From my drug company's website possible side effects: "Blood problems. You may have a drop in the levels of infection-fighting blood cells, red blood cells or cells that help to form blood clots. If the drop in levels is severe, it can lessen your ability to fight infections, make you feel tired or sluggish or cause you to bruise or bleed easily." I am feeling sluggish, bruising easily, and my white blood count has dropped to half what is was but I am still clotting ok (the new kitten has been testing that for me). As my dad pointed out (he used to be a drug rep) that so long as the white blood cells I have work right that I can still stay healthy. I just plan to steer clear of contagious people.
I had been having abdominal pain much of last week leading up to my appointment and with my labs being monitored already my doctor worked on the side of caution. I spent Friday afternoon sitting in the clinic reception drinking horrible goop and waiting. I had a CT scan with contrast and then had to wait some more to make sure I didn't need surgery for appendicitis. It ended up being nine hours without food but I got through it and it turned out it wasn't my appendix it was a ruptured cyst on my ovary. Apparently I have a family history of these and they resolve themselves over time but can make a person highly uncomfortable. My doctor called my on her afternoon off to give me the results.
I have to give my primary care doctor, Dr B a big kuddos. She is about my age and has been incredibly supportive of my health care needs for the last six years. I asked her why she didn't press me a year ago to have MS testing and she said she likes to let people run through their course of options. I appreciate her listening to me about my thyroid and where I feel best with my test numbers. I appreciate that she moved her schedule around to tell me herself that I have MS and offered to be there for any questions or needs I might have related to things I might experience on this journey. It makes me feel better to know she and her awesome nurse have my back. You should know I struggle with mainstream medicine because I feel that MDs are traditionally trained around pharmaceuticals and symptom treatment, and do not get the training they need to look at the big picture and troubleshoot the root cause of people's issues. I have three years of experiences with neurologist who couldn't diagnose my root problem because I passed all their tests but still had unexplained issues. Anyway stories for another day, so it is a big deal that I appreciate my primary care physician.
So what have I been up to? Well, Saturday morning I had an awesome time being "coach Shawn" to a group of 25 - 9 and 10 year olds learning about triathlon. It was super fun and I plan to help out again in a few weeks. Hopefully Abby can come with me next time as she wants to do a triathlon this summer too. Then I raced up to Ames to watch Abby play in her last regular season soccer game. Her team has REALLY improved over the last few weeks and I am really proud of the progress of Abby and her teammates. They had soccer tryouts for next year and I wish each and everyone of them the best as they fragment onto new teams next year. Most of them have been playing together since first grade. Saturday afternoon we had our Girl Scout potluck... my sketchy narrowing in one dates left a few people confused but we had a nice time with the families that came. The girls picked the badges they want to work on next year. Now to spend the summer working on getting one or two helpers so I don't have to do it all myself.
My mom and husband (although he now says he isn't going to say anything to me about my scheduling) keep giving me a hard time about doing too much. But the thing is somethings keep me going. Like coaching these kids in triathlon, doing triathlon clinics, and most of the time leading my Girl Scout troop especially at camp. It makes my heart sing... and while not required activities they are things I enjoy... it is the required activities that drag me down (getting the kids out the door in the morning, cleaning my piles of crap up... etc.) so keep up with the gentle reminders to slow down, but remember I need the heart sing opportunities too...
Sunday Joe and I dropped the kids off with my folks for almost a week. On the way home we talked about running away to Kansas City to try to take in a Royals game. Even though the weather was to be sketchy Monday night we decided to go. It poured Monday night and Tuesday morning, but we shopped and giggled and had a lot of much needed carefree fun. We even went and ran three miles together on a trail across from our hotel in the pouring rain. We almost never run together and it was a fast, fun run for me and my heart sang.
I have to say though that it all caught up with me this afternoon. After two hours in the car Sunday, four hours on Monday, six hours on Tuesday (had to go to Des Moines to pick up Joe from work) my body is saying that is enough. So while I wanted to go pick up the free bricks to line my new as of yet unplanted garden bed, and mow the more than ankle deep front yard before going on my first triracers Ames ride of the season... my body did boycott and the only thing I managed to do this afternoon was take a quiet nap for an hour, eat the dinner Joe made for us, and write this blog (while Joe mowed the front yard and then played with the super energetic kitten) which is a major effort to type. So I am going to head to bed and hope tomorrow leaves me with more energy so I don't have to let myself down again... and can keep up with my kids when my folks bring them back tomorrow.
I just want to say I appreciate you all. I had several people tell me today they are impressed with how I handle this illness, and while I shed a few quiet tears today, I try to continue to be that person you all believe I am. As always... thanks for reading. Remember if you are willing and able... please consider a donation to my MS Bike ride next week. I will get it done even if it takes me all morning... Shawn's Bike MS fundraising page
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