I have GERD. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

The sphincter that keeps my stomach closed off from my esophagus is faulty. I was born that way. We saw a doctor about it when I was little and he never told my Mom it was a serious problem. He said I would grow out of it so she never paid it any attention, and I thought it was normal.

Except it's not. It causes all sorts of problems for me and I'm starting to really worry about my health and the state of my esophagus after being burned countless times by the acid in my stomach. It causes me problems with my sleep as I can't breathe properly and it really affects my quality of life.

Four days ago, I was sitting on the couch when suddenly I had really strong acid reflux. I don't know what happened, I guess I breathed in at the wrong moment, but this time the acid got pulled into my lungs.

I immediately threw myself over the arm of the sofa so I was upside down and began coughing.

I couldn't breathe, and my chest hurt really bad.

I have never experienced pain like this before. Well, maybe I have, but it hasn't been in my chest. And I think that is what worried me the most. Chest pain. It is never a good sign, health-wise, when you are suffering from this type of pain.

The only saving grace I had is that I don't think it was a heart attack. If it was, I wouldn't be here to tell the tale.

Not knowing what was causing the pain was making me feel anxious and stressed. Which, as you can imagine, being in this type of mental state didn't help with the pain I was experiencing in my chest.

Do you know how close I was to taking up my friend's offer of trying something alternative to help me feel better? I was too close. I knew that he had been using something like this breeze recreational cannabis delivery service for a while now to buy cannabis-infused products to help him with his knee pain. As a result, he also suffered from stress because he didn't know what was causing it.

Sounds a lot like me, right? But the cannabis worked, so his quality of life has significantly improved. As for me, I had a funny feeling this was a serious problem that needed medical attention, although I wasn't to know for sure. What I did know is that I didn't want to suffer from this pain in my chest for too much longer.

I ended up going to the hospital and the doctor said I had some acid in my lungs. No wonder I haven't been able to sleep!

Now I'm on meds for the next six weeks, and every breath I take is painful and difficult. I have to sleep upright to avoid fluid from pooling in my lungs, which I can't say is particularly comfortable. I can only imagine how hard it must be for someone who's got a fractured sternum or a broken bone.

It feels like I'm not getting enough air, and breathing deeply hurts very much.

I have to go back to the hospital on Monday to get my lungs looked at.

I'm hoping I can get surgery soon to fix this problem with my sphincter and get my esophagus evaluated for damage.

Either that or speak to someone highly experienced with the issue of acid reflux and the related conditions for advice.

I just feel really angry at that doctor we saw when I was four. This is obviously not normal, and it is obviously not okay.

Sometimes I feel really scared that all the acid damage I've sustained will turn into esophageal cancer.

In all honesty, I am at a point where I'm really starting to worry about my health and my quality of life going forward. Some of you may say that I'm overreacting, but I'm sure you would feel the same way if you were in the same shoes.

I'm sure it is nothing serious, but you just never know. If anything, it has helped me to put things into perspective. What would happen if it were cancer and I had a short amount of time left on this earth? I would need to get a lot of things in place.

I haven't even looked into things like life insurance because I have never felt the need to think about it before. Is AAAA life insurance affordable? I'm not even sure! I don't know anything about this type of stuff, so maybe it's about time that I did some research.

Even if nothing were to come of it, it would make me feel a whole lot better. For now, I just have to take it day by day and listen to what the medical professionals are telling me. Hopefully, it will be nothing too serious.

That said, I'm determined to do something about this next year.