June 13, 2022 • 54 mins
Hey Sjogies! It's a HOT minute since you've heard from me and I'm here to fill you in! FYI.... FIREMAN are HOT... shhh... don't tell Brian I said that!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
We are neither nutritionists or medical providers. The topics discussed
on this show are from our own research and experiences.
Please consult your medical provider before attempting anything discussed on
this show. Welcome to another episode.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Of Show Strong.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This is Brian and this is Lupe, and this is your.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Podcast discussing how to live an active and healthy lifestyle
despite a diagnosis.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
For show grants, Hey, show gies, how you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Did you miss us as much as Lupe has missed
being behind the mic?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hah, it's been a hab minute. It's been about I
think it's two months or close since our last episode. Last.
Our last episode was in April. That it was and
April nineteenth actually, and today is thirteenth, so pretty much.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
To almost two months.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yes, but here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So why you've been slacking?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Oh my god? You know what? I think? I was
just working on myself getting healthy. Last episode we spoke
about I was having issues swallowing and I had gone
to an ant and he did, uh, what do you do? Uh?
(01:31):
He suffer Brian throat, that's it. And then he put
me on an axiom and then he sent me to.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
To get an MRI of your throat yep, while you
were swallowing, while you were breathing.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yes, yes, exactly. But I wanted to give you guys
an update. Appreciate all the A lot of people have
texted me, a lot of people have sent me private
messages and commented on post, and I haven't replied to anybody.
(02:17):
My apologies. I just I was healing myself. I haven't
been one hundred and and that's why. But here we are.
I wanted to give you guys an update because a
lot of you guys have been wondering. And so what
the doctor said, the doctor that took the watch mcaulay
(02:43):
with the bury him, I'm all right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
That it was a solid food and swallow now, but
brain fog is still an issue.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
No, but I mean, you know me and medical terms,
I'm not good with that. But basically he did all
that with the barium and you know, set me on
my way with the disc that a CD that I
that I took to my E N T. And so
it turns out that I have well it was one
(03:19):
of two things. I have really bad acid reflux, which.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Is strange because she doesn't normally complain of heartburn. Well,
you've been living with it for so long, and you've
been on pain meds for so long that you didn't.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I mean, does heartburn hurt? Does it burns?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It's a sound like a flame burn. It's like an
acid burn.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Why I think I've been living there for so long
that I didn't recognize it, right, And I mean I've
had issues swallowing forever, even before I was die knows,
but I thought it was just me, right, But so
acid reflux really bad. And also the E and T
(04:14):
told me that I also have a highattle highattle.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Hernia heidl hernia.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Hyatta, And I'm like, what is that? What even causes that?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So it's minor though in Loupe. And there's a sphincter
at the bottom of our esophagus going into or going
into our stomach that will close so stuff in our
stomach doesn't go up our throat. But because of all
the the damaged tissue from the acid reflux, it's not
(04:50):
quite working. So part of the stomach is on the
north side of that sphincter.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Well, it's a it's a hole in my stomach that
is put No, it's a hole that's pushing my stomach
into my esophagus. Right, what And I mean, it's how
long have I had that? And I mean how long
have I had this issue? That it got so bad
(05:20):
that my throat practically clothes and I wasn't able to swallow.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
She would choke on water.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
It was so bad. I couldn't swallow water. It was painful.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
But when the doctor prescribed ice cream during the healing process,
oh boy, was she a happy girl.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah. I mean, if you've been listening for a while
from the beginning, you know that ice cream is my crack.
And you know I was having issues swallowing. So I
was eating soups and ice cream was really easy for
me to swallow. So I was I was eating too
half gallon swalled gallon right to have ballance the gallon.
But I was eating a lot of ice cream because
(06:03):
it would soothe my throat. It was easy to swallow.
And yeah, so I think and so I was causing
more damage to myself, but I didn't know it at
the time. I just knew it was soothing.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Right. So, but the awesome news is nexium over the
counter has solved all this issue.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Uh. You know what when the ant the first time
I went in, he told me to take nexium, and
I took it for fourteen days and then I think
when the fourteen days were over, I I stopped taking
it for a week until I saw him again. And
(06:45):
during that seven days it was it was hard for
me to swallow again.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, she started coming back.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I'm a lifer again. I'm a lifer. I'm a lifer
on anxium. You know, when I would eat, I would
put a like a cushion or a pillow between the
seat and my back so that I would totally be upright.
I wouldn't be hunched back, hunched over, and that way
I could it be easier for me to swallow, right,
because I thought, if fight it up straight, it's going
(07:15):
to be easier for me to swallow. Yeah, ah, you
did not give me cred. Yeah yeah, but I mean,
you know, because when you eat, you slouched a little bit.
So anyway, since since Brian suggested that that's how I eat,
and you know what's really weird, last week or over
(07:37):
the weekend, I caught myself eating and I didn't prop
myself up, which I'm like, oh my god, I could swallow.
It's I've been on it for how long have I
been on it a month, maybe two. I think I've
been on it for two months, and every day it's
better and better and better, and I expect to feel
better next week, you know. But it's definitely getting easier
(07:58):
and I'm able to swallow basically anything. I'm very thankful.
I'm very thankful to that doctor, to that n T,
because I had brought up the issue to my roommate
and my you know, general practitioner, and they just brushed
it off. You know. It's it's because you don't produce
(08:20):
a live but that's why. But I knew something was wrong.
I knew that it was getting just harder and harder,
you know what I mean. So I'm thankful that I
have PPO and I was able to make myself an
appointment to go to an n T without a referral.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, and the cool thing is we also found a
GI doc, you know, just in case E and T
couldn't do anything and or he was going to refer
We started getting things lined up to escalate if need be.
But the en T was able to take care of
it and next him on. Amazon's pretty cheap, and we're
(08:58):
actually going to try the Amazon brand generic Nexium just
for a comparison because at the end of the day,
it's like seven bucks cheaper a month.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, it's quite a difference. Uh, Nexim is twenty three
dollars and I've been buying the three packs, so it's
you know, fourteen little pills in each. And Amazon. I
was shopping yesterday and I saw the generic Amazon brand
for like fourteen dollars. It was, Yeah, it's quite a
(09:30):
different So we're going to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
And I'm going to be the guinea pig first, so
I'm going to try it before she changes from Nexium
to a generic brand.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
And you know, because I was having issues swallowing I
mean pill, this pill is so tiny, but still I
was afraid to swallow it. And I found for Nexim,
I found a mini one and that's the one I've
been taking. And I'm actually and actually the ones that
I ordered Brian on Amazon, the Amazon brand, they're also
(10:02):
the mini so nice.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
So now that she can, you know, eat solid food
again and she's back behind the mic, hopefully you'll hear
more of us.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah. You know, what, do you think that the hernia
made everything worse?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I think that it helped cause the hernia issue.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Acid in your stomach is I mean, too much acid
can ulcerate, It can actually burn holes in your stomach. Yeah,
and it can cause a lot of damage. And back
to me trying nexium. In my line of work. On Fridays,
I talk a lot and my throat would get raspier
and more more, more gruff than it is now. And
(10:53):
I started thinking back, you know, things happen and you
just like, what a pain, and you just deal with
it and push on. That's my mind. Anyway, I'm very
mission oriented, and when she brought the next scene in
the house, I'm like, you know what, let me give
it a try, because I have hartburn from time to
time and it has actually helped me keep my voice.
(11:14):
Come Friday afternoon, my voice was done. I could barely talk,
and the reduction in acids helped me just speak.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
So yeah, I imagine if if fit helped you, imagine
how it helped me. And he noticed that I was
able to eat. You know, I don't know, it was
just amazing. And you know, I've heard a lot of
people talk about gut health, gut health, and I guess
I didn't. You don't know what you don't know? I
just thought, my good is fine, my gout doesn't hurt,
(11:43):
but you know, it was all the acids and stuff
that was causing everything, and that's good health. So but
also I usually eat a lot of lemons and hot
sauce and saltsa you know, and I've reduced that a lot,
and that has helped me so much as well. So
(12:05):
I've been I've been eating really clean, especially since since
July first.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And you know what, it's funny we're back to eating
clean because years ago when we started the show, we
had a thirty day vegetarian challenge and we went six
months without meat, and we felt that we felt really good.
But a day came along she looked at me and
she said, I want to fish taco. And you know,
we were back onto the meat. But then things start
(12:35):
to deteriorate and we're like, ah, we need to get
back on a cleaner diet. So we do, and and
the point of this story here is we get complacent
in life, and it's easy to stop and have something
to eat that we know we shouldn't have, but just
one's not gonna hurt. But then one turns into two,
and one turns into one a day and we just
(12:58):
start spiraling down until it builds up and our body's like,
all right, no more, and we suffer some sort of
medical issue to the point we're back to eating healthy
yet again.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
If you don't listen to your body when it whispers,
you will have to hear it scream.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
That's the true statement.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Oh my goodness. You know, I felt my body like
if I would sit down the on the floor, it
was really hard for me to get up, and I
would just stay there until Brian came along or I
just had to call out for him, you know, and
just my joints achy and just creaky, and I just
(13:45):
it was awful. But but since I starting to heal
my guts, that's new for me. I'm starting to heal
my gut and I've been eating healthy. I'm not as
stiff as I used to be. I just I feel
like really great.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And well, well, let's we're kind of jumping ahead here.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Okay, So.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
We were able to get the acid under control during
the healing process, she started consuming a lot of ice
cream and other things. Yes, and then our body said what.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Our body said, Hold up, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
So can I start the story? Yeah, Lupe comes into
the studio one day and she's like, does my face
look even? And I'm like, no, it doesn't. Sit down,
and she shows me a video that she had taken
about ten minutes prior, and there was a noticeable droop
on the right side of her face. Her grips were equal,
(14:46):
her pupils were a little little dilated, but equal. They
weren't real reactive, too light. I didn't think it was
a stroke, but it's been a long time since I've
been out of that profession. So she got introduced to
three male firefighters and a female firefighter after I called
nine one one.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Woo woo woo. Okay, let me back it up a
little bit. I was at work and I walked during
my breaks on my lunches when it's not too hot,
and I was sending a snap to my friend. I
have a friend that we just communicate that way on
our breaks, right, and so I was sending her a
(15:30):
snap and I couldn't say a word to save my life.
