Tag Archives: blood work

One Title Does Not Fit This Post

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I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it: I found out yesterday that Noni’s tumor grew a little. I know that “a little” isn’t anything to freak out about, but I can’t help but think, “What the fuck? The hormones were supposed to shrink it, not let it grow.” I’m trying to stay positive and not freak out, but it’s bothering me. Her doctors are going to reevaluate the hormone treatment and see if they should try something else, or if she’s going to need surgery to have it removed like they originally planned, or what. I don’t have many more details than that. I think they’re going to do some more testing on the tumor. Honestly, I kind of went into this numb zone where I didn’t hear much else beyond “tumor grew a little,” and I’m kind of afraid to ask someone because I kind of feel like an asshole for missing most of the conversation.

Because I don’t really want to think or talk about that, I guess I’ll tell you about my second least favorite subject: My latest visit with my rheumatologist!

I saw him on on the 21st, and after waiting an hour like always, finally got into an exam room. I saw one of the nurses first. She took my blood pressure, asked me about medications, then went through a whole list of questions, like, “Do you have any joint pain? Headaches? Chest pain?” etc. Some of them were relevant, but most of them weren’t. I told her about my six-day headache, and she was kind of surprised. I forgot to tell her about my switch from oral birth control to the Mirena, so when my doctor came in I made sure to tell him about both the headache and the Mirena. He didn’t seem concerned about the headache, though. (It did, by the way, finally go away on the 23rd. I haven’t had one since, knock on wood.)

We talked about my Tramadol and how I’ve been on 25mg and how it’s radically helped my joint pain, and he seemed satisfied with that. He asked me if I’d started Tai Chi or anything like that and I told him I had planned to, but lost my job so couldn’t afford it. We also talked about my UTI symptoms. After telling me I needed to get a urinalysis done that day and get blood work done in two to three months, he asked if I’d followed up with my PA-C at my regular doctor’s. I hadn’t, and hadn’t even thought about it, so he said I should follow up with her… and also with Dr. Lichter.

Dr. Lichter is a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist. He’s the one who did several nerve conduction tests on me, all of which came back fine, and then told me to get a gym membership and sent me on my way. I didn’t have a problem with him until then. I have a huge problem with doctors dismissing health problems when they can’t quickly diagnose them. He might be a fantastic doctor, but he obviously didn’t know what to do with me and didn’t think he needed to try anything else. I know I’m a mystery. I’ve had countless doctors tell me that. My blood work is wily. Honestly, if I were a doctor, I might have reason to think I was a drug addict just looking for a prescription, or at the very least, a hypochondriac. Unfortunately, before my daily dose of Tramadol, my joint pain was very real and definitely not just a twinge here and there that I freaked out over. This shit kept me up at night on many occasions that I’d rather not remember. This shit interfered with my life on many levels. If I’m a hypochondriac, I’m a really good one.

Dr. Greco wrote my PA-C’s office and Dr. Lichter’s office on the “copy to” part of the blood work order, and told me he’d see me in six months, and to follow up with Pam (PA-C) and Dr. Lichter in the meantime. I know I don’t have to see Dr. Lichter. I’d definitely rather not waste the $40 copay. Hell, I can’t even afford any of my copays right now, so I’d really rather not waste it on a doctor I don’t like and don’t want to see. I’m going to make an appointment with Pam and see what she thinks. Honestly, I’m not sure what the next step is. My symptoms are, for the most part, finally being managed. I could just walk away and be content with taking several medications — Tramadol, Miralax, a slew of vitamins — for the rest of my life. At the same time, though, I still really just want to know what the hell caused all of this. It’s kind of hard to justify more sleuthing, though, when my symptoms are being managed.

I did my urinalysis that same day, and the next day got a call from Dr. Greco’s office. I have a bladder infection, and am on Cipro. I can’t even think of how many times I’ve had bladder infection or UTI symptoms, had my urine tested, and came back with nothing. I had it so bad one time, I was screaming and crying. (I think I may have even gone to the ER, but it was a long time ago so I’m not positive.) I’m shocked that something actually showed up this time. I’ve been feeling like shit for a couple months now.

