Not So Wordless Wednesday

On your birthday Starbucks gives you free drinks. The Starbucks on base doesn't use the app or whatever it is with the gift card reloadable thing (you can tell I do this a lot) but they still give you a free drink. I asked for a medium and the girl behind the counter told me to live a little, it was my birthday after all, so I ended up with a passion tea lemonade the size of my head! Plus they matched my new birthday present Ray Bans my mom found on major sale somewhere. So I took a rare selfie, especially since I had my hair curled, another rarity.

On 9/11 I didn't have work, so once Ryan came home we went to the 9/11 Memorial in Jacksonville. I am ashamed to say I didn't know it existed until that day and the base Facebook page posted about it, but I am glad we went. It is a piece of steel from the Twin Towers and you can see the notes and flowers people left throughout the day. We arrived just after it rained so it was just us for awhile in the evening sunlight. It was beautiful.

Football season started and I was super excited. Now both my teams are 0-2 and I want to bang my head on the wall. Sigh.

Last weekend my parents met us for lunch in New Bern and we tried a delicious restaurant called Persimmons, which we had never been to before. It was right on the waterfront and all of their food was made from fresh, local ingredients. Check out my fried green tomatoes (with regular tomatoes, goat cheese crumbles and balsamic reduction). Oh my gracious it was heavenly.

We walked around a bit then and just enjoyed the view and showing my dad New Bern since he hasn't been before. It was pretty hot so the breeze coming off the water was much appreciated.

I finally managed to snag something from The Enchanted Brush. I was way too excited and I already wore it! I ordered it Friday, it arrived Monday, and I wore it Tuesday. One day I will own a pair of her amazing shoes... when I can afford them!!!

I am back to the "Let's guess why your digestive system doesn't work game." with a new gastroenterologist. So far I like him, we have some ideas, but until I have an attack again they cannot do as many tests as they want. I am under instructions to go to the ER during my next attack and have a CT scan and blood work done... which should be fun. When I am in attack mode I can barely move or leave the bathroom let alone get myself to the ER in time, but we shall see. I cannot seem to go more than six weeks without an attack so maybe within a month we will know more. He did decide to test me for celiac's disease with a simple blood test after my appointment. I went to the lab and I told the young HN naval guy I have deep veins, just to give him a heads up. He felt around, said he found one and was good. He then stuck the needle in said, "Oh." and promptly pulled it out again. As blood trickled down my arm he went and grabbed someone else and said, "Can you tap her, I blew out her vein." Sigh. I warned you dude. Now I have a lovely bruise on my arm. The other arm where the other lady tapped me? Not even a mark. I also have a gastric emptying test scheduled for this Friday. I sincerely hope I get some answers anyway possible at this point. I am tired of these stomach issues... it has been nearly a year now! But I like this doctor and I feel like he actually listens to me, unlike the other one, so fingers crossed.

When I visited my mom over the weekend of my birthday I got a gel manicure that lasted me a full two weeks. My nails are never long so I wanted to keep it up if I could. I went to Target and got the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Nail Polish since it was no light necessary. I really don't have the time to go get my nails done every few weeks so I was excited to try this. Sadly, it chipped in less than a day. My nails look a little extra ragged from when I removed the salon gels, but the chips weren't even in the same spots on some of my nails. So yea, kind of disappointed. I have done a touch up already and those have chipped too. Just in case you were wondering before you buy! It's a shame because the colors are gorgeous and they dry pretty quickly, but they sadly just do not last with me.

I am trying to get back to blogging regularly, so thanks for sticking with me and my random accumulation of thoughts... especially in this post in particular.

This is not a sponsored post in any way, all opinions here are my own in terms of restaurants, Etsy shops, and nail polish... just sharing what I experienced!

Moving Forward

As you may remember I posted a few weeks ago about how I've been under the weather lately... and that may be putting it lightly. I missed almost a week of work, could barely eat, and was terribly nauseous. After a trip to Urgent Care, the ER on base (which was horrible for other reasons) and finally my own doctor we may have some progress. My doctor asked about my family history with gallbladder issues and I told her it was extensive. My mom, grandfather and I believe at least two of my aunts had theirs all removed. She scheduled me for an ultrasound that day to see if I had gallstones and fortunately I did not have any.

 

Just to be sure all was well the doctor sent me for a HIDA scan, basically a nuclear medicine test that checks the function of your gallbladder. The first part of the test I just had to lie there for maybe an hour while they took images of my gallbladder. Then they injected me with something that stimulates the gallbladder to empty it and mark its progress. Some people have zero reactions during this part of the test (which is usually six to eight minutes) and some people get nausea or pain, it just depends on how your body reacts to the dye. Either reaction can mean you're fine (or  not) so I was just hoping for no reaction.

