I wasn't sure if I wanted to start writing about my personal life and I'm not sure what I will write or how long, but I am going to start from today.
First a little bit about what has been going on this past year. This is going to be about my health issues.
On Thursday, the 8th, I had a Colonoscopy. My first one. I never wanted one but was forced to. For the past year I've had a lot of problems. At first I thought it was just IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Then I thought it was Spastic Colon. Then it felt like I had a blockage. All the while I was bleeding slightly when going. I didn't think much of it because I have bled in the past from hemorrhoids. But it got so bad that I had to stay at home for fear of not getting to the bathroom on time. I gave up all my nuts and seeds in case it was Diverticulitis. Still not going to the doctors. I hadn't been back to a doctor in five years. I am not too fond of going to a doctor anyway.
The last time I went, they told me I had signs of breast cancer. They wanted me to get a biopsy but I refused and never went back. No way did I have that I told myself. I haven't felt anything change in that breast so wasn't worried about it. I've always had dense breasts that they couldn't read well and calcification's run in the family. But not breast cancer.
So it's been five years since I've seen any doctors. now with all these problems and the heavy bouts of bleeding that I had in August, I got scared and decided to find a new doctor.
On September 2nd I went to my new primary doctor. A woman fresh out of school. But I liked her and she was very thorough. Of course she wanted me to get all these tests. Got my blood drawn and all that regular, routine stuff. She didn't feel any internal hemorrhoids but with all the pressure and aching I had I knew something was in there that didn't belong.
She tried to get me set up to have a Colonoscopy as fast as I could but I had to wait a month so she ordered a Cat Scan in the meantime. And she wanted me to have a Mammogram but I told her No! Then she asked if I'd be okay with an Ultra Sound so I agreed. It was more for my own curiosity to see if anything had changed in my breasts.
Two days later I woke up to some bad pains in my upper right chest, behind my ribs, which seemed to move from front to back. It wouldn't go away so I called the doctor and she had me come right in. She did an Ultra Sound and found I had a Gall Stone and also multiple cysts on my liver and Fibroid Tumors on my Uterus. Now I was really a mess!
She also did an EKG but thank heavens that was okay. My blood pressure was 106/60 that day. No high blood pressure at least! I thought that was kind of low but they say it's okay.
She told me that my urine test showed I was dehydrated and I was also very anemic at that time. So I got some Iron pills and started drinking water like crazy. I looked up everything on the Internet I could on Gallstones and made sure I stuck to a good diet, even though I wasn't eating anything course or rough that would irritate my intestines and make me bleed. I was on mostly soft foods by now. I started taking Physillium Husk Powder and it helped tremendously and for the first time I actually was starting to go better.
I have had no more pains from the Gallstone. I got to feeling stronger after taking iron and drinking all that water but that terrible aching in my lower bowels would not go away. I got the Cat Scan but nothing was said about anything new. Just confirmed what she had already told me. I also had the Ultra Sound on my breasts and they couldn't find anything. So that was good news.
I finally got in to see the Digestive Disease Doctor last Tuesday. They scheduled my Colonoscopy for Thursday. Boy! That Gatorade with the Miralax was sure hard to drink. It was the Gatorade I didn't like. I had to drink all 64 ounces within two hours but it took me almost three. The first 32 ounces went down okay but the second was real hard to do. But I did it and I was up all night.
I actually felt good being all emptied out!
My sister picked me up at 11:15 AM so I'd get to the hospital by noon. It was about a half hour away.
I got the paperwork all signed and then they put me into this little cubicle where I had to undress and get into one of those horrible hospital gowns. That room was full of cubicles with people waiting to go in and some who had already had it done. Some were being wheeled out because they were ready to go home. I was looking at them to see if they looked pained or groggy or anything. They seemed okay.
My sister left. I didn't want her to wait. Besides, my daughter was going to pick me up when it was over.
So there I was, lying there in that bed, waiting. They came and put an IV into my right arm. Something that said sodium on it. Not sure what it was. But that was dripping slowly into my arm as I waited and waited for my turn.
I'd see some being wheeled back to their little cubicle. Then I'd hear a nurse calling them to see if they were okay. They acted groggy for a while. I was wondering how long I'd be that way. My sister had me thinking that I'd be unable to function for the rest of the day, just because her husband was that way after his.
