Helicobacter and other strangeness

Livi is back from the hospital, as some of you will already be aware. Tests have been done. I'm not sure the results could have been better had I actually requested some. There's nothing wrong with her colon or bowel. All nice and healthy in there. The problem, it seems, is with her stomach. Unbeknownst to her, or indeed anyone, there has been lurking for some time a tiny little parasite called helicobacter. It's a helical (as per its name) bacterium which, against all odds, manages to live in the human stomach. It burrows into the stomach lining and protects itself by secreting enzymes that produce ammonia and other things that will happily neutralise (or at least abate) the hydrochloric acid of your average Livi stomach. So the bug doesn't get killed by the acidic environment. Furthermore, it doesn't get killed by white blood cells either, these poor little heroic sods just can't get near enough, and they die, and actually end up doing more harm than good as their broken shells end up causing abrasions on the stomach wall. What can actually kill them, however, is fairly trivial, common or garden anti-biotics, administered with something else that I assume is to allow these anti-biotics to work in the stomach itself, though I could be wrong. Anyway, the upshot is, after god knows how many years of carrying these little buggers around, they can be got rid of in as little as a week.

In addition to the stomach/intestinal discomfort, it seems the little helicobacter can be charged with such heinous crimes as irregular/fast heartbeat (remember the December before last?), lethargy, skin rashes, poor nutrition leading to weak, ridged nails, etc, the list goes on.

It took a private medical appointment, the intervention of a wonderful friend, and two unpleasant procedures to find it, but I think overall it's the absolute best result we could have had. Even an all-clear would just have meant trying to find something else that was wrong somewhere else to explain it all. Now we've got a culprit, and it's a fairly easy one to deal with. Biopsies have also been taken to make absolutely sure there's nothing else going on.

Thanks to everyone who wished us well, offered help, or even just spared a thought for us today. We're incredibly grateful. There is one person, however, who we'll never be able to repay, even if we were to give back 10 times the amount we were lent. Thank you.