Day 5 -- take two

If you are interested in what I'm talking about in this post.  Go read the previous post and come back. 

Day 5 -- which was yesterday -- suggested that I could raise my happy factor by contacting someone whom I had not talked with in a while.  It also suggested that when I did so, that I should be upbeat and put the positive in every syllable.  I just couldn't go there yesterday due to my inability to remain positive.  So, I am shockingly a day behind (eye roll) on that Happy suggestion.  Life is messy.  Bear with me. 

Today, I sent my friend Rick a text and asked if he would like to go to lunch.  Rick and I are friends with a capital F ... the friend F not any other kind of F.  Best buds who rarely see each other, mostly because I totally got over the club and bar scene where he was still kicking it in his quest to find a girlfriend.  After he found a girlfriend (who is 16 years his junior -- just thought I would throw that eyebrow raiser in the mix), he started spending all of his time driving back and forth to where she lives in the next county.  I too have been busy since last seeing Rick, busy unintentionally hibernating.

I'm happy to report that I indeed feel happier after catching up with Rick!  

Rick is a great guy!  He's courteous, gentlemanly, caring and thoughtful (think Boy Scout).  Apparently even really nice people have messy lives.  I learned during lunch that Rick has been through a lot since I last saw him.  The economy is taking a toll on his family owned business, he is coming to terms with the fact that his girlfriend may be too young for his own liking, he underwent an appendectomy some months back, he was recently incorrectly diagnosed with diverticulitis (sp?), and only after more poking and prodding, was later correctly diagnosed with a stomach ulcer.  He has also been experiencing back pain for which he is seeking the best course of treatment for what turns out to be compressed discs (?) -- possible surgery or pain management.  Ummm, did I mention that Rick is only 38 years old.  He was already a slender guy (with no extra weight to lose), but I could tell that he had lost weight since I had last seen him.  He told me he had lost about 15 pounds due to the intense antibiotics his doctor had him on for the supposed diverticulitis.   

Once I learned that Rick was suffering from an ulcer and not diverticulitis and that his doctor now has him on Prilosec, I was kind of excited.  The kind of excited a child is when they are the only one in the classroom who knows the correct answer!  I refrained from raising my hand and exclaiming .... "ooooo ooooo oooo, I have the answer!  Pick me, pick me!"

I, being the non-genius, but the random Mensa magazine reading sort of person that I am, previously helped my ex-boyfriend, 2nd Lt. Mulgrew, find a real solution to his own ulcer.  2nd Lt. Mulgrew's father being an internal medicine doctor had also advised his son to take Prilosec to treat his ulcer.  However, my ex- boyfriend was still suffering.  After reading an article in a Mensa magazine, while I was at the gym on the treadmill, about two guys who had been awarded the Noble prize in 2005 for their research on ulcers, and their ultimate discovery http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2005/press.html,
I could not wait to suggest a possible CURE to my ex-boyfriend's ulcer, not just a bad patch job.  My ex-boyfriend went to an army doctor (not his father) and asked to be tested for the bacterial infection.  Turns out, my ex-boyfriend had the type of bacterial infection which the nobel peace prize guys discovered is the cause of some ulcers!  The army doctor prescribed the proper antibiotic and I am happy to report that my ex-boyfriend was cured of his ulcer!

Rick promised me that he would ask his doctor to test him for the bacteria.  YAY!!!! I was super excited to possibly help another person by relaying a small piece of read knowledge!

I wasn't happy to know that Rick had all these troubles, but it did make me feel more HAPPY to once again connect with him and to possibly help him further help himself!

Good things do come from staying connected with your friends! 

Do you know anyone who is suffering from an ulcer?  Pass that possible bacterial infection information along.  It could save someone from further suffering and possible death!


(See, I'm not just a hard hearted person who wants to clock people with heavy duty metal 3 hole punches, I am mostly a wanna be Florence Nightingale!)

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