Doctor Report

Saw the nurse practitioner and it wasn't pretty. She suggested putting me in the hospital for pain control. I didn't go for it. She suggested more strongly. Then went and got me a script for a different pain med with the warning that I ought to just go to the hospital anyway and if this didn't work there wasn't going to be a choice.

Sigh. Don't they understand that I have a job, a family, a life? A job that is not amused that I am not there and have no sick leave...a job that thinks I am skivving work for a birthday vacation? No.

Have to call back and make a colonoscopy appointment for as soon as possible. The power went out as I was getting my script. Soooooo...that is the update.

Bizarre thing: I was sure I had GAINED 10-15 lbs since the last appointment because I can't hardly button my pants. Nope, lost 12 since the June appointment. So the buttoning thing is all distended owie stomach.

Technorati Tags: ulcerative colitis, colitis, colonoscopy, tummy troubles

Tummy Troubles

I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8 with the nurse practitioner. Earlier if they get a cancellation. Sigh.


Technorati Tags: ulcerative colitis, colitis, tummy troubles

Uh-oh

Last night was my worst tummy night and it has turned into my worst day since the last time I was in the hospital I think. REALLY crampy and yucky and my stomach is distended to the point of clothes that fit last week strained at the buttons today.

I was going to call the doctor but managed to grit my teeth and work longer than I planned to when I swept into the office this morning. Swept is overstating it more than a bit because it was really more of a dragged myself into because I knew there was stuff that I HAD TO GET DONE. Then I got home with a migraine, killer guts and headache meds and such seemed like a better idea. Then homework madness and with the lights on and so on it doesn't seem quite as bad right? Besides that, I am enough of a WebMD and general on and offline health reader that I already know what will happen when I call.

I know. I know. Its bad. But tomorrow is my birthday. sigh.

Technorati Tags: colitis,
ulcerative colitis, tummy troubles

Hurt

I hurt today. Bad. Ended up coming home early from work. (Do I have enough sick leave? Probably not. I don't know. October is coming which means I once again won't have the minimum to join the sick leave pool.) Took meds. Still hurt. Couldn't sleep. My kids are home but I haven't spent but a few minutes with them because I don't want them to see me doubled over or hurt or sad or mad that I am sick. Again. On a weekend when I just want to be with my babies.

Technorati Tags: colitis,
ulcerative colitis, tummy troubles

I wish I could think of something

other than yucky to describe this post. I missed 3 doses of my Imuran due to a dumb CVS store screw up. Yet another one. I never thought I would say I miss Eckerds BUT I DO. Unfortunately the mix up wasn't discovered until I was out of town for my lovely mommy weekend. The handful of scripts was grabbed. You would think they would have filled them right. Instead I had TWO bottles of promethezine (phenergan, the nausea stuff) and a bottle of medicine I am NO LONGER taking. No tramadol (for the owie tummy stuff) or IMURAN; which of course is the key component of the mix. Well, vacation usually does ok with me for a while, unless we are talking serious travel. So I was good for the weekend. Even ok Monday when I picked up the redone order...where we were walking out and discovered yes, the Imuran but YET ANOTHER BOTTLE OF the promethazine. So lets review here...3 bottles of nausea meds that I generally can get a few months out of ONE. No pain meds. Well, Monday was one of those days you just don't want to ever have outside of the pharmacy mix up and I didn't have energy to deal with them. (when we got there we had to wait in a long line, then wait LONGER while she couldn't find the second script bag.)

Anyhow, last night we left to go pick up the big girl. No problem. Car ride. I do good with that. No, by the time the 6 hours was up I was done. Lots of pain. No drugs. Today was worse because not being at work I actually ate breakfast and lunch. I don't eat at work because the bathroom trips and possible having to go home wreaks havoc on my work life. Lots of bathroom trips in the sketchiest of bathrooms. Always my favorite. I do have to say that the Target bathroom in Charleston was possibly the cleanest one I have ever been in inside a Target. (though I ditched the first stall because of "sprinkle when you tinkle" that hadn't been wiped up)

We are home now and I have a to do list twelve miles long; instead I am here griping and wishing instead of digging around for one of the last lortabs I have without dealing with the doc I could just have some sort of outpatient IV morphine or whatever it is they put in those things when I get stuck in the hospital.

