Saturday, November 7, 2015

Gumby Visited After Baclofen Taken

I am alive. Just have not been in a state of mind to write anything.  My writing has not been the only thing neglected. Household chores were also way down on my list.

So what have I been up to? Since I was not feeling all that well for about a month, but seemed like years, i just sat in my chair, played Sporcle and read your blogs but not responding. 

I felt bad.It was one of those severely depressing times. 

My stomach and swallowing has been a problem. An esophageal dilation and colonoscopy were performed on me. Everything was fine or so they said. I was instructed to continue my Nexium and was started on Miralax. The Miralax worked somewhat but gave me more problems that solving part of my problem.

Unfortunately AFTER the procedure  my reflux came back threefold. I felt like I was worse off than before the procedures. I was frustrated and depressed.

The doctor (Nurse Practitioner) ordered a modified barium swallow. Those results showed my laryngeal muscles and tongue muscles were weak. I went through 3 months of speech therapy to strengthen my tongue and laryngeal muscles. Doctor  said the cause could be age plus my Cerebral Palsy (CP).

I am so tired of being told the  cause of most of everything I have is my Cerebral Palsy.  I can see how this is true but I keep asking myself I've had CP since I was 6 months, so why all of a sudden  these severe symptoms are popping up or those that I've had and able to manage suddenly go awry. Oh yea, right...I'm getting older. And i have CP.

Grrr..
The speech therapy has helped some. By the way my speech therapist was wonderful. She was honest and told me after 2 months that I was a big girl and doing the exercises, there is nothing else she can tell me.  I suspect the exercises will be a part of my life.

Then I was having pain in my arms, legs and chest as well. I went to my awesome Family Doctor and he said it could be stress. He said my neck was stiff as a board. Since I had other muscular problems he decided to give me a muscle relaxant which has helped most of his patients with CP. It was called Baclofen.

Not this patient!

It relaxed me alright. I felt like Gumby. However, all i did was sleep and when I got up, the room spun. I also passed out on Hubby 3 times in 5 days. I stopped the medication. Luckily the pain went away for the most part.


Nausea and  GERD was still off the charts. I was hardly eating because my stomach would hurt after I ate.   In turn, I lost weight. The hiccuping was crazy. So I called my GI doctor again. His nurse told me to take my prescription Nexium in the morning and get some OTC Nexium to take in the evening. It made no sense to me. If the stronger prescribed one isn't working, how could the less stronger OTC do the job


I think it is working somewhat. The lump in my throat comes and goes. I continue to have to watch very closely what I eat and how I eat.  I have too frequent bouts of hiccups. My GI doctor nor his Practitioner seem to want to deal with me. I hate their "Scripted' solutions. It seems they can't think outside the box.  I'm not in the mood of trying to find another one so I'm just moving along as best as I can.

So that is what I've been up to and why I've been MIA.

My dad is doing great. I brought him to his follow-up a week or two ago. He can get rid of the neck brace and resume daily activities. He was so excited he was nearly jumping out of the chair. I had never seen my dad so giddy. But I thank God for helping him heal and get on with his life.

BabyGirl got a new job. She was tired of being put on hold for another shift and they worked her to the bone. This job she will be more or less on her own visiting her clients individually. I don't have to tell you how proud I am.

Until next time....






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