Here I am with my new short haircut and I just noticed that Tessie is in the background. Tessie is my 1992 Nissan Sentra with 232,000 miles on her. We "went away" in Tessie after our wedding 15 years ago. Hey, we're both older but still kickin'. There you go. THE SYMBOLISM.DO YOU GET THE SYMBOLISM?
A recap. I collapsed on January 8, 2007 with pain everywhere. It felt like--a tired analogy to be sure--but accurate. It felt like I had been beaten with a baseball bat. All over. The pain is still there, especially in my legs. Ouch.
I had surgery December 13, 2006 and had all my lady parts yanked out because of possible ovarian cancer. None was found, but somehow I have this feeling that I had it in an embryonic state.
I've spent thousands of hours on the internet searching for answers and my doctors started running tests. So far I've found that I was anemic (iron pills) had low Vitamin D (more pills, including an 8 week course of prescription drugs) and mildly hypothyroid. Eureka, I had the answers. Eat thyroid pills like tic-tacs and the aching would go away! Well I did and the only thing that went away was my ability to sleep. The phone call from my doctor frantically informing me that my TSH level was "unacceptably low" didn't go away. Meh.
So I subscribed to a fibro list that advocates taking guaifenesin to "manage" fibro. It works like this: You're born with fibro. You have Things happen to you that are diagnosed as individual problems but are really symptoms of fibro. After a stressful situation (operation) you have a "flare". The only remedy is to start taking guaifenesin for the rest of your life to remove the phosphate deposits from your body, which will eventually "manage" fibro and the pain will go away. It's all explained in detail here.
Fibro is a disease of elimination. All your tests come back peachy keen, and you still hurt, you're diagnosed with fibro. My doctor agrees that I have it and has prescribed Lyrica, and fellow fibros, that stuff is heaven in a bottle!
So I forage forward, clutching my bottle of Mucinex, and hope that one day this will all be a bad memory.
It's not so bad--I'm able to work, raise kids, and do just fine thanks to my friendly army of painkillers. It's not fatal. There is something you can do about it. I've gone through those stages they talk about--denial, anger, bargaining, depression, etc. and I'm at acceptance.
It's always something. Bring it. Mom has the big A, I have fibro, I have a gorgeous sexy husband (just in case he ever actually reads this blog) two beautiful children, friends, a job I adore and....you guys. Thanks.
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14 comments:
Well, shit. That sucks about the fibromyalgia but I am glad that they finally have a diagnosis for you.
Your new look is fantastic!
I'm hearing Fergie GL A M OU R OU S
Hair looks good (that's pretty much all you can expect a guy to say).
Stay strong!
Love the new do!
A gluten free diet is said to be good for fibromyalgia. We've been eating GF for four months and my sleep has improved.
Having an answer must feel pretty good. I hope that soon you start to feel pretty good, too.
xoxo!
Love the hair!
What about the mucinex? Does it work? I've had a few folks speculate that I have fibro but never really had anyone "diagnose" me.
Thank you guys for the compliments! The thyroid thing was making my hair fall so I just chopped it all off.
Lilysea, I think it is a legitmate treatment. I got "mapped" for "lesions" by a therapist who has it herself and she said that it definitely worked for her and worked well. The fibro list is filled with stories about people who were already in wheelchairs and are now up walking, working, etc.
Get "mapped" by a trained person. Go
http://fibromyalgiatreatment.com/DoctorsChart.htm#IL
and find a local "mapper" and they can tell you if you have "deposits".
You look mah-velous! And having a real diagnosis, well, the results suck, but at least you know what to do about it now.
Your hair style is really cute. Glad to know you at least have a diagnosis and can treat it. On some level that def. helps so you know you aren't crazy.
Beverly
Hi there,
I'm not in the habit of giving out unsolicited medical advice to strangers (honest) but did they also test you for celiac disease? The anemia, thyroid disfunction and fatigue are hallmarks of undiagnosed celiac disease in women, however most doctors don't test for it because they think it's rare (it's not).
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/
http://www.celiaccentral.org/
Thanks for all the great writing,
Elise
Hi...your hair cut is darling. I would like to talk to you sometime...about all the stuff you have gone thru....I am living thru my own personal hell now...2 years ago found out I had Graves Disease, did the radiation pill and my thyroid ceased living...now on synthoid.....but after a year of being on my my levels had increased and now my dosage had to increase (2 times in the last 8 weeks)... when we raised the 1st time, there was no change, so had to raise dosage again. Anyway, I am going thru a lot of what you have been talking about..so I would like to talk to you if you have the time.
I'll be happy to provide you with my email...I'll email it straight to you.
Thanks!
Norah
I about fell over when I read the symptoms because that describes me. Exactly. I've had everyday pain in my back and neck area since I was in high school. They've done xrays, MRIs and never found anything wrong. I'm in pain everyday and have a lot of the other symptoms too.
I bought some mucinex last night. I'm going to try it.
Oh Baggage, I hope this is the answer for you but be sure to read about eliminating sals or you'll block the action of the guai. Good luck and keep in touch.
Oh my God I hope to hell this works for me. I have been *suffering* and I mean suffering with Fibro and Arthritis for almost 15 years and am m.i.s.e.r.a.b.l.e. I am so glad I found your blog. I am getting Mucinex tomorrow!
I randomly surfed into your blog. My mother has suffered from fibro since I was young. She also suffered for a long time until she finally got her diagnosis. I will have to tell her about the Mucinex. Very interesting!
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