November 2014

From Occasional to Constant

I met with my primary care MD, Dr. Ronald Grose. He suggested seeing my GI MD, Dr. Michael Piper. He also made an interesting comment. After checking my belly he did not observe anything unusual.

This is where the medical care breaks down in our country. I am not blaming anyone or finding fault with any one physician. Until you demonstrate a life threatening situation, you could die waiting for an appointment. Dr Piper is highly regarded in metro Detroit and very busy. I could not get in to see him till after Thanksgiving. I tried to explain that I my condition was escalating but late Nov was the earliest appointment.

Thanksgiving was dreadful. No turkey, stuffing, no beets (ok there were a few blessings) no pumpkin pie, no apple pie, no fruit tarts. My weight started to drop. In October I was 195 and sometimes as high as 200, now I was 185-190. I was also losing my appetite.

Carol was doing everything she could to keep maintain my health. My diet went soft. If I could not gum I was not allowed to have it. After a few days I would try a more substantial dish but would suffer the consequences 3-4 hours latter. We finally gave up on that experiment.

Piper ordered a upper and lower GI but once again it would not take place till after Christmas.