She walked in wearing a starched white coat bearing her name. This was my first meeting with Dr. Yi Qin, MD. She is a diminutive lady standing around 5’4’’ and weighing no more than 90 pounds. I quickly learned that 70 of those pounds are brains. She is a gastroenterologist whose specialty is dealing with esophaguses that are less than cooperative. She had researched the information forwarded from the doctors who were guessing my problem to be spasms of the esophagus, which for the uninitiated closely resemble a heart attack. I could see immediately there would be no guessing with Dr. Yi Qin.
I have previously written about the Cleveland Clinic and it would serve no purpose to further reinforce my firm commitment to this facility when you are up against a serious issue. I was tired of running to an ER every time my esophagus decided to express it’s displeasure with something in my lifestyle that offended it. Dr. Qin ordered an esophagram, an esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and manometry. In hillbilly terms that translated into a scope down the gullet, drinking 20 gallons or so of barium while being x-rayed and having a thin tube passed through your nose into your stomach and swallowing 15 sips of water while the tube measures swallowing pressure. They knock you out for the scope, smile while you gag the barium down and offer their sympathy while trying to swallow the nose tube without throwing up. It was a long day…but productive.
Sounds ominous, but it isn’t. It is mind over matter, like a boxer keeping his head in a fight to avoid getting his head pummeled. The good doctor definitively diagnosed esophageal spasm and prescribed a heavier dose of Omeprazole as well as a nifty little anti-acid not available in America, except through Amazon, named Gaviscon ADVANCE. Hopefully, I’ll no longer need the nitroglycerin tablets that controlled the spasms before visiting with Dr. Yi Qin. These remedies also preclude me from flipping a coin when these attacks happen, heads a heart attack, tails the old esophagus.
Back to the premise for this piece. There are many really good things that come in small sizes. For instance there is the genius of Dr. Yi Qin and a small plastic bottle of a UK produced anti-acid. We are fortunate in America to be blessed with health care at every level that is the envy of most of the world. I hope this writing reaches you well enough to enjoy the spring season when nature awakens……and able to enjoy it with good health. Take care of yourselves and have a great week. Oh, and when your grandmother told you it was the little things that count…….now you know why!
SR
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