And I wish I remembered what that word was, but
I tried it like five six times and I just
couldn't say it. It. I just kept slurring it. I
just couldn't say it. But I didn't think anything of
it because I thought, oh my god, brain flog or
I can't. I don't know what I was thinking, but
(15:53):
I didn't think anything of it. And then I got
off work. I went to mar Shoals and while I
was at Marshals, I just got like this sudden hot
flash and I started feeling disoriented and very very anxious,
like I need to get out of here. Where is
(16:15):
the exit? And I was able to calm myself down,
and I after I paid.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And of course you got the shopping.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And let me tell you, let me tell you something funny.
I I okay. So I went to my car and
I was sending a snap to my sisters because when
I was paying this the cashier she was speaking in Spanish,
and I really liked her accent. And I said, Hey,
(16:51):
where are you from? And she's like, oh, Portuguese, and
and then she asked me where I was from, and
I said, oh, I'm Mexican, and she's like, oh, you know,
you come in here a lot and I thought you
were white, and I was like white, you see how
dark I am because of the meds that I'm taking
(17:13):
them out in the sun. And so I've gotten, you know,
dark over the years. And so I went to my
car and I calmed myself down a little bit, and
I was sending a video. I was taking a video
of myself to send it to my sisters. And I
every time I video myself, I like hearing it back,
(17:36):
you know. And I was watching myself and my mouth
was just only one side was moving and my lip
was drooping, and I was like, what is that. It
was so bad, and I'm like, that is that how
I look when I talk. So I went back through
old videos and I definitely had a droop. So what
(18:01):
I probably should have done is called Brian. But instead
of calling Brian, I actually drove to his studio and
I sat down in front of his office and you
know just what he said, and yeah, He's like, oh
my god, you're stroking out. So he called nine one one. Yeah,
(18:24):
so he called nine one one, and you know, he
proceeded to tell them my symptoms and how it's feeling.
And we are on the border of Newport and so
the operators.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Literally across the street. So a couple of things. When
you call nine one one from a cell phone in California,
it actually is answered by the California Highway Patrol. They
figure out what you're doing, where you are, and then
they transfer you to the appropriate dispatch center. So they
(19:01):
transferred us to Newport Beach. Well, across the street is
Newport Beach. We're actually in Irvine. So Newport sends us
to Irvine. Irvine's arguing with Newport over whose.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Issue it was, and Brian he got a little loud
and he's like, guys, I don't know if you threw
an F bomb in there. I think he did. And
he's like, guys, I don't want to hear it. I
just you know, you guys can decide what where we
belong later. You know, I need an ambulance here right now.
(19:37):
And so they apologize and yeah, so it was a
firetruck and an ambulance showed up, and I'm like, all right,
these guys are good looking. Guess who treated me. There
was one lady, the female fire The female she comes
over and I was like, oh man, but she took
(19:57):
my bibles. She my finger, see you know, my sugar
levels everything was normal. My my, what is it when
they do that thing to your arm?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, so her blood pressure was normal, her vitals were normal,
and at this time some of the droop started to
go away. However, she was still slow to answer. She
was still slurring a little bit. And they basically said, look,
you need to go to the hospital. We can put
you in an ambulance. It's here. And me, having worked
(20:30):
in that business, I said, well, we're just going to
Ama and go ourselves if this is going to be
a BLS run, a basic life support run. And they're like, okay,
sign here, and we amade out against medical advice and
drove straight to the er at Hogue and we're fortunate,
so fortunate to have one of the leading neurological hospitals
(20:54):
down the street. And when we get there, the.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Waiting room is, oh my god, it was packed to
the gills.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
And Lupe's like, oh my gosh, I don't want to wait,
let's just go home. I'm like, we're not gonna wait.
Check this out. And the nurse says what's going on?
And I said, possible stroke, right side numbness and she's like, follow.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Me, man. They put me in a wheelchair so fast
we were you know, she checked me in in two
seconds and she's like, okay, don't panic. Well what they okay?
I think she rolled me from her little office. They
put me on a bed and she's like, okay, don't
freak out. You're gonna have like twenty people coming at you.
(21:34):
Oh my goodness. So, you know, she takes me to
the back. Fortunately they let Brian go back with me,
and they're like, okay, take off your shirt, just like
you see on TVY. Take off everything. And they started
taking your vitals, asking questions. You know, the whole works.
And the doctor, you know, he asked me, you know,
(21:59):
do conditions you know, So I said, I'm Cholgrin's how
she motoes. What meds are you on? I told him
what maids I'm on. And I was just paying attention
to the doctor and just he's asking questions. And a
few minutes later, this is really funny to me. A
few minutes later, you know, because you got people checking
your legs, your head, your arms, everything, and I'm finally
(22:24):
and I'm finally aware of a nurse or I'm sorry,
I don't know if he was a nurse, but let's
call him a nurse. I'm finally aware that he's trying
to find a vein on my left arm. And so
I turn and I say to him, are you trying
to find a vein? And he's like, yes, ma'am. And
(22:46):
he said, and I said, you know you're never going
to find a vein in that arm. I'm a very
hard stick. I said, I suggest you try the right
and he's still there, you know, trying to find a
vein until somebody else says, if she says right, go
to her right. They struggled a little bit, but it
was easier. But I don't know. When they poked me,
(23:08):
I didn't feel anything. You know, usually you feel a
little prick.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
But I feel anything because you had twenty people surrounding
you doing all kinds of stuff to you at the
same time.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
I know, and I don't know what kind of needle
or what, but blood just cushed everywhere because I don't
know if they were just rushing panic. Maybe it was me,
but just blood everywhere, you know, from this needle. And
I don't know, I don't know why that happened.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
So before we move on, if we can, I would
like to talk about strokes and the way we always
thought of a stroke is a stroke is to the
brain what a heart attack is to the heart. Every
second counts, and some of the Signs and symptoms of
a stroke are sudden numbness, sudden numbness or weakness, and
(23:58):
face armor, leg especially one side of the body over
the other, confusion, trouble seeing, trouble speaking, trouble walking, difficult
understanding speech, and it's it's a very emergent situation. Unfortunately
here in Orange County pre hospital care, a paramedic can
(24:19):
push drugs to help slow the effects and buy that
time that is so precious while they're transporting you to
the hospital. And when the paramedics said that they were
going to go buy ambulance only BLS Basic Life Support,
that's when I said, we're gonna opt out the EMTs.
All they can do is give oxygen en route and
(24:40):
I'm gonna be probably just as fast as they are
because there's no lights and sirens in a BLS call,
And probably got there a little quicker because you know,
it's my wife and I'm speeding, but you know, we
opted to go that route. But listen, if you're experiencing
these signs or symptoms numbness, can fusion, trouble seeing, trouble walking,
(25:03):
please please call nine to one one immediately. It's better
to call them and have them come out and then
rule stroke out and then make a decision of what
you're gonna do instead of going, oh, it's just nothing,
it's just a headache. I'll be fine, because the longer
that stroke is occurring, the worse the damage is going
to be and to the point of you could have
(25:24):
deficit for the rest of your life, which is what
we don't want.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Well, when they said that, I was okay, all I'm
thinking is, oh my god, how much is it going
to cause for them to take me be an ambulance
to the hospital? Right, I'm like, I don't know. This
is my first time experience anything like this going to
the hospital. I've never been to the hospital thankfully, you know.
So I was freaking out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
And then a basic BLS ride of that distance would
probably be about twelve hundred bucks.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Oh dear lord.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
So you know, us taking the jeep was, in my opinion,
in okay course of action after the paramedics ruled out stroke.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
But they took really good care of me. How long
was I there for?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
We were only there for about three and a half hours,
So from the time we pulled into the time we
pulled out was about three and a half hours and
you know, again having the background in emergency medicine, you know,
I say stroke, they call a code neuro and I
kind of giggled because I knew what Lupe was in
for in her never having been to the er before
(26:33):
or admitted into the hospital. You know, it was going
to be quite the show.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
But I was in my little room. They're like, okay,
take off your clothes, just leave your tonies on. So
so I was gonna get up off the bed and
they're like no, no, no, because they put a bracelet
on me. It was bright yellow and what did it say.
It said something like all precaution. Yeah yeahah, something like
I could fall, and so they wouldn't let me get
(26:59):
out of bed. So there I am anything metal. Well,
you know, I don't know, Brian, you could you could
talk about this. But they pushed some drugs, took my vitals.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, so they got to started under jip. They did
push some drug When it came time for the MRI.
You know, she had to remove everything metal to include
a belly button piercing.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Oh my god, guys, I've had my belly button and
I know I probably should have removed it several years ago,
you know, because hello, I'm older. But I had to
take my earrings everything off, and they're like, do you
have any piercings? And I'm like, yep, I got a
belly ring and I had to take it off. I'm like,
(27:43):
oh my god, I've had it for like twenty five years,
but yeah, I had to remove that.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
So and then she forgot her bobby pins.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Oh wait, I was gonna say that, hold on still,
ye thunder, so that you always do that. And so
then you know, the guy they say, you know, they
ask you a lot of oh my god. So they
asked you a lot of questions like do you have
plates or anything metal in your body, you know from surgery,
And I'm like nope, nope, nope, I'm healthy, nothing, nothing, nothing,
(28:15):
And you know, she's like, oh, that's easy. But still
she had to run through everything, right, do you have this?
