Chile 2025

OMG. My Primary Care doctor was right!
On Thursday night, I was in deep despair. Two weeks of feeling sick, weak, and miserable had done me in. I showered, looked at my messed-up and aching body, and cried. Then, I pulled myself together. I took the first dose of the stress ulcer medication and went to bed. I slept fitfully, with strange dreams and new but manageable pain in my abdomen. Then, when I woke up on Friday, it was the first time in two weeks that I didn't feel crappy! I carefully got out of bed to see if I was dreaming. Not 100%, but a huge improvement. I managed to eat a piece of toast and a yogurt without incident. What a miracle!! I am SO happy and grateful!! I carefully managed through the day, ever hopeful that this new feeling was a turning point. By evening, I even had a food craving (for some popcorn, which Tom promptly made for me 😉). I am SO grateful for this diagnosis & treatment, and for being free of the upset stomach and getting my appetite back. The medication seems to make me a bit head-achy, but I will take that vs. what I've been dealing with. As for my series of tests, so far I've received a negative (yay) for the Pylori Urea Breath Test (used to detect bacterium that can cause stomach ulcers and gastritis). Blood tests show some high readings (WBC, Platelets, etc.) but mostly because of my trauma. Still waiting to hear about CT scan results -- next week I suspect. In any case, I was finally feeling good enough yesterday to get after some overdue administrative tasks. I have medical and trip interruption claims to file. The only silver lining to all of this is that I should get a bunch of money back 🤞. I'd rather have had the experience, but such is life. My many thanks for the well-wishes and positive thoughts. I know I still have much healing to do, but I finally feel like I can get busy doing just that!もっと詳しく