I Know Him Too Well!
HeWho enjoys lots of attention is on the mend. Nonetheless, we will be seeing his regular doctor next week, if only to confirm MY diagnosis. I know HeWho too well to be fooled by his assessment of his pain level. That sounds mean, doesn't it? Okay, if the shoe fits ...
After his 22 hour nap, he seemed to pain free, felt a little sluggish, but had a fine appetite. If I slept for 22 hours ..... nevermind, that would never happen to the queen of insomnia! He has been complaining of indigestion and keeps Tums close by. I often awaken from my light slumber to hear him chomping on the chalky stuff. The commercial of long ago always runs through my mind, "something my body needs anyway" referring to the calcium content.
After I fed the man a bowl of chicken soup, followed with applesauce, he perked right up. Suddenly he felt the need to check the mailbox and took off on his riding mower to the top of the drive (seriously, you did not think he was going to walk, did you?). Upon his return with no mail, he announced that the front porch (more like a tiny landing that facilitates getting to the door) needed to be replaced due to wood rot.
I already knew this, but thought it could be better addressed as a part of closing the deck in for more living space. I feel the same way about the leaky kitchen faucet. It has been leaky since the day we moved in and it was duly noted by the same man who now wants a new front porch. The only time that faucet bothers him is on the very rare occasion that he does dishes (extremely rare). Why do I want to replace a faucet on a sink I loathe? It is fiberglass and impossible to clean. I not only want a new sink with the faucet, but a new countertop and cabinets, a new kitchen layout that makes more sense .... I could go on, but I won't.
After discussing how much we wanted to spend on the new porch materials and the materials we wanted to use, he was hungry again. He wanted bacon. Having two ripe tomatoes in the window sill above the leaky faucet, I suggested a BLT, minus the lettuce, since I had none on hand and he agreed. I indulged in this second supper, since my supper had been eating some leftover chicken salad while I cleaned out the fridge and washed dishes. We all know that if you eat standing up it goes down faster and doesn't really count, right? My fresh tomatoes ruled that BLT! The bacon was just a supporting actor.
He continued to knibble the evening away and we went to bed a little later than usual. This is when he started to complain about indigestion again. Gee, I wonder why his digestive system might be irritated? Almost 50 years, I have been listening to this man complain about the obvious! Must be true love, since I am willing to go for fifty more!
A few years ago I got to the point that I had heartburn all the time. I had every kind of over-the-counter solution I could find. Went to the doctor and she gave me a prescription for omeprazole. It worked till it didn't, then she prescribed two pills each morning. Again, it worked for a while, then didn't. I went to a specialist who said I had Barretts esophagus, for which I was told there was no cure, ever. At that point, I finally came to the realization that I needed to stop eating and drinking certain things. It took awhile, but eating right got me on the right track. After one year they did another G.I. endoscopy and I had NO Barrett's Esophagus. After two years of no coffee and very little fried food food, I decided to try adding back the foods I had always loved; my first cup of coffee after two years without it was amazing! I no longer have any trouble with acid reflux at all. I think the doctor must have made a mistake the first time.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to explain to this man of mine the importance of a good diet! It could eliminate a lot of his meds, or at least decrease the dosage. Might as well yell it to the winds, he will eat well for a few weeks, but when he starts to feel better he will decide to "try" just a taste of a previously forbidden food and go right back to his old diet. Makes me crazy. I almost think he is part of a conspiracy to make me go completely mad!
ReplyDeleteYour delicious tomatoes might be the culprit for that night's indigestion. They always give me a kind of heartburn pain, though in the stomach area. The best thing for me is Pepcid. Not the REAL brand, but the Walmart version. Just one is all it takes. None of that repetitive TUMS popping.
ReplyDeleteHe takes a prescription for indigestion. I doubt the tomatoes had much to do with it. It was all the crappy snack food he ate after the sandwich. I try, but my suggestions fall on deaf ears! While yours is trying to kill you, mine is trying to drive me to the ends of insanity!
Deleteand your diagnosis?
ReplyDeleteI bet you already know! I think he sleeps too much and it just makes him feel crappy. On those occasions that I wake him early, he seems to have a better day. But I like to go outside in the early hours before it gets hot and then I get involved and forget to wake him. Then I wonder why I am responsible for waking the grouchy old man!
DeleteI"ve become a fan of digestive enzyme and papaya enzyme tablets, which work better for me than Tums.
ReplyDeleteI will check that out with his doctor next week. I think a placebo would work just as well. There are some people that just need to have a pill to take before their real or imagined malady can be cured. His mom loved taking pills for everything, particularly antibiotics. Nothing I sadi could convince her that it was not a good idea to take them for a virus, but she assured me that it would cure her cold in 7 days. God bless her for teaching her son to believe the same thing!
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