Warning: Since I feel I'm overdue for a discussion of my guts, here is an update. If this sort of thing makes you sick, then scroll down to more amusing posts.

I am rounding the bend in the last week of my Lenten "sacrifice" of no coffee or coffee drinks (lattes, etc.)

However, my switch to tea seems to have had wonderful benefits to my overall sense of well-being.

In November, I began having episodes of severe epigastric pain. In January, via endoscopy,  it was discovered that I had bile reflux which was irritating my stomach and if left untreated can lead to stomach cancer.

The goal in treating this is to reduce the cause of the reflux, since all liver & pancreatics tests were THANKFULLY normal.

I made some small changes, including going back on my banned-in-the-USA med, Zelnorm and it seems to have made a WORLD of difference. No "backups" of my plumbing, so the bile can stay in the small intestine where it belongs. I also feel that switching to tea has helped. Despite what is said about coffee having a laxative effect, it never seemed to "work" that way for me. One large mug of Earl Grey tea in the morning somehow seems to work well with making me feel "normal" and because of that, I have not had any tummy pain the entirety of Lent (when I made the switch.)

I am having mild issues of basic acid reflux, but as long as I eat very small meals/snacks through the day instead of 3 bigger ones, it seems to be tolerable. I have chosen not to take prilosec, zantac, etc., because my symptoms are so tolerable, its not worth the headaches and expense for the OTC's for indigestion.

Somehow, I have a feeling that my Lenten promise of "sacrifice" (because I did used to love my coffee) has yieded a blessing for me in terms of physical self-discovery. In fact, I don't miss coffee at all anymore. So was it really a sacrifice? Those first 3-4 days, YES! But now I'm "over" it and smiling.