I've had a shitty week. :(

[Betticus]

Okay, so last Tuesday evening I started to feel bad and I knew that my roomie had brought home some form of flu from someone at her yoga class so I figured I was looking at feeling down for a couple of days. I could not have been more wrong. By 8pm I'd already called in sick to work and by 11 the chills and shivering were so bad that I had to be put in a tub of cool water and have ice packs put on my neck and head. I somehow made it thru the night in a fevered stupor going between hot and cold flashes and was trying to drink as much water as possible. The second day I got a pain in the upper left chest and shoulder which turned out in the end to be gout of all the things that could top off this experience. So the gout ends up in my left ankle, elbow, shoulder from upper arm around both front and back sides and up my neck which I can only describe as hellish agony. From Wednesday thru Saturday I managed to put down around 17 gallons of water and some juice here and there and ate a half a banana, an apple and some strawberries and I was barely keeping up with the dehydration so I was in a dehydrated state the whole time. On Friday night I went to the bathroom only to find that my gall bladder had dumped out all of its bile which I didn't think was a very good sign as I hadn't eaten anything with fat or protein but sometime in the wee hours between Friday and Saturday the fever broke. When I woke up I felt a lot better for about three hours when the disease felt recouped and ready for round two and it hit me again. So until this morning I've been stuck in bed suffering with some disease from hell and I'm just lucky that I had some leftover old medication for gout from when my diet was crappy which has let me move around. I have a cough and seem to be on the edge of getting an upper respiratory infection. I'm going to do a walk in at my docs in the morning to get my liver checked because it seems that my eyes are a touch yellowish which isn't good. Also, When I walk around it feels like I'm not really here or I'm really high and kind of dizzy. I've been a bit vacuous and it's hard to concentrate but then I also have been basically starving so that could be part of it.

That's been my week.

 

[Netzach]

Oh dear, this is not good. Stay in close contact with your docs, as close as I know you're gonna get.

 

[Betticus]

Yeah, darn docs.

I forgot to mention I'm getting some numbness or tingling in my extremeties.. mostly the outer fingertips on my right hand, some in the toes and earlier it actually felt like the hairs on my scalp were tingling with electricity. I figured that might be due to electrolyte depletion but I'm not sure. It definitely feels like nerve damage in my left hand though. I can't imagine why unless I slept on it and cut off blood flow.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

Damn.

This definitely qualifies as a shitty week. I just hope you get some good news from your docs and some relief.

 

[chy_girl]

That would defiantly qualify as a shitty week. Make sure you get to the doctor in the am and get well soon.

Keep us updated.

 

[graceanne]

Yeah, darn docs.

I forgot to mention I'm getting some numbness or tingling in my extremeties.. mostly the outer fingertips on my right hand, some in the toes and earlier it actually felt like the hairs on my scalp were tingling with electricity. I figured that might be due to electrolyte depletion but I'm not sure. It definitely feels like nerve damage in my left hand though. I can't imagine why unless I slept on it and cut off blood flow.

That's a potassium deficiency. It happens when you puke and/or have diarrhea a lot. Take a bunch of potassium, and you'll feel better. *hugs*

 

[FurryFury]

*hugs and hugs*

I'm so sorry. Do stay in touch with your docs and make sure there is someone to help you. Your roommate perhaps?

 

[Betticus]

Well, I didn't get to see my own doctor and instead sat for a couple of hours in an urgent care facility. Thankfully the doc wasn't daft. He said the swollen conjoined twin on my neck/upper chest is most likely to be a combination of gout inflammation over that bone joint and a really pissed off adrenal gland with subcutaneous bleeding in and around the joint area due to the extremely low platelet count. He's giving me prednisone to get that swelling down, a liver friendly antibiotic to deal with a sinus infection that I wasn't even aware of and some cough medicine that has no ibuprofen in it... Notably though, this incident will have a substantial impact on my already vastly shortened lifespan.

Thats the good news. I may also be very close to renal failure in which case all I can say is thank you to the parents of the kids who chose to take their precious lil munchkins to school with the black death flu instead of keeping them at home, where they spread their viral toxins to my friends kids who brought it home and gave it to their mom and my roomie while they were doing yoga who in turn brought it to my home where I got it.

My only wish if I die of this shit is that my friends track you down and let you know of the unintended consequences of your bad parenting skills. You make decisions of import about the health and safety of your family with less thought, less consideration than you would use when picking out a head of lettuce at the store. You do more harm via ignorance in a year than Ghandi did good in his life. You are stealing valuable oxygen from those of us who could put it to more productive use fueling our bodies and minds in creative directions.

 

[Bandit58]

Betticus I am so sorry this has happened to you.

We know from first hand experience how careful Sir has to be with illness...His immune system is compromised because of the renal failure and He seems to catch colds and flus very easily. He has ended up in hospital twice from chest infections.

We don't know how long we will be together either. It's highly likely He will die before I do and I will be left alone. I try to push it to the back of my mind but every now and then I bring myself to tears with the thought of being without Him.

I know there isn't much I can say to make you feel better, but just know that there's someone who is thinking of you and knows a little of how you feel

 

[Homburg]

Don't fuckin' die. I like your photography, and would miss it.

 

[cromsgirl]

I hope the drugs you got will help you feel better soon.

 

[Betticus]

Ok, that cough medicine... yeah, it has no ibuprofen, says may cause dizziness... something wasn't right so I looked it up by name and some of the side effects include having strange thoughts, hallucinations, and other things people pay for.

