My health....

I had to write an original writing piece for my class so I thought I'd share it with you. It's about my health over the last year.

Ever feel like giving up or maybe sick of being sick? Well these are two feelings I have felt extensively over the last year. My health went from healthy and great to a disaster. Last November I was diagnosed with Mono. It was the start to what has seemed like forever. As you may know Mono is viral and can be very hard to deal with. At the time I was diagnosed with Mono I had eight to ten ulcers in my mouth and throat. The ulcers were so bad that I could hardly stand to drink water. I was sent to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist after my primary doctor could not figure out why I had so many ulcers and why they were so bad.
Fall semester had come to a close and I was praying my health would turn around before spring semester started. Boy was I wrong, majorly wrong. Spring semester started and the ulcers were still coming and going. Things were getting harder to handle as the semester got busier and the health problems continued.
Around February I was having dizzy spells and at times could not stand up. The dizziness would get so bad that I would get sick and have to stay in bed. I decided after doing home exercises for vertigo that things were not getting better. I spoke with my primary doctor who had given me vertigo medicine and nausea medicine. The medicines were not helping and I was having trouble keeping up with school. I was told I had severe vertigo and my next option was to go through vestibular rehabilitation. My doctor wrote me a referral for vestibular rehab three days a week for six weeks. I was there for an hour each time. During that hour I was put through different exercises to help with the vertigo. They were supposed to help get my crystals back in line so that the fluid could flow through my ear properly. The therapist told me the whole point of the exercises was to make me dizzy. They knew it was working when I was dizzy and then things got better. There was one point when I got sick during rehab because the vertigo was so bad. After about three weeks of rehab, I was doing much better and because of other medical concerns stopped rehab.
During the time I had vertigo I was still battling with the mouth ulcers. I was put on several different medicines that were supposed to help balance out my histamine levels that could be causing these ulcers. The medicines did not seem to be helping most of the time. I was getting new ulcers daily for a while. There were several times that it literally looked like the back of my mouth was being eaten away. The ENT drew blood and reviewed the results with me. My ANA count was high, eight times the normal persons. Still we had no answers and I continued to deal with the ulcers because they could not get them under control or figure out why they kept coming. I continued to attend classes and complete the course work along with working at my job twenty hours.
Around the time of Spring Break I was still miserable and my parents made the decision that I would be staying home and resting the entire week. I was playing catch-up for a portion of it because I had fallen behind with my classes due to being so sick. During all of this I had also started the first Christian sorority, Sigma Phi Lambda, here at school. I was the president and had some added stress on top of being sick. As March went on I was sent to see a Rheumatologist. He sent me for blood work to test the different levels in my body. They were hoping to find out why my ANA count was high. The results were in and the blood work came back with some levels out of whack. The Rheumatologist spoke with me about my SCL-70 count being high which meant I had the potential to develop Scleroderma, an autoimmune disease. There is a five percent chance that I will develop it at some point in my life.
Towards the end of March I began having stomach pains that would not go away. I could barely get out of bed the pain was so sharp and excruciating. I was tired of seeing doctors every week and sometimes more than one in a week. The pain had gotten so bad that it was making me nauseous and I was getting sick. I decided at that point I had to see the doctor before something serious happened. I saw my doctor on a Friday morning and was immediately sent for STAT ordered ultrasound and blood work. The blood work came back fine but the ultrasound was a different story. My primary doctor called me that Saturday morning at around 8:30am to inform me I had a decent size ovarian cyst. It appeared that the cyst had some sort of fluid inside which if it ruptured could potentially do more damage.
