How many medical ailments can one girl have?

            Originally written: Monday, August 22, 2011

It has been one crazy and messed up year for me. You wouldn’t know it, but with the exception of my father’s death making me have hypochondriac tendencies, I am fairly sane and healthy when it comes to medical stuff. I have literally been to the doctor more this past 8 months than I probably have been in a good 10 years.


I started with a birth control pill that was reeking havoc on my body. I stopped taking that in April and oh my God-what a difference……and for the better. Of course I stopped talking that and all sort of other things began happening. I started out the year with blood pressure issues. After moving out of my mom’s house, diminishing some of the stress in my life and stopping those pills, I have had no more issues with this. The 30 trips to the doctor so far have told me so.

This issue was followed by an abnormal pap-smear that resulted in another test which while they said was still slightly abnormal, I was told not to worry about at this time. Um, yeah- how do you not worry that you have abnormal and possibly pre-cancerous cells in your body. I guess we will wait to see what my next pap shows when I go in a few months before I start bugging out over this issue again.


Next was a urinary tract infection, followed by another one about 2 weeks later. The second time I had to get an appointment with a walk in clinic they use at work since I was unable to get an appointment with my regular doctor. They gave me more antibiotics and it appeared to clear up the issue but then they called to tell me that my test came back negative for an infection. I figured it can’t hurt to finish up the other three days of antibiotics anyway and so I did. While the initial symptoms appear to have subsided at the time, I can say that I have not felt quite right since but did not want to make a big deal and be the subject to poking and prodding.


Three weeks later I got a stye in my left eye. I have had them in the past and they normally clear on their own in a few days. Well all except mine that is. Mine got infected, turned to cellulites and my entire left side of my face blew up. My eye was so thick it was swollen shut and my eyelid was so filled with God knows what that I thought I was going to get stretch marks on my eyelid. The initial treatment was antibiotics but overnight it got worse. Three different antibiotics and a trip to an eye specialist (that I will never go back to again) and finally that issue seemed to resolve itself.


Less than a week after I finished the medical treatment for this eye, I noticed the same thing happening in my other eye. Over 4th of July weekend of course and with no doctor appointment to be had, I took one of the other antibiotics originally prescribed for the first eye ailment. That seemed to go away and I was OK for a bit, but then I got a pimple on the side of my face and my entire face swelled up. Painful and completely abnormal, but I was cleaning insane amounts of puss from under a scab that had peeled back one day. Something clearly was going haywire in my body. That issue clears up and a week later I get what started out as the smallest pimple on my chin. Tiny as can be but hurt like hell for some reason. Well I suppose looking back that pain was nothing compared to what happened next.

The freaking thing somehow got so infected that my entire chin blew up. It looked like I got a bad chin implant or had a golf ball inserted in my face. I was putting antibiotic topicals on it that I had an arsenal of from other ailments this year but it was getting worse and not subsiding. Then it started to spread across my jawline. So as much as I hate doctors and taking meds, I knew this was going to call for another round of antibiotics. And it did- a 10 day mega dose strong enough to kill an infection in an elephant for my chin implant issue.

After a few days that issue started to subside. Someone told me that all the antibiotics I was on lately could actually weaken my immune system so in a desperate effort to keep healthy for a change and also thinking it may help if we went the baby route, I started taking mega doses of all my vitamin supplements like a good little girl.

Well I finished the antibiotics on a Friday or actually Saturday. On Monday I got up and had a pain in my bladder. I thought I just got out of bed and had to pee real bad. I went to the bathroom and no relief. I said to myself, if I did not know any better, I would swear I had another urinary tract infection. But there was no way that could be- I just finished these horse pills of antibiotics a day ago. Something clearly was not right as my bladder was spasming. So I go to the bathroom again before I leave for work and now I am urinating blood- like lots and lots of blood. At first I thought my period came really early. I had to do a double, even triple check, but no it was not my period. The entire morning urinating blood.

Obviously not something I thought I should wait on so I made and appointment for the doctor. Of course I can never get an appointment with my physician so I just saw whoever could get me in first. (To tell you the truth I actually kind of liked the doctor I saw.) He did a urine test and it came back with white blood cells and leukocytes in my urine which would indicate a urinary tract infection. He gave me a course of a different kind of antibiotic that this infection would be more sensitive to and off I went with more pills in my system. The blood he said was completely not normal, but he could treat the infection. He did tell me to come back in a week just to have my urine checked again and we would go from there.

Reluctantly, I got up very early today and went in for my follow up. I was certain he would tell me I was fine, but better safe than sorry. Instead of giving me a clean bill of health, he tells me that there are still small traces of blood in my urine which should not be. He is sending the urine out for further testing but pending the results, he wants me to go for blood test to check my kidney function and then a possible CT of my kidneys. Should a CT be necessary and inconclusive, he would then want to send me to a urologist and have me scheduled for a cystoscopy. Now while I did not look that up, I know it involved going to a hospital and under anesthesia while they put cameras up into your bladder and kidneys to have a looks around.

And while all this is taking place, all I can think is that I am getting married to the most wonderful man in 2 months and I can’t be getting sick now, I just can’t. I can’t put him through that. I can’t put my family through that and honestly, after seeing how they all dealt with my fathers illness, none of them can handle it. I try not to think the worst, but when I was urinating blood a week and a half ago, I did do some research as to possible causes. Kidney stones, urinary tract infection, bladder stones, bladder cancer. I think that is about where I stopped. I was trying not to make myself all paranoid and wanted to believe that it was a simple urinary tract infection, some antibiotics would clear it right up and I would go in and get a clean bill of health today. Well that was the plan anyway, but we all know that life doesn’t always take us according to plan.


I suppose I could go on and on and worry incessantly but what good would that do me. The situation is not in my control and there is nothing I can do to change the outcome at this moment or any other moment for that matter. I should hear from the doctor in a day or so and I guess we will go from there. My mind is already preparing for the worst, but I am remaining optimistic in the meantime. I did manage to crank out my three blog entries in one night but now I am a bit spent so I think I am going to end it there. Hopefully I get good news from the doctor and hopefully I have time to update you all in a more timely fashion.


Until I write again……..