JUNE 3, 2018

This is not the post I was intending to write today. My own life has been preventing me from getting into the correct mental space to complete the one I’ve been working on. I told myself when I started blogging again that I was going to be more up front with the issues I really faced day-to-day. Therefore, instead of telling you today about some of the lessons I’ve learned during previous hardships, I’m going to be more open about what I’m struggling with now. The truth is, I’m dealing with some health issues at the moment.

Just When I Hit My Groove

I spent several months putting my life into a solid, maintainable groove so I could take a brief vacation at the beginning of May, 2018. Everything was going according to plan, and I managed to cover all of my responsibilities for four days. I left for California on May 4th and returned home in the early hours of May 9th.

After thoughtful discussions with a number of important people in my life, I had come to the conclusion that I should get away for a few days to “get my head on straight” and reevaluate who I was and what I was doing. I’ve been through so much over the past few years and so many aspects that I thought were permanent completely changed. So, I made sure I was in a good position to go. I had cashed in my vacation time at work and made sure that my time with RT was covered.

Then I Got Back

Making it home in one piece early in the morning, I went right to bed. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up feeling a bit strange, but figured it was simply jet lag. After all, it had been a number of years since I had taken a plane anywhere. I dragged myself to a mandatory work seminar and completed a difficult experimental color process. That night, I became violently ill, seemingly without warning.

Assuming it would do the trick, I did what I normally do whenever I get a stomach bug. I rested. I started a bland diet and made sure to drink lots of fluids. No matter what I did to take care of myself over the next few days, my condition continued to decline. For nearly four days, I spent the majority of my time curled up on the couch in the fetal position in excruciating and progressively worsening pain.

On the night of May 12th, I managed to get myself to the closest ER. I just couldn’t take it anymore. At that point, I was starving, I could hardly remain awake for two hours a day, and I hurt so much I could hardly see straight. Although I did not have a fever, I was repeatedly succumbing to cold sweats. I was not able to function well enough to make it through my daily life.

Getting The Doctors Involved

The hospital ran a few tests over the course of the next six hours. They ruled out several possible causes that would have been immediately life-threatening. Without finding a cause for my ailments, they put me on a clear liquid diet along with some medications to help stabilize my stomach, and advised me to follow up with a GI specialist. The next day, I was able to follow up with my PCP, who got me into a GI specialist a few days later.

After those appointments, I was given updated dietary restrictions. There wasn’t much new information yet, other than the discovery of intensive inflammation and a number of ulcers. Then, it was just a waiting game until the results of my biopsies came back. It was almost two weeks before I finally got the results. A few more serious conditions were ruled out by those tests. Unfortunately, I still don’t know why I have been unable to work for almost a month.

So Now What?

I’m not entirely sure where I’m supposed to go from here. I’ve gotten a lot of advice, and I’m starting by returning to my PCP with a comprehensive updated list of symptoms. As it stands, I’m still having a lot of trouble getting out of bed reliably during the day. I have to rest far to frequently, and my chores are not getting done.

There really isn’t much more that I can say. I’ll keep you all updated as events unfold.

Image by Marcelo Leal