If you missed Part 1, here's the link to read about the lead up to my ER visit and what was found:
Upon arriving at the gastroenterologist's office, I am asked to go to a kiosk and swipe my drivers license and insurance card. What? A kiosk? Am I in the movie Idiocracy? This kiosk is no where near the office window and could be compromised for all I know. I wiggle the swiper to make sure it's not fake (a card skimmer) and run my cards through it because I was advised the doctor would not see me unless I did so. It spits out a receipt with a number on it. I am now just a number to be called. Sigh.
When I get to the back, a nurse takes my height, weight, blood pressure, and asks a bunch of questions related to my ER visit. I also explain my symptoms leading up to the ER such as pain in my right ribcage area that disables me, trouble digesting fatty or fried foods like peanut butter and fried chicken, nausea, and vomiting. I tell her I have acid reflux off and on. She flips through my ER report and the sonogram results showing my "sludgy" gallbladder. I feel like I've recounted more than half my life, but at least she's being thorough.
She gets up and tells me the doctor will be right in. A little TV on a stand pops on and starts playing medical and drug commercials for a FULL 45 MINUTES of brainwashing! (After just acouple minutes I was screaming inside!)
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The doctor comes in and she starts flipping through my chart. "Ok, you have acid reflux. Lets schedule a biopsy and scope and get you on Protonix". SHE HASN'T EVEN SAT DOWN YET. Every alarm in my head is going off. "Well, why can't I eat peanut butter and avacado, or fried foods?" She tells me it's the acid reflux and the scope/biopsy will show it. There will be pictures of my poor, inflamed esophagus and then I will know what she is so very sure of after just 20 seconds.
I make my appointment for the day before Thanksgiving because that's the only day they have free until after the New Year. They close at noon so I will be the last patient.
I arrive for the biopsy and scope procedure two hours early. There's an 18 hour fast so I'm pretty hungry. The waiting room is full of very hungry people, about 15 of us, all waiting to be scoped. All of a sudden, I smell food! The nurses are uncovering their office-thanksgiving-party platters in the break room and carrying plates of food around. I look at all the other starving people ksome of them elderly) and they are just as ticked off as me. How rude! Now our stomachs are really going hot! We hear music and laughing. So why are we even here today??
Ok, the procedure is done. I go back the next week to discuss the findings with my doctor. Yep, acid reflux. Stay on the Protonix (acid reducer with nasty side effects) for 3 more months, then come back for a check up.
Fast forward 3 more months. I am back at the doctor's office. I knew the medicine had done nothing for me and I was having stomach pain even more than before. I had taken that 3 months to really educate myself and I KNEW my gallbladder was just screaming for help!
Our gallbladders are very important you know. If they are failing, too much raw fat gets dumped into our guts and changes the gut flora (think IBS). Also, the fats and bile can blob up and calcify, creating gallstones. These stones are like marbles in a pouch and block the tube where your bile is supposed to be released.
I told my husband that if this doctor A)ignored my gallbladder issues or B)told me to schedule a gallbladder removal after she ignored me 3 months ago, I'M OUTTA THERE. Long story short, she acted like I never said anything about gallbladder symptoms and that she had not seen the sonogram showing my sludgy gallbladder!! "We must schedule surgery right away!" she says. "Do I have an infection? Is it necrotic? What are my scope results?" I ask.
"Scope shows a bit of inflammation at the esophagus". That's it? That's it.
I grab my cell phone and tell her I'll be in touch. I grab my husband and walk out the door. NOPE. This doctor KNEW my gallbladder symptoms AND had sonogram proof, but decided to ignore that in order to squeeze a biopsy and scope procedure out of my insurance! Now, after risking my health and life, she wants to cut me open and take an organ without even having listened to me or the ER doctors 3 months ago, or running additonal labs!
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE...
Ok, that's the horror story from the BS doctor. Now what did I do to avoid surgery and improve my health? Read on friends!
During the 3 months of taking Protonix that I was against taking, I decided to educate myself. I found a book called "The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse" by Andreas Moritz. I read that book over and over again. It just made sense to me and I felt it provided what my body needed to heal. The cleanse itself wasn't too bad, although it got rough towards the end of the first one. Basically, you are using one week to eat a specific way, then on Saturday you follow the protocol to open up the gallbladder and release gallstones. BOY DID IT WORK! I was so happy with the way I felt afterwards, I did it again the next month.
On the third month, I wanted something different. I felt my body was just not making enough acids, or the right kind? I couldn't put my finger on it. I did some more research, and decided I needed to try adding asorbic acid (Vitamin C) and malic acid. Here are the sources I used and they worked like MAGIC!! (I am not a rep for any of these products. They worked for me and this is not medical advice):
Just one tablet before bed or after dinner.
Two 2-ounce shots per day, or whenever I feel like my digestion has slowed down. You'll know if it has because you will experience acid reflux, burping, bloating, and a prolonged full feeling like you ate too much but it's been hours since you ate. If I don't have any unfiltered apple juice or if I am having a pain attack that's severe, here is what takes that attack and drop kicks it to the ground!:
One ounce mixed with one ounce water and I am a new person within 20 minutes! Of course, if you're eating "clean" you shouldn't need these remedies too often, however, there will always be times you forget and eat something that causes problems.
Notice the seeds! Only buy or grow seeded watermelon. The unseeded ones have been sprayed with a chemical which causes the seeds to stop development, along with pesticides and herbicides. BLECH!!
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It has been almost 2 years now since my ER visit and I still have my precious organs! If I don't take the Vitamin C or drink the unfiltered Apple juice, I can tell. I sweat easy, I can't eat peanut butter or avacado, weight gain becomes fast and out of control. I have banished fried foods from my life, but I raise pastured pork so I do eat bacon from time to time. So I chew 1,000mg Vitamin C every night before bed and drink Apple juice or eat watermelon during the day (in season). I also do the occasional 3-day juicing cleanse, or take a few days and just drink bone broth, or maybe go raw vegan for acouple weeks. Our digestive symptoms need a break sometimes, a reset if you will. This is what works for me!
All in all, it was a learning experience. Even though I was in so much pain and had so many symptoms, I never felt I needed surgery. My labs did not indicate surgery. No one at the hospital even mentioned surgery. Not until I got into the doctor's BS appointment and surgical loop did anyone utter the "s" word. I was just another fool in the patient funnel being put through the list of procedures until there weren't any more available. Then I would have been referred to another "specialist" to be funneled through their procedures, tests, and medicines too. Sorry, but that's not for me. Not when there is no EMERGENCY and there are other more natural ways of dealing with our natural bodies.
Again, I want to emphasize that I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. This is my story, unique to me. Please see a medical professional of your choice if you are having any health issues.
May peace, health, and happiness be abundant in your life. Best wishes to you all!
THE FARM & ADVENTURE FAMILY