Friday, October 18, 2013

Update on Medical Issues

Had another blood test. That is three now in 8 days with elevated liver enzymes. Doctor ordered a liver and gall bladder ultrasound for first thing Monday morning.

The sad thing....I am not stressing the liver. I am not stressing the neurology exploration for my double vision.

I am stressing the pain I experienced from last Friday through Tuesday. I still get an occasional spasm (like when I sneeze) and I felt it today when running a normal gait with each footfall impact on the ground (and I stopped THAT right away!).

I am angry. I am livid.

The ER doctor told me my GYN should go in and take a look as he suspected adhesions and thinks it also might be that my endometriosis is back. He also told me my golf ball sized cyst could be an issue.

Likewise, the intestinal doctor CANCELLED his appointment with me once he saw that cyst, citing that was most likely the cause. He said he is leaving it up to the GYN to fix and to call if that doesn't work.

WELL!!! I saw my GYN yesterday. She did not even do an exam. Seriously. She didn't even press on my lower groin area or anything. She told me she saw the ultrasound and that it wasn't that big a cyst. She wouldn't remove it. It is a 'blood filled' hemo something that is of no concern as they don't normally get larger or twist or burst or leak. She also said she is fairly certain that my groin pain is adhesion caused from my hysterectomy 3 years ago.

And her long term solution? "Focus on pain management. Let me know if you need any more percocet."

EXCUSE ME?!?!?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?

I have to learn to live with that kind of pain? 
To rely on a drug filled with Tylenol when I have very elevated liver issues ALREADY?!?!?

I told her the ER doctor said she can probably go in and clean up the adhesions. She didn't seem to like that and let me know in no uncertain terms that it was a waste of (her) time because surgeries cause adhesions. Cleaning it is a surgery. She would just have to go back in, in another 3 years.

And???

She said to come back in a month. We will do a follow-up ultrasound. If it is growing, we will discuss further and if pain gets uncontrollable again, give her a call.

*banging head against the wall*

As a note: I am NOT a wimp. I had both babies born at home without meds. After my hysterectomy my doctor got on me for NOT taking pain meds. I ran 8 miles of my half marathon last year with a bad knee. I can handle pain. But not THIS type of pain. I am looking for another doctor.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Life Wins Round Two. No running today.

Had a very rough night last night. I was feeling pain that wouldn't go away the last two days. Became a constant dull ache in the lower abdomen/groin area Friday morning, carried over to Saturday morning when I was woken by stabbing spasms there in the lower abdomen. The pain radiated both back and front. Walking (even gently) caused a slight groin pain with each foot fall. Standing from a seating position to a full upright position caused a pulling pain. Sitting down caused pain.

By the end of the day the stabbing pains were coming between every 5 minutes to as long as an hour apart for many hours, but were getting more intense. At 1:30 am it was more intense than labor for my two children at home was. How do I know that? Because when everything went 'white', for the first time in my life I literally passed out in pain. Came to quickly off the floor and was just a mess. Tried to get to my phone and another spasm hit immediately. I almost passed out again. I fought it so hard and grabbed my bed. Broke out in a full blown hair dripping sweat. Being home alone and scared as heck, I called 911 and paramedics got there very quickly. I had never called an ambulance for myself. I never rode in one.

In the ambulance, they hooked up an EKG (I guess women exhibit heart issues with lower abdominal pain??) and told me to relax and breath deep. Per the machine, my pulse was only 48. They put an IV in. I was not happy.

However, at the hospital I was given a pain med through the IV (BURNED!) and I was happier. It took the constant ache down from a 5 to a 2 or 3. The spasms were brought down from 7's and 8's to 5's. Enough to catch your breath and breathe through it but not enough to break a sweat or feel sick.

At 3:15 am and at 4:30 am I was given very nasty red drinks. At 5:30am I was given my first CT scan through a big donut machine. It was okay except the stuff they put in the IV. He warned me that it will make me feel like I just peed and make my skin all tingly. I giggled when I had that 'just peed' sensation but when my skin became a creeping burning sensation on my upper chest I was worried.  He said he forgot to mention it is like a hot flash on steroids.