Do you have that? Blah blah blah blah blah blah.
And I said no. And then when they're rolling me
over to get the IMRI, I was already in front
of the machine of the room and I forgot I
(28:37):
have like ten bobby pins in my hair because I
kind of I have really short curly hair and I
kind of use it as like a like a headband.
So I was like, oh man, my bobby pins, you know,
because they said nothing metal. They said nothing metal. So
so anyways, good thing that I remember. I took them
(28:58):
off and yeah, so that was fun. So then I
got off the bed and I just looked at this
machine and I just I was kind of okay, but
I started freaking out, you know, because they the guy
laid me down and they put your head on this
(29:27):
block of I don't know, it's just a block It
kind of lifts your head a little bit. And then
they put like this baseball helmet, you know, what goes
in your face for football players, whatever it's called. And
so they so they so your head is on a block,
it's elevated, just bary, and then they put this like
(29:51):
helmet on your face, and so you cannot move your
head to save your life. And I kind of started
panicking a little bit because because of a few things. Right,
who wants to be in a tube, because I don't
know my claustrophobic or right or what right. But and
(30:12):
then as I'm laying there and you know, he started,
you know, putting me in a little bit, and I
have acid reflux, so when I sleep, I never I'm
never laying down. I'm always upright, you know. And so
I kind of started freaking out. My mouth got really dry,
and I could feel maybe in my head, I could
(30:34):
feel the acid reflex right in my throat, and I
was like, oh my god, I'm gonna choke in hear Oh,
I freaked out a little bit. I started kicking my
feet and I was like, ah, I start. You know,
they give you like a little like a little ball
so you could push if you need to get a
hold of the tech. So I started pushing it and
he's like, yes, ma'am, what do you need you need
(30:56):
to get me out? No? No, why why you need
to get me out right now? And I started kicking
my feet. Oh my god, It's like a little tantrum
and I just I freaked out, guys.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
And it's it's easy to do. I'm I don't consider
myself claustrophobic, but I get MRIs about every six months
of the head and yeah, they lock your head down
in that block. And the only way I can get
through it is before they start putting me into the tube.
(31:30):
I have to close my eyes and if I open
my eyes just for a second, it's over. I lose it.
I freak. I'm squeezing the plunger. I'm trying to wiggle
myself out, but my head's stuck in this block and
it's that's the only way I can get through it
is to keep my eyes closed, listen to the rhythm
of the machine. Just think about a blue sky and
(31:52):
clouds floating overhead. I just have to keep my mind
occupied for that fifteen twenty minutes while I'm in the tube.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah. So then and I calmed myself a little bit
and he's like, ma'am, we have to do it again.
I said, do you have to like start over from
the beginning, And he's like, yes, ma'am. And so, you know,
it took a deep breath, and you know, we just
started all over again. I don't know how long I
was in there for. He kept saying, oh, just just
two more minutes, two more minutes. I swear I was
(32:20):
in there for an hour. But I calmed myself down
and he said, just think just happy thoughts. You know,
you're in Hawaii, And I'm like, I can't imagine being
in Hawaii because I've never been to Hawaii, so you know,
but I had all these thoughts, good and bad going
through my mind. But I tried to keep my to
(32:43):
calm myself, just you know, breathe, and uh. I got
through it. I don't know how I got through it,
but I did not open my eyes. I just just
tried to remain calm. And it was really hard because
I mean, you're in this tube and there's no way out.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Well, and then they had to do it twice because
they did it without contrast, and then they pushed contrast
and you had to do another skin with contrast. Oh.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
The nurse before they took me in, she's like, okay,
then they're going to do the contrast. And he's like,
she said, some people feel hot, some people feel cold.
So towards the end, probably the last five minutes, they
pushed that in and I got so cold. I felled
my arm. It was like ice, and you know, my
arm got cold, so then my entire body got cold.
(33:29):
It was really it was really freaky.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
So what did it end up being?
Speaker 1 (33:37):
You know what they said? The doctor said, he came
and he said it was Bell's Pusley Bells. And they
always say it wrong, Bell's pause.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Ley, Bell's palsy.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, And I'm like, what is that and what causes it?
And the what I remember that? He said, Brian, correct
me if I'm wrong. He said that sometimes a couple
of things can cause it. He said stress and inflammation.
And I said, oh, great.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Viral all right?
Speaker 1 (34:11):
And I said, well, shoot, I have both stress and inflammation.
Why do I have inflammation because Cholgrin's.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
A ice cream a.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Day, Yes, Chagrin's B. I mean Chaugrin's a B. I've
been consuming a lot of sugar since I was having
trouble swallowing, and I know that sugar causes inflammation, but
I don't know. I just kept eating it because it
was it was soothing, you know. And and I have
(34:45):
stress because the company that I worked for they got acquired,
the owner sold it and I'm in Orange County and
the they have an office in LA And those of
you not familiar with the area, what is that like
a forty mile difference, Brian?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
It would be about a thirty two mile drive. Yeah.
And now for those of you that live in the Midwest,
that's you know, ten minutes. Here in southern California, it's
a cool you know, hour and a half.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, and so I'm like, I'm not trying to And
I work literally three miles from my house and it
takes me five minutes right to get from my house
to work and vice versa. And I'm like, I'm not
trying to sit in traffic for three hours a day,
and so that has been stressing me out. The unknown.
(35:41):
Of course, they're not going to tell you that you're
moving right right now. They're telling us, Oh, no, we'resuring
we're not moving, we're not moving. But yeah, I already
know we're moving because they moved into a bigger building.
And why would they have to, you know, why would
they be leasing out to It doesn't make sense. So
uh so, yeah, everything that he said, you know, and
(36:02):
then and then he said that we have like a
small nerve behind the ear, like a small wiry nerve
behind the ear that gets inflamed, and sometimes that's what
causes you know, facial droop and bells, pauls, Polly, paulsy,
(36:24):
and that's what causes it. And I'm like, oh my god.
So so he put me on pretazone and what a
wild ride. That was a six day pretazone and you know,
uh six five four three two one, right, the first
(36:46):
day you take six, second day you take five. And
so this happened the whole nine to one one. Everything
happened on a Thursday. I had Friday off for Memorial
Day weekend, so I was going to have Friday and
Monday off and this kind of threw a wrench and
all our plans and so Predo zone it's supposed to
(37:12):
help with inflammation, right, I don't feel that it helped
with inflammation. I it really just made my brain dumb.
It was hard for me to speak. It just numbed
my brain, right, Brian, it did.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
And to the point, you know, I encouraged her to
email her employer and said, look, I'm not one hundred percent.
I can check in, I can work from home, you know, limitedly.
And I believe you did Monday, but you were feeling
better by Tuesday and went in and you were off
(37:49):
of it Wednesday, correct.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yeah. Yeah, And so because you know, well when I
was at the hospital, they pushed a lot of preada zone, right, Yeah,
they gave you.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
I don't know how much they pushed in your IV,
but it was liquid via IV.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah. So that was on Thursday, and then on Friday,
I had to go fill my script, and you know,
I had the best experience because I actually they said, well,
would you like us to send you a prescription? And
I said, oh, can you send it to Costco. I
had never been to Costco, but I usually go to
the pharmacy at Target. But because they told me they
(38:25):
didn't accept my insurance, I said to Costco and I
had the best experience there. I went, I'm here to
fill a script. They're like, oh, it's not ready yet.
Why don't you take a seat and we'll call you over. So,
you know, she called me over. I started taking out
my insurance card and everything, and she's like, no, ma'am,
just handed me the bag. You don't know anything. And
(38:46):
I'm like, I've never been here before, how do you
have my insurance? Well they caught all that from Hogue
and how great experience both at Hogue and at Costco pharmacy.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yeah. So now she's been off the PREDNA zone for
what two weeks?
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Yeah? But you know what, when I was I think
probably my second to my last day. You know, your
mind is getting clear her and I'm still a little
bit slow, but I felt good my body felt good,
because who cares if my brain is following? You know,
I wasn't talking. So I got home and I have
a stationary bike, and I felt really good and I thought,
(39:25):
you know what, I'm gonna hop on my bike. So
I did that two days in a row, and uh,
the following day was Friday, and guys, it knocked me
on my butt. And I don't know if it was
the preda zone that put me into a really big
flare or I don't know if because my body was
(39:46):
went through so much trauma that exercising really knocked me
on my butt.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
And I kind of summed it up to you're dealing
with Bell's palsy, a lot of new medications, you haven't
been great, and then you stretched your body on their bike.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Well I got really bummed because you know, I had
been feeling so great that I bought two tickets to
what was the name of that place, pinos Oh Palette.
You know it's it was a couple's night and you
would paint, well, you went to paint right, and it
(40:26):
was couples. So Brian had the left side, I had
the right side, and then you join him together and
they make a big picture and I was like, I
don't have the energy to do that. But it was expensive.
It was eighty dollars, so I kind of pushed through it,
and I'm glad I did. It was fun, even though
it was hard because I was in pain.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
I had a glass of wine and she had a
hot chocolate the.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
This flare. I haven't flared in a very long time,
and this flare was very painful. Usually when I flare,
I feel really tired and fatigue, and my arms and
my legs they feel like cinder blocks. But that was
not the case this time. But my entire body ached
to the touch, my clothes hurt, the air touching my
(41:15):
skin hurt. It was really bad. Well, Brian didn't know
and he came in for a hug and I was like,
oh my god, I freaked out, Please do not touch me.
