A rough patch

Again, I find that I’m not writing much… it’s been rough going here, that’s why.  In the begining of Feb, I went to my family doctor becuase I was having abdominal pain and diarhea along with an ear ache that had lasted since last August.  She refered me to specialists for those, and a new rhuematologist closer to where I live.

The ENT visit was dissappointing, yet hopeful, if that makes any sense.  They couldn’t find anything wrong with my ears or hearing.  So he assumes I have allergies and probably need to quit my job., get rid of my pets.  I told him not to tell me to quit my job, becuase if I could, I would.  It’s just really hard to find a NEW employer to overlook my many illnesses or allow any time off during those first 90 days.  Then we discussed that I’m beaing treated for suspected fibromyalgia and seeing a gastroenterologist for the abdominal problems.  So the ENT signed me up for allergy testing.  He firmly believes that there is no fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome.  He believes those illnesses are caused by undiagnosed food and environmental allergies.  He went so far as to say that ALL of his patients with those illnesses have underlieing allergies and feel much better once those are treated.  So I do that this month.

Of course that’s making me pretty nervous, becuase I don’t want to have to be on a super difficult to maintain special diet.  I already cause enough problems just trying to aviod migraines.

Then, I went to see the GI doctor.  It was almost 3 weeks between when I first felt ill and finally saw him.  By the time I saw him, I was having a hard time keeping anything down and getting dehydrated all the time.  So he got me in for a colonoscopy ASAP, which ended up being last Monday.  Right before I began the prep (drinking the laxatives) I got really sick, and couldn’t keep anything down for a couple days.  It was a real challenge to drink that stuff.

The day of the procedure, I felt pretty crummy, very dehydrated and run down and nauseated.  The procedure went fine, they didn’t find any evidence of anything, so there’s nothing wrong with my colon.  Then they just sent me home, told me to follow up in 6 weeks.  I was devastated… the nurses reccomended calling my family doctor, they blew me off (go to the ER).  The next day, when I could call the gastro doctor, their office told me that I should have gotten a CT scan on Monday, and they didn’t know why no one told us that, or scheduled it, or took me over to x-ray. So they scheduled that for ASAP because I still couldn’t keep anything down and they can’t give me anything, even advice, until they get that CT scan result.

Then I got sicker…  it started with a cramp in my pelvic area and cascaded into the worse pain ever.  My organs felts like they were all crammed into blender and sent for a spin.  I had to go to the ER, where they didnt’ have a bed for me, I vomited all over the admiting desk, got someone else’s vomit all over me and then laid on a bed for 2 hours before they came in and told me I might be dieing, so it was important that I get and IV and some anti-nauseau meds ASAP so I could drink some contrast for the CT scan.

Several shots of Phenergan and 1 of something else, in addition to 4 or 5 of morphine, I was able to keep most of the contrast down and go down to the CT scan.

There’s nothing wrong with my bowels.  I do have a tiny, 2mm kidney stone though.

It should pass on it’s own, I was told it would most likely have done so by Friday.  As of yet, it doesn’t seem to be moving.  I’m still amazingly sick, living 6 hours at a time between Lortabs and Phenergans.  I got my family doctor to call in a prescription for an antibiotic too, since I started running a fever on Friday.

… and my abdomen still hurts.