UNCLE.....

uuuunnnnnccccllllle! UNCLE, UNCLE, UNCLE.........! Isn't that what you're supposed to say when you've had enough? When someone is sitting on you and you can't breathe? When both arms are tied behind your back and you can't function? When you are DONE?!?! Well, I'm sayin' it!



I debated about doing this post. It seems that my blog is quickly becoming a place where all I do is give medical updates and complain about my woes. Well, as much as I hate it, that's my life right now! And this blog is, first and foremost, a journal about my life and everything that surrounds it. I never set out to have a blog that boasts 1 million followers, and I never set out to have a blog that anyone would be even slightly interested in- I simply wanted to record events that take place in our everyday lives. So, if every other post happens to be about medical stuff, then so be it. That's life!



That said, I'm gonna start today with an update about my mom. She was told yesterday that she has several conditions going on in her heart: SVT, a Type II heart block and angina. Simply put, her heart either beats too fast, too slow, or it spasms out completely and throws her into a heart attack. Even ONE of these conditions is dangerous alone, but to have all three at once- well, lets just say it's not good. No word on treatment yet- we hope to have some more answers on that front in a couple of weeks. She now carries nitroglycerin with her at all times.



I got the call from my mom about her new diagnosis yesterday as I was sitting in yet another doctor's office awaiting yet another doctor to try and tell me what on earth is going on with Allie. It was an unscheduled visit, and it all started about 5:45am when Allie came into my room to tell me that she had a migraine and needed her injection- lovely, school has only been in session for two days and she's going to miss day two! While Allie's injection works fairly well at getting rid of the migraine, it still knocks her out for several hours, and she is nauseous and unable to function for quite some time- which means no school. So, we got Allie's injection done, and she went back to bed. I got the rest of The Gang up and ready to go (except for Emily that is- more to come on that later) and then headed out to run some errands. When I returned home, shortly after noon, I found Allie in the basement, crying in pain. She was experiencing the same pain she had been having in her lower abdomen for the last couple of weeks, only this time it was on the left side instead of the right. We had just done an ultrasound which basically showed there was nothing wrong with her ovaries the week before, but after seeing her in pain on a different side, I was now not so sure!! I immediately called the doctor and was told to bring her in for yet another emergency ultrasound.

The results of the second ultrasound showed absolutely NOTHING! Her ovaries appear to be fine. So what the heck is causing this pain?! We were not about to leave without some answers. Unfortunately, her regular doctor wasn't in, so we settled for one of the other docs in the practice that was able to squeeze us in- what a mistake that was. The new doctor took about 20 minutes with us to go through Allie's history (oh good -I was thinking- it will be nice to have yet another set of eyes on this problem- WRRROOONNNGGGGGG!). After discussing all the details, the doctor said she felt like the pain may be related to endometriosis. When I explained that our regular doc wasn't convinced of that, this new doc basically shut down. The meeting resulted in her basically throwing up her hands and telling us that no OBG doc is going to be able to help us, and we need to STOP the birth control pills (which are supposed to be controlling her horribly painful and irregular menstrual cycles but aren't) and go back to see our neurologist! HUMMMMPPPHHHH! I nodded politely and turned and told Allie in a voice I knew the doctor would hear- that's fine, we'll simply contact the Mayo Clinic! Well, I'm not really at that point yet, but I sure wanted her to know I was not pleased!

So, after spending 2 unplanned hours that I really couldn't spare in the doctor's office, we were back to where we started- waiting for the blood work that we had drawn last week. Oh, but there is one difference- we're now REALLY pissed off! Well, I am. Allie's just confused and frustrated and in pain. I do feel fortunate that our regular doc is on the same page as us, and I will NOT see anyone else until she recommends it! We hope to have some blood work results later this week, but in any event, I am now more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this. Unfortunately, this is Allie's junior year in high school- the toughest year- and she is back in the same boat she was in last year- missing school and missing out on life. We were so desperate and hopeful to get this all resolved over the summer so that we could avoid having the same issues we had last year when Allie missed countless days of school while she huddled under the covers in her dark room :-(

Now, if you can stand anymore, here's what's up with Emily. Emily is still in extreme pain one week post-surgery. She is still taking the max dose on her pain meds as often as she's allowed. She can't make it through the whole day at school, so we have to take her in late and pick her up early. Not only that, but when I take her in, I get to take in both of my little ones, and we have to walk all the way to the back of the school so we can catch the elevator to get Emily to the right floor. Then we walk Emily all the way down to her class and finally race out of the building before the bell rings and the hormonally-challenged students flood the hallways- imagine getting caught in THAT!!!!!! On top of all that, we're now on our 3rd day of thunderstorms- not fun when you're dealing with casts and crutches!!!

Did I mention at the beginning of this post-- UUUUUUNNNNNNNCCCCCCCLLLLLLLLLLEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to be sure.

If you've been joining me for Thursday's Top Tips, thank you so much but you can now have your Thursdays back - I'm done for now. It's simply too much for me to know where each day will take me at this point. A good example: I started writing this post 4 hours ago and have made two trips in the car since the beginning ;-)