Bleh. That is how this week has felt. The engineer at the parks department said yesterday, that she was "just staying ahead of the nipping dog," when it came to her projects, and I told her I felt like I was under the dogpile. I wasn't really ready for school to start, I passed a kidney stone, and my kids were gone for most of the week. I think the really great weekend made the week seem worse than it was, though.
In fact, Friday and Saturday couldn't have been any better. The Hermit turned 40 on Friday, and I was able to throw together a great dinner and a cake in the matter of two days. Wednesday, I was completely incapacitated by the kidney stone, so I decided to completely change the menu. We went from bbq ribs and chicken to brats, hamburgers and turkey burgers. I spiced up the Americana bbq with some easy antipasto salad with all fresh herbs, cheeses and garlic, a variety of cheeses, crackers and bread, and a mean bruschetta that was a hit with the adults and the kids. All of the herbs and most of the veggies were from the garden, which should have about 40 ears of sweet corn ready for harvest really soon.
After the bbq, we hit the casino with his family, and managed to stay up until 3:30 am somehow. His brother and wife, and cousins had driven up from the Seattle area to meet the rest of us, and we managed not to lose too much money. We had reserved a room at the resort, which was really nice, and it was great that we didn't have to drive anywhere, but hotels really need to warn people when they have all feather down bedding. That way those of us who are allergic to it can bring our allergy medicine and sleep better, hint, hint.
On Saturday, I manned the parks table at the Centennial Trail expansion opening in Arlington, while the family hit the Bite of Arlington downtown. Both events had a pretty good turn out, though I hope the Bite is bigger next year. The weather was supposed to be rainy, but we had 70 degrees of sunshine instead. Of course, the county executive canceled at the last minute, big surprise, and the parks director was on vacation, but the head planner did well handling all the PR, and the mayor and our county councilman stepped in, too.
Unfortunately on Sunday, I had to work, and that's how the rest of the week has gone. I will top off this week with an 8 hour Biostats lab in Poulsbo on Saturday. Exciting, right? Like I said, I wasn't ready for school this week, so, bleh.
A bit of my view...
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Metabolize This
So I am home sick and bored out of my mind, everyone. Last week I started feeling really tired, and had a sudden onset of severe pain on Tuesday afternoon. If it had been on my right side, I would have immediately gone to the ER, because it was bad enough to think appendix, but it was on the left side, under the rib cage. The pain would lull then come on strongly, and persisted for a couple of days, long enough for me to actually go to the doctor. In case you didn't know, healthcare workers hate being patients.
The nurse practitioner I saw immediately ordered a CT, but I talked her into an abdominal ultrasound, to save myself from over-radiation, and money. On Wednesday, they called me into see the actual doctor to discuss my results and options. I knew that didn't sound good, and from my previous history of colon polyps, ovarian cysts and kidney stones, I knew it had to be one of the three. Turns out, my left kidney is very enlarged and almost completely blocked, however, they could not see what was causing the blockage. I immediately sent my thanks to God that I didn't have to see the gastroenterologist, or the OBGYN, and asked what the next steps were.
Here is where the difference between a good doctor and just any practitioner comes in. He let me know that the easiest way to diagnose me would be a CT scan, but wanted to know what my concerns were. I passed a large stone last summer with no hospitilization, and told him, it was probably a stone, and that I'd rather just pass it than be radiated and pay a fortune. After all, it's not like the CT machine is going to blast the stone or anything. Still concerned about the pain and possibility of infection, he decided to run some more UA and blood tests after questions about what the stone looked like and discussing my family history of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
After the two of us made "2 and 2 make 4" as the doc put it, the diagnosis is hyperuricemia, or too much uric acid in the blood. This is actually a rare cause of kidney stones, but aside from giving old people "the gout," it has been linked to high triglycerides (which they discovered in my blood two years ago), stroke, insulin resistance, and metabolic disorder, even in people like me who are not overweight. So without knowing what is causing it, I have been forced to change to a vegetarian diet until more tests come in.
