Thursday, March 10, 2016

February 2015

Fast forward to February 2015. Again it is the end of winter and I am not feeling well. About every 8-10 days I am having tummy troubles, then vomiting and sometimes diarrhea. At first, I'm not too worried about it. House guests over Christmas had the flu while they were here and I've been cleaning that room. Also, in my line of work, it's not uncommon to have children cough or sneeze in my face or vomit at my feet . . . YES, not often, but it has happened.

The first couple of times I felt sick, I awoke in the middle of the night with my stomach gurgling, but still didn't think much of it. It wasn't until one day at work that I got sick and had to leave, that I thought it was something more serious than the flu.

I started to watch what I was eating more carefully. In doing an internet search, it seemed that many of the symptoms that I was having were characteristics of Celiac Disease. I was still working, but could tell my energy level was going down. My hair was thinning and my appetite diminishing.

In about 4 weeks I had lost 18 lbs. We were planning a trip to Washington for Easter and again here I was sick. I never went to the Dr. when I was being sick. I would be so sick that I knew that I could not make to the hospital or ER without getting sick several times in the car.

One Sunday, several hours after I had been sick and was still feeling not so good, I decided that I would go to the ER and see if I could get some medication for diarrhea to take on our trip. That was my biggest fear. Getting on a 5 hour flight and being sick.

At the ER, I told the DR. what was gong on. He said it sounded like it was possibly 1 of several things, but probably a virus or an ulcer. He gave me medication for diarrhea and a referral to go see a Gastroenterologist.

A few days later at the Gastroenterologist's we discussed having a colonoscopy. I have had several of these and after my last colon surgery, had always had problems drinking the prep for them. I let my concerns be know and the Dr. always came back with, "That's not going to happen."  ( Really, don't you think I know my own body? I have not been your patient before and everyone is different.) He rattled off several things that "could be wrong", ending with . . . "It could be a ulcer or a virus."

Hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm. . .

  

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