How can missing 3 doses of a drug that took almost a year to kick in leave me in this kind of shape? Grrr. Yeah, I know, I have had some sketchy problems the past few months anyway but darn it, I HURT and that really sucks, really, really hard; especially since this is my kid weekend. Not to mention the fact that there seems to be a command performance at a work-related party on Friday. Anyone want to go in my place to a crab and shrimp boil, ham feast and grouper thing. (remembering that smelly food kills me and seafood is the worst AND I don't eat meat. I am also coming down with an ear infection/throat thing which will probably land me on antibiotics which always causes flaring.

Technorati Tags: colitis,
ulcerative colitis, tummy troubles, imuran,
azathioprine

Blecky Birthday

My baby turned seven yesterday but we had her party tonight. It was rough. I am having a wee bit of tummy trouble (yeah, wee bit as in the kind that a non-IBD person would take as a reason to stay home in bed with crackers and 7-up) Instead, I was baking a cookie cake and making my child's favorite meal...a pasta dish that I enjoyed in my pre food is evil days. Now it is one I can barely stand to see/smell much less the evil if I eat it. I thought I was doing ok with it all...until I saw birthday candle blowing out pictures with me looking like the ghost of birthdays wayyyyyyyyyyyy future and bad. ugh. Oh well, the kid liked it but phenergan and lortab better be my friends or else it will be a long night.

Today's Tummy Troubles

For the past few days I have had queasy tummy troubles and yesterday the visit the bathroom sort. So today, after I was awake for about an hour I was pleased when I didn't have any gut issues. I even managed a whole day at work without them.

Unfortunately, we stopped at Falafal King for dinner. We have eaten there before and while it isn't always the best cuisine for tummy trouble it is normally ok. The falafal came. Really oddly dark and dense. Hmm...haven't changed the grease in a while? New boy making it? Well, no, halfway through my first falafal ball, just as I was deciding it was growing on me, it occurred to me that the the new darkness and odd texture was PISTACHIOS. Oh geez, definitely not a good idea for tummy trouble. I made up for the trips I know I will be making by thoroughly enjoying the heavily green tabbouleh that came with (which would be chancy at best even without pistachios.) So far, seriously yucky queasy level and 2 bathroom trips. Fun fun fun...until daddy takes the t-paper away...errr I just made that up and there is no daddy in this house to do so...but in any case...I hate tummy troubles

I did listen to the Crohn's Talk podcast tonight though. They are new at this whole podcasting thing but truly adorable. Wish I could talk my love into following all the nice instructions the boyfriend gave.

Technorati Tags:
colitis,
ulcerative colitis,
tummy troubles,
Crohn's

Previously...

The posts before this one were posted as webpages, not blog pages. This is no doubt why my updating quit...writing the code, hashing over tummy problems, and frustration was not tops on my list. I had started a new job, was trying desperately to keep it, and so on. I landed back in the hospital in September 2003 for another 10 days. The 6-mp dosage caused leukopenia and some other not so fun symptoms. I got out of the hospital, a bunch of tests that told us nothing new, a possible surgery in the offing, and again lots of drugs. They switched the 6-MP for Imuran (azathioprine), but pretty much the same batch as after the previous hospitalization.

I went back to work, sick and struggling to be ok enough to keep the job. I did keep it. But at home things were a bit frayed. I just dropped when I got home. I couldn't play with the kids, couldn't fix dinner, (often couldn't even look at food). It was bad. Really, really bad.

The azathioprine eventually kicked in well enough that finally I wasn't living in the bathroom last summer after a bunch of dosage changes. The cortenemas make reappearring visits. I have been on prednisone several times. I catch everything under the sun. I flare on a fairly regular but livable basis. Surgery hasn't sounded appealling enough yet. I keep hanging in for something that really will work. In the meantime, avoiding the killer foods, being careful about all food, trying not to get too exhausted, too hot, around sick people, has to do. Sometimes this works better than other times. The rest is realizing that pain meds, nausea meds and a day in bed might be the best thing some days. Still here I am, hating it.