A JOYFUL NOISE

This week has been absolutely horrible. The pain in my lower right stomach was increasing in pain, I was more nauseated than usual, and more tired. The thing is that the pain was extremely sharp and stabbing---not pressure pain like I usually have. I started out the week by trying to call my GI doctor, but of course, he was out of town this week. I tried to get through the week and finally decided to call my primary care doctor and she wanted to see me. That visit on Friday was a waste of my time. All she did was listen to my stomach with her stethoscope and sent me on my way with pain medication and diagnosis of chronic stomach pain. She ran no test....NOTHING. I was so upset. By Friday (and I told my pcp this), I had already gone 2 days not eating much at all and whenever I did eat I would have extreme pain and nausea. The one thing that "helped" was pain meds and laying on my bed resting/trying to sleep. By Saturday, the pain got worse throughout the d...

Over the past few weeks---in fact ever since my colonoscopy and flu, I haven't felt well at all. I've been in so much pain and been very nauseated. This affects me physically as it wears me out very much and sometimes I don't have the energy to do daily tasks. I often look back to last year and how I was able to hold a full time job and still come home and do what was required of me. Those days seems behind me and I miss those days. I feel guilty not helping financially with the house and other things. I know I shouldn't and I know it can't be helped, but it's very frustrating to not be able to hold a full time job and having to be dependent on my parents. I pay for my hospital bills with what money I do have in my savings account. (sideline: just a suggestion, always save money for rainy days---you never know when you'll be unemployed). I'm grateful for the days I can work as, a substitute teacher at the school or day care I'm part...

Last week was a busy one for me. I had two therapy appointments and two UVA hospital/doctor's appointments. Last Wednesday, I had to see my neuro-ophthalmologist. Everything went well and I'm happy to report that the tumors in the back of my right eye is stable; and the vision in my left eye (which I have nystagmus) has actually improved! There were some minor issues that he saw but he didn't feel it was necessary to operate just yet. Last Thursday, I underwent another colonoscopy (this time I was out like a light...completely asleep) My own doctor, Dr. Cerefice, was able to perform the procedure which helped my anxiety a lot. I came into my prep room and talked with me before the procedure and had me sign consent forms. I guess every one is more comfortable with their own doctor performing any kind of tests/procedures; it's not that I don't trust any other UVA docs, but at least my own doctor knows what to look for in my stomach/intestines. What he sa...

Today I had a follow up visit with my GI doctor, Dr. Cerefice after 7 months. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers as I went to the GI doctor today. First off, I am still seeing my usual fellow doctor GI doctor Dr. Cerefice, but I got transferred to a different "head"/ attending doctor. His name is Dr. Powell and I found out today from his nurse that he the number ONE GI doctor in the nation! I talked to Dr. Cerefice today and told him that my medication he put me on, Domperidone seemed to work some--by that I told him I can see some difference in taking it and not taking it. Because of this, both Dr. Cerefice and Dr. Powell think that there is more to my stomach issues than gastroperesis (emptying problems with the stomach to the intestines). They believe that my stomach has muscle issues in that it does not expand and contact as it is suppose to while eating or drinking. OR it expands/contracts too late after eating/drinking (explaining pai...

I was in Chucke Cheese's with my nieces last week and watched in amazement how each kid enjoyed the rides and games..how each kid ran around the play area fought over what games to play. I noticed how my nieces listened carefully to their parents as they told their children "don't let go of my hand.....stay with me.". My mom and I decided to stay in the booth with the rest of the food and coats, etc and just observe things around us. When I told my youngest niece I was staying with "paw paw" she said to me "don't let go!". She wanted to remind me that I was "not to leave my mom"....which was a sweet gesture. Throughout the time the nieces played, mom and I observed so many kids....some less than 2 yrs old, run around the area without any parents. That is scary; especially when minutes later, we heard a scream and realized that two little girls couldn't find their caregiver anywhere. How scared those kids must have ...

About 4 weeks before Christmas, around the time I returned from my Caribbean cruise, I started to have left shoulder pain again. Remember the shoulder that had to go through 2 operations by 2 different surgeons before it was corrected? I'm not sure what spiked this pain. It was pain so awful that it would hurt to extend my arm straight to the side or even lift up a simple 2 liter bottle of soda. The pain radiated down my hands and made it numb. I wasn't happy at all. (oh, and a side note, a long with this pain, I had a horrible head a chest cold that I've finally gotten over). Also along with my shoulder pain, my stomach was flaring up (and continues to flare up) as well as my chronic pain in my back and legs. I've thought to myself "could this get any worse?". I thought about calling a friend of mine who first saw me when I came in for the shoulder evaluation; but decided that with the holidays and all I didn't want to bother him, plus I figur...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope and pray everyone is healthy and enjoying this time of year. It’s hard to believe another year is almost over. As we celebrate this Advent Season, I am reminded of all of God’s goodness and love that has been shown to me this past year alone. As many of you know, it has not been an easy year for me. I have struggled a lot with health issues (more so than the past few years) and have been in and out of hospitals, have had numerous medical examinations done on me, as well as a couple of surgeries. I started the year with shoulder surgery on February 4, 2010. This surgery did not go well at all. I won’t go into all the details but in short, it took two surgeries (a different doctor) to correct the problem. My shoulder is much better now! PRAISE GOD! In between my whole shoulder ordeal, I suffered a lot of stomach issues. I was taken to the UVA ER several times due to extreme pain and vomiting. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital where ...