It’s been a while since I thought about The Luck Factor.
And it’s not every day we score big wins. And in my case, before I read this book, I almost never turned my bad luck into good.
I was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis.
The first stroke of luck came when I saw a doc about unrelated back pain. It triggered an X-Ray which then got me a bone scan.
So, thanks to back pain, I was able to realize I had a problem. Otherwise I would have found out the hard way: falling and breaking my hip.
In my past, my younger self, I would have viewed everything through a negative lens. And spiraled into doom, gloom, anxiety, and depression. But this time I’m seeing it as lucky. It was caught early.
I also have acid reflux, which put me on a high dose PPI’s. I’ve been on this for six years and I believe this is what’s causing the osteoporosis. I’m fortunate to realize this and at least try to reverse this.
I’ve been spending my time educating myself. I haven’t thought of anything else since. It’s sent me over the edge and straight down the rabbit hole.
In order to fix osteoporosis, I first have to crack and solve the acid reflux problem. Once I found Dr Koufman and Dr Aviv, I felt like my world view was upended. At first I started to question myself. I don’t want to become someone who doesn’t trust science and start saying “I did my own research”.
But in fact, I have. And I do see the problems with our health care. In short, not one of the gastroenterologists have asked me what I ate. Or about my lifestyle. Other than asking if I drink or smoke, they simply didn’t care about anything else. Nor did any of them suggest going and learning about acid diets and do anything to stop reflux. They just gave me a PPI and sent me on my way.
And it worked.
I’ve got to get off this and figure it out. I’ve just took my last dose. I’ve learned so much in the last couple of weeks, that I’m confident I can not only fix my reflux, but I won’t need a PPI or H2 blocker.
Last night, for example, I did not cough. I’m in the middle of rebound hyperacidity from quitting. I’m expecthing this to last at least a few weeks, and since I was on such a high dose for such a long time, it might even last several weeks. But last night I decided to eat a small, light, vegetarian dinner very early. And it worked. I did not have reflux in the night.
I may have cracked the code. Or at least, solved another piece of the puzzle. And that would not have happened if I hadn’t been diagnosed with osteoporosis. That’s actually quite lucky. Because, I’ve also learned that PPIs don’t actually cure acid reflux, it only stops the symptoms. And long-term acid reflux leads to cancer.
So yea, I look at all of this as me being a lucky person now. And not something to dwell on in negativity.