 

Thirty seconds into the dye insertion I felt as sick as I did the first night at work when it all started. I got overheated, horribly nauseous and felt dizzy. Then my stomach felt like it was caving in on itself in pain. The techs had to talk me through breathing normally as tears streamed down my face... and by down my face I mean back into my hair and ears since I was lying down. It was absolute misery. Then, it stopped. It was a long eight minutes though. Afterwards I went and got something to eat from the hospital cafeteria and then went to work being told my doctor would call in the next forty eight hours with the results.

 

She called me less than six hours later.

 

I saw it was her and I knew I probably failed the test. Usually when you get a same day call your results are not optimal. Sure enough my gallbladder is barely functioning. You are supposed to have your gallbladder empty at a rate of 35% or higher. Mine was at a measly 8%.

 

So... we may finally have an answer. I got some bloodwork done this week to rule out any other possiblities, which it did, and now we are waiting for TriCare to process referrals to the gastroenterologist on my PCM's staff and for a surgeon. My doctor said some surgeons won't remove gallbladders without stones present, but with mine functioning at such a low level and the quality of life I've had the past month or so now she cannot see any reason why it wouldn't come out. In the mean time I have four medicines, two of which I take daily and two as needed, and I am eating a very bland diet. No fried foods, now high fibery things, no red meat, no raw vegetables...  basically a lot of the things I normally love are a big NO.

 

But at least it is an answer and hopefully a solution in the near future. Fingers crossed and thanks for sticking with me guys. I haven't blogged much since becomming sick but I am hoping to get back into things again.

Say A Lil Prayer...

You all remember my last doctor's visit from this post.


Well after work today I noticed I had a voicemail from a number I didn't recognize. It also called me twice the day before. It was from my doctor concerning the results of my spinal xray. I tried to call back and went through a maze (yay tricare!) but I eventually left a message for him to call me back.

I get a call tonight while Ryan and I are watching Hook and making dinner. It was my doctor. So apparently on my spine in two of the five angles they looked at there is some sort of mark. They want me to get another xray to double check their findings. It isn't a tumor or anything. But there are two possibilities. One is nothing. It was the angle I was laying at and my colon was there and it is an "incidental finding" (aka...well, crap). The other possibility is a spinal injury of sorts. My density is off for whatever reason. So if it isn't the incidental finding it is something else. He kept asking me if I ever had a serious injury (theory being it is post-traumatic injury or something that didn't heal) but I never have. Just pulling it out musclewise for 8 years. If the spot is in the same place on these new xrays then I need a CT scan or other tests to determine exactly what the damage is and what is causing it and go from there.

After dinner we get in the car and drive to Ft Belvoir. I was glad Ryan was with me because I couldn't help but feel a little panicky and worried. I wasn't expecting this at all. I was convinced my chest was causing back pain but what if this is causing it too?

48-72 hours for the results. So think positive for me.

Best case scenario... we drove all the way for Belvoir for shit :P

No?

Ok I laughed. Sorry.

God help us all....

My mom started a blog! My mom!!! Yes I know she reads this so don't get all huffy mom, I am just having one of those shocked moments like I had when you joined facebook. Anyway, for you curious people who want to read along...

http://churchladyandmom.blogspot.com/

She is doing a mother and the bride sort of thing with her blog and I am curious to see where she goes with it!


Ryan and I are still looking for apartments and have some that we like in our budget. Let's see where that goes.

I worked on our wedding invitations today, I had some offers from friends to make them but with our budget and time ordering them may just be easier. Which is a shame. So we're back to the original design I found a month ago. I am still floundering for transportation in budget. And I have to get the flowers at some point too.

Work at the pharmacy again tomorrow, 10am. Go figure the position I applied for at my friend Sara's job (the publishing company, they filled the job right before getting my resume), well the person who got it bailed. It is Mon-Fri 8-4:30 or 9-5 at $13.50 an hour! Double my hours and probably salary at the pharmacy. Ugh. ONE day! If I had known just ONE day. But they're going to call me for an interview anyway. So I will tell them my fiance got orders and I am moving in May... do you still want me for three months? If they want me to interview then I will go from there. I can't leave the pharmacy in a lurch, I accepted the job and that is that.

I had my test today for my stomach, a gastric emptying test. Basically I couldn't eat til 1pm, and when I did it was radioactive scrambled eggs that tasted like metal. Then I laid on a slab and had an xray on my chest and couldn't move. For two hours. So there was no tv, I couldn't read, no watch, and my ipod was too loud and once the test started I couldn't move. Towards the end I had to pee, my arms and legs were numb, I was cold, and I had a crick in my neck on top of being horribly nauseous and crampy. But they gave me a $3 gift card for the hospital cafe (woohoo pizza bagel) and a card I need to carry around for the next month saying I am radioactive. The next 48 hours are the worst but it lingers, so if I travel or go anywhere with security I have to show that.

Ok, I am exhausted, going to bed now.