Cipro sucks. You can’t take it within so many hours of magnesium, calcium, or milk product, or with any of those things, so I am having a hard time remembering to take it. I take all of my pills in the morning after breakfast. I can’t take Cipro then because I usually have some kind of milk product; if I don’t have cereal for breakfast, I usually drink coffee with cream. It’s definitely annoying.

I’m also annoyed because I had a urinalyses when I had my annual at my gynecologist’s, and apparently the bladder infection didn’t show up. My symptoms then were worse than they are now. Speaking of my gynecologist, I missed my appointment today with her to check my Mirena. I completely forgot until I started writing this. The worst part is, their reminder machine called me yesterday, and I have it written down in my planner. I have completely lost track of my days.

Not having a job is killing me. I know I keep whining about this, but I’ve never had such a hard time finding one. At first, when I lost my job in May, I thought, Whoo, vacation! Now I am bored, a couch potato, have no life, and have no money. The bills are piling up. Most of them are medical bills, but I have to give my mom money for my car insurance next month, and then in October have to pay at least $50 toward my student loan. And if the school ever sends me my acceptance letter, I’ll need gas to get back and forth from New Haven. I’m only planning on taking one class (unless something changes drastically, like I get a work study at the school), but still.

I feel like I’ve been going through one of those really long rough patches, and I’m almost at the part where I’m going to get through it. It’s not just work related. It’s my health, family — everything. I feel like I’m on the edge, that I just have to keep swimming. It’s been a long, long rough patch, let me tell you. I cannot wait to get to the other side.

How did you get through a long rough patch?

How shoving a weird instrument up my nose made me feel better

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Add “ear, nose, and throat specialist” to my growing list of doctors.

I called out of work today because I felt way too shitty. I didn’t sleep well last night, and my face felt — and still feels like — it’s plugged up with FIRE. (That’s the closest description I can come up with. My sinuses are inflamed, blocked up, and fuck do they hurt.) I slept for another three hours, then decided to call the ear, nose, and throat specialist because my sinuses weren’t really draining, at all. Usually, I can hang in there for a couple of days while I cough up nasty shit and blow even more nasty shit out of my nose, but I wasn’t able to get much of anything out — even with saline spray. Surprisingly, I was able to get an appointment for this afternoon.

The specialist I saw was really nice. (I suck, because I already forgot his name. I think it was Dr. Winicki, but I could be wrong.) He looked at my ears, which were surprisingly fine, given the fact that I feel so much pressure. He said the pressure is actually coming from my nose. Well, fuck you, nose! Then he looked inside of my nose, using some kind of tweezers. It kind of hurt, but it was nothing compared to what came next. He plugged up both of my nostrils with some gauzy stuff soaked in some kind of super decongestant, and after a few minutes pulled it back out, pulled open my nostrils again with the tweezers, and stuck this thin instrument to look at my sinuses. Fuck, that thing hurt! I’m usually pretty good with staying still during examinations, but I actually pulled away after a few seconds, both times. (He looked at each side.) It burned like crazy!

He said that there was definitely pus leaking from my sinuses. (Eew.) He said that I didn’t need the “big guns,” though, and gave me prescriptions for amoxicillin and Nasonex. I figured that would be the extent of the visit, but I was wrong. He said that since I get sinus infections so often, he’s seeing red flags and wants to know why. He had me set up an appointment with them for allergy testing, to see exactly what is irritating me so that he can give me a treatment plan. One of the things they are going to test me for is mold, which makes a lot of sense to me, since any time I am in a place where there is mold, I am always sick.

I like when I find good doctors.

I’ve already started the antibiotic and Nasonex, and I’m feeling a big difference (though it’s all thanks to Nasonex; it’s too early for the antibiotic to have done anything). Now when I feel like I need to blow my nose, nasty shit actually comes out! I win!