Finally it was my turn. They wheeled my bed into the tiny room and left me there alone for a few minutes. I looked around and could see the instruments that would be used. Yep! There was that long thing sticking into a box like contraption. Yikes! Was that going to be put inside me? I guess so. The nurse came in and she was messing around with the computer screen, getting my name and age etc on there. I was wishing I could have watched the whole procedure but they were putting me out. I did have a choice but thought I'd better be knocked out so I don't cringe or move when he started putting that scope up me. The nurse had me lay on my left side. Then the doctor came in. A Dr. Garamone. Very nice guy. He was talking to me for a minute and the next thing I knew I was waking up back in my cubicle. I had been wheeled in at 1:30. It was now 3:15 pm. Never felt a thing. I felt okay. I knew I had to pass gas because I heard the nurses telling the others to do that. I had no problem but when I did I felt something wet. I was bleeding. Yuck. I got a cloth and cleaned myself up and then got dressed and went to the bathroom. I was slightly wobbly but with my crutches I got there okay. Wasn't like my sister thought I'd be. The nurse came over and took blood from my left arm. More tests I guess.
I sat in the chair and waited for my daughter to get there. They had called her and she was on her way. She got out of work at 3:30 and then had to pick up her two girls from daycare. They wanted to see Grandma. She would wait outside by the front entrance while they wheeled me out. On the way home I did feel as if I was going to puke. My daughter stopped and got a bucket out of the back to give just in case. But it went away. Little Jessi kept asking me questions all the way home. Why are you sick Grandma?? Are you going to puke in that bucket? I was so glad to get back home. The kids came in for a few minutes but then had to leave to go pick up their brother.
Before the doctor left he came over and sat down to talk to me. He got straight to the point and said that I had a cancerous mass in my rectum and that he'd be seeing me next week after all the tests results came back. I expected it. He removed four Polyps also.
Now I am just waiting to see what my options will be. I am hoping they will be able to cut out the bad areas. I don't even care if I have to have a Colostomy. But I do know one thing for sure. I will NEVER have Chemo or Radiation. I saw what it did to my sister. She died on Oct. 16. 2006 from Colorectal Cancer. She was in stage four before she was diagnosed. It had already gone to her liver.
So you all are wondering why the heck I didn't get a Colonoscopy right away if I knew my sister had died from that. Well, it's because I refused to believe that I'd ever get the same thing. And I never would if I hadn't had all my problems this past year. And yes, I kept putting it off, thinking it was nothing that serious till I started bleeding real heavy. Then I knew.
I will write more when I go back to the doctor.
First a little bit about what has been going on this past year. This is going to be about my health issues.
On Thursday, the 8th, I had a Colonoscopy. My first one. I never wanted one but was forced to. For the past year I've had a lot of problems. At first I thought it was just IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Then I thought it was Spastic Colon. Then it felt like I had a blockage. All the while I was bleeding slightly when going. I didn't think much of it because I have bled in the past from hemorrhoids. But it got so bad that I had to stay at home for fear of not getting to the bathroom on time. I gave up all my nuts and seeds in case it was Diverticulitis. Still not going to the doctors. I hadn't been back to a doctor in five years. I am not too fond of going to a doctor anyway.
The last time I went, they told me I had signs of breast cancer. They wanted me to get a biopsy but I refused and never went back. No way did I have that I told myself. I haven't felt anything change in that breast so wasn't worried about it. I've always had dense breasts that they couldn't read well and calcification's run in the family. But not breast cancer.
So it's been five years since I've seen any doctors. now with all these problems and the heavy bouts of bleeding that I had in August, I got scared and decided to find a new doctor.
On September 2nd I went to my new primary doctor. A woman fresh out of school. But I liked her and she was very thorough. Of course she wanted me to get all these tests. Got my blood drawn and all that regular, routine stuff. She didn't feel any internal hemorrhoids but with all the pressure and aching I had I knew something was in there that didn't belong.
She tried to get me set up to have a Colonoscopy as fast as I could but I had to wait a month so she ordered a Cat Scan in the meantime. And she wanted me to have a Mammogram but I told her No! Then she asked if I'd be okay with an Ultra Sound so I agreed. It was more for my own curiosity to see if anything had changed in my breasts.
Two days later I woke up to some bad pains in my upper right chest, behind my ribs, which seemed to move from front to back. It wouldn't go away so I called the doctor and she had me come right in. She did an Ultra Sound and found I had a Gall Stone and also multiple cysts on my liver and Fibroid Tumors on my Uterus. Now I was really a mess!
She also did an EKG but thank heavens that was okay. My blood pressure was 106/60 that day. No high blood pressure at least! I thought that was kind of low but they say it's okay.
