johnnyhongkong says…

An explanation on the light posting: after my brief burst of Chris Rock related posts, cinetrix and ‘Fesser came to town. Of course we made a trip to Lou and then shortly thereafter, my G.I blues returned.

that's in my stomach?

The results of my biopsy came back last week and it turns out that I have a bacterial infection in my gut called H. Pylori.

The doctor is unsure if this or the hiatal hernia is causing my vomitting spells but since H. Pylori is linked to gastritis, peptic ulcer, and stomach cancer, it’s probably best to get rid of the motherfuckers. He prescribed a two week course of Prevpak, a combination treatment of Prevacid, Biaxin, and Amoxicillin.

This Prevpak crap cost $180 (insurance only picked up $150 of the total cost) and it is a combination of the three drugs only in that they come in twice daily blister packs (presumably the “pak” part of the name).

So over the past three days, I’ve been on a total 3,000 mg of antibiotics and 100 mg of antacids each day.

3,000 mg!

When I had pneumonia a few years ago, I was only on 1,000 mg of amoxicillin a day and my pneumonia, as Conrad Connecticut will attest to, was pretty bad.

The funny thing is that it’s actually making me feel worse. I’m lethargic, it gives me heartburn and I’ve only started to be able to keep food in. Of course these are all the listed side effects but I think I’m getting a pretty bad case.

All these antibiotics better kill those little bastards in my tummy because this sucks ass. There apparently is some debate as to whether or not H. Pylori needs to be treated. I wish I had known this before I plunked down the $180 for the prescription.

Only 10 more days. Only 10 more days.

Of course, as fate would have it, I find myself working on a spec script for one of the million medical shows on TV (the one with the acerbic doctor). Unfortunately, H. Pylori is not dramatic but hemorrhagic fever is, especially as a Macguffin.