There is no fancy photo to go with this post. If I had to fish out a photo, it would be one of the inner workings of the human body and I do not quite like the idea of putting it all out there. Sometimes we just do not need the graphics of it all. Sometimes photos can take a backseat and they shall in this post.
The thing is I am bothered and confounded as is my family. You see my father-in-law has been unwell for some time now. This strong military man laid low is a strange thing to envisage because apart from being a toughie he has always been an active man, given his background, but even after retiring he has been going for his walks, playing golf…the works. Yet he fell ill recently. It turned out to be an oesophageal tear. What is that you might ask? I did too. I could not even imagine that it could quite serious till I learned that if not treated within 24 hours it can be fatal.
Firstly, the oesophagus is the tube that travels from our mouths all the way down to the stomach, so it can get ruptured if there is some kind of physical injury to the neck, violent vomiting, ulcers caused by reflux or even tumours in the throat. But he has had a few endoscopy tests and all has all been ruled out, except that he did undergo violent vomiting initially. The tear was stapled and yet there is dark blood still seeping out from some part in the body. The doctors are confused. Now they are going to run a colonoscopy to figure out what it might be.
It is awful to not know what is going on and even more so when you see the doctors’s brows furrow up in thought. The helplessness is frightful.
The point of this post is not that I want sympathy from you. Far be it from that. It is a difficult moment that wakes you up to the frailties of the human body. So my dear friend, please take care of the best thing you will ever own. That is your body. Please tone down the spices (imagine an Indian saying that and here you can roll your eyes at me), lower the chilli quotient in your food and eat well. If you have reflux, get it shown and do something about it, because nothing matters more than taking care of yourself. At the end of the day, that is all that matters.
I wish your father in law will be better soon and they can quickly find the cause.
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Thank you Vanessa. Holding onto that thought. Moments like these suddenly just make you sit up and take note.
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You’re absolutely right and it’s good to be reminded to look after ourselves. Hope your father in law will be okay. Warmest wishes.
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Thank you Miriam for your kind wishes. I hope so too.
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I’m sorry to hear what’s going on. I wish your family strength and courage. Feeling hopeless is the worst. Every day truly is a gift.
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It is Lyz. The worst was listening to my husband call and cry because he is just on the sidelines. But I am hoping for a ray of goodness in this all. Somehow.
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I’m sending you and your husband love, girlie.
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I shall convey that, sending you big love back xx
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I am sorry to read about your father-in-law … the whole family must be dreadfully worried. And I thank you for the reminder to one and all to take care of the most precious thing we each have – our bodies. That is well thought and well received advice. Take good care of yours too, please xx
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Thanks Osyth. These words mean a whole lot to me. I will xx
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Thank you for your kind advice my friend. And I hope that your father in law will get well very soon..
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Thanks Nurul, means a lot, you words that is. I needed to just say it because we forget how fragile our bodies are often.
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I hope you all get some answers. Very scary.
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It is Patricia. Thank you x
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I hope your father in law gets well soon. It’s strange we need reminders to take care of ourselves, but we all do. Thank you for this one.
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Thank you Tracey. We do need wake-up calls from time to time it seems. Life just does that. There is after all something to be learnt from everything that comes our way. Cheers.
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Thanks for the post,we need reminders once in a while to take care of ourselves first and not take everything for granted, hope all goes well for your father-in-law. Take care .
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Thank you Nisha. Every bit of good wish counts xx
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?????
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your life is the possibility of everything you will ever have, and the total of everything you have ever had. without a healthy body, all life is meaningless. thanks for the reminder. I hope your father-in-law feels better.
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That was well put. The reminders strike home only once something happens to your loved ones or you. Thanks for the kind words. Hope you are doing well.
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Thank you for sharing your pain, and I hope your father-in-law gets better quickly.
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Thank you for the kind words. I hope he does. The uncertainty is the worst. Cheers.
