First the facts: I am 74 years old and was in relatively
good health. During the summer of 2008 I fainted and was taken to Roosevelt
Hospital where the emergency room doctor told me I had 2 pints of blood left in
my body (you probably have 7 pints).
She gave me a transfusion and sent me home. I had been winded when I
walked a block or two but just chalked it up to my age and the fact that I did
not do as much exercise as in the past. True, I had weekly yoga sessions in my
apartment and rode my stationary bicycle, but was that enough? Soon the out of
breath feelings came after walking half a block. I saw my general physician who had
looked after me for over 20 years and did all the tests. My cardiogram showed
no problems; my blood pressure was very good; my cholesterol was in the normal
range. So then off to my cardiologist and a stress test. Again, nothing wrong but the
symptoms continued. I was sent to a hematologist who took more tests and told
me I was anemic & I seemed to be loosing blood once again, but at a slower
rate. Iron tablets and injections seemed to stabilize the loss. I was tested
every other week but continued being out of breath. At first, I thought I had
Leukemia since I had many of the symptoms. My hematologist took that scary item
off the table, but finally admitted she did not know why I was still anemic
& loosing blood.
I then went to see a Gastroenterologist who did more (but different tests) and found my problem. I had a tear in my esophagus and a hernia pushing against it. He sent me to a surgeon who suggested an operation, hopefully using the daVinci Robot. Why I say hopefully was because he could not be sure if the robot would work for my problems. If it did not work I should be prepared for a long and serious operation with a very large cut in my stomach. As I pondered this I began having problems urinating. Sometime I could not go and other times I had to go every 20 minutes. Off to a bladder specialist and more tests. The results were I had an infected bladder and an enlarged prostate that needed to be repaired. I had to wear a catheter for two months even while I was traveling to California. Unless you know someone, or you yourself had the experience of a catheter I cannot describe the displeasure, including the time it sprung a leak.
I had a small family dinner for my 74th birthday on July 12th and the day after I was at St. Luke’s hospital for operation number 1. Almost 5 hours later I was told that the daVinci robot did its work and I went home the next day. On September 4th operation number 2 took place at Roosevelt Hospital. Again, a success and I was home the next day. I am writing this the week before Thanksgiving and as I said in the title I have much to be thankful for this holiday season.
As an aside- Galina Semyonova of Vitalgate.com in NYC, who also is my next-door neighbor, used her Resonance Analysis machine- The Asyra Pro- three years ago to tell me I was anemic. A year later the doctors discovered she was correct. Two weeks ago the machine told me I had 3 infected teeth on my lower left side & two days later my dentist told me the same thing. I guess I could save money & time by seeing Galina first.
My list of doctors who have kept me alive and healthy. I can never thank you enough.
Elizabeth Beautyman
Scott Belsley
Norman Cagin
Richard Fried
James Lax
David Weiner
I can not forget my family, especially my brother & sister-in-law Michael & Leslie, and my rock solid friend Mark Owen who helped me tame my fears.
A Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving to All