It was it was painful. Yeah, that's the preada zone right.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Well, who who knows? You know that was the first
time you've been on prednant zone. Yeah, you know. It's
just one of those things too, when we feel ill
and we're down for a while, when we start feeling better,
it's like, oh, I want to tackle the world, and
you know, you're not one hundred percent yet, and that's
not a great time to tackle anything.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yeah, So I think I did it to myself, the inflammation,
the bells bells, Pauls poles. Yeah, I was thinking. I
told Brian, you know, I think I that to myself.
If it's inflammation and that little wiry nerve behind the
ear that gets inflamed, I'm like, I did that to
myself because of all the ice cream that I've been eating,
(42:10):
you know, and so I swore off of ice cream.
If I if I'm craving ice cream, I'm just gonna
go to thirty one Flavors and just get a scoop
for ten dollars, right, But I'm not keeping it in
the house. I've been eating really healthy since this thing happened,
and I'm going to keep it up because I just
(42:31):
feel good. And now that the preada zone is out
of my system and I'm not achy, I can get
myself off the floor.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Your mind's a little sharper.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
But you know what, guys, I do want to tell
you this. The preada zone, it's supposed to help with inflammation.
I don't know yes or no, But since since the
first of June, I Actually, since you know, I got
the preta zone out my system, I stopped taking it
and I've been taking my meds how they were prescribed,
(43:06):
and because I have a lot of inflammation and I thought,
you know what, I need to get rid of it,
and so I've been taking my meds. I plaq onel.
I'm on a pill called dolo Bit that helps with inflammation,
as does plaqu on el, but both together they're very powerful.
(43:29):
And I'm not in pain. I haven't felt any pain,
although these pills they didn't help with my flare. So
but my inflammation on my fingers, it's going down so much,
to the point where I have a lot of discoloration
(43:52):
on my knuckles. My fingers are just swollen.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
And Brian, right, oh, no, they are. And it's funny,
you know, when we all look down at her fingers,
go ahead, right, her left hand doesn't matter, and we
hold her fingers straight. We see the wrinkles around the joints,
and she's actually marked the line that she can see
(44:17):
closest to the inflammation. And as the inflammation goes down,
she can see more and more creases appear on her finger,
and that's one way she measures how inflamed.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Her hands are well, my fingers aren't flamed to the
tip of my well, my hands are inflamed to the
tip of my finger. And since i've been I don't know,
Like I said, I don't know if it was a
pretozone or maybe it's an nexium. It's a combination of
healing your gut, of being on my mets properly. The inflammation. Yeah,
(44:49):
I have no words for it, but it's helping me
and I'm going to stick to it.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
It really is. And Bell's palsy. From everything we've read,
they think a few things cause it, they don't really
know for sure, and it usually takes care of itself
in time. Loop a being in the er under physicians care,
pushing the prednizone, having the IV, getting that hydration back up,
(45:18):
and everything that they did for her. She was pretty
much back to normal within a couple of days, which
was awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
You know what's funny is that they say preta zone
is supposed to help with inflammation, but I feel like
a marshmallow, Like I felt a little bit inflamed, Like
my face looked like a marshmallow to me, you know,
But slowly it started going away. And I just I'm feeling.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Really good, which is awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
Yeah, So so I wanted to share this with everybody,
and just if you, first of all, don't be like me, right,
do as I say, not as I do. For a
long time, you know, you get tired of taking your meds.
And I probably wasn't taking I know, I wasn't taking
(46:10):
them properly. And the plaquoril, I actually cut it in
half and I will take half in the morning and
half at night, right, And then it got to the
point where, you know what, I'm too lazy to get up.
I'm just not going to take it at night. So
I was just taking my meds in the morning. And
so don't do that because I think the acid reflux,
(46:37):
it's just everything. With time, everything build up. And you
know what happened. What happened to me is I couldn't eat,
you know, So so take your meds as prescribed, eats
healthy as possible, Listen to your body, try to recognize
(47:03):
and don't try to recognize. But if you do recognize,
do not ignore your symptoms. And you know, sometimes you
go to the doctor, they don't listen to you, just
push and push. They have to listen to you, because
I think a lot of the times we forget that
we're the patient. We're the customer, you know what I mean,
(47:23):
we're paying you, you know what I mean? Why why
do we have to take everything they say at face value?
Be your own advocate if possible. I know, sometimes it's hard,
you know, all these things that I listed, it's hard, but.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
It's it's a lot easier to do now than it
used to be. You know, while we are sitting in
the er, we're googling yeah, and we're checking, we're confirming
we I mean, for example, we already had a plan
be established if the ent came back and said surgery, yeah,
and we were, you know, immediately going to go in
(47:58):
for a second opinion. We but no, you have to
be your own advocate. And I've got horror story after
horror story of people not being their own advocate from
my nine one one days and it's you know, our generation.
I'm fifty, We grew up. You listen to the doctor,
you trust the doctor. But with websites like John Hopkins,
(48:23):
which I shared a link in the chat of this episode,
if you're listening on speaker, with websites like the CDC
and the Mayo Clinic, and there's so much information that's
seconds away at our fingertips. And if something doesn't make sense,
ask questions. If your questions aren't answered, you continue to ask.
(48:47):
If they're speaking in medical terms, you ask them to
speak in layman's terms. You leave one hundred percent satisfied
with their explanations and their course of treatment and a
referral if need be. Don't. I don't want to say
don't trust them, but it needs you need to have
(49:09):
an understanding of what they're explaining.
Speaker 1 (49:12):
I always tell the doctor when they're speaking to me
in medical terms, you know, with my showgrens and my
brain fog my brain, my mind doesn't work like it
used to be, and I can't retain all that information,
and so I always tell them, can you dumb it
down for me? I mean, I don't care, just can
you dumb it down for me? You know, talk to
me like I'm five so I could understand it. And
(49:36):
also I always if I'm going to go see a
new doctor, I always ask Brian to go with me.
And you know, thankfully he's been He's always there for me. Brian,
Thank you very much. I really appreciate you for that.
Thank you for always being by my side. And I'm
lucky that I have him and he has a medical background,
you know. And before we go see the doctor, I
(49:59):
actually tell him this is what I want to say.
Maybe I don't know how to say it, but you know,
so he'll tell the doctor on my behalf and you know,
I'm thankful to have him, and.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Yeah, we got each other's back.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
Yeah. So but I'll also remember, I mean, I'm not
bashing on doctors, but at the end of the day,
aren't we all just a file folder? You know when okay,
so check it. This is what I mean by that.
When you're at work and you're at your desk and
you make yourself a little post it note, you know,
so you don't forget something. Eventually it's just the paper
(50:41):
that's there and you kind of forget about it, right,
And I just feel that's just the way I feel.
You know, We're just we're just a file folder to them,
you know, And they don't know you. They just know
what they're reading in a book. You know. Oh, show Wrens,
it's just dry eye and dry mouth. What are you
talking talking about? You have joint pain? Or whatever, you
(51:02):
know what I mean. So, so be your own advocate.
Push push, push, because like I said, we're the patient, we're.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Paying them, we are the customer.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
Yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (51:17):
Know, be respectful, that's that's key, you know, And they
will take the time to make sure you're happy and
you understand what's going on. And you know, if they're
not taking the time to answer your questions and they're
dismissive and they're not, they're not, they're not, that's a
doctor you don't go see again. Yeah, and you know,
(51:39):
you you find somebody who will take the time to
make sure you understand. We can't. It's hard for us
to fix things if we don't understand the full ramifications
of so by them taking the time to answer those questions,
we can better help ourselves and help them treat us
and our conditions. And to base point of the file folder,
(52:02):
it's it's not that we don't care. It's just that
you're the task at hand, Like any task at any job,
when nine to one one would ring and we would
show up, you were our mission for that, you know,
twenty to thirty minutes we interacted with you and as
soon as we delivered you to an er and parted ways.
(52:22):
It's back to water cooler talk with your partner when
you're readying the rig to go back to work, what's
for lunch and what's And it's just.
Speaker 1 (52:31):
While you're working on the patient. I've seen that on TV.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
Oh yeah, there's it. I'm sorry, No, I'm just saying
it's it's you're the task at hand. So it's not
that they don't care. It's the fact that they're collecting
as much information to give you the best diagnosis that
they can. It doesn't mean they're right when a doctor
says this is Bell's palsy. I don't even think your
(52:57):
doctor said that we have diagnosed as bells.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
Yes, yes, it was the.
Speaker 2 (53:03):
It was the most relevant answer given the information that
they were able to.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
Collect, I mean facial group in all right, so that
makes sense. And about a week later I did I
did follow up with the neural right, and he's like, yeah,
everything's normal. You're not presenting any signs of anything. You know,
it piled itself basically right. And the good thing is,
like Brian said, twenty percent chance that it happens again,
(53:31):
So hopefully it won't happen to me again. And what
caused it. I don't know. I don't know. Inflammation and stress.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
So for everybody that would like to see that video,
because I'm sure it's saw a Loupe's phote what hit
her up on Instagram and say please share, please share?
Speaker 1 (53:51):
Oh my god, well I took you know, the video,
you could take a screenshot of the video. And my
my lip is totally droopy. But but guys, I think
we're just going on and on. But yeah, your health
is important and I'm going to repeat little, my little
pull it points right here. Take your medside, prescribed it
(54:14):
as healthy as possible. Listen to your body, because if
you don't listen to your body when it whispers, you
will have to hear it scream and you don't want that.
It's awful. Recognize and if you do recognize, don't ignore
your symptoms and be your own advocate as possible.