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O my never heard about it. Wish him speedy recovery from next door neighbour country, in spite of our differences!!!
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Oh thank you, that is rather kind of you. And I do not care much for those differences 🙂
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I hope he feels better soon. sending you (((hugs)))
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Thank you Sophie xx
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I hope things get better with your father in law! It’s so true what you’ve said though, we really do need to look after our health and our bodies. A lot of us don’t think about it too much until something like this happens, either to ourselves or someone we care about…Thanks for the reminder *internet hugs*
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Thank you Angela. It just feels alarming when it is closer home you know. And we almost start thinking our bodies are invincible and nothing can ever go wrong. But well reality has a way of doing a strange check. Hugs back xx
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It’ll all be good with your father-in-law, I am sure. Just try to give him positive thoughts and a smile whenever you can. That’ll heal more than even the best medicine can.
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Thank you Lars. We are all trying. Humour is the best medicine isn’t it, no matter what happens. A little laugh carries you a long way. I am unfortunately away from them, my husband is there, so it is all a matter of technology helping us here.
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I hope he feels better soon
Scarlett xx
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The worse feeling is when somebody close to you gets sick. I hope the doctors have answers soon and your father-in-law gets better. Stay positive! Hugs xx
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Thank you V. Just in the process of elimination now and waiting to hear. This means a lot to me xx
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Tomorrow is also a day The sun must rise.
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Thank you! We are waiting for the sunny day yet.
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May not be so long waiting time
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I hope so too. Amen.
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It is important what we put into our bodies. I’m learning this right now too, and suffering the repercussions of my poor choices and wrongly perceived invincibility.
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Is everything alright, Jen? Poor choices and wrongly perceived invincibility. Isn’t this the thing youth is about? It is just that we keep learning and this is a journey called life. But it is good that we learn. I will wait to hear from you xx
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Thank you. I’m just stressing out about my teeth. I tried so hard to take care of them, but I think I have a bad diet and it has damaged them despite my best efforts. Now I’m trying to figure out if I can repair them and make them nice again…
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Teeth issues can be troubling. But you know what a good dentist will bail you out, I am positive. I think you should just make the appointment. I have bad teeth btw. The positioning is awry because my parents tried to get me to finish a treatment when I was a child and I refused to complete it like a stubborn bugger. I used to go to the doctor’s only because there was a damn good street food stall outside the building!
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Praying and hoping for the doctors to find answers quickly and a thorough recovery for Adi’s father…
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Thank you Kristyn. I am just waiting now xx
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I’m so sorry. I’m sure this has to be hard to watch. He’s probably scared and to see that in a strong man adds to it feeling wrong. I hope they find what it is soon. In my experience, and I’ve a lot of time with parents and grandparents in hospitals and doctor’s offices, trying to solve a mystery. They are looking for things they have seen before. Common things. Once they start thinking out of the box they’ll figure it out or one of you will. Take your own notes and you may come up with something to guide them in the right direction.
Hugs to you. Have faith that a curable reason will show up soon.
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You are absolutely right. I cannot wait to hear about what the results are from today and somehow I can’t get through. It is scaring me but I know now that if any this is the time to be strong as strong as my father-in-law is. You got there with the fact about ticking boxes. Now it has become a process of elimination. My brother is a doctor though he is in Lagos but he is a big help in explaining things. I am just waiting that is it. Thank you ifonlymommy. You once invited the world to be your child. Well you did a good job here xx
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I hope the results lead him in the right direction. That’s cool you have your brother. Send him the results if there are still no answers. It never hurts to have a new set of eyes ?.
Haha. Yes, I’m mommy to the world ?❤️??!
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He is actually constantly updating himself with my father-in-law’s treatment and tests because he is quite fond of my in-laws. My brother can be quite an alarmist or maybe he tries to annoy me but in this case he has been a gem. Funny how you underestimate your siblings.
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Yes, I understand that! I have 2 older brothers and sometimes they surprise me (most of the time they do not haha).
