What the doctor said

Without running any additional labs or calling for any tests or procedures, my doctor decided today that I have acid reflux, which would explain the chest pain, why my voice is all wonky, and why I wake up coughing and have a gaggy feeling in my throat during the day. I asked him about the foot swelling, and he examined my feet and noted that there was indeed swelling, and said he thought it was because of too much salt in my diet. He said to take a double dose of the blood pressure medicine on days when I had swelling.

I asked him if being exhausted all the time was simply due to being out of shape. “Yes,” he said, “and also because you’re not sleeping well. I am convinced that you have sleep apnea.” So the sleep study is on for October 19.

He prescribed me Nexium and I went home and took one. I had some pain in my upper back on the right-hand side, in the muscle I use when carrying my purse over my arm, and it seemed to just keep getting worse and worse, so I also took some Advil, and then I went to work.

My voice was still wonky, and I was tired, but I felt okay. I ended up not eating anything all day, though, because I kept putting off my lunch break until it was suddenly the end of the day.

After work I went to Wild Wing Cafe with Gene, Chris T., Chris C., and Gene’s friend Mason, and eventually Kelsey and Shalah showed up. I ordered spinach dip, which was great, but the chips started to be too dry for my throat so I stopped eating it, and potato soup, which was terrible–it was like someone had pureed a loaded baked potato :P No one makes potato soup like Dad, I guess.

I was hoping to feel better as the night went on, but I just felt worse, and my back started hurting again, so I skipped out as early as I possibly could (our waiter was terrible and took his sweet time with my check). I picked up some dinner for Sean on the way home and crawled into bed almost immediately, trying to find a good position for my back. I called Mom and talked with her a little while before finally going to sleep.

I’m not sure why I’m awake now, but my back is feeling better, and I’m a little thirsty. I went ahead and did the football stuff for work that I have to do every Friday night/Saturday morning during the season, and now I think I’ll drink some water and go back to bed.