Speaker 2 (54:34):
And with all of that having been said
Speaker 1 (54:37):
Until next time, sip constantly and stay hydrated.
We are neither nutritionists or medical providers. The topics discussed
on this show are from our own research and experiences.
Please consult your medical provider before attempting anything discussed on
this show. Welcome to another episode.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Of Show Strong.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This is Brian and this is Lupe, and this is your.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Podcast discussing how to live an active and healthy lifestyle
despite a diagnosis.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
For show grants, Hey, show gies, how you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Did you miss us as much as Lupe has missed
being behind the mic?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hah, it's been a hab minute. It's been about I
think it's two months or close since our last episode. Last.
Our last episode was in April. That it was and
April nineteenth actually, and today is thirteenth, so pretty much.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
To almost two months.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yes, but here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So why you've been slacking?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Oh my god? You know what? I think? I was
just working on myself getting healthy. Last episode we spoke
about I was having issues swallowing and I had gone
to an ant and he did, uh, what do you do? Uh?
(01:31):
He suffer Brian throat, that's it. And then he put
me on an axiom and then he sent me to.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
To get an MRI of your throat yep, while you
were swallowing, while you were breathing.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yes, yes, exactly. But I wanted to give you guys
an update. Appreciate all the A lot of people have
texted me, a lot of people have sent me private
messages and commented on post, and I haven't replied to anybody.
(02:17):
My apologies. I just I was healing myself. I haven't
been one hundred and and that's why. But here we are.
I wanted to give you guys an update because a
lot of you guys have been wondering. And so what
the doctor said, the doctor that took the watch mcaulay
(02:43):
with the bury him, I'm all right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
That it was a solid food and swallow now, but
brain fog is still an issue.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
No, but I mean, you know me and medical terms,
I'm not good with that. But basically he did all
that with the barium and you know, set me on
my way with the disc that a CD that I
that I took to my E N T. And so
it turns out that I have well it was one
(03:19):
of two things. I have really bad acid reflux, which.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Is strange because she doesn't normally complain of heartburn. Well,
you've been living with it for so long, and you've
been on pain meds for so long that you didn't.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I mean, does heartburn hurt? Does it burns?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It's a sound like a flame burn. It's like an
acid burn.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Why I think I've been living there for so long
that I didn't recognize it, right, And I mean I've
had issues swallowing forever, even before I was die knows,
but I thought it was just me, right, But so
acid reflux really bad. And also the E and T
(04:14):
told me that I also have a highattle highattle.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Hernia heidl hernia.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Hyatta, And I'm like, what is that? What even causes that?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So it's minor though in Loupe. And there's a sphincter
at the bottom of our esophagus going into or going
into our stomach that will close so stuff in our
stomach doesn't go up our throat. But because of all
the the damaged tissue from the acid reflux, it's not
(04:50):
quite working. So part of the stomach is on the
north side of that sphincter.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Well, it's a it's a hole in my stomach that
is put No, it's a hole that's pushing my stomach
into my esophagus. Right, what And I mean, it's how
long have I had that? And I mean how long
have I had this issue? That it got so bad
(05:20):
that my throat practically clothes and I wasn't able to swallow.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
She would choke on water.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
It was so bad. I couldn't swallow water. It was painful.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
But when the doctor prescribed ice cream during the healing process,
oh boy, was she a happy girl.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah. I mean, if you've been listening for a while
from the beginning, you know that ice cream is my crack.
And you know I was having issues swallowing. So I
was eating soups and ice cream was really easy for
me to swallow. So I was I was eating too
half gallon swalled gallon right to have ballance the gallon.
But I was eating a lot of ice cream because
(06:03):
it would soothe my throat. It was easy to swallow.
And yeah, so I think and so I was causing
more damage to myself, but I didn't know it at
the time. I just knew it was soothing.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Right. So, but the awesome news is nexium over the
counter has solved all this issue.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Uh. You know what when the ant the first time
I went in, he told me to take nexium, and
I took it for fourteen days and then I think
when the fourteen days were over, I I stopped taking
it for a week until I saw him again. And
(06:45):
during that seven days it was it was hard for
me to swallow again.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, she started coming back.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I'm a lifer again. I'm a lifer. I'm a lifer
on anxium. You know, when I would eat, I would
put a like a cushion or a pillow between the
seat and my back so that I would totally be upright.
I wouldn't be hunched back, hunched over, and that way
I could it be easier for me to swallow, right,
because I thought, if fight it up straight, it's going
(07:15):
to be easier for me to swallow. Yeah, ah, you
did not give me cred. Yeah yeah, but I mean,
you know, because when you eat, you slouched a little bit.
So anyway, since since Brian suggested that that's how I eat,
and you know what's really weird, last week or over
(07:37):
the weekend, I caught myself eating and I didn't prop
myself up, which I'm like, oh my god, I could swallow.
It's I've been on it for how long have I
been on it a month, maybe two. I think I've
been on it for two months, and every day it's
better and better and better, and I expect to feel
better next week, you know. But it's definitely getting easier
(07:58):
and I'm able to swallow basically anything. I'm very thankful.
I'm very thankful to that doctor, to that n T,
because I had brought up the issue to my roommate
and my you know, general practitioner, and they just brushed
it off. You know. It's it's because you don't produce
(08:20):
a live but that's why. But I knew something was wrong.
I knew that it was getting just harder and harder,
you know what I mean. So I'm thankful that I
have PPO and I was able to make myself an
appointment to go to an n T without a referral.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, and the cool thing is we also found a
GI doc, you know, just in case E and T
couldn't do anything and or he was going to refer
We started getting things lined up to escalate if need be.
But the en T was able to take care of
it and next him on. Amazon's pretty cheap, and we're
(08:58):
actually going to try the Amazon brand generic Nexium just
for a comparison because at the end of the day,
it's like seven bucks cheaper a month.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, it's quite a difference. Uh, Nexim is twenty three
dollars and I've been buying the three packs, so it's
you know, fourteen little pills in each. And Amazon. I
was shopping yesterday and I saw the generic Amazon brand
for like fourteen dollars. It was, Yeah, it's quite a
(09:30):
different So we're going to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
And I'm going to be the guinea pig first, so
I'm going to try it before she changes from Nexium
to a generic brand.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
And you know, because I was having issues swallowing I
mean pill, this pill is so tiny, but still I
was afraid to swallow it. And I found for Nexim,
I found a mini one and that's the one I've
been taking. And I'm actually and actually the ones that
I ordered Brian on Amazon, the Amazon brand, they're also
(10:02):
the mini so nice.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
So now that she can, you know, eat solid food
again and she's back behind the mic, hopefully you'll hear
more of us.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah. You know, what, do you think that the hernia
made everything worse?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I think that it helped cause the hernia issue.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Acid in your stomach is I mean, too much acid
can ulcerate, It can actually burn holes in your stomach. Yeah,
and it can cause a lot of damage. And back
to me trying nexium. In my line of work. On Fridays,
I talk a lot and my throat would get raspier
and more more, more gruff than it is now. And
(10:53):
I started thinking back, you know, things happen and you
just like, what a pain, and you just deal with
it and push on. That's my mind. Anyway, I'm very
mission oriented, and when she brought the next scene in
the house, I'm like, you know what, let me give
it a try, because I have hartburn from time to
time and it has actually helped me keep my voice.
(11:14):
Come Friday afternoon, my voice was done. I could barely talk,
and the reduction in acids helped me just speak.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
So yeah, I imagine if if fit helped you, imagine
how it helped me. And he noticed that I was
able to eat. You know, I don't know, it was
just amazing. And you know, I've heard a lot of
people talk about gut health, gut health, and I guess
I didn't. You don't know what you don't know? I
just thought, my good is fine, my gout doesn't hurt,
(11:43):
but you know, it was all the acids and stuff
that was causing everything, and that's good health. So but
also I usually eat a lot of lemons and hot
sauce and saltsa you know, and I've reduced that a lot,
and that has helped me so much as well. So
(12:05):
I've been I've been eating really clean, especially since since
July first.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And you know what, it's funny we're back to eating
clean because years ago when we started the show, we
had a thirty day vegetarian challenge and we went six
months without meat, and we felt that we felt really good.
But a day came along she looked at me and
she said, I want to fish taco. And you know,
we were back onto the meat. But then things start
(12:35):
to deteriorate and we're like, ah, we need to get
back on a cleaner diet. So we do, and and
the point of this story here is we get complacent
in life, and it's easy to stop and have something
to eat that we know we shouldn't have, but just
one's not gonna hurt. But then one turns into two,
and one turns into one a day and we just
(12:58):
start spiraling down until it builds up and our body's like,
all right, no more, and we suffer some sort of
medical issue to the point we're back to eating healthy
yet again.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
If you don't listen to your body when it whispers,
you will have to hear it scream.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
That's the true statement.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Oh my goodness. You know, I felt my body like
if I would sit down the on the floor, it
was really hard for me to get up, and I
would just stay there until Brian came along or I
just had to call out for him, you know, and
just my joints achy and just creaky, and I just
(13:45):
it was awful. But but since I starting to heal
my guts, that's new for me. I'm starting to heal
my gut and I've been eating healthy. I'm not as
stiff as I used to be. I just I feel
like really great.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And well, well, let's we're kind of jumping ahead here.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Okay, So.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
We were able to get the acid under control during
the healing process, she started consuming a lot of ice
cream and other things. Yes, and then our body said what.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Our body said, Hold up, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
So can I start the story? Yeah, Lupe comes into
the studio one day and she's like, does my face
look even? And I'm like, no, it doesn't. Sit down,
and she shows me a video that she had taken
about ten minutes prior, and there was a noticeable droop
on the right side of her face. Her grips were equal,
(14:46):
her pupils were a little little dilated, but equal. They
weren't real reactive, too light. I didn't think it was
a stroke, but it's been a long time since I've
been out of that profession. So she got introduced to
three male firefighters and a female firefighter after I called
nine one one.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Woo woo woo. Okay, let me back it up a
little bit. I was at work and I walked during
my breaks on my lunches when it's not too hot,
and I was sending a snap to my friend. I
have a friend that we just communicate that way on
our breaks, right, and so I was sending her a
(15:30):
snap and I couldn't say a word to save my life.
