April 2008 Archives

To date I have had several dr. appointments and tests during the process of figuring out what, exactly, is going on. That list looks something like this:

abdominal CT scan
abdominal sonogram
upper GI w/small bowel follow-through
abdominal CT scan w/thin cuts across the pancreas
endoscopy
pelvic exam
pelvic sonogram
colonoscopy
two ER visits
four rounds of bloodwork
seven dr. appointments
twelve prescriptions

My endoscopy came back showing nothing that would cause this, the head of my pancreas is slightly enlarged but that's not the problem, my colonscopy came back looking fine, all of my sonograms have been normal, the upper GI showed that stuff is moving through my system without any noticeable obstructions, and there's nothing in my bloodwork that gives the doctors an idea of what's going on.

I do not have celiac, I don't have gastritis, there is nothing structurally wrong with my gallbladder, I don't have gallstones or tumors or an inflamed bowel, and I don't have a lot of patience left anymore. Today's colonoscopy was the proverbial last straw. I didn't mind the prep too much, but getting the procedure started was what did me in. It hurt like a motherfucker when they put the first IV in, but when the anesthesiologist started to put the sedative in it, it felt like they were tearing out a strip of my arm. As it turned out, the nurse hadn't put the IV in a vein, so they had to put in another one. They started off putting it in one of the veins on my right hand, but apparently there was something wrong with that one too, so they then had to put it in another of the veins on that hand. That was when I hit my limit and started tearing up. I'm ready for them to take out my appendix, gallbladder, and uterus, just in case any of those three are the cause of my pain. If I'm still feeling bad after that, we'll start looking at which other organs I can live without.

Our anniversary trip was fantastic. We spent the majority of our time away relaxing, doing nothing more taxing than reading and coordinating internet time, although we did make a trip out to pick up some books and have dinner.

The dogs did very well on their first real vacation with us. No one was carsick, there were no accidents at the bed & breakfast, and even though they barked ferociously when they saw the owner's dog, they were amicable enough after the initial furor was over. They do need to get used to traveling, however. Jordan settled down quickly enough in the truck, but Maddy and Max took turns squeaking the entire trip there. They were a little calmer on the way home, thankfully, but I'm still determined to get them used to car trips before our next anniversary. Aside from the traveling, the hardest part for them was staying off the furniture. At home they have their run of whatever furniture they can reach to curl up on, so not jumping up on the chairs was a challenge for them, as was refraining from burrowing under the blanket I put up on the bed for them to lay on. Max in particular had a hard time not doing that, but eventually she gave up with a huge sigh to let me know she was Not Pleased.

(picture courtesy of Mike)

When we got there on Friday we unloaded the truck, got the dogs settled, and ordered pizza before settling in for our four days of leisure. Saturday was spent in our suite, punctuated only by a quick trip out to get drinks. We debated walking to the nearby gas station but opted to drive because of the angry-looking clouds overhead - a wise decision, as it turned out, because as soon as we pulled onto the road, it started pouring. It would have been quite an uncomfortable walk in that downpour.

Sunday we had intended to spend in our suite as well, but we decided to make that our main trip out. We stopped and picked up some more books and magazines, just in case we ran out, and then had dinner before returning to the bed and breakfast for the evening. We watched The Descent shortly after we got back, and it's a good thing I hadn't seen it before our last trip there. There is no way Chicken Little here would have wanted to go see the caverns fresh on the heels of that movie!

Monday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday - lots of napping, reading, and relaxing, with a trip out for drinks thrown in for good measure. I did walk to a local grocery store, but that was the only real change in our routine.

We didn't have to check out until noon on Tuesday, so we were able to have a nice leisurely morning, sleeping in and taking our time getting everything packed up. We made our now-customary stop at the Blue Ridge Pottery studio so I could pick up more things for our kitchen.

(picture courtesy of Mike)

We're leaving tomorrow after work for our anniversary trip. We're going to be gone until Tuesday, and this year we're taking the dogs with us. Normally I would have already started packing by now or have a checklist made at the very least, but I've not even done that. I did call the vet to see about getting something to have on hand for the pups in case they don't handle the trip well, so I guess that counts for something.

I just bought our tickets to see Mötley Crüe at Crüe Fest this summer, and I'm beyond excited about the show. Eep! Neither of us have seen them play before (which, given the amount of concerts Mike has been to, is something that doesn't happen often), and since Mike's the one who introduced me to them, I love that we're going to see them for the first time together.

After road-testing my diva cup, I am an enthusiastic convert. Seriously, it's hard for me to keep from leaping around the room throwing flowers in the air, I'm that enthusiastic about it. It's comfortable, there's practically no leakage, and it's nice to have the freedom to forget about it for almost the entire day. Sure, emptying it out can be a bit messy, but I love knowing that I'm not using tampons anymore. Another tiny choice that fits well with my life. <3

I am grouchy x10000000 today. So far the only person to have crossed my path today who hasn't irritated me is Mike. Only two more hours till I can go home and not have to deal with anyone who's not part of my family until tomorrow, and God help the Jehovah's Witnesses if they knock on my door today.

I wasn't in Borders long when I went last week, but I was there long enough for them to play Bryan Adam's "Heaven," and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." <3

New Found Glory covering "Hungry Eyes" and "The King of Wishful Thinking"? I'm in love. In fact, I'm kinda crushing on the whole album, especially the afore-mentioned songs and "Iris," "Crazy For You," "Stay (I Missed You)," and "The Promise." I predict that my co-workers are going to be hearing this album on repeat tomorrow.

We watched this a couple of weeks ago, and holy shit, it was longer than I expected. Good, but loooooong, especially when the plan was to pop the movie in at 7:30 and go to bed at 9:30. HA. I guess we should've looked at the movie's running time beforehand. Aside from the "Sweet weeping Moses, when will it END?" moments after the two-hour mark had come and gone, I liked the movie a lot. I used to not really care much for Jake Gyllenhal, but now I like him more and more with each movie I see him in, and Zodiac was no different. I liked his character and the way he played him, although it was hard for me to buy him as a dad. Robert Downey Jr.'s character was appealling, too. Now I need to read the book it was based on.

The last few weeks haven't been my best ever.

I've been to the ER:

Had a CT scan and a handful of other tests (+ bloodwork out the wazoo):

Had a gajillion appointments at which I was given more prescriptions than I care to think about - none of which worked, except the pain meds:

Had to collect poo samples for analysis (ick):

And I still don't know what's going on or why I'm having such horrible pains.