My New Resolution Is To Make No More Resolutions
Posted: Wednesday, December 28, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
I have never been much at resolving to do something ahead of time due to the fact that on the few times that I have made such, something always arrived to make me break it. And, I always felt bad about that. I then began to make resolutions occasionally but with certain stipulations. Then I realized that a resolution with stipulations was no better than a resolution that was broken.
But I also need to break in here with a factor which is real and legitimate. My mother had chronic indigestion and heartburn all her life. She took enough anti-acids to furnish an army for a few weeks. And, I inherited her excess acidity factor. She raised eight children, and among those, her, and my father, only I and her had the problem. So I had to about live on baking soda water, Tums or whatever I could get to keep the fire out.
So, after I was married and we started our family, both I and my wife wanted me to stop smoking. So I once resolved to stop it. And I did, flat out. I remained without them for some 8 months and the craving for them was fading, a lot. I could handle it. But during those months, my heartburn and acid stomach became a lot worse. I was getting up two or three time each night to drink a shot of water with baking soda. I had to take something during the day at least every 2 hours. I told my wife that I believed this was due to my stopping smoking and she agreed that it had become much worse since then.
So, I decided to test it and began smoking again. It may be difficult to believe, but within a week, my heartburn was back to normal…not most folk’s normal, but normal for me. Only needing relief two or three times a day. So I continued to smoke a year or so more, and I resolved to stop again, even if the heartburn returned as it did before.
And so, I stopped and the heartburn started again. I fought that for almost a full year and I went to a doctor and explained my condition. He put me on a diet and Maalox antacid. The diet was horrible and so was the Maalox, but I was determined to give it a go. Yet, nothing I did stopped the heartburn. The Maalox helped when I took it but only about like the soda water. I found that it did not matter what I ate, or if I did not eat at all, I had heartburn. I tried milk and crackers…heartburn. Skip a meal…heartburn.
So, I finally gave up and started smoking again for some relief. Again it worked. So I felt doomed to smoke as long as I lived. I did so until I was 59 years old, no change in the heartburn situation I had tolerated since about puberty. Then, I began to have angina pains and I went to see a doctor. After examining me and taking an EKG, he ordered me to go straight to the hospital and he assigned me to a heart doctor. But during his examination and inquiring, he asked if I smoked and I told him yes. He said, you have to stop that now. I protested and explained the stomach acid problem I had and that I felt sure I’d die if I had to stay off cigarettes.
He then told me that they could now take care of the excess acid, but that I must stop smoking. So I told him that I would gladly stop smoking if he would stop the excess acid. He did, and I did. I had a partial pack of cigarettes which I threw away and have never since had a cigarette in my mouth.
Apparently, Zantac, the medication he prescribed for me, had not been long available, because I had never heard of it and thought I had a lifetime of heartburn to deal with. And since then, they have even done better with Prilosec, one capsule per day and you don’t ever know what heartburn is. And they have even become available over the counter. This all happened in June 1980.So you see, I have enjoyed over 31 years in a smoke free environment and a heartburn free environment. Things I thought I would endure until death.
The only resolution I have made and not broken…yet, is not to make any more resolutions.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Joel, Not making any resolutions is a great idea. My heart goes out to you, though, living with heartburn all those years. And, I am proud of you that you were able to quit smoking.Thanks Nancy, I appreciate your comments. I could have successfully quit at any time if it had not been for that indigestion. I often wonder how long that Zantac was available before I learned of it in 1980. It is amazing that this new stuff, the drug ameprazole is so wonderfully effective. I take one tablet each night and I NEVER have any heartburn. But, once or twice I have failed to take one and by late afternoon the next day, I am reminded of it and also reminded that I still have the problem. I hope you happiness and prosperity in 2012...
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