It’s 4:36 a.m. and I can see the streetlight through our dining room window. The sky is starting to get a little brighter and very soon the sun’s brilliance will make the streetlight look dull and redundant.
I should be asleep but instead I’m sitting in front of the computer trying to strike the keys on the keyboard lightly instead of using my regular bash and crash typing method. I don’t want to wake anyone else in the house.
The dull orange glow of my bedside clock radio told me it was 3:25 a.m. when I awoke. It was an unwelcome yet familiar pain that told me that I wasn’t going to get any more sleep this morning. I was hoping it was gone but it seems that isn’t the case.
Some weeks back I mentioned that I had been diagnosed with a likely stomach ulcer. I was given a two week course of tablets, designed to sort out the acid problem in my stomach and give things a chance to settle down. They worked very well and for a couple of weeks I was without my irregular early morning wake up calls.
Unfortunately I woke early again last Monday. It wasn’t quite so early and wasn’t quite so severe so I was hoping it was a one off. I figured that it wasn’t the really nasty pain that I’d come to expect several times a week so it might just be the ulcer’s way of saying goodbye. This morning’s attack tells me that’s not the case. This is the full on kind of pain that makes you wish you could scream but the silence of the early hours tells you it perhaps wouldn’t be entirely appropriate. Maybe this is my tummy’s punishment for last night’s delicious fruit and Toblerone fondue.
I don’t mind admitting that I would have preferred to have never experienced this pain again. It’s not just the pain I don’t like, it’s the thought of the next steps along the way. I know that I’ll need to get back to the doctor in the next couple of days and I’ll be up for some more prodding and testing. The next investigation won’t be quite as easy or non-invasive as the initial consultation.
I’ve got a busy Sunday ahead. I’m on the setup and packdown team at church and then tonight I’m speaking at Greenwood Uniting Church on behalf of my workplace, 98.5 Sonshine FM. I’ve been there a couple of times before and the people are wonderful so I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.
By the time I roll in to bed in around 18 or 19 hours I’ll be ready for a very good rest. It’s now 4:58 a.m., the sun is continuing to rise, and I just wish I could go back to bed and sleep.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Stomach Ulcer – Sleep – Pain
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Oh, sorry to hear that, Rodney. What a rotten thing to happen. I hope the next step is simpler and less horrid than you’re anticipating. Thinking of you.
Rodney,
I hope you get feeling better.
Joe B
My flatmate here in Korea had a peptic ulcer, not too unsimilar to yours, and he was put on a strict 6 week program including plenty of medication, no alcohol, and no smoking.
While he couldn’t resist the urge to have his daily quota of smokes, to his credit he didn’t drink and stuck to his medication program and made a full recovery.
After going off his medication he told me he felt very strange and his sleeping habits were all screwed up, but after a week or so he finally settled back into normal sleeping habits.
So I’m sure you’ll be fine. 🙂
Rodney, sorry you’re not feeling 100%. Hope things improve soon for you.
Owwww. Cannot imagine what the pain must be like, must be very unpleasant. Do hope that it can be sorted out with a dose of antibiotics and acid calmer.