A little background: I have been having all kinds if GI issues for about the last 14 months and have been seeking treatment for a year. So far, Crohn's and colon cancer have been ruled out, and I've been told my symptoms do not indicate a gallbladder or appendix issue or a food allergy. I have had a colonoscopy, a CT scan and boatloads of bloodwork. But everything looks normal on paper. Only I know that these symptoms are not normal by any means. My doctors agree, but can't seem to pin it down.
Anyway, my upper stomach started hurting last week, but it was making me nauseous more than anything else.
But by Friday afternoon, I started having sharp pains every now and then. I felt like I literally had a ball in my stomach right below my ribs. By the time I picked my brother up at the airport Friday night, and then picked Alex up at the airport an hour later, I was feeling pretty miserable. I thought some greasy food would help, but Bojangles did not end up being my friend.
I tried to hang with my brother and hubs for as long as possible, but went to bed in hopes that it would go away. At this point, it was a consistent sharp pain that wouldn't stop and I was in tears. Alex asked if I wanted to go to the hospital, but I was hopeful it would lessen throughout the night.
I was feeling a little better on Saturday morning, but not good enough. I wavered back and forth on whether or not to go to the ER, and finally decided that I needed to go.
The ER doc told me that he wasn't going to be able to diagnose it if my GI hadn't been able to, but he was able to hook me up with some painkillers and anti-nausea meds to help me out. God bless my sweet husband for keeping on top of the nurses to get what I needed (and for missing the first half of the South Carolina game driving all over Greenville to find a 24-hour pharmacy so we could fill my scripts!).
The bottom line is that I feel better today thanks to the cocktail of medicines I was prescribed. I already have an endoscopy and colonoscopy scheduled for Nov. 2, but I am going to try to get those moved up to as soon as possible.
Needless to say, I did not feel up to apple picking today - major bummer. I was SO looking forward to it. Maybe next weekend (crossing my fingers!). Alex and I did have a nice drive through the mountains today as we had to drop off my brother at the TN/NC line on the Appalachian Trail for a 6-day hike. Good thing all I had to do was ride along - I definitely cannot drive on these meds, and certainly not on those mountain roads!
I'm hoping for a better, healthier week and most of all, for some answers. Praying that God gives my docs the insight and knowledge to give me a correct diagnosis and treatment plan!
