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Last night, I drove the kids from Brooklyn to Western Massachusetts where Mr. Chattering’s parents(my inlaws) have a house in the woods. The plan was to say here and blog for the next two weeks while the kids attend an arty day camp set on a farm that was once a bed and breakfast.
The schedule now has changed slightly because I consulted a gastroenterologist for a second opinion on my anemia three weeks ago, and last week his blood tests revealed that I have antibodies for the bacteria known to cause peptic ulcers! Gracious! I’m in no pain or distress, but the doc says that about 30 percent of all ulcers are asymptomatic. So I have to drive back to New York to get an upper endoscopy on Tuesday. It’s a simple procedure that involves a scope and mini-camera that takes pictures of the inside of my tummy. My kids find this totally cool.
“Oh, that’s such wonderful news because if it’s an ulcer, then you’ll really know why you’re always anemic!” says my well-meaning older sister. “And ulcers are so easily treated now with antibiotics!”
Antibiotics. Like a course that lasts four to six weeks. Eeeesh. Natural med people like me have a somewhat inflated distrust of antibiotics, the most important drugs to be developed and then over-used in the the last half century. But both my homeopath/osteopath and my holistic nurse practicioner insist that if this ulcer (which I doubt I have) is not too bad, it can definitely be treated and cured for good with other methods. I’ve only been on antibiotics once in the past fifteen years, so whatever I’m given should probably work well on me…. And yet….
So while I’m off next week, you’ll have to wait with bated breath: does Chattering Mind have a bleeding ulcer? (What a ridiculous idea! I think not.) Should she have a pre-ulcerous situation, should she travel the mainstream medical route (you gotta say to yourself, “Well, God made anibiotics too”) or should she place her stomach lining on a new-age, alt-med protocol? OR will she find an integrated path, something in between? Stay tuned.
I’m actually feeling better than ever these days, so don’t worry about me.
posted July 16, 2006 at 5:36 pm
I had an endoscopy done years ago. I had a tube poked up my bum and a tube poked down my throat, both on the same day. It wasn’t bad, but I do remember feeling things. Somehow I don’t think they gave me enough anaesthetic. I hope all goes well for you.>
posted July 17, 2006 at 10:46 pm
Amy, I hope you get the answers you need to move through this. Since your post was so chipper, I channeled any unexpressed anxiety and used it to fuel my swim. (we’re all better now
) My knowledge of ulcers is limited to this single expereince, which I offer on the chance it might help you. Our tiny, elderly neigbor was on a regimen of tetracycline for her ulcer. She tolerated the effects but not the cost. When she read in Prevention Magazine that cabbage helped heal ulcers (by destroying h. pylori bacteria), she added a cup of raw cabbage to her daily diet. Within a month, her GI doctor declared her ulcer cured. She told him about her cabbage cure, he shook his head, and two years later, she remains ulcer free. She’s 82.>