Last April, I wrote about my acid reflux problem. It’s been an on-and-off again sort of relationship where you’re not sure where it’s going, sometimes it gets a little worse and some days are actually okay. My self-diagnoses and self-medication with over the counter choices just wasn’t enough. My symptoms were getting worse and I was drinking Maalox too often, on top of taking pills. I’m not a doctor. Who did I think I was kidding? I really should have seen a doctor last October or November, but when my uncle passed away early December, I thought, he would’ve never let this go on so long. I was doing my own family an injustice by not following up, because (as many of us parents know) what good am I if I’m not well.

So, friends, I went to a skillful gastroenterologist (GI doc!) who gave me a look over, asked lots of question about my lifestyle and ordered up some kicked-up proton pump inhibitors (think Prevacid/Prilosec) and an endoscopy. Wow…cool. They were going to sedate me, stick a camera down my throat and take a look. I had it done over the holidays while my husband was home on Winter Break. Talk about loopy! They had me in a “twilight” sleep. Julie, we’re going to administer the sedative now, don’t be nervous, you’ll feel a little tired and… I was OUT. About 20 minutes later, I awoke in recovery. Eastman told me I was mumbling about going to Crate&Barrel to buy something. He was quite amazed at what was floating around in my head. Good thing I wasn’t talking about some hot guy!

Glad to report that they found nothing serious, just a few areas of question and totally manageable. Thank you, Dr. Yoon. I was going to post pics of their findings, but I’ll spare you. Who needs to see down my esophagus and inside my stomach? Ewww. Along with the medicine I may need to take for the rest of my life, I started attending yoga and spinning at our local park district. Just once a week, both have been a welcome change.

My husband was cool enough to loan me his roller, so we moved my bike inside our home so I can ride a few more times a week. While I have no intention of making this a spot to hang clothes as so many people do, I’ve used the bike once since we moved it (it’s been a week). I’m hoping to change that this week. Maybe this will make me feel more accountable by telling my cyber-friends.

Here’s to health in 2010!