Reflux and Our Caribbean Cruise

After my disappointing bout with Western medicine for Reflux I contracted Bronchitis, something that I did not have the pleasure of suffering for almost twenty years. I think that it was brought on by the reflux. Some of the fluid that would rise up during the night got into my lungs and caused a bronchial infection, at least that is what my doctor hypothesized. At any rate, I had suggested to him that I not go on the Caribbean cruise that my wife and booked for my sixtieth birthday. He told me that it would be the best thing for me to go on the cruise.

I had to agree with my doctor that he was right, after only one day in the Caribbean all signs of my Bronchitis had disappeared. Unfortunately, I still had Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (LPR). The flight down to Houston through Atlanta did not bother me and all of the maneuvering to get to the boat did not cause me any undue effects which I found surprising. It was all stressful but not in the same way that work is stressful so it does not have the same effect on the body which I found to be interesting.

Our first night on board the boat was busy. we were tired by the time we went to bed. I slept fitfully until 4:00 AM when I woke up in a coughing fit brought on by my LPR. I wrote for a while in my journal then I went off to the fitness center at 6:00 AM to practice Qigong.

There was so much food on board that it was difficult to decide what to eat. i tried to pick food that was not going to aggravate my reflux. Breakfast and lunch were fine because I could choose whatever I wanted in the Garden Cafe which was a full service buffet. Dinner was a little more difficult. We wanted to try the various sit restaurants on board. The food was excellent but the trouble was that the food was rich and inevitably I caused my reflux to act up as soon as we started eating. I found that I had to drink massive amounts of water just to get the food down my throat which somewhat dampened my enjoyment of the meal.

That night, I woke around 12:30 AM coughing with phlegm in my throat. I went back to sleep but I was awake again a 1;30 AM, and the phlegm was coming out of my mouth before I could make it to the bathroom.

After a few days on the boat I was finding it to be more and more difficult to find food that I could eat that was not going to bother or worsen my reflux. Every meal became a struggle to eat. I had to be very careful that mindful about everything that I ate. There were so many good things to eat but the number of things that I could actually eat was a very small subset of everything that was available.

There were a few times that I threw caution to the wind and indulged myself. My wife and I were at an art showing one evening. They were offering large glasses of red wine so I had one. I was just going to take a few sips and put it down

On the second last day on board the ship I decided to go and talk to the acupuncturist on board. the acupuncturist actually had a practice in Washington D.C. He was taking advantage of combining work with a vacation, it sounded like a great idea to me. At any rate, I told him about my symptoms and how I felt at the time. It was interesting that his recommendations were very close to what my acupuncturist at home had done. At the very least, it gave me confidence that she was doing what other acupuncturist would do. What took me by surprise was his $175 fee for one sessions. That is more than twice what my acupuncturist charges me. Since it was the last night that I was going to be on board I did not see any reason to start a course of treatment so I left.

The cruise finished and my wife and I went home. Don't get me wrong, the cruise was great in spite of suffering with acute reflux, I worked around it for meals. Other than meal time, it really did not bother me.

If you are interested in my cruise, here is the link for the series of blog posts for my cruise,caribbean-cruise-day-1.html .

Fish Baked in Banana Leaves

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened  coconut
1/4 cup chopped green onion, optional
4 pieces of fish fillets, (tilapia, cod or  basa)
4 large banana leaves defrosted.

In a blender add cilantro, ginger, coconut milk, coconut.  Blend until smooth.

Place one banana leave on a cookie sheet  Place a fish fillet in the middle  Top each piece of fish with 1/4 of the paste from the blender.  Sprinkle with green onions if using.  Fold the banana leaf like wrapping a present.  Tie with string, or make sure the opening is on the bottom to keep the package from opening.  Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes, depending of the size of the fillet.

Unwrap carefully and serve with steamed rice.

Acupuncture, Acid Reflux and Steamed Chicken

The Monday after my procedures I went to see my family doctor. After describing the symptoms to him he told me that I had Atypical reflux otherwise called LPR (LaryngoPharyngeal Reflux)Laryngopharyngeal_reflux. He wrote out a prescription for me to take for the reflux. as it happened, I had a regular acupuncture appointment scheduled right after my Western doctor's appointment. i told my acupuncturist what had happened and what my symptoms were. She told me that she could treat it. another-acupuncture-study-on-heartburn She put eight acupuncture needles in my stomach an needle in the web between my thumb and forefinger, a needles in the location called stomach 36 why-are-you-doing-that-point-st36 and liver 8liver-8  in each foot. When she was satisfied that she had all of the needles in place she heated all of the needles with a stone that she had heated somehow. I immediately started to feel better. When I went home to eat dinner I had much less trouble to eat than before. I have another appointment on Wednesday, I am looking forward to it.

On Wednesday I had my second treatment. It was much the same as the first treatment with the placement of needles and the heating with a hot stone. I was really hoping that these two treatments would do the trick because I was really looking forward to sleeping again.

I had my third treatment on the following Monday. Over the weekend before I had my third treatment I started to feel stronger and my energy levels were higher. After my third treatment, I felt much better the following morning. I had one more session booked for that Friday. My condition improved, I could eat more normally and the effects of the phlegm are less. Still, I have to sleep with three pillows to prop me up or else the reflux rises into my throat in the middle of the night. The acupuncture made a big difference in my condition but it did not get rid of it completely.

Here is a recipe that my wife made for me during this time that was very easy for me to eat.


Steamed Chicken

1/2 pound of skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite size pieces
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 green onion, cut into 1" pieces
1 chinese sausage, sliced (optional)
2 teaspoons shredded ginger
2 teaspoons rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon  sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Place all the ingredient in a heat proof bowl, mix well.
Spread evenly.  Place into a pot with a rack.  Steam for 15 - 20 minutes until chicken is cooked
Eat with rice.