I am honestly really looking forward to the allergy testing. I always thought only people with severe allergies — as in, life-threatening allergies — had to have that done, not those of us who get sinus infections if you look at us wrong. But if I know what irritates me, I can take steps to prevent it. Hell, if there’s at least one aspect of my health that I can control, I’m all for it!

In other, non-sicky news, I wrote a 962-word chapter yesterday for Sade On the Wall. I’ve decided to do some bonus chapters, mostly because it was a random idea I got laying in bed one night thinking about Popi, and everyone who read the first draft was really excited when I tweeted about it. I also just really want to see how Sade copes.

I haven’t done any writing yet today, and don’t think I’m going to. I’m actually kind of thinking of taking a nap or going to bed early. I skipped St. Patrick’s Day dinner at Mike’s mom’s because all of the running around completely wore me out. (It took me forever to find the right Ear, Nose, and Throat office, since there are apparently three different, unrelated ear, nose, and throat specialist groups right in the same building cluster — all of which have names using some variation of Ear, Nose, and Throat.) Mike wants to go out for a St. Patty’s Day drink later, too, but I think I’m also going to skip that. I’m just too tired, even though today was a warm, sunny day.

Today was also Day 6 of Celebrex. I started it on Saturday. I think it might be helping a little with the stiffness and swelling, but my joints still hurt. Maybe I just need a higher dose. I hate to be whiny, but I’m really tired of experimenting with medication. I can’t really complain here, though, because Celebrex has been very good to me. I don’t think it bothered my GI system at all (mostly because all of that IBS stuff is pretty typical for me). Since I’ve been on it for almost a week, I can go get that blood work done, probably next week. I need to find out how late the blood work clinic at St. Mary’s is open. Working all of my doctor appointments around a full-time job is really difficult. It makes me really miss working from home. I’m working hard on Freaking Bookworm so that I can do that again. It’s my dream to make a living writing and reading books.

Anyway, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to lay down and watch a movie. How was your week?

Operation diagnosis: Affirmation

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“Something is definitely going on here.”
– Dr. Greco, my rheumatologist

  • I might have Lupus, because of what my last run of blood work showed, but it’s not definite (because I don’t show common, key symptoms of Lupus, such as hair loss and sun sensitivity).
  • The joint pain isn’t too much of a concern, because I don’t wake up with stiff and swollen joints every day.
  • The rashes are probably more of an eczema, and he gave me a prescription for a cream.
  • He wants to monitor me for any further developments and symptoms — especially those related to Lupus — so he sent me for more blood work and a urinalysis to check my liver.
  • He will see me in two months, but I am to call him if any other symptoms show up.
  • He wants to do blood work and check my liver at least twice a year.
  • I mentioned my new migraines, and he gave me a prescription for Fioricet to treat them if I get another one.

2010 in 700 words

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Mike and me, New Year's Eve (taken by Sandy)

Mike and me, New Year's Eve (taken by Sandy)

Last year was a lot of things. I’m not naive enough to believe that the year itself was evil, and that this year will make all of the bad of last year go away. I can, however, look back at the ups and downs, and try to take something from it. I can also admit that this was totally not my idea, and that I stole it from Jess.

I started off the year a university dropout, working two jobs, trying to figure out what I wanted in life and what was going on with my body, worried about my grandfather, and minus a good friend. I ended the year with a good idea of who I am and what I want for my career, a better picture of what might be going on with me, working one job, minus a grandfather, and plus a good friend. Life is very strange.

At the beginning of the year, I started rebuilding one of the most important relationships in my life. I am so grateful that Sandy and I were able to fix things.

Sandy and me, New Year's Eve (taken by Sandy)

Sandy and me, New Year's Eve (taken by Sandy)

I also gained about twenty pounds, thanks to a depression medication called Seroquel. As soon as I realized that was why I gained so much weight, I stopped taking it. I haven’t — knock on wood — felt the need to take medication for my depression since. I started working out, and also rediscovered softball.

