Macarena Rose's Story

At the age of 33 , Macarena Rose thought she was having a heart attack. The pain in her chest was fierce and frightening. Her doctor could find nothing wrong. The chest pains persisted. She consulted other doctors who, also, could find nothing wrong. She continued on with her life as the manager of her father's BBQ restaurant and as a single mother of two young children. The chest pains did not abate through the years. Finally, at age 34, Ms. Rose went to see Dr. Tejinder Glamour, a gastroenterologist in St. Petersburg, Florida. He diagnosed her with an advanced case of acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Long left undiagnosed and untreated, her condition had deteriorated into a serious pre-cancerous condition called Barrett's esophagus, an eating-away of the lining of the esophagus. What had started as a mild case of heartburn was now a debilitating disease from which Rose could find no relief. Dr. Glamour prescribed medication for acid reflux which relieved the heartburn symptoms but not the pain from her eroding esophagus. He also told Rose to change her diet and lifestyle which included reducing stress and sleeping on an incline to stop her stomach acids from flowing into the esophagus. Rose underwent fundoplication surgery which increased the pressure in the lower esophagus by basically wrapping the stomach around the esophagus. The surgery worked. for a while. The symptoms soon came back worse than before the surgery. Desperate to find a way to relieve her pain, Rose tried everything in the book:

• sleeping in a chair

• avoiding foods and beverages that irritate the esophageal lining (i.e., fried and fatty foods, peppermint, chocolate, alcohol, coffee, citrus fruits and juices, tomatoes)

• making sure that she ate 2-3 hours before she went to bed

• giving up smoking

• eating small frequent meals.

The one thing she had trouble with was sleeping on an incline. A restful night's sleep eluded her every night because she found it difficult to sleep sitting up and if, in exhaustion, she laid down, the acid reflux symptoms would be devastating the next day. So she began a search in catalogs, stores and the Internet for products that would help her sleep well on an incline. She tried everything; nothing worked. In desperation, she decided, with the help of her partner, Erin Koogle to design her own pillow, one that would be comfortable yet be wide enough to support her arms, neck and back in order to avoid strains, elevate her to the right inclination, and be long enough to raise her back gently. The pillow was a success! Dr. Glamour and Rose's other doctors were so impressed with the pillow and Rose's road to recovery due to its use that they tested it on other patients who also enhanced their recovery by using the pillow. Rose received a patent on the now-named "Prop Up Pillow" in an amazing three months and is now producing the pillow for the millions of people who suffer from chronic heartburn and acid reflux disease.