And I wish I remembered what that word was, but
I tried it like five six times and I just
couldn't say it. It. I just kept slurring it. I
just couldn't say it. But I didn't think anything of
it because I thought, oh my god, brain flog or
I can't. I don't know what I was thinking, but
(15:53):
I didn't think anything of it. And then I got
off work. I went to mar Shoals and while I
was at Marshals, I just got like this sudden hot
flash and I started feeling disoriented and very very anxious,
like I need to get out of here. Where is
(16:15):
the exit? And I was able to calm myself down,
and I after I paid.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And of course you got the shopping.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And let me tell you, let me tell you something funny.
I I okay. So I went to my car and
I was sending a snap to my sisters because when
I was paying this the cashier she was speaking in Spanish,
and I really liked her accent. And I said, Hey,
(16:51):
where are you from? And she's like, oh, Portuguese, and
and then she asked me where I was from, and
I said, oh, I'm Mexican, and she's like, oh, you know,
you come in here a lot and I thought you
were white, and I was like white, you see how
dark I am because of the meds that I'm taking
(17:13):
them out in the sun. And so I've gotten, you know,
dark over the years. And so I went to my
car and I calmed myself down a little bit, and
I was sending a video. I was taking a video
of myself to send it to my sisters. And I
every time I video myself, I like hearing it back,
(17:36):
you know. And I was watching myself and my mouth
was just only one side was moving and my lip
was drooping, and I was like, what is that. It
was so bad, and I'm like, that is that how
I look when I talk. So I went back through
old videos and I definitely had a droop. So what
(18:01):
I probably should have done is called Brian. But instead
of calling Brian, I actually drove to his studio and
I sat down in front of his office and you
know just what he said, and yeah, He's like, oh
my god, you're stroking out. So he called nine one one. Yeah,
(18:24):
so he called nine one one, and you know, he
proceeded to tell them my symptoms and how it's feeling.
And we are on the border of Newport and so
the operators.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Literally across the street. So a couple of things. When
you call nine one one from a cell phone in California,
it actually is answered by the California Highway Patrol. They
figure out what you're doing, where you are, and then
they transfer you to the appropriate dispatch center. So they
(19:01):
transferred us to Newport Beach. Well, across the street is
Newport Beach. We're actually in Irvine. So Newport sends us
to Irvine. Irvine's arguing with Newport over whose.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Issue it was, and Brian he got a little loud
and he's like, guys, I don't know if you threw
an F bomb in there. I think he did. And
he's like, guys, I don't want to hear it. I
just you know, you guys can decide what where we
belong later. You know, I need an ambulance here right now.
(19:37):
And so they apologize and yeah, so it was a
firetruck and an ambulance showed up, and I'm like, all right,
these guys are good looking. Guess who treated me. There
was one lady, the female fire The female she comes
over and I was like, oh man, but she took
(19:57):
my bibles. She my finger, see you know, my sugar
levels everything was normal. My my, what is it when
they do that thing to your arm?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, so her blood pressure was normal, her vitals were normal,
and at this time some of the droop started to
go away. However, she was still slow to answer. She
was still slurring a little bit. And they basically said, look,
you need to go to the hospital. We can put
you in an ambulance. It's here. And me, having worked
(20:30):
in that business, I said, well, we're just going to
Ama and go ourselves if this is going to be
a BLS run, a basic life support run. And they're like, okay,
sign here, and we amade out against medical advice and
drove straight to the er at Hogue and we're fortunate,
so fortunate to have one of the leading neurological hospitals
(20:54):
down the street. And when we get there, the.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Waiting room is, oh my god, it was packed to
the gills.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
And Lupe's like, oh my gosh, I don't want to wait,
let's just go home. I'm like, we're not gonna wait.
Check this out. And the nurse says what's going on?
And I said, possible stroke, right side numbness and she's like, follow.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Me, man. They put me in a wheelchair so fast
we were you know, she checked me in in two
seconds and she's like, okay, don't panic. Well what they okay?
I think she rolled me from her little office. They
put me on a bed and she's like, okay, don't
freak out. You're gonna have like twenty people coming at you.
(21:34):
Oh my goodness. So, you know, she takes me to
the back. Fortunately they let Brian go back with me,
and they're like, okay, take off your shirt, just like
you see on TVY. Take off everything. And they started
taking your vitals, asking questions. You know, the whole works.
And the doctor, you know, he asked me, you know,
(21:59):
do conditions you know, So I said, I'm Cholgrin's how
she motoes. What meds are you on? I told him
what maids I'm on. And I was just paying attention
to the doctor and just he's asking questions. And a
few minutes later, this is really funny to me. A
few minutes later, you know, because you got people checking
your legs, your head, your arms, everything, and I'm finally
(22:24):
and I'm finally aware of a nurse or I'm sorry,
I don't know if he was a nurse, but let's
call him a nurse. I'm finally aware that he's trying
to find a vein on my left arm. And so
I turn and I say to him, are you trying
to find a vein? And he's like, yes, ma'am. And
(22:46):
he said, and I said, you know you're never going
to find a vein in that arm. I'm a very
hard stick. I said, I suggest you try the right
and he's still there, you know, trying to find a
vein until somebody else says, if she says right, go
to her right. They struggled a little bit, but it
was easier. But I don't know. When they poked me,
(23:08):
I didn't feel anything. You know, usually you feel a
little prick.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
But I feel anything because you had twenty people surrounding
you doing all kinds of stuff to you at the
same time.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
I know, and I don't know what kind of needle
or what, but blood just cushed everywhere because I don't
know if they were just rushing panic. Maybe it was me,
but just blood everywhere, you know, from this needle. And
I don't know, I don't know why that happened.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
So before we move on, if we can, I would
like to talk about strokes and the way we always
thought of a stroke is a stroke is to the
brain what a heart attack is to the heart. Every
second counts, and some of the Signs and symptoms of
a stroke are sudden numbness, sudden numbness or weakness, and
(23:58):
face armor, leg especially one side of the body over
the other, confusion, trouble seeing, trouble speaking, trouble walking, difficult
understanding speech, and it's it's a very emergent situation. Unfortunately
here in Orange County pre hospital care, a paramedic can
(24:19):
push drugs to help slow the effects and buy that
time that is so precious while they're transporting you to
the hospital. And when the paramedics said that they were
going to go buy ambulance only BLS Basic Life Support,
that's when I said, we're gonna opt out the EMTs.
All they can do is give oxygen en route and
(24:40):
I'm gonna be probably just as fast as they are
because there's no lights and sirens in a BLS call,
And probably got there a little quicker because you know,
it's my wife and I'm speeding, but you know, we
opted to go that route. But listen, if you're experiencing
these signs or symptoms numbness, can fusion, trouble seeing, trouble walking,
(25:03):
please please call nine to one one immediately. It's better
to call them and have them come out and then
rule stroke out and then make a decision of what
you're gonna do instead of going, oh, it's just nothing,
it's just a headache. I'll be fine, because the longer
that stroke is occurring, the worse the damage is going
to be and to the point of you could have
(25:24):
deficit for the rest of your life, which is what
we don't want.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Well, when they said that, I was okay, all I'm
thinking is, oh my god, how much is it going
to cause for them to take me be an ambulance
to the hospital? Right, I'm like, I don't know. This
is my first time experience anything like this going to
the hospital. I've never been to the hospital thankfully, you know.
So I was freaking out a little bit.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
And then a basic BLS ride of that distance would
probably be about twelve hundred bucks.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Oh dear lord.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
So you know, us taking the jeep was, in my opinion,
in okay course of action after the paramedics ruled out stroke.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
But they took really good care of me. How long
was I there for?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
We were only there for about three and a half hours,
So from the time we pulled into the time we
pulled out was about three and a half hours and
you know, again having the background in emergency medicine, you know,
I say stroke, they call a code neuro and I
kind of giggled because I knew what Lupe was in
for in her never having been to the er before
(26:33):
or admitted into the hospital. You know, it was going
to be quite the show.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
But I was in my little room. They're like, okay,
take off your clothes, just leave your tonies on. So
so I was gonna get up off the bed and
they're like no, no, no, because they put a bracelet
on me. It was bright yellow and what did it say.
It said something like all precaution. Yeah yeahah, something like
I could fall, and so they wouldn't let me get
(26:59):
out of bed. So there I am anything metal. Well,
you know, I don't know, Brian, you could you could
talk about this. But they pushed some drugs, took my vitals.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, so they got to started under jip. They did
push some drug When it came time for the MRI.
You know, she had to remove everything metal to include
a belly button piercing.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Oh my god, guys, I've had my belly button and
I know I probably should have removed it several years ago,
you know, because hello, I'm older. But I had to
take my earrings everything off, and they're like, do you
have any piercings? And I'm like, yep, I got a
belly ring and I had to take it off. I'm like,
(27:43):
oh my god, I've had it for like twenty five years,
but yeah, I had to remove that.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
So and then she forgot her bobby pins.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Oh wait, I was gonna say that, hold on still,
ye thunder, so that you always do that. And so
then you know, the guy they say, you know, they
ask you a lot of oh my god. So they
asked you a lot of questions like do you have
plates or anything metal in your body, you know from surgery,
And I'm like nope, nope, nope, I'm healthy, nothing, nothing, nothing,
(28:15):
And you know, she's like, oh, that's easy. But still
she had to run through everything, right, do you have this?
