The other night, I woke up abruptly and rolled out of bed, gasping for breath. My vocal cords were being scorched by acid reflux, and it was all I could do to get air through them. After a few seconds of sheer terror, I discovered that by wheezing in, wheezing out, wheezing in, wheezing out, I was able to get the oxygen I needed. I wheezed and groaned for several minutes until my throat was clear enough to breathe normally.
It was more terrifying for Alicia than it was for me. Her first thought was that I was having a heart attack, or had something stuck in my throat. When she finally saw that I was okay, and I was able to tell her what the problem was, she brought me water mixed with soda to drink and gargle. She also brought me a hard foam pillow that we had purchased with our mattress.
The reflux was most likely caused by eating jello with pineapple shortly before bedtime. I won’t be doing that again.
I drifted off to sleep again pretty quickly. Alicia had more trouble. Once she saw that I was sleeping soundly, she managed to get some sleep herself.
She told me in the morning that I hadn’t snored at all after the choking episode. Last night I didn’t snore much either. Apparently this is a benefit of the foam pillow, which forces me to sleep on my side and keeps my neck straighter.
The scariest thing for me was to discover that Alicia didn’t know that 911 is the number for emergency services. In Colombia it’s 999. So we got that cleared up.
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In other news, the two jewelry sets I first posted on eBay have been sold to a friend for his wife. Now I have to wait and see how reliable airmail is to Thailand.
On Facebook I posted photos of several other sets that will be available soon: Murano crystal teardrop pendants with matching earrings (four colors available); Murano crystal bead necklace, bracelet, earrings (three colors available); synthetic amber earrings, bracelet, necklaces; cat necklaces with matching earrings. The responses have been very positive. I’ll post links once we have them up on eBay.
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Recent events have brought us to the conclusion that we really ought to sell our house as soon as we can get the remodeling done. Selling it would help us get out of debt, ease our budget, allow more time together, and free us for possible relocation. The circumstances that brought us to Tampa have changed, so we can consider living elsewhere.
Tampa’s hot, humid summers are hard on Alicia. We’re pondering where to move next. South California would be nice (I have two sisters in LA), but hard on our budget. I don’t want to return to Dallas, but I would like to be closer to my kids. Austin or San Antonio would be interesting, not as humid as Tampa and with relatively easy winters. I would love to be in the mountains, all else being equal, so we might consider New Mexico. I’m hoping that there will be temporary work assignments available in some of those places this summer. That would allow us to get to know new areas and escape the Tampa humidity for a while.
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We watched Turbo the other night. It made us laugh over and over again. Even funner than Despicable Me 2.
Bye. Have a great evening
Comments (9)
that’s scary Tim…but the move sounds very interesting, there are so many great places to live!
I’ll have to watch Turbo, after your post on the Minons my grandson introduced me to Despicable Me…laughing is good!
I was surprised at how much we enjoyed Turbo. And we watched it in Spanish. It’s probably funnier in English.
I adored Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 – so much so that I got them as Christmas gifts! I’ll have to see if I can find Turbo! There are really affordable places in IN – of course the winters are brutal but the rest of the year is all good! hehe! I hope you can find a lovely climate that suits you both!
I really hate acid reflux. But it’s been months since the latest attack, and fortunately they’re usually of the milder variety than what you experienced.
Kinda sorry to hear you’re thinking of moving from Florida. We’ve yet to personally meet. That would be kind of nice.
Because we seem to have lost Xanga’s private messaging feature, as well as a host of other wonderful Xanga perks, you can try emailing me at:
twoberry at comcast dot net
whenever you wish. (Mention roadkill spatula in subject line so I will know it’s not spam.)
What a scary wake up! Glad you are alright!! Sounds like you could move anywhere. exciting, but scary, too. Best of luck in the process.
you had a scary night.
it was probably something with grease in it earlier in the night.
We have a muscle between our feeding tube and stomach and when you eat food with butter, dairy,or grease then it will relax the muscular rings and the food contents goes up the feeding tube.
Remember I’m a retired nurse. Don’t eat too much late in the evening.
Tim, I want you to get Prevacid. It is an over the counter medication, and it is extremely effective for acid reflux problem. My patients swore by it, and I have myself tried it and it is very good. Any time you have acidic food, please take one pill. You will find relief within an hour or so. Definitely take one before going to bed for about five to six days initially. Make a habit of eating some yogurt with a little sugar.
I am delighted that Alicia’s jewelry is selling so well. If there are good independent boutique stores in your area where ladies clothes are sold, you should ask Alicia to have a talk with the owner and let them display her exquisite collection there. I think it will see like hot cakes.
All the best, and take care of yourself.
Please take care of yourself. The 911 info is helpful.
Thank you. I’ve been doing fine with the hard pillow and not eating anything after 8:00.