I have asked myself the question "Am I 80 years old or am I 24 years old?" a lot lately. You see, about a month ago I started having really sharp stomach pains. After they didn't go away, I went to see my doctor. His first guess was gallstones (first time I raised the age question). In I went for an ultrasound and that proved his first guess was wrong. The pain was still there so the new guess was that it could be something with my stomach, like ulcers or something with the sphincter, aka valve, at the top of my stomach. So, I went in for the second, and most interesting/disgusting/fascinating, test I have ever had. They had me drink an alka-seltzer like substance first and then GULP (those were the exact instructions I was given) two cups of barium, that is a really chalky and gross shake that acts as a dye to show how I am digesting food. My favorite thing that the nurse and doctor both said to me was "don't burp or stop drinking". This stuff is DISGUSTING and it took everything in me to not gag...which is really hard since I have quite the gag reflex. (Too much information about me?) They took a gazillion x-rays of my chest and stomach and had me do all sorts of twists and turns on the metal table so that I could "coat my esophagus and stomach with the barium". Personally, I felt like a lab rat in a darkened room. It was pretty cool to watch the images on the screen, even though I am far from qualified to understand what the heck they were showing. I finally got the test results back from that and I have a diagnosis...hiatal hernia. What the heck? How old am I???
To further this question in my mind, I told my Aunt Laurel , who is here in Washington DC for a couple weeks. As soon as I told her she said "oh, that is what Grandma Peterson had!". My Grandma had this??? Alright, I have now gone from 24 to 80...what a quick jump! Here I come Pepcid AC and Tums, we will have a close relationship for the foreseeable future! :)
10 comments:
Oh man, I hope you are feeling better. 80 isn't so bad...you got to skip menopause :)
I am so with you Tod always says I have a eight year old body. I have done that test in High school I hate the white nasty shake!!! My stomache does not diegest right. I know I spelled that wrong!! Also to make you feel better I had a double Hernia after Kylie and they said it is the kind old men get!! Todd and i JUST LAUGHED SO i AM 80 AND A MAN. Hope you feel better soon.
K that made me want to vomit. I am pretty sure I could never down some white nasty stuff. I would just go on living my life and wondering what disease I might have...hope you start feeling better! Tell Laurel hello from her favorite daughter in the world.
oh my gosh! I hope everything will be ok! At least you know what it is now! At least you dont look 80....
Oh wow Kaylyn! I hope you are feeling better soon! I had to get a barium test too(because I'm a "choker")!! The last thing they gave me was a smartie-size barium pill to watch go down...but it didn't-it got stuck and i choked on it for 45 minutes...it annoyed the Radiologist big time...don't ever want that again! haha...at least we found the problem!
I'd like to counter Ali's comment by saying you do look like you're eighty...Kind of. I mean, eighty year olds are sometimes thin and beautiful, right?
Wow! Remember that FRIENDS were Joey has a hernia... I hope you are well and that you are on your way to recovery!
nothing a chocolate-banana milkshake won't solve, right?
Sorry! I hope everything is OK. Atleast you'll be prepared to drink the nasty orange stuff when you're pregnant.
If it makes you feel any better Molly has an umbilical hernia?!
This post was so funny! But it was also worrying and no I'm worried about you. I'm sure you are as vibrant as ever!
Did I ever tell you about when I started to go bald? It was a few years ago and I just had a bad reaction to some pills - but old man here I come - is how I felt. It passes.
ps - my hair has grown back and everything is fine now in case you were wondering.
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