She told me that my urine test showed I was dehydrated and I was also very anemic at that time. So I got some Iron pills and started drinking water like crazy. I looked up everything on the Internet I could on Gallstones and made sure I stuck to a good diet, even though I wasn't eating anything course or rough that would irritate my intestines and make me bleed. I was on mostly soft foods by now. I started taking Physillium Husk Powder and it helped tremendously and for the first time I actually was starting to go better.
I have had no more pains from the Gallstone. I got to feeling stronger after taking iron and drinking all that water but that terrible aching in my lower bowels would not go away. I got the Cat Scan but nothing was said about anything new. Just confirmed what she had already told me. I also had the Ultra Sound on my breasts and they couldn't find anything. So that was good news.
I finally got in to see the Digestive Disease Doctor last Tuesday. They scheduled my Colonoscopy for Thursday. Boy! That Gatorade with the Miralax was sure hard to drink. It was the Gatorade I didn't like. I had to drink all 64 ounces within two hours but it took me almost three. The first 32 ounces went down okay but the second was real hard to do. But I did it and I was up all night.
I actually felt good being all emptied out!
My sister picked me up at 11:15 AM so I'd get to the hospital by noon. It was about a half hour away.
I got the paperwork all signed and then they put me into this little cubicle where I had to undress and get into one of those horrible hospital gowns. That room was full of cubicles with people waiting to go in and some who had already had it done. Some were being wheeled out because they were ready to go home. I was looking at them to see if they looked pained or groggy or anything. They seemed okay.
My sister left. I didn't want her to wait. Besides, my daughter was going to pick me up when it was over.
So there I was, lying there in that bed, waiting. They came and put an IV into my right arm. Something that said sodium on it. Not sure what it was. But that was dripping slowly into my arm as I waited and waited for my turn.
I'd see some being wheeled back to their little cubicle. Then I'd hear a nurse calling them to see if they were okay. They acted groggy for a while. I was wondering how long I'd be that way. My sister had me thinking that I'd be unable to function for the rest of the day, just because her husband was that way after his.
Finally it was my turn. They wheeled my bed into the tiny room and left me there alone for a few minutes. I looked around and could see the instruments that would be used. Yep! There was that long thing sticking into a box like contraption. Yikes! Was that going to be put inside me? I guess so. The nurse came in and she was messing around with the computer screen, getting my name and age etc on there. I was wishing I could have watched the whole procedure but they were putting me out. I did have a choice but thought I'd better be knocked out so I don't cringe or move when he started putting that scope up me. The nurse had me lay on my left side. Then the doctor came in. A Dr. Garamone. Very nice guy. He was talking to me for a minute and the next thing I knew I was waking up back in my cubicle. I had been wheeled in at 1:30. It was now 3:15 pm. Never felt a thing. I felt okay. I knew I had to pass gas because I heard the nurses telling the others to do that. I had no problem but when I did I felt something wet. I was bleeding. Yuck. I got a cloth and cleaned myself up and then got dressed and went to the bathroom. I was slightly wobbly but with my crutches I got there okay. Wasn't like my sister thought I'd be. The nurse came over and took blood from my left arm. More tests I guess.
I sat in the chair and waited for my daughter to get there. They had called her and she was on her way. She got out of work at 3:30 and then had to pick up her two girls from daycare. They wanted to see Grandma. She would wait outside by the front entrance while they wheeled me out. On the way home I did feel as if I was going to puke. My daughter stopped and got a bucket out of the back to give just in case. But it went away. Little Jessi kept asking me questions all the way home. Why are you sick Grandma?? Are you going to puke in that bucket? I was so glad to get back home. The kids came in for a few minutes but then had to leave to go pick up their brother.
Before the doctor left he came over and sat down to talk to me. He got straight to the point and said that I had a cancerous mass in my rectum and that he'd be seeing me next week after all the tests results came back. I expected it. He removed four Polyps also.
Now I am just waiting to see what my options will be. I am hoping they will be able to cut out the bad areas. I don't even care if I have to have a Colostomy. But I do know one thing for sure. I will NEVER have Chemo or Radiation. I saw what it did to my sister. She died on Oct. 16. 2006 from Colorectal Cancer. She was in stage four before she was diagnosed. It had already gone to her liver.
So you all are wondering why the heck I didn't get a Colonoscopy right away if I knew my sister had died from that. Well, it's because I refused to believe that I'd ever get the same thing. And I never would if I hadn't had all my problems this past year. And yes, I kept putting it off, thinking it was nothing that serious till I started bleeding real heavy. Then I knew.
I will write more when I go back to the doctor.
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