Robert Ebsen

Here I am in the waiting room at Kaiser Permanente.

The nurse just called me in. After taking my vitals, she told me to take a seat in the main waiting room.  I am glad I asked why. Turns out the doctor was seeing a needy patient who was taking a long time. Then there are two patients before me.

I asked aloud in the waiting room, “Who is waiting to see Dr. G.?  He is running late.” One familiar-looking woman looked in my direction.  She was our family’s piano teacher years ago.  I moved to her location, and we caught up a bit.

You might have asked yourself, “Why is this guy seeing a doctor”?

To determine if my self-diagnosis of diverticulitis is correct.

Just left Kaiser.

My diagnosis was not correct. I have splenic flexure syndrome.  Thank God.  I never heard of it.  My doctor says it is the most common ailment he sees, after the common cold.

It seems that emotional stress I had a week ago triggered this digestive disorder. Air became trapped in my left upper colon.  I had dull pain on my left side, plus constipation. And I was eating the wrong foods. They  added to the constipation and gas.

Now as an experiment, I will eat only non-gas-producing foods, and take Gas-X. At least I will have my strawberries, eggs, chicken, rice, spinach, beets, and tomatoes.

If and when the pain goes away, I will experiment with one gassy food at a time to see if it triggers discomfort.  If you want to see which foods are considered “gassy,” google “The Low FODMAP Diet.”

If the pain does not go away, I will have a CT scan. Let’s not go there.

Take good care of yourself. Eat well, and goodnight.