Food Do's and Don't's
FOODS THAT I MISS:
- pizza
- spaghetti and meatballs
- lasagna
- meatball po-boy (New Orleans' version of the "sub")
- salad
- bacon
- hamburger (large quantities of ground beef)
- peanuts/nuts of any kind
- popcorn
- sausage patties
- chicken fingers
- country-fried steak
CURRENT EVERYDAY FOODS:
- soup
- ice cream
- rice
- smoothies
- macaroni and cheese
- pastas
- cheese
- crackers
- chips
- certain breads
- cereal
Sometimes, I'm in so much pain that I only eat ice cream or smoothies. I find that regurgitating usually makes for a good full night's sleep.
INTERESTING FACT:
I was told after I had the surgery -- the Heller Myotomy -- I would not be able to vomit anymore because they basically used the top half of my stomach to re-enforce the sutures in my esophagus. Though, I can still regurgitate.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VOMMITTING AND REGURGITATING:
VOMMITTING - the returning of food that has entered the stomach
REGURGITATING - the returning of food that has not yet entered the stomach
THE HELLER MYOTOMY
(The flap on the left is the top part of the stomach being wrapped around the esophagus acting as a patch to provent leakage.)
(The finished product)
Symptoms Return When Hurricane Katrina Pounds the South
I will admit that I haven't posted in several months because I was not having any more problems with my esophagus. Though, suddenly about a month and a half ago, they returned.
Precisely a week before hurricane Katrina hit, I began having problems swallowing again.
*SIDENOTE:
Incase you weren't aware, I live in Hattiesburg, MS, which is about an hour away from Biloxi, MS. Hattiesburg was pretty impacted by the storm; though, not as bad as the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Many people in Hattiesburg were without power up until just recently.
I'm actually a New Orleans native. Most of my family still live in the general area. This whole event has been a nightmare. However, my entire family is safe and they only had minimal damage. Sadly, my grandpa's house recently was flooded when Rita swooped by. He lives in a little town called Lafitte, LA. My heart dropped on Saturday morning when I read online that the leavees in Lafitte had been topped by the waters causing really bad flooding. We're not sure how much water his house has, but we're pretty positive it has water in it being that his backyard faces the bayou.
The reason I felt it neccessary to explain the above is because many specialists say that achalasia is brought on by stress. I'm wondering if my symptoms returned because of all the stress I had been through at that time.
SYMPTOMS:
- Difficulty swallowing
- Regurgitation
- Loss of appetite
- Excessive coughing
Fortunately, my husband and I decided to head to our friend's house in North Carolina two days after living without power and most means of communication. Though, those two days were the worst two days I have experienced while having the symptoms. Not only was it hot and miserable, but our only food options were those that were terrible to swallow such as: sandwiches, hamburgers we grilled from the first day before the meat went bad, chips, candy, and potted meat. I had bought some vegetable soup, thinking that it would be the best option. Before the storm hit, I thought to myself that eating cold soup wouldn't be so bad. How bad could it be? Horribly bad.
Since hurricane Katrina, I have lost about 20 pounds. It's kind of exciting for a girl that still needs to lose about 50 more pounds. Though, my quick weight loss concerns me. Because I've lost so much weight in the first year, I have loose skin. The more weight I lose, the worse my skin looks. It's really very depressing to know that you've lost so much, but that you still don't look good in the mirror without your clothes. I always reassure myself, that once I've had children, I'll probably have the surgery to get the excess skin removed. It would probably be a good idea to start saving money now.
My Hurricane Katrina Photos:
This tree fell exactly right inbetween my neighbor's house and my house.
