Diagnosis!!

Last week was hell. I went to the doctor's on Tuesday, Oct 30 and that's when she said my liver function was high. I complained about now feeling feverish and chilled. The next day I woke with a whopping sinus infection on top of my tummy troubles. Thursday was horrific; I spent the day on the couch (snuggled with Megan who was also oozing green snot), watching TreehouseTV because I couldn't get myself together enough to get the kids to school. I went to bed early on Friday and Saturday morning my tummy felt okay while I manned the table at the "Stiches and Chain" show that the Georgetown group put on at the library gallery. But Saturday night was terrible and Sunday and Monday weren't too much better. Rob got a little ticked last night when I mentioned I had a sinus infection (like, couldn't he tell from my voice? and the piles of green tissues?). So this morning, when the diarrhea started again I gave in and called the doctor again and was able to get an appointment this morning!

She genuinely felt bad for me, which was nice to see. Pity when you're sick won't cure anything, LOL, but when a medical person says "You've had it really rough" you feel somehow like you're getting good care.

It turns out I have Giardia. Yup, beaver fever. But also can be caught in public pools and food sources--the parasites can survive even the chlorination of city water supplies! It blocks the absorption of fat, resulting in the horrifically smelling gas and diarrhea. I'll be on antibiotics for 10 days and will still feel sick and 'unwell' for at least two weeks (so much for going to the Royal Winter Fair again). My stomach will need several months to heal and I need to avoid dairy. Many people become lactose intolerant after Giardia.

So, it's not Crohn's Disease, and it's not viral, and it's not even bacterial I think. Hopefully my Giardia are not anti-biotic resistant which is becoming a big issue with them. And hopefully I can keep this weight loss off!

Stomach Story Part Two

So, I took the six doses of anti-biotics and was feeling much better. I did get a call from my dr's office that she wanted to see me about the bloodwork. I made the appointment for yesterday (Oct 30). On Sunday (October 28), I had diarrhea again. But on Monday and Tuesday I felt strangely constipated. I still have no appetite. My biggest concern is that my symptoms match Crohn's Disease--an Irritable Bowel Disease; which is common with Ankylosing Spondialysis--the type of arthritis I think I have.

So the doc felt my tummy, it didn't hurt this time, and said my liver results were high, probably from being dehydrated. She thinks it's viral but if it doesn't clear out soon, she thinks I should have a colonoscopy and she wanted some more bloodwork done.

I pretty much scratched Crohn's off the list on Monday night as Huey was quite sick with diarrhea! Then, on Tuesday morning, he threw up. The doc looked at him too, he had no fever and no pain when she felt his tummy (despite having had tummy pains on the weekend). For the rest of the afternoon, we drove around, went to the lab but it was closed, went to the bulk food store where he suddenly perked up, especially after a handfull of candy corn. We dropped off a bag of baby hats (including two pumpkin hats) to the hospital, and went up to Camilla Valley Farm for some yarn. By the time we got Lucy he was fine, and after school we cleaned out the pumpkin guts, but I could feel myself getting worse.

But not worse in the tummy way! A cold or something was settling in. Monday night I was hot and cold and had bizarre scary dreams--very unusual for me. Tuesday morning I still was fluctuating hot and cold. By the time Rob came home Megan was clearly sick with a runny nose and the two of us were flaked out on the couch. Rob took Huey and Lucy to the school Fall Fair, and Megan fell asleep on the couch. I vegged, sweated, talked to my Ma, shivered, watched TV, etc until bedtime. It was not a good sleep, and I slept in this morning and Huey was late for school. He didn't eat all his breakfast.
Once home, I was trying to take some vitamins and my meds, when I started having trouble drinking the cold water. I started gagging and then throwing up. And up. And up. That's so odd for me. I so rarely do that, but that's the second time this year! I think the anti-nausea medication on the ship must have really helped keep me from puking! For awhile after that I felt worse, but now I'm feeling not bad, except for this cold. So hopefully I am getting better--or at least my stomach is.

Stomach Story Part One

(Totally copied from my knitting blog, so if you read it there, skip to part two!)

Over (Canadian) Thanksgiving, I became ill---nausea, stomach pains, and then the lovely diarrhea. I RARELY get issues like that. On October 4th, I had an eye exam, and the usual drops to dialate my eyes. But they took forever before they began to contract again (the drops went in around 2:40 and at 6:30 I was still very dialated) and I was getting nauseous--from the extra sun, I thought.
Thanksgiving Monday was really bad, but then I felt better for a few days. But on the Thursday, it all came back. We had to leave for the airport at 2:30AM Saturday Oct. 13 (we were going to leave at 3AM but Rob forgot to pay the hydro bill). I was nauseous and couldn't eat.Over the week, I was all shades of green. The diarrhea would come and go, slowed by Imodium which I hated using but I wanted to enjoy our trip!
But by the time we got back on Saturday, there was no stopping it. I couldn't eat, or drink, and could feel myself getting dehydrated. I'm usually a big water drinker, so I was feeling BAD.
Yesterday I got in to see the doctor, who thinks it's a bacterial gastrointeritis. Similiar to a 'stomach flu' but bacteria instead of viral. I guess viruses have fairly short lifespans (well, except for HPV and HIV), and bacteria love to multiply. I took one antibiotic late Monday night and one Tuesday morning, and had NO bowel action until about 4:45pm on Tuesday! I'm less nauseous, and most importantly, I can get fluids down again.I'm the only person I know to go on a cruise and lose weight. But my clothes are still tight; I guess from bloating (oh, the gas has been horrible. Totally horrible. Imagine my fear with a 3hr plane flight?).