NOT THE THANKSGIVING THAT I HAD PLANNED FOR

In my first post I wrote about the experience I had during the lunch that my wife and I hosted last September. In the days and weeks after the lunch I continued to have indigestion and an upset stomach from time to time. Often, I would get hiccups during meals to the point where  I was having hiccups at almost every meal. I was distressing. Still, I had no idea of what was going on. I thought I was stressed at work which was true but  I could not understand how that was affecting my eating.

Jump forward to Thanksgiving. Like everyone else, we make a big deal out of Thanksgiving dinner. The family came for Thanksgiving dinner. I remember that I had spent the better part of the afternoon in my workshop working on a few projects. When I came in before dinner everyone was already engaged in eating appetizers. I was hungry from working in my shop so I dug into the cheese and crackers. I remember that I ate my fill of cheese and crackers before dinner. 

As I said, Thanksgiving dinner was a big affair for us. We had roast duck, sweet potatoes with pecans, salad, and bread. We also had a  bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. About half way through the meal I started to have problems. I could hardly get the food down my throat because of the phlegm coming up my throat. Then, I started to get pains in my right side. I tried not to make a big deal of it because I did not want to ruin everyone's Thanksgiving dinner. 

The next morning, the pain had not gone away, in fact, it had gotten worse, a lot worse. Since it was Sunday, we decided to go to the walk-in clinic. We went right after breakfast thinking that I would be in and out with a prescription to cure  my indigestion, or whatever was ailing me and that would be that. We were totally unprepared for what happened next.

I did not wait long at the walk-in clinic, there were not that many there on Sunday morning. I was thankful for that. The attending doctor examined me then told me that I had to go to ER.

Here's a recipe from my Thanksgiving Dinner, it went down pretty easy.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans

6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
8 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup water

Pecan Topping
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces, toasted in an oven for 5 minutes
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in a large pot, or a deep skillet over medium heat.  Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper and water, bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium-low; cover.  Cooke for 30 to 45 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to mash.  Take the cover off, continue to simmer until all most of the liquid has evaporated.  Around 10 minutes more.  Mash potatoes and place into a baking dish around 8 x 8 inches.

Topping:  Mix everything together for the topping in a separate bowl.

Spread topping over the mashed potatoes.  Bake until the pecans are toasted and potatoes are warm.  Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes, longer if the potatoes are cold.  Serve.

THE BEGINNING OF THE TALE

 I first noticed that something was wrong at a luncheon that my wife and I hosted one Saturday in September of 2014. We had a few friends and neighbors at our house for lunch. We had appetizers of cheese and crackers, vegetables and dip, and drinks before lunch. there was lot of conversation and everyone was having a good time, including me.

Then it was time to sit for lunch. It was quite a healthy lunch, my wife and I are mostly vegetarian so we served a variety of vegetables and other items. We started with a green salad, sliced roast beef and salami for our guests (just because we eat vegetarian there is no reason that our guests have to!), cheese and olive bread, butternut squash soup, smoked salmon and a freshly baked raspberry tart for dessert along with tea and or coffee.

I first noticed that I gagged on the freshly made raspberry dressing for the salad. The salad actually stuck in my throat just when someone asked me a question. It took a while to clear my throat before I could speak. I thought it was odd at the time but I did not think more of it. The soup went down without any problem and I had a small piece of salmon that was absolutely delicious and easy to swallow. However, I a some preserved fig on a piece of bread. As soon as the fig hit the back of my throat and I tasted the vinegary flavor my throat closed up. I picked up my glass of wine to wash the fig down but it only made the matters worse. I actually had to get up from the table and go to the bathroom to clear the phlegm from my throat.

The entire episode was a mystery to me. I thought that I cold or something like that was causing all of this congestion and phlegm to collect in my throat. I had no idea of where this was going to lead me and how long it would be before I found help for my issue.

This blog is a collaboration between my wife and I. I will provide the story about my ordeal with reflux Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease and how I eventually got help with my condition. My wife will provide recipes with every post because as you will see in subsequent posts, the food that I eat will be critical to my ability to deal with reflux.

In the next post I will continue the story about  my life with reflux.

Here is a recipe that my wife make for that is easy on the stomach and is easily digestible. It is relatively easy to make.

Plain Congee
1/2 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 cups water or broth
soy sauce to taste.

In a dutch oven place all the ingredients except for the soy sauce.  Bring the mixture up to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer and cook until the rice is very soft and the whole mixture has thickened.  About 1 to 2 hours.

Variation:  Ground Beef or Ground chicken can be added. Vary the amount of meat to suit your taste, you can add as much or as little according to your own taste. Along with sliced green onions as a garnish.