Pop and Zantac

My family and extended family have always had a passion for cooking, entertaining musically and comically, and for hosting and sharing great meals. Heartburn and reflux have been companion issues for some in the family – notably my father Dan Todorovich, whom I called “Pop” while growing up, and my Uncle Bud Todorovich, whom I knew as “Uncle Sonnie.”


The family member I was closest to was my Auntie Mae. She was a fabulous cook (heartburn was an issue for her, too) and oh, how she loved to laugh and entertain. What a character! Her husband, my Uncle Don, and my father had both become successful in the insurance industry; each had their own agencies for Kansas City Life Insurance. 

Left to Right: Mae Howell, Don Howell, Avis Todorovich, and Dan Todorovich

Kenny was Uncle Don and Auntie Mae’s only child. He and I were closer than close. We had each planned a career in medicine, but he was killed in a car v. train accident during his third year of pre-Med.


In our family we relied on a simple, inexpensive method to treat the symptoms of heartburn: 1-teaspoonful of baking soda dissolved in a glass of water after meals to diminish the acid and get some relief. It’s a simple home remedy that seemed to put the fire out and has been relied on for decades.


Uncle Sonnie and his wife Goldie lived in Spokane for a long time, but had also lived in Oregon for many years. While they were living in Oregon, my parents Dan and Avis were living in a condo on top of the hill parallel to and directly east of SeaTac Airport. What a view they had! Spectacular sunsets every day plus seeing the planes flying off to all parts of the globe and arriving from around the world.

In 1981 Zantac hit the market in the US as a prescription drug for the treatment of heartburn. Years later it would become available over-the-counter. In 2019 it was pulled from the market altogether because of a probable link to cancer associated with one of its ingredients. However, in the intervening years, it has given millions of people relief from gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) symptoms.

Uncle Sonnie was being seen by a doctor in Portland, who had given him a prescription for Zantac. He was astonished at the immediate and complete relief of his reflux symptoms. He told my dad about the “miracle drug” and Pop was eager to try it, too.


Yes, it was a prescription drug back then, but Uncle Sonnie said he’d mail my dad a few tablets so he could try it and see if it helped him, too.


As soon as the tiny packet of Zantac arrived in the mail (only a week’s-worth of tablets) Pop tried the Zantac. After all those years of using baking soda after meals, he could not believe the results. Immediate and complete relief! No more need for the baking soda ritual. 


Almost immediately after Pop tried the Zantac, he made an appointment to see his own doctor, whom he rarely visited, to ask for a prescription for the wonder drug Zantac. Mind you, my dad was NOT one to go to the doctor at all. He rarely ever went. But this was an exception. He could not wait to ask about and get started on Zantac. No matter how many years you take baking soda and water, you never really develop a taste for baking soda – you just endure it, because it will give relief of the acid indigestion.


Pop’s doctor was happy to provide a prescription for Zantac for him.


When Pop presented the prescription to the pharmacy and had it filled, he nearly fainted when it was ready. It was $140.00. Again, this was back in 1981. That price was over-the-moon. He was mortified! Not only was he mortified. He was terrified! He declined to buy it and walked away shaking his head. He could not fathom the price. Imagine how many boxes of baking soda that would represent!


He was terrified to have “such an expensive drug” at home. Pop was seriously fearful that “drug dealers” would discover that he had Zantac and would break in to steal it. I am not kidding! He was so alarmed about that possibility that he immediately mailed the remainder of the pills from Uncle Sonnie back to him in Oregon. He did not even want those few remaining tablets under his ‘roof’ making him a possible target. That’s how valuable he perceived them to be.


Pop lived the rest of his life without ever again taking Zantac. From then until his death in 1994, he relied solely on a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water to manage his heartburn and reflux.