Do you have that? Blah blah blah blah blah blah.
And I said no. And then when they're rolling me
over to get the IMRI, I was already in front
of the machine of the room and I forgot I
(28:37):
have like ten bobby pins in my hair because I
kind of I have really short curly hair and I
kind of use it as like a like a headband.
So I was like, oh man, my bobby pins, you know,
because they said nothing metal. They said nothing metal. So
so anyways, good thing that I remember. I took them
(28:58):
off and yeah, so that was fun. So then I
got off the bed and I just looked at this
machine and I just I was kind of okay, but
I started freaking out, you know, because they the guy
laid me down and they put your head on this
(29:27):
block of I don't know, it's just a block It
kind of lifts your head a little bit. And then
they put like this baseball helmet, you know, what goes
in your face for football players, whatever it's called. And
so they so they so your head is on a block,
it's elevated, just bary, and then they put this like
(29:51):
helmet on your face, and so you cannot move your
head to save your life. And I kind of started
panicking a little bit because because of a few things. Right,
who wants to be in a tube, because I don't
know my claustrophobic or right or what right. But and
(30:12):
then as I'm laying there and you know, he started,
you know, putting me in a little bit, and I
have acid reflux, so when I sleep, I never I'm
never laying down. I'm always upright, you know. And so
I kind of started freaking out. My mouth got really dry,
and I could feel maybe in my head, I could
(30:34):
feel the acid reflex right in my throat, and I
was like, oh my god, I'm gonna choke in hear Oh,
I freaked out a little bit. I started kicking my
feet and I was like, ah, I start. You know,
they give you like a little like a little ball
so you could push if you need to get a
hold of the tech. So I started pushing it and
he's like, yes, ma'am, what do you need you need
(30:56):
to get me out? No? No, why why you need
to get me out right now? And I started kicking
my feet. Oh my god, It's like a little tantrum
and I just I freaked out, guys.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
And it's it's easy to do. I'm I don't consider
myself claustrophobic, but I get MRIs about every six months
of the head and yeah, they lock your head down
in that block. And the only way I can get
through it is before they start putting me into the tube.
(31:30):
I have to close my eyes and if I open
my eyes just for a second, it's over. I lose it.
I freak. I'm squeezing the plunger. I'm trying to wiggle
myself out, but my head's stuck in this block and
it's that's the only way I can get through it
is to keep my eyes closed, listen to the rhythm
of the machine. Just think about a blue sky and
(31:52):
clouds floating overhead. I just have to keep my mind
occupied for that fifteen twenty minutes while I'm in the tube.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah. So then and I calmed myself a little bit
and he's like, ma'am, we have to do it again.
I said, do you have to like start over from
the beginning, And he's like, yes, ma'am. And so, you know,
it took a deep breath, and you know, we just
started all over again. I don't know how long I
was in there for. He kept saying, oh, just just
two more minutes, two more minutes. I swear I was
(32:20):
in there for an hour. But I calmed myself down
and he said, just think just happy thoughts. You know,
you're in Hawaii, And I'm like, I can't imagine being
in Hawaii because I've never been to Hawaii, so you know,
but I had all these thoughts, good and bad going
through my mind. But I tried to keep my to
(32:43):
calm myself, just you know, breathe, and uh. I got
through it. I don't know how I got through it,
but I did not open my eyes. I just just
tried to remain calm. And it was really hard because
I mean, you're in this tube and there's no way out.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Well, and then they had to do it twice because
they did it without contrast, and then they pushed contrast
and you had to do another skin with contrast. Oh.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
The nurse before they took me in, she's like, okay,
then they're going to do the contrast. And he's like,
she said, some people feel hot, some people feel cold.
So towards the end, probably the last five minutes, they
pushed that in and I got so cold. I felled
my arm. It was like ice, and you know, my
arm got cold, so then my entire body got cold.
(33:29):
It was really it was really freaky.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
So what did it end up being?
Speaker 1 (33:37):
You know what they said? The doctor said, he came
and he said it was Bell's Pusley Bells. And they
always say it wrong, Bell's pause.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Ley, Bell's palsy.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, And I'm like, what is that and what causes it?
And the what I remember that? He said, Brian, correct
me if I'm wrong. He said that sometimes a couple
of things can cause it. He said stress and inflammation.
And I said, oh, great.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Viral all right?
Speaker 1 (34:11):
And I said, well, shoot, I have both stress and inflammation.
Why do I have inflammation because Cholgrin's.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
A ice cream a.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Day, Yes, Chagrin's B. I mean Chaugrin's a B. I've
been consuming a lot of sugar since I was having
trouble swallowing, and I know that sugar causes inflammation, but
I don't know. I just kept eating it because it
was it was soothing, you know. And and I have
(34:45):
stress because the company that I worked for they got acquired,
the owner sold it and I'm in Orange County and
the they have an office in LA And those of
you not familiar with the area, what is that like
a forty mile difference, Brian?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
It would be about a thirty two mile drive. Yeah.
And now for those of you that live in the Midwest,
that's you know, ten minutes. Here in southern California, it's
a cool you know, hour and a half.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, and so I'm like, I'm not trying to And
I work literally three miles from my house and it
takes me five minutes right to get from my house
to work and vice versa. And I'm like, I'm not
trying to sit in traffic for three hours a day,
and so that has been stressing me out. The unknown.
(35:41):
Of course, they're not going to tell you that you're
moving right right now. They're telling us, Oh, no, we'resuring
we're not moving, we're not moving. But yeah, I already
know we're moving because they moved into a bigger building.
And why would they have to, you know, why would
they be leasing out to It doesn't make sense. So
uh so, yeah, everything that he said, you know, and
(36:02):
then and then he said that we have like a
small nerve behind the ear, like a small wiry nerve
behind the ear that gets inflamed, and sometimes that's what
causes you know, facial droop and bells, pauls, Polly, paulsy,
(36:24):
and that's what causes it. And I'm like, oh my god.
So so he put me on pretazone and what a
wild ride. That was a six day pretazone and you know,
uh six five four three two one, right, the first
(36:46):
day you take six, second day you take five. And
so this happened the whole nine to one one. Everything
happened on a Thursday. I had Friday off for Memorial
Day weekend, so I was going to have Friday and
Monday off and this kind of threw a wrench and
all our plans and so Predo zone it's supposed to
(37:12):
help with inflammation, right, I don't feel that it helped
with inflammation. I it really just made my brain dumb.
It was hard for me to speak. It just numbed
my brain, right, Brian, it did.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
And to the point, you know, I encouraged her to
email her employer and said, look, I'm not one hundred percent.
I can check in, I can work from home, you know, limitedly.
And I believe you did Monday, but you were feeling
better by Tuesday and went in and you were off
(37:49):
of it Wednesday, correct.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yeah. Yeah, And so because you know, well when I
was at the hospital, they pushed a lot of preada zone, right, Yeah,
they gave you.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
I don't know how much they pushed in your IV,
but it was liquid via IV.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah. So that was on Thursday, and then on Friday,
I had to go fill my script, and you know,
I had the best experience because I actually they said, well,
would you like us to send you a prescription? And
I said, oh, can you send it to Costco. I
had never been to Costco, but I usually go to
the pharmacy at Target. But because they told me they
(38:25):
didn't accept my insurance, I said to Costco and I
had the best experience there. I went, I'm here to
fill a script. They're like, oh, it's not ready yet.
Why don't you take a seat and we'll call you over. So,
you know, she called me over. I started taking out
my insurance card and everything, and she's like, no, ma'am,
just handed me the bag. You don't know anything. And
(38:46):
I'm like, I've never been here before, how do you
have my insurance? Well they caught all that from Hogue
and how great experience both at Hogue and at Costco pharmacy.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yeah. So now she's been off the PREDNA zone for
what two weeks?
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Yeah? But you know what, when I was I think
probably my second to my last day. You know, your
mind is getting clear her and I'm still a little
bit slow, but I felt good my body felt good,
because who cares if my brain is following? You know,
I wasn't talking. So I got home and I have
a stationary bike, and I felt really good and I thought,
(39:25):
you know what, I'm gonna hop on my bike. So
I did that two days in a row, and uh,
the following day was Friday, and guys, it knocked me
on my butt. And I don't know if it was
the preda zone that put me into a really big
flare or I don't know if because my body was
(39:46):
went through so much trauma that exercising really knocked me
on my butt.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
And I kind of summed it up to you're dealing
with Bell's palsy, a lot of new medications, you haven't
been great, and then you stretched your body on their bike.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Well I got really bummed because you know, I had
been feeling so great that I bought two tickets to
what was the name of that place, pinos Oh Palette.
You know it's it was a couple's night and you
would paint, well, you went to paint right, and it
(40:26):
was couples. So Brian had the left side, I had
the right side, and then you join him together and
they make a big picture and I was like, I
don't have the energy to do that. But it was expensive.
It was eighty dollars, so I kind of pushed through it,
and I'm glad I did. It was fun, even though
it was hard because I was in pain.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
I had a glass of wine and she had a
hot chocolate the.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
This flare. I haven't flared in a very long time,
and this flare was very painful. Usually when I flare,
I feel really tired and fatigue, and my arms and
my legs they feel like cinder blocks. But that was
not the case this time. But my entire body ached
to the touch, my clothes hurt, the air touching my
(41:15):
skin hurt. It was really bad. Well, Brian didn't know
and he came in for a hug and I was like,
oh my god, I freaked out, Please do not touch me.