Monday morning, April 7, 2008 came and I had called the gynecologist. Something was wrong and I needed to be seen right away. I saw the doctor in Jacksonville on Thursday morning and then again the following Monday. The entire week I had been out of school because I could not stand without being in pain or feeling sick. I had managed to initiate fifteen girls into the sorority while feeling like I was about to die. On Monday morning the doctor had scheduled me for surgery. The upcoming Friday, April 18th I was scheduled for surgery in the morning to remove a cyst and possibly my left ovary. They were unsure if the cyst was wrapped around the ovary and if it was there would be no choice but to remove the ovary also. Previously I have had six surgeries all of which had their healing processes and anxiety. This surgery I seemed calm and ready for whatever happened. You would think not knowing the outcome of the surgery would make me even more anxious but truthfully I wanted the pain gone and did not care how it happened. I had spoken with my advisor who promptly informed all five of my professors that I would be taking incompletes and finishing the classes along with taking other classes.
Surgery came and went and I was in bed for about three weeks resting and healing. They removed one cyst and found that one had already ruptured which is why I was in so much pain and so sick with nausea. I managed to make it back in time to start my summer course and play mom for three kids for ten days while their parents were in Turkey. I know I am crazy but for some reason I agreed. Their parents were halfway around the world and I was still healing from surgery and trying to keep all the other problems under control.
During the ten day period I managed to step on a roofing nail in their front yard. I simply laughed and thought to myself, you’ve got to be kidding. I could barely go a week without some sort of medical something or other happening. My foot healed after a week or two, I was lucky the nail did not hit the bone. I finished my summer class and proceeded to work on my spring semester courses so I could be caught up again. The summer flew by and I was still in and out of doctors’ offices and dealing with the already created medical problems. My parents and I decided it was time to see a doctor at Mayo. They claim to have the best doctors and it seemed like no one could figure me out so we gave it a shot. I saw the doctor at the end of July and gave more blood. The same results came back and we were still confused as to what was going on. The doctor started me on some autoimmune medicine because my symptoms were pointing towards an autoimmune disease.
Right before fall semester started my great-grandmother passed away which made my medical problems a little more difficult to handle. She was my prayer warrior and the one who would cry just because I was sick and she felt so terrible for me. She was ninety years old and ready to go home. It was a bittersweet good-bye and I know she will always be with me. After the funeral and school got started my medical problems decided to throw me for a loop again.
I was having pain in my stomach again and sure enough had another ovarian cyst. The doctors had informed me that I have two polycystic ovaries. This means I will continue to get cysts throughout my life. The cyst this time was the size of an apricot. It hurt and I could actually feel it slightly. The doctors continued to watch it to see if surgery would be necessary. About two weeks into our first placement for internship I was out for a day because the cyst had ruptured. You might be thinking, oh my gosh, but I was thinking, thank goodness. The doctor clarified the cyst had ruptured but now they found some bladder problems. I was off to see a Urologist the next Monday. They sent me for several tests, all of which came back fine. We believe that the bladder problems are a result from some of the medicines I have been on for all of the other health problems.
At the beginning of November my histamine level went out of control. I have always gotten hives and at times they get really bad. My histamine level is higher than it should be and has to be maintained with anti-histamines. For about a week, my hands and feet were really swollen, red, itchy, and covered with bumps. I could not get them under control with the medicines that I already had so the doctors had to give me additional medicine. The hives get so bad that I cannot do a whole lot so I have to stay in bed to get the histamine level down.
Throughout all of the major medical problems I have dealt with colds, viruses, bacterial infections, upper respiratory infections, and whatever else came my way. I have managed to deal with all of these medical problems, continue with the current semester, internship, and completing my five spring courses. By November 25,2008 all five spring classes had to be completed or I would not be able to go through with internship II and graduate in May 2009. I am awaiting two appointments after finals are over this semester which will hopefully lead to more information and probably more tests. I am seeing an Endocrinologist for the first time which will hopefully bring some answers. As of now, I am starting internship II and looking forward to the new semester. I am hoping that my health problems will start to be labeled and will be able to be solved. I have had a lot of encouragement, support, and prayers from my family, church back home, and friends along with the doctors. It has not been an easy year but I have grown stronger and have gained patience and an understanding that I would not otherwise have gained.