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I hope he gets better soon and thank you for the reminder to always take care of ourselves! xx
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You are welcome and thank you for the kind words. It counts xx
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I’m sorry to hear about your father-in-law. We recently found out that my mom has a rare for of lupus, and I experienced some of the same emotions. I’m sending all of the positive vibes your way! xx.
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Thank you Kali. I had to look up lupus even though I had heard of it. That does sound upsetting and it makes you realise how the human body is a machinery that can confound you at the best of times. I am sending love and positive vibes your way too. Your mother needs you to be strong for her to be strong xx
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Thanks so much for your kind words. It’s been a rollercoaster of a journey, but we’re all doing out best. So glad I stumbled upon your blog xx.
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Likewise Kali. Your name is intriguing. It is the name of an Indian goddess. I do not know if you have heard of her. But she is quite a strident figure in Indian mythology xx
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Yes, I have! They say the more you age the more you grow into your name, and I think it’s given me a lot of strength xx.
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Well I do hope you do not go around collecting heads to string on a garland but that apart the strength of Kali is inspiring. She is quite the feminist if you think of her. I hope your name takes you to places from where you can take on life’s battles all too well xx
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No head-stringing for me! Haha, but yes I do think it’s given me my feminist qualities. Thank you for the kind words xx.
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More power to you Kali! 🙂
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I’m very sorry and I hope your father-in-law gets better soon. It’s very serious and hopefully the doctors are treating it as such. Blessings.
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They are and we are lucky about the doctors. Let’s hope the ongoing tests at least confirm what is wrong or not. Thank you, dear Paula xx
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You are so right. We eat whatever we want without even thinking of it’s repercussions on our dear body. I wish speedy recovery to your father in law.
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Thank you my girl. We are all waiting to hear the final test results and hoping it is the final test!
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Will pray to God
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Thank you 🙂
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I totally agree with you about the importance of health. I tend to take my health for granted until something goes wrong (thankfully only minor things). I wish all the best for your father-in-law.
As you can tell, I am way behind in my reading and look forward to catching up on at least some of your posts. How do you manage to find the time to write so many beautiful, thoughtful posts!?
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I’m so sorry that happened to him; I hope he gets better soon. You’re absolutely right – we never think too much about our health and what we put into our bodies until they stop working properly x
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Thank you for the kind words. He has just got back home though the final test results are yet to come in. But we are hopeful. Take care xx
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How is your FIL doing?
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Why thank you so much the thought 🙂 Appreciate it. He has just gone home today but they are still awaiting his final results tomorrow. So we are keeping our fingers crossed.
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How is your father in law doing? Is your husband with him now?
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Hey Virgina, the test results came in today and he has finally been declared alright. Apart from the oesophageal tear of course which will heal in time. But he can return to golfing soon. So we are all a relieved and happy lot. My husband returned the night before because we are on our last legs of moving. Thank you for asking 🙂 How is your NY move possibility coming along? xx
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I am very content that your family is back on the healthy track. Before I go to sleep, I always think how grateful I am for my healthy body and try to take care of it every day. I empathized with your last paragraph 🙂
Still looking at flats and thinking with the heart rather than our pockets 😛
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Oh the pockets, do not get me started on that. We are fabulously broke at the moment. A few months shall be needed to tide over this present state. Nothing is more important than our well being, isn’t it? It is only when wake-up calls like these arrive that we tend to sit up and think xx
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Nominated you for one blog award, The Versatile Blogger Award
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Thank you! I shall check on your post. Sorry been away for a while but now I am updating myself with the blogging world whereabouts.
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Take your time, it’s okay I understand!
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We are so fragile! Very best wishes to you and your family.
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Yes Mary. It just does not end. He has been again taken to hospital because there has been an incomplete diagnosis clearly and we have no idea what is happening. Thank you for the wishes.
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Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
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It is. Takes time to realise it.
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