It was it was painful. Yeah, that's the preada zone right.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Well, who who knows? You know that was the first
time you've been on prednant zone. Yeah, you know. It's
just one of those things too, when we feel ill
and we're down for a while, when we start feeling better,
it's like, oh, I want to tackle the world, and
you know, you're not one hundred percent yet, and that's
not a great time to tackle anything.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yeah, So I think I did it to myself, the inflammation,
the bells bells, Pauls poles. Yeah, I was thinking. I
told Brian, you know, I think I that to myself.
If it's inflammation and that little wiry nerve behind the
ear that gets inflamed, I'm like, I did that to
myself because of all the ice cream that I've been eating,
(42:10):
you know, and so I swore off of ice cream.
If I if I'm craving ice cream, I'm just gonna
go to thirty one Flavors and just get a scoop
for ten dollars, right, But I'm not keeping it in
the house. I've been eating really healthy since this thing happened,
and I'm going to keep it up because I just
(42:31):
feel good. And now that the preada zone is out
of my system and I'm not achy, I can get
myself off the floor.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Your mind's a little sharper.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
But you know what, guys, I do want to tell
you this. The preada zone, it's supposed to help with inflammation.
I don't know yes or no, But since since the
first of June, I Actually, since you know, I got
the preta zone out my system, I stopped taking it
and I've been taking my meds how they were prescribed,
(43:06):
and because I have a lot of inflammation and I thought,
you know what, I need to get rid of it,
and so I've been taking my meds. I plaq onel.
I'm on a pill called dolo Bit that helps with inflammation,
as does plaqu on el, but both together they're very powerful.
(43:29):
And I'm not in pain. I haven't felt any pain,
although these pills they didn't help with my flare. So
but my inflammation on my fingers, it's going down so much,
to the point where I have a lot of discoloration
(43:52):
on my knuckles. My fingers are just swollen.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
And Brian, right, oh, no, they are. And it's funny,
you know, when we all look down at her fingers,
go ahead, right, her left hand doesn't matter, and we
hold her fingers straight. We see the wrinkles around the joints,
and she's actually marked the line that she can see
(44:17):
closest to the inflammation. And as the inflammation goes down,
she can see more and more creases appear on her finger,
and that's one way she measures how inflamed.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Her hands are well, my fingers aren't flamed to the
tip of my well, my hands are inflamed to the
tip of my finger. And since i've been I don't know,
Like I said, I don't know if it was a
pretozone or maybe it's an nexium. It's a combination of
healing your gut, of being on my mets properly. The inflammation. Yeah,
(44:49):
I have no words for it, but it's helping me
and I'm going to stick to it.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
It really is. And Bell's palsy. From everything we've read,
they think a few things cause it, they don't really
know for sure, and it usually takes care of itself
in time. Loop a being in the er under physicians care,
pushing the prednizone, having the IV, getting that hydration back up,
(45:18):
and everything that they did for her. She was pretty
much back to normal within a couple of days, which
was awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
You know what's funny is that they say preta zone
is supposed to help with inflammation, but I feel like
a marshmallow, Like I felt a little bit inflamed, Like
my face looked like a marshmallow to me, you know,
But slowly it started going away. And I just I'm feeling.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Really good, which is awesome.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
Yeah, So so I wanted to share this with everybody,
and just if you, first of all, don't be like me, right,
do as I say, not as I do. For a
long time, you know, you get tired of taking your meds.
And I probably wasn't taking I know, I wasn't taking
(46:10):
them properly. And the plaquoril, I actually cut it in
half and I will take half in the morning and
half at night, right, And then it got to the
point where, you know what, I'm too lazy to get up.
I'm just not going to take it at night. So
I was just taking my meds in the morning. And
so don't do that because I think the acid reflux,
(46:37):
it's just everything. With time, everything build up. And you
know what happened. What happened to me is I couldn't eat,
you know, So so take your meds as prescribed, eats
healthy as possible, Listen to your body, try to recognize
(47:03):
and don't try to recognize. But if you do recognize,
do not ignore your symptoms. And you know, sometimes you
go to the doctor, they don't listen to you, just
push and push. They have to listen to you, because
I think a lot of the times we forget that
we're the patient. We're the customer, you know what I mean,
(47:23):
we're paying you, you know what I mean? Why why
do we have to take everything they say at face value?
Be your own advocate if possible. I know, sometimes it's hard,
you know, all these things that I listed, it's hard, but.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
It's it's a lot easier to do now than it
used to be. You know, while we are sitting in
the er, we're googling yeah, and we're checking, we're confirming
we I mean, for example, we already had a plan
be established if the ent came back and said surgery, yeah,
and we were, you know, immediately going to go in
(47:58):
for a second opinion. We but no, you have to
be your own advocate. And I've got horror story after
horror story of people not being their own advocate from
my nine one one days and it's you know, our generation.
I'm fifty, We grew up. You listen to the doctor,
you trust the doctor. But with websites like John Hopkins,
(48:23):
which I shared a link in the chat of this episode,
if you're listening on speaker, with websites like the CDC
and the Mayo Clinic, and there's so much information that's
seconds away at our fingertips. And if something doesn't make sense,
ask questions. If your questions aren't answered, you continue to ask.
(48:47):
If they're speaking in medical terms, you ask them to
speak in layman's terms. You leave one hundred percent satisfied
with their explanations and their course of treatment and a
referral if need be. Don't. I don't want to say
don't trust them, but it needs you need to have
(49:09):
an understanding of what they're explaining.
Speaker 1 (49:12):
I always tell the doctor when they're speaking to me
in medical terms, you know, with my showgrens and my
brain fog my brain, my mind doesn't work like it
used to be, and I can't retain all that information,
and so I always tell them, can you dumb it
down for me? I mean, I don't care, just can
you dumb it down for me? You know, talk to
me like I'm five so I could understand it. And
(49:36):
also I always if I'm going to go see a
new doctor, I always ask Brian to go with me.
And you know, thankfully he's been He's always there for me. Brian,
Thank you very much. I really appreciate you for that.
Thank you for always being by my side. And I'm
lucky that I have him and he has a medical background,
you know. And before we go see the doctor, I
(49:59):
actually tell him this is what I want to say.
Maybe I don't know how to say it, but you know,
so he'll tell the doctor on my behalf and you know,
I'm thankful to have him, and.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Yeah, we got each other's back.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
Yeah. So but I'll also remember, I mean, I'm not
bashing on doctors, but at the end of the day,
aren't we all just a file folder? You know when okay,
so check it. This is what I mean by that.
When you're at work and you're at your desk and
you make yourself a little post it note, you know,
so you don't forget something. Eventually it's just the paper
(50:41):
that's there and you kind of forget about it, right,
And I just feel that's just the way I feel.
You know, We're just we're just a file folder to them,
you know, And they don't know you. They just know
what they're reading in a book. You know. Oh, show Wrens,
it's just dry eye and dry mouth. What are you
talking talking about? You have joint pain? Or whatever, you
(51:02):
know what I mean. So, so be your own advocate.
Push push, push, because like I said, we're the patient, we're.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Paying them, we are the customer.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
Yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (51:17):
Know, be respectful, that's that's key, you know, And they
will take the time to make sure you're happy and
you understand what's going on. And you know, if they're
not taking the time to answer your questions and they're
dismissive and they're not, they're not, they're not, that's a
doctor you don't go see again. Yeah, and you know,
(51:39):
you you find somebody who will take the time to
make sure you understand. We can't. It's hard for us
to fix things if we don't understand the full ramifications
of so by them taking the time to answer those questions,
we can better help ourselves and help them treat us
and our conditions. And to base point of the file folder,
(52:02):
it's it's not that we don't care. It's just that
you're the task at hand, Like any task at any job,
when nine to one one would ring and we would
show up, you were our mission for that, you know,
twenty to thirty minutes we interacted with you and as
soon as we delivered you to an er and parted ways.
(52:22):
It's back to water cooler talk with your partner when
you're readying the rig to go back to work, what's
for lunch and what's And it's just.
Speaker 1 (52:31):
While you're working on the patient. I've seen that on TV.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
Oh yeah, there's it. I'm sorry, No, I'm just saying
it's it's you're the task at hand. So it's not
that they don't care. It's the fact that they're collecting
as much information to give you the best diagnosis that
they can. It doesn't mean they're right when a doctor
says this is Bell's palsy. I don't even think your
(52:57):
doctor said that we have diagnosed as bells.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
Yes, yes, it was the.
Speaker 2 (53:03):
It was the most relevant answer given the information that
they were able to.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
Collect, I mean facial group in all right, so that
makes sense. And about a week later I did I
did follow up with the neural right, and he's like, yeah,
everything's normal. You're not presenting any signs of anything. You know,
it piled itself basically right. And the good thing is,
like Brian said, twenty percent chance that it happens again,
(53:31):
So hopefully it won't happen to me again. And what
caused it. I don't know. I don't know. Inflammation and stress.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
So for everybody that would like to see that video,
because I'm sure it's saw a Loupe's phote what hit
her up on Instagram and say please share, please share?
Speaker 1 (53:51):
Oh my god, well I took you know, the video,
you could take a screenshot of the video. And my
my lip is totally droopy. But but guys, I think
we're just going on and on. But yeah, your health
is important and I'm going to repeat little, my little
pull it points right here. Take your medside, prescribed it
(54:14):
as healthy as possible. Listen to your body, because if
you don't listen to your body when it whispers, you
will have to hear it scream and you don't want that.
It's awful. Recognize and if you do recognize, don't ignore
your symptoms and be your own advocate as possible.
Speaker 2 (54:34):
And with all of that having been said
Speaker 1 (54:37):
Until next time, sip constantly and stay hydrated.
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