Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Life As I know It

      Maybe I am just feeling sorry for myself, but my life and hospitals just seem to be permanently entwined. Lets see...Panic Attack... hospital, Heart procedure 1... hospital, heart procedure 2... hospital, extreme rib pain as a result of heart procedures...hospital (and no this chronic pain has never left my side, pun intended, since that day), seizure...hospital. And that brings me to today, return of symptoms that led up to my last seizure (minus the seizure thank the Good Lord)...hospital. And by hospital I mean overnight stays, I wouldn't count all the day trips.
      Now that this has been discovered to be a chronic condition, they are taking this much more proactively than the last time. Without getting too graphic I will outline how it went last time, which was 2 years ago. Started out with a whole lot of internal bleeding, pain in my abdomen, bouts of diarrhea and constipation, and migraines. I also had lower back pain with varying levels of severity, I couldn't stand or walk at times from the pain. This led into not being able to keep any food down at all, whether liquids or solid. Meals became torture. Eating a quarter of my normal amounts of food, just to solve a hunger my body told me was there, only to have my body reject the food it demanded. The answer was to eat extremely slow, which leads to cold and disgusting food, and bland unseasoned food (which for someone who loves to season his food and have flavourful food, this really is torture). Even then it was a battle to keep my food down. which ultimately led to dehydration and drop in potassium levels. I ended up having my first seizure and after many tests they came up scratching their heads and leaving me with no answers, which was frustrating considering it took me off work for 3 months. Co-operators, curse their souls, would not give me a penny due to it being a "mysterious illness", they required a "diagnosis" in order to give any money. So I went back to work before ready just to get the funds flowing again. eventually just cleared up on its own, and life went on with no answers. Left me 15 pounds lighter, which took me a long time to regain. 
     A few weeks back it began to flare up once again. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, migraines(but they never did stop), slight internal bleeding, and lower back pain. After seeing the doctor, she sent me to see a "specialist". He wanted to wait a few weeks before doing any tests, and didn't really listen when I was in to see him. Then the vomiting and nausea began again. Back to tiny bland meals. Have gone from 145 pounds down to 140 pounds again. I told my family doctor this today and she told me I was going into the hospital, as answers come faster while in there, and she does not want another seizure. Understood, but during the most busy selling season at work, this comes as really tough. 
     While here though, the nurses have been really nice, but keep trying to diagnose what I have, which is just confusing things. I wish they would leave that for the doctors who are trained in such matters. They have put me on a fluids only diet, which sucks as I am starving! But alas I wait to hear from them in regards to what is going on. My Family Doctor has 3 suspects, Chrone's is her number 1, colitis, and very minimal chance of colon cancer. Hopefully God will provide them with speedy answers and results so that I can get back to being at home with my family. As well as return to work so I can do what I enjoy, selling.