In April, I got my second tattoo, to represent my family.

Because we didn’t know how much time Popi had left, we started seeing my two cousins, Mindy and Vinny, more often, even though we hadn’t seen either of them in a long time (both from different circumstances). It sucked that it took Popi being really sick to get everyone together again, but it made me so happy to have all of us together. I know it made him really happy, too.

Lauren, me, Mindy, and Vinny, July 2010

Lauren, me, Mindy, and Vinny, July 2010

Just a couple of weeks after we were all together, Popi took a turn for the worst… and we lost him on July 9th, 2010, early in the morning. I was dreaming that he was gone as my parents woke me up to tell my sister and me that he had passed. It still hurts, especially since my birthday and Christmas card from Noni were signed just from her. I would give anything for his name to be on those cards, too, for him to be here with us now, healthy.

Not long after Popi’s memorial service, Mike’s family lost their house, his mom and stepfather separated, and he had nowhere to go. So, he moved in with me, my parents, my sister, and our two cats. Our relationship has strengthened since he moved in, even though I had been afraid living together might be a bad thing.

In October, at New York Comic Con, I learned that my mystery autoimmune disease has severe physical limitations. Because I’d spent a day walking, I spent the next three or four days unable to walk without being in pain.

November was probably the weirdest month of all. My worst flareup ever began with weird itchiness all over and an even weirder rash on my face, I got my first rejection letter for a short story, my blood work came back all kinds of positive and my doctor referred me to a (third) rheumatologist because he thinks I have Lupus, and I wrote and finished the first draft of a 50,000+ word novel.

In December, I found out that I inherited migraines from my mom’s side of the family. It was only the third or fourth I’ve ever had, but it was by far the worst. I hope it’s a long, long time before I get another one.

December 2010

December 2010

I definitely went through a lot this past year. I’d like to say that I wouldn’t change any of it, that I wouldn’t be who I am without all that happened, and that I’m grateful for that kind of shaping, but I would give anything to have my Popi back. I also wouldn’t mind living without chronic illness and pain. I am, however, grateful for the good things that happened, because if there hadn’t been so much good, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with the bad.

The pieces

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Cyanide & Happiness: Test Results

Cyanide & Happiness: Test Results

I just got off the phone with both my regular’s doctor’s office and my new rheumatologist’s office. Melissa — from my regular doctor’s office — told me that my vitamin B12 levels are low again, and that my ANA is positive. The pieces are finally fitting in: a high, positive DS DNA count, potentially chronically low B12, and now a positive ANA.

I called my rheumatologist’s office to make an appointment, and made one for Friday.

Friday.

The receptionist commented that I’d just seen Dr. Memet — the one who told me to see a psychiatrist — a little over six months ago. I had to bite down on my tongue, but trust me: I’ll be seeing Dr. Memet again after Dr. Cooper gives me my diagnosis.

I have a feeling that this is it. The answer is just ahead. I’m afraid to get my hopes up, and I’m also afraid of what the answer is. So far, I’ve been dealing with the unknown. It’d be nice to know, so that I don’t have to wonder at every thing my body does. It’d be nice to have a treatment plan, if any is available. It’d be nice to say, “I have [insert autoimmune disease name here],” instead of, “I have some kind of autoimmune disease,” when someone asks me about my health.

I’m trying to stay calm. I’m also trying to weed through my emotions, to decide what exactly I’m feeling (or even how I should feel).

Is Lupus the answer? Is there more than one answer, as is so common with autoimmune diseases? I don’t know. I just know that this might be it, that my quest for an answer may be nearly over. When it’s over, a new quest will begin. The Mystery Autoimmune Disease will have a name, and I’ll have to figure out how to live with it; once I know what it is, I’ll have to learn how to best manage it.

I’m probably getting ahead of myself here, but I can’t help but feel like the answer is just ahead. I hope that Dr. Cooper can put the pieces together and solve this, once and for all.