Tuesday night

Back to work today. Didn't get such good sleep last night. Maybe it's because there was still some of that anesthesia in my system. It takes at least 24 hours to flush it out.

I'm glad the past two days are over. I'd love to know how I reacted to the treatments as they were happening, but I have no memory of them (that's the way the anesthesia works). (Probably just as well.) Before they put me under, they stuck a plastic piece in my mouth with a hole in the middle, through which they would pass the gastroscope or endoscope to examine my upper gastrointestinal tract. Glad my stomach and esophagus and the beginning of the duodenum were healthy. The doctor had been concerned that I might have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). I supect I used to have it, but I've been taking Prilosec for a couple of years and it's gone away. But then on the NBC Nightly News a couple of days ago, there was a report saying that people who take these anti-acid drugs have a 30% (?) greater chance of bone fractures. Prilosec was mentioned by name. I'll just try not to fall down. (Which I never do.) I just did a search on this topic and apparently it's old news.) (I also still take Tums mainly as a calcium supplement. I used to eat them like crazy for heartburn.)

Yesterday, for $25, I got my own car and driver to and from the ambulatory center. Such a deal! After the treatments, they gave me a bottle of fruit punch and a package of peanut-butter cheese crackers. When I got home, I immediately finished off some cold left-over steak and onion rings from Saturday's dinner at T.G.I. Friday's and then nuked a couple of White Castle cheeseburgers. Then I walked across the street and got a toasted bagel with lox spread at Einstein's and had a couple cups of coffee at Starbucks, while reading my magazine and The Miami Herald. (Father Cutie drew a big crowd at a nearby Episcopal church on Sunday.) (See here.) I wasn't allowed to drive yesterday or do heavy lifting or sign documents. (The only documents I signed were at the ambulatory center before the procedures.) And I became a little concerned when they asked me whether I had a living will (I do). Anyway, glad that's over.

Now I have to make an appointment with the gastroenterologist for two weeks from now.

"The Stagers" was supposed to be new tonight, but it was an old, oft-repeated episode (but still good).

(Click on the diagram above to enlarge.)