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| The Hospital Bed By: Nathan and Jenny http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathan_and_jenny/4295768760/ |
It’s been a
year since I’ve done a blog post, a year filled with concern over some crazy
health issues that came out of nowhere.
It all started around last Christmas, when I began having mild migraine
headaches, along with a scary variety of migraine auras (actually called
“ocular migraines” – who knew?). These
headaches, although not severe, were with me literally 24/7. And that frequency lasted until March. I was convinced I had a brain tumor.
By the end
of March, I’d had an MRI that showed there was no brain tumor. But there were other “issues” that needed to
be investigated. So began my yearlong odyssey
of doctor, hospital and lab visits, which I will condense into a few paragraphs. The
first neurologist I saw put me on a treatment regimen that actually increased
the frequency of my headaches. So I switched
to a team of doctors who sent me for tests. Then they told me to see a hematologist, who
ordered more tests, which identified a genetic mutation that has nothing to do
with the headaches. As of today, they’re
pretty much gone, but I still get the auras daily, every time I’m exposed to
bright light. And nobody knows why the
headaches began or why they’ve stopped.
It turns out that neurology is still in its infancy, because relatively
little is known about the brain.
Adding to my
health concerns, in October, I experienced the worst upper abdominal pain of my
life. I couldn’t sleep at all that night
and almost went to the ER. Instead, I saw
my doctor first thing in the morning. He
asked if it could be food poisoning and if I’d been to a restaurant. I told him I hadn’t, that I’d made a vegetarian
stir-fry the previous evening, so it couldn’t have been food poisoning. Well, because of the extreme pain and the
abdominal swelling, he sent me to the ER, where I had several tests. They found nothing that would account for the
pain, but said I had a very high white count.
So I got an IV bag of antibiotics.
One of the tests did find a 6mm kidney stone, which was a shock. And, although the stone wasn’t causing any
immediate problems, I saw a urologist about it.
I’ll see him again in a few months to further assess the situation. By the way,
here’s a quick tip – the urologist said to drink Crystal Light lemonade if you
have kidney stones, because the citric acid sometimes helps break them
down. (At least, I think that’s how he
said it.)
So why all
the terrible stomach pain? Well, within
three days, I was back to a normal diet and feeling absolutely no pain. So I decided to have some of that veggie
stir-fry before it started to go bad.
And within three hours of eating that damned thing, I was doubled over
again. Yes, I had poisoned myself twice
on the same crap! Because I added
cauliflower, broccoli and snow peas after the other stuff was cooked, they never
got hot enough to kill any bacteria.
And, although they say washing veggies with water is enough, I’m proof
that’s not always the case. I figure I must
have needed another big doctor/hospital bill.
Anyway, after a year of
anxious doctoring, I’m left wondering whether my gene cesspool will cause health
problems in the future. (Fortunately, it hasn’t made any trouble yet, and the
doctors and I are hoping it never will.) And
I wish I knew what will happen with the kidney stone. Will it suddenly start moving on Christmas
Day, when I have 30+ people here?
Probably the
first thing I ought to do is stop thinking about all of it and force myself to
resume eating fresh vegetables without first soaking them in bleach. But, for now, I think I’ll go mix up a batch
of Crystal Light.
