Mood:  lucky

So – I am rewriting this blog because for some reason it didn’t post right.

I am really happy and very thankful.

For all those who don’t know, which is practically everyone since I kept this little nugget of news to myself for the most part, my mother has been incredibly ill for months now, and we’ve been extremely worried about her. We didn’t know if it was colon or stomach cancer or something along those lines, but whatever it was it was bad.

For months she has had an extremely upset stomach, almost like an ulcer. What was worse in this case was that there was so much stomach acid it was eating away at the sphincter that separates the stomach from the esophagus. She had severe lacerations on her esophagus and was in so much pain she couldn’t eat or drink. The doctors didn’t know what was causing this problem. They shoved all kinds of meds into her, which of course reacted with her system and gave her all kinds of gastrointestinal issues. So now she had problems with both ends if you know what I mean. So, scopes when down the throat and up the bum, and she had a slough of tests, blood work, everything. This has been going on for six months.

My mother told me it felt like she was swallow shards of hot glass every time she ate or drank. She stopped eating and drinking – lost a good deal of weight in the process and became incredibly depressed.

Finally, this past Monday, the doctors (six of them) finally diagnosed that her thyroid was the problem. They put her on medication for the hormonal imbalance in her thyroid and nearly immediately she felt better. It is a major relief and I am thankful – very thankful that she will be okay.

She is still living with the amazing pain of her arthritis condition, but at least that isn’t life threatening as we thought this other condition was going to be. Her body was eating itself. With all the increased acid in her stomach things could have gotten very bad for her. Yet, she is alright, and on the road to recovery from this ordeal. It will take a while for her esophagus to heal and for the sphincter to repair itself. Hopefully there won’t be any permanent damage.