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Friday, April 26, 2013

Me vs My Body

Me to the blogging world: I'm coming back (again)!
My Body to me: Hahahahaha. So you think.

Warning: this is a long post that's not real exciting.

So much for posting on the regular huh? I made the last weekend post and I was ready to go.
And then the next day my body had something else in mind.

So let's rewind.  I've been having stomach issues for awhile now.  & I've just been sucking it up and dealing with it.  Slowly, it started to get worse so I brought it to my GP Doctor's attention.  
First possible diagnosis?

Lactose Intolerance.

I almost laughed in his face.  Me? Girl who could live on cheese and froyo alone? Nope, Doc. You can't be right.  And so I ignored it longer and it got worse.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  I gave up all dairy products. Which was my own form of hell. Do you know dairy is in about everything? Because it is.  I was told to give up all dairy for 2 weeks.  Then slowly reintroduce it back in to see which things bothered me and which did not.  Long story short, those 2 weeks were terrible.  I cried a lot.  I was hormonal.  Poor Vito deserved a medal for dealing with me.  I made it two weeks & slowly started reintegrating.  I thought it might have made a small difference but not really noticeable on a whole.

April 2nd was a Tuesday and I was hit again and I was miserable.  More miserable than ever.  Nauseous and in pain.  I hadn't eaten any dairy that day so I started to think this can't be right.  Went to the doctor on Thursday and told him all my symptoms.
Next possible diagnosis?

Gallstones.

Gallbladder problems run in my family so this made sense.  Scheduled an ultrasound for the next morning.  Made it to that & waited for results.  It was a long and miserable weekend.  Monday morning I received a call to say that my ultrasound was normal so they were sending me for blood work.

Me. Girl who is afraid of needles. Who has never had her blood drawn before.  Who doesn't even know her own blood type.

Cue freak out.  Thankfully for Vito again (Medal winner, I'm telling you.), he took off work to take me to get my blood drawn.  I survived and didn't have a full blown panic attack.  Luckily my nurse was quick and I apparently have big veins.  So my blood work came back normal as well.  By this point I'm overly frustrated and just want them to find out what's going on.  Back to the doctor I went.  Feeling worse and worse.  
Next possible diagnosis?

Stomach ulcer.

So now I have to wait until May 9th to do a stomach scope.  Which I'm terrified.  The thought of something going down my throat like that makes want to panic.  I hate needles & I'll be getting an IV.  & I haven't been put under since I was 6.  Right now I'm on meds to help keep me functioning.  They are terrible.  I have to take them 30-60 minutes before I eat and I have to take them on an empty stomach so I can't have eaten for at least 2-3 hours.  As someone who likes to snack, it has been a trial.  Thankfully they seem to be helping.  I have only had one major set back since starting them.  

I hope when they do the scope they can find something.  Because I am ready to do treatment, not just maintain.  Because of all this mess, my life has been otherwise boring.  We've spent a lot of nights and weekends in the house.  So I guess the bright side is we are saving money! Sad side is I'm missing a lot of fun things we had planned and we had to cancel.  Like our annual dateversary dinner at The Melting Pot.  Like a weekend away.  Like going to a registry event.  

So here's hoping my body stops acting like I'm 80 and I can get back to having fun and planning a wedding. 8)

5 comments:

Heather said...

I hope you get some answers soon!!!

heather said...

hang in there! i know from personal experience how frustrating it can be when your body isn't functioning the way it is supposed to and going through the testing process to figure out what is going on can be anxiety-inducing. you'll get through it and i hope they find out what's happening sooner than later! (side note: did anyone consider celiac (gluten intolerance)? your symptoms sound similar to a few folks i know who have celiac. gluten is in so much stuff, but when they cut it out, their stomach issues stopped entirely).

Suget said...

How did I not know this was going on? I pop in and out of twitter and never knew how bad it was hurting you ):
I hope they find out right away. Just hang on Vanessa, a few more days.
You are in my thoughts (:

Lildonbro said...

That's so frustrating! About two years ago I got really sick and they took my blood twice, gave me several other test, and still couldn't find out what was wrong with me. The doctor called me to tell me my platlettes were low and that I "was very sick, so please be careful" Gee...thanks doctor, fix me! So I hope that they are able to actually find something. How did the stomach scope go?

Nancy Face said...

Hi! I just read your last few posts to catch up with you and see how you're doing!

I'm SOOO sorry you've been going through this! My Hubby Man has been dealing with stomach pain (which comes and goes) for many years - sometimes so bad that he considers going to the ER to check for appendicitis - and it is extremely frustrating to him. He had an episode this week, and got a CT scan done. As usual, everything looks normal. We are looking at limiting his gluten and dairy to see if it helps.

I hope you are feeling better!