Doctor told me that the CT scan showed no intestinal abnormalities or impactions. But he found a cyst that is '4.5 centimeters' on my remaining ovary. He said he suspects that is the culprit and ordered an ultra-sound. The ultrasound confirmed it to be a 'complex cyst' of 4.5 centimeters. I guess cysts can cause a lot of pain in the abdomen even though inches away from the area. Something about nerve endings. Too tired to understand it all.

I thought 4.5 cm was small and he explained it is just 'a little smaller than a ping pong ball' and is considered large. He stated I need to call my GYN Monday morning and they will need to go in laparoscopically and look at it because of my endometriosis past, as well as to look for adhesions from my 2010 hysterectomy, and to insure the cyst itself is okay as complex ones are sometimes "bad guys".

He also suggested a colonoscopy (NOOOOOO!!!) to insure the sites of where the pre-cancerous polyps were removed last year aren't scarred or developing adhesions.

He gave me a prescription for heavy narcotic pain killers. As a note - when I had my hysterectomy I was given 20 of the same type and my doctor called on day three post-op and was SHOCKED I had not taken a single pill since my first 24 hours home and then, I only took HALF doses when I did. I bet I have a jar of expired ones in my cabinet. Seriously, pain isn't something that normally kicks my butt as evidenced by my hysterectomy and my two natural births. Last night was SCARY.

When they released me just before 8am I realized I had no ride home. Thank God they now take credit cards and I had grabbed my purse. Took a 2.5 hour nap and woke up with that dull ache. Dammit.

NOT running my long run today.

TMI below!!! Do not scroll down unless you really want to know more.
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The dull ache feels like being very constipated and tenderness existed in my front groin area when touched. However, my bowel movements were absolutely normal and regular both days. No constipation or diarrhea at all. Urination was normal. I was able to pass gas here and then but it didn't help, didn't feel related and wasn't at all gasey. When the spasms occurred it felt like I was being broken inside much like when in labor. I would be resting and then cry out loud in sudden pain. The spasm pains are very short for the most part. They are just frequent and have now gone on for at least 28 hours.

I hated waking up from my two hour nap when I got home and finding a spasm woke me and the pain was still there.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Still Running - Despite Life

I saw the neurologist about my double vision/esophoria yesterday. She first wanted to know why I put it off so long and I was honest - doctor visits stress me out and most issues resolve themselves without the stress. My routine 50 yr check up resulted in 7 or 8 pre-cancerous polyps being removed and know I fear lunch meat. (See what I mean???)

The neurologist confirmed my double vision and ordered both a non-dye and a dye MRI of the brain, and a whole slew of blood work. This is just to rule out all the nasty things that 'could' cause sudden onset esophoria at the age of 50. There isn't any real concern. Just ruling things out.

First thing this morning I got a call from the MRI department - they are getting me in Tuesday.

Shortly after that I got a call from my general practioner doctor (who has had nothing to do with any of the double vision or lab work because this went from Opthamology to Neuroglogy). They said they were alerted to some of my lab results. The doctor would like me to come in at my earliest convenience. They had nothing Monday, Tuesday is my MRI's, Wednesday I am out of town so I am going in Thursday. I then asked, "WHY?" and was told the tests came back with elevated levels. I mentioned they were slightly elevated last year. They agreed but added this year they are above normal limits. Last year they weren't. Okay.

This stressed me out so I went to go run the nerves off.

Shortly into my run the neurologist called to tell me that my liver levels were off and to call my GP. I let them know I had already got a call from them and have an appointment in place. "Oh good!!"

I did my run and it was odd. I was overly concerned about my health. Running too hard? Running too fast? Should I even be pushing this hard? Am I damaging something????

Then tonight, I found my lab results online. YIKES!!!

ALT count - normal max is 32.  My count: 104
AST count - normal max is 36. My count: 60

Bilirubin count - normal max is 1.0. My count is 1.4 

My brother told me he has always had elevated numbers but not like that. My last counts were just under the normal max. I went from 31 to 104 in one year.

I still have more lab work that isn't in yet and that will take a few days.

This is why I don't do doctors! I went in for vision issues and come back with this scare.

TRYING TO BE POSITIVE THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  "5% of all healthy people have an abnormal ALT. Medical and mathematical statistics guarantee that. By definition, a "normal" test result range is the range that includes 95% of all healthy adults."