Whatever demented recreational pharmacologist made this stuff should get the nobel prize because I feel amazing! I can't make the music in my head stop and I keep thinking stuff is what it isn't like a little while ago my ski jacket draped over another chair looked like one of my buddies sitting there but... why is my coat watching me type? crafty fucker... he's on to me... I have to go. things are afoot. I refuse to look at him until he ..

ahhhhhhhhhh...... nice...

 

[chy_girl]

It's nice to hear that you're feeling a little better... even if it is pharmacologically induced.

 

[ultramarineblue]

Thats the good news. I may also be very close to renal failure in which case all I can say is thank you to the parents of the kids who chose to take their precious lil munchkins to school with the black death flu instead of keeping them at home, where they spread their viral toxins to my friends kids who brought it home and gave it to their mom and my roomie while they were doing yoga who in turn brought it to my home where I got it.

My only wish if I die of this shit is that my friends track you down and let you know of the unintended consequences of your bad parenting skills. You make decisions of import about the health and safety of your family with less thought, less consideration than you would use when picking out a head of lettuce at the store. You do more harm via ignorance in a year than Ghandi did good in his life. You are stealing valuable oxygen from those of us who could put it to more productive use fueling our bodies and minds in creative directions.

You do have a way with words.

Glad to see you were feeling somewhat better in the later post.

 

[Noor]

Ok, that cough medicine... yeah, it has no ibuprofen, says may cause dizziness... something wasn't right so I looked it up by name and some of the side effects include having strange thoughts, hallucinations, and other things people pay for.

Whatever demented recreational pharmacologist made this stuff should get the nobel prize because I feel amazing! I can't make the music in my head stop and I keep thinking stuff is what it isn't like a little while ago my ski jacket draped over another chair looked like one of my buddies sitting there but... why is my coat watching me type? crafty fucker... he's on to me... I have to go. things are afoot. I refuse to look at him until he ..

ahhhhhhhhhh...... nice...

probably some sort of opiate. I hope you are feeling better.

 

[Betticus]

Feeling better... no, more like a slide to the lateral with feeling shitty. I've been bleeding internally, well... the effects are not quite so internal but the bathroom if my witness. I also have some gout that has hit me hard in the left shoulder and is making everything up and down my neck and into my shoulder agony as well as some of it in my left ankle but not quite so bad. My regular doctor is out of the country on a family emergency and I have been playing phone tag with her nurses answering machine. If I can't get a pain med refilled I'll be in agony the rest of the weekend just like I have the past few days.

This shit sucks.

 

[00Syd]

I hope this gets worked out soon.

 

[Netzach]

Feeling better... no, more like a slide to the lateral with feeling shitty. I've been bleeding internally, well... the effects are not quite so internal but the bathroom if my witness. I also have some gout that has hit me hard in the left shoulder and is making everything up and down my neck and into my shoulder agony as well as some of it in my left ankle but not quite so bad. My regular doctor is out of the country on a family emergency and I have been playing phone tag with her nurses answering machine. If I can't get a pain med refilled I'll be in agony the rest of the weekend just like I have the past few days.

This shit sucks.

I don't know how they run things where you are, but there's a triage nurse and an answering service on-call MD at the hospital usually who can do things like phone in a pain med - ideally you should not need your own MD or to wait for a weekday. They may try to get you to go in, but if you push back a bit they should be able to get your pain under control for you some.

 

[PertPerth]

My doctors practice will give a repeat script over the phone in certain circimstances such as when the dr is on holidays. (They usually check with the Dr first, so it can take a day or two). If you have a regular pharmacist, you could also try getting him/her to phone the practice and talk to any other doctor there (and they can fax through the script) it should all be on your records, so I dont' see the big issue if it's a repeat script. I did that a couple of times when caring for my grandmother. Of course, if it's an authority-script, you're not likely to get anywhere. I'm all for stopping people from abusing the system, but there should always be a work-around for someone who is in genuine need of prescription meds.

 

[Betticus]

I'm just going to have to dom my way through this. It'll be better in the long run.

 

[HowMayIPleaseU]

I'm so sorry you've been ill... I hope you are able to beat it back into submission soon.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

:: bumpin' up the power on the Betticus antenna, slaving another couple of spares to it ::

Feel better, dude. We worry about you, ya know.

 

[Betticus]

I seem to be coming back around. Have an abdominal ultrasound in the morning which should be no fun.

 

[celticsunspiral]

Good Luck Betticus. I hope that things turn out way better than you or your doctors think.

 

[Betticus]

Well, unfortunately it appears that I barely escaped complete liver failure during that swine flu thing.. I really don't know how since I bled so much during that time. Now I'm having some repercussions from all of that blood loss and my current low blood volume, something called ascites which is a massive water and salt retention in order to keep fluid volume and blood pressure up so I have a lot of water sitting in my abdomen, pressing against my organs, making me not able to eat, difficulty breathing, pain and just feeling like a water balloon. So it's all back to the beginning for me but a year ago my chances were better. If I can manage to control it with an extremely salt restricted diet and fluid intake adequate to dilute my serum salt levels then I have a decent shot of recovering well.. if I have to go to prescription diuretics or have it drained at the hospital both of those things have a lot of negative effects that can put me in an even worse position so right now I'm having to be extremely careful. I'm right on the edge of complete liver failure and even my doctors are just paying lip service about my chances of pulling off a recovery, it's obvious when they won't look you in the eye anymore. They're just frustrated that they can't do anything but wait and see.

I have no regrets though, not anymore because part of the fallout of this is that I've finally figured out why I was living with such a deep unhappiness for so long.