Health Scare - What is GERD??

Hello Guys!

Happy New Year! Yes I know its February but as they say; “your morning na when your day break”.

There is always something about the beginning of the year; gratitude, hope, enthusiasm, optimism, newness, believe, faith…

So imagine how I felt when I had a chronic chest pain early this year. The first thing I thought was “is it not too early” “give me a break now”.

The story is that I woke up one Saturday morning with a pain in my chest and it was really painful. Now a chest pain is not like a headache you don’t take seriously. This is my heart area we are talking about here. I tried to ignore it for a while but it persisted. Then I stumbled on my reflection in the mirror and I could literally see my heart pounding in my throat. I know this is strange and I can’t explain it but I later found out that it was heart palpitations. Okay, just look that up. I couldn’t ignore this pain anymore and I picked up my phone and started my research.

I went straight to Google and typed “Causes of chest pain”. The first result that came up had “heart attack” boldly written on it. Heart attack ke. I tried to ignore that to check out other results but I just kept seeing heart attack everywhere. I succumbed and opened one of the pages to see the symptoms. Guess what?  I had similar symptoms. I checked out other causes of chest pain and most of them were considered to be emergency cases; Angina Pectoris, unstable Angina, Arrhythmia etc. I know a lot of you would not understand these medical terms but I mean I just have to show off a bit; not after all my research. Another thing is that most heart attacks occur as a result of coronary heart disease; a terminal disease. 

Immediately, strange thoughts flooded my mind at the same time. “What is going to happen to me” “will my picture be all over social media with me asking for money for treatment” “will I open a go fund me account” and I just said “God Forbid” loudly. Because I am a Christian and I strongly believe what the bible says; I started quoting all the healing and long life scriptures I know and tried to take my mind off the pain I was feeling. Yet, I couldn’t stop my research. I calculated my heart rate and it was 108 beats per minute. Meanwhile the normal heart rate of a healthy person should be between 60-100 BPM. I bet you didn’t know that too.

The next day, I thought I felt better but when I remembered the things I read I thought I felt worse. This whole thing continued till Monday. Then on Tuesday I made up my mind to see a doctor after work.

While I waited for the doctor, those silly thought came again. “I am not even married yet”; “I don’t even have…”  Anyway while I was lost in thoughts I heard the nurse call “Deborah” but there was no response. She repeated the name again this time around including the surname “Deborah Uhe…” She murdered my surname then I realized it was me she was calling. Didn’t she see “Nonye” there? Why didn’t she just say “Nonye”? How did I even forget my other name? Well, she told me it was my turn to see a doctor.

After all my research, I sort of expected the doctor to run some tests, check my heart rate, and possibly carry out a scan after telling her the symptoms I had. So I came dressed ready for all these. But she just touched my stomach area and asked me if I was feeling any pain and I said no. She asked me if I had ulcer and I told her I didn’t. She asked me what I ate the day before I started experiencing the pain and I told her fried yam. No scan, no test, she did not even check my heart beat. She just mumbled some words and told me it is more of gastro… that’s all I heard “gastro”. “Excuse me ma, gastro what? I said my chest hurts and sometimes I feel dizzy, and I feel like I need more air and this pain is affecting my back and you are saying gastro whatever”. I’ve googled this thing already, please carry out some tests”. I didn’t say these things to her but I was very close to doing so. The only thing that came out of my mouth was “what about the dizziness” She said that could be anaemia but I didn’t look pale. She scribbled down some drugs and directed me to wait at the dispensary and said “it’s because of what you ate, don’t worry; you will be fine in a few days”.  

In a way, I felt relieved but at the same time I was scared it was a wrong diagnosis; this is Nigeria now! I have been eating fried yam all my life, why now? I waited to see the drugs they would give me.

I checked; it was Mist Mag antacid suspension, an anti malaria drug and an acid reflux drug. Did I complain of stomach pain or malaria? I took the drugs with good fate and went home to begin another research.

I found out that what she actually said was Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).  But why couldn’t she say the words clearly or explain better. I read the symptoms and other people’s story and it was the exact way I felt. Forget the ambiguous term; GERD is also known as acid reflux a.k.a heart burn. Imagine, I was fussing about a heart burn? A heart burn!!! The pain was quite intense but fear amplified it and Google did not help. What can I say? Thank God it was just that, a heart burn.

I felt better the next day. Now I believe the pain was more of fear than the actual heart burn. Fear is evil!

I learnt a few lessons from this experience. One is never to take good health for granted. Right now, I’m consciously grateful for good health and I would keep confessing good health. You don’t want to know how people who are sick feel; pain, hopelessness, fear of tomorrow, etc. Not just them but also their loved ones; thank God for good health. The second lesson is Google is not the answer...Jesus is! lol.

I hope to be here more often…

Cheers!