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The Morning Session:

Was spent on a machine that took pictures of my chest and heart area. A solution of Dye was injected to highlight the areas of interest. This was the easy part.

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Just lay there and listen to the sounds and movements of the machine.

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Then came the afternoon and the Treadmill:

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It began as an easy, slow paced walk with gradual buildup. I thought, “ piece of cake,” because I loved to walk. After all I walked the hills of my neighborhood everyday for exercise. “This is what I do!”

Things were going smoothly. I was walking, had a good rhythm, not much pain, in control, I thought.

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“Get her off of there!” Someone shouted.

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The nurse rushed over, hurriedly turned off the treadmill and quickly unhooked me. She told me to, “Sit down right here,” as she pointed to the closest chair, “put your head between your knees, relax and breathe deeply.”

I’m thinking, “relax?” I was shaking. I looked up at her and asked several times, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s ok “hon,” she repeated, “just put your head between your knees, relax and breathe deeply, you’ll be ok.”

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I was frustrated. I knew that I’d be ok. She didn’t have to tell me that. I didn’t feel any differently as I sat there, I wasn’t sick, just a little chest pain, nothing intense. But as it turns out, the heart monitor’s read-out offered a different conclusion.

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After my vitals returned to normal, doc said, “I need you to go out and have a seat in the waiting room, I’m going to set you up with another specialist.”

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See Pt. 1: Living with a Hiatal Hernia and Acid Reflux

See Pt. 3: I‘m thinking, “For what?”

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“Good Health and Success are a Lifestyle . . . Live Well,”
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Contact: Charles@CreateVitality.Com

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Living with a Hiatal Hernia … By: Kathy D, Contributing Author

April 07, 2010©

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Hi. My name is Kathy D, and I am a woman who believes in controlling those things we can control. The rest, I try to leave up to God.

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The Beginning:

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The year was 2003. I was pretty active so I always had a few pains here and there. Nothing to concern myself with. Just deal with it.

After about a week of dealing with it, I realized the constant pain in my chest was not going away, as I had assumed it would. Not only was it not going away, it was becoming more severe.

The pain was lodged dead center, in my upper abdomen. For some odd reason I just kept assuming it would go away. Sometimes we self diagnose. And we are wrong.

I had gone through so much in such a short time from June 2002 through early 2003. I’d lost my father in late June and had to travel across country to attend his funeral. After which I had to help settle family business with my mom and brother.

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Stress is Raising its Head. But I can Handle It

With only a week to spare, after my return home, we had to pack and load a moving van to transport our household belongings to another state. We had sold our house right before my dad’s unexpected death.

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My stressful journey continued with the hassles of  moving to a new state,

building a new home, living with in-laws, and making sure my mom got settled into her new home. You see, in the midst of being in control of things, I had convinced mom to move from her home state to be near my brother and I.

Generally, I was a little fatigued, but didn’t pay it much attention. Never for a moment did I believe these added stresses could cause health problems, but evidently I had a lot to learn.

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My Symptoms

One day in early 2003, I began to have serious chest pains. My first thought was I was having heart problems, since heart disease ran in the family, and my father had passed from heart complications.

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See Part 2: The Stress Caught Me Off Guard

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Join CreateVitality.Com’s “Better Health for Boomers” Free Newsletter by filling in the Sign Up Form on the right panel.
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“Good Health and Success are a Lifestyle . . . Live Well,”
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CK Dillon

Contact: Charles@CreateVitality.Com

On the Web: Http://CreateVitality.Com

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