Last year in 2012 I was starting to have acid reflux badly at nighttime. It was horrible. I started hearing about instances that people go to the ER thinking they are having a heart attack when in fact it is heartburn. I know that pain, it is so severe it almost takes your breath away. So I went to my doctor and started taking some medication but had frustrating side effects with different ones so after trying different meds with no great success my doctor decided to do a scope of my esophagus just to check and see how things looked. They did a routine biopsy during the procedure and I basically thought nothing of the procedure and figured my heartburn issue would resolve itself at some point till I got a life changing phone call that began with, "Your test results are abnormal and you need to come in to talk to your doctor". A nurse had called and she told me that I had this Barrett's Esophagus condition that I was vaguely familiar with and knew it was not good. I could write a book on the aftermath of that phone call. I was just devastated and so scared. I almost fell on the floor in my office at work I was crying so hard. What I found out at my doctor appointment was that Barrett's Esophagus is a condition where cells in the esophagus have changed atypically because of acid reflux and the cells can become precancerous. I was grateful to find out that I had what is called "Short" Barrett's which is a segment found that is less than 2 cm and my cells did not have any dysplasia, or signs of becoming precancerous. My doctor was optimistic and encouraging that if I took a strong medication for a good year, it was possible the atypical cells would heal.
And they did!!!!! Praise praise God. I couldn't even believe it when I found out last month. Not that I didn't think it was possible but I just was preparing for the worst I think. The last year has been a rollercoaster but also a wake-up call that I needed. I had been in a funk pretty bad for a number of years and last year I had started praying for some kind of motivation to get my act together. Well, my prayer wasn't answered in the way I would have asked for, but my prayer was answered! It's been difficult to admit at times because it's been a rough year, but the truth is that I accept that this was a trial that I needed and was the answer to my prayer to get motivated. Getting the phone call that I did and wondering over the last year if my condition would potentially worsen and wondering about getting cancer is quite the wake-up call. It put so much in perspective and has made me so grateful for life.
So here I am and here I go with hopefully kicking these meds to the curb!! There is quite a lot of research and a lot of angry people out there on the internet about the frustration of going off the kind of medication I've been on- it's called a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). I've been taking the generic for Protonix, 40 mg 2x/day for about a year now. The medication basically turns off your body from making acid so that your body can heal, but then it's the type of medication that you can't just go cold turkey off of because the body has become accustomed to not producing acid and can go crazy producing far too much acid when trying to go off of it, therefore risking damage all over again.
So I'm planning on taking it slow and steady and trusting my Savior:)
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