Somehow I think all the past maladies in the last decade are linked to a metabolic or digestive disorder. When I was really young, my diet was restricted to goat dairy, whole grains and non-dyed foods (yummy, right?), then somehow I "outgrew" the problem as an older child. However, I still would get bad allergies, and feel "gooky" after eating, (I don't know how to explain gooky without grossing everyone out). Then came the colon polyp and out went cow dairy again, with the exception of processed cheeses. Then the ovarian cysts came, and I cut back on the soy, and settled on gaining ten pounds with Depo-Provera to keep them from forming.
Now here I have rare kidney stones, and something in the back of my mind is telling me that I really never "outgrew" anything, but who, except millionaires, can afford all of these medical tests? Just in the last week, I've spent 100 dollars on copays alone, just to see someone. Now I have to go back today, as it seems an infection has set into the blocked kidney, which is accompanied by a horrible headache/low fever that narcotics won't even kick. There goes another $35.
So today, I'm fighting the malaise in order to search the vast web-world to find some vegetarian recipes that will actually fill me up, just to avoid another day in bed and stupid daytime t.v. My family has refused to jump on board with no-meat meals, so I need to find some recipes I can cook, then add meat for them. It's turning out to be a bit like looking for ocean front property in Arizona, as George Strait once put it. At least I'm finally on a path to finally discovering a healthy me.
The nurse practitioner I saw immediately ordered a CT, but I talked her into an abdominal ultrasound, to save myself from over-radiation, and money. On Wednesday, they called me into see the actual doctor to discuss my results and options. I knew that didn't sound good, and from my previous history of colon polyps, ovarian cysts and kidney stones, I knew it had to be one of the three. Turns out, my left kidney is very enlarged and almost completely blocked, however, they could not see what was causing the blockage. I immediately sent my thanks to God that I didn't have to see the gastroenterologist, or the OBGYN, and asked what the next steps were.
Here is where the difference between a good doctor and just any practitioner comes in. He let me know that the easiest way to diagnose me would be a CT scan, but wanted to know what my concerns were. I passed a large stone last summer with no hospitilization, and told him, it was probably a stone, and that I'd rather just pass it than be radiated and pay a fortune. After all, it's not like the CT machine is going to blast the stone or anything. Still concerned about the pain and possibility of infection, he decided to run some more UA and blood tests after questions about what the stone looked like and discussing my family history of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
After the two of us made "2 and 2 make 4" as the doc put it, the diagnosis is hyperuricemia, or too much uric acid in the blood. This is actually a rare cause of kidney stones, but aside from giving old people "the gout," it has been linked to high triglycerides (which they discovered in my blood two years ago), stroke, insulin resistance, and metabolic disorder, even in people like me who are not overweight. So without knowing what is causing it, I have been forced to change to a vegetarian diet until more tests come in.
Somehow I think all the past maladies in the last decade are linked to a metabolic or digestive disorder. When I was really young, my diet was restricted to goat dairy, whole grains and non-dyed foods (yummy, right?), then somehow I "outgrew" the problem as an older child. However, I still would get bad allergies, and feel "gooky" after eating, (I don't know how to explain gooky without grossing everyone out). Then came the colon polyp and out went cow dairy again, with the exception of processed cheeses. Then the ovarian cysts came, and I cut back on the soy, and settled on gaining ten pounds with Depo-Provera to keep them from forming.
Now here I have rare kidney stones, and something in the back of my mind is telling me that I really never "outgrew" anything, but who, except millionaires, can afford all of these medical tests? Just in the last week, I've spent 100 dollars on copays alone, just to see someone. Now I have to go back today, as it seems an infection has set into the blocked kidney, which is accompanied by a horrible headache/low fever that narcotics won't even kick. There goes another $35.
So today, I'm fighting the malaise in order to search the vast web-world to find some vegetarian recipes that will actually fill me up, just to avoid another day in bed and stupid daytime t.v. My family has refused to jump on board with no-meat meals, so I need to find some recipes I can cook, then add meat for them. It's turning out to be a bit like looking for ocean front property in Arizona, as George Strait once put it. At least I'm finally on a path to finally discovering a healthy me.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Keeping my Head Above the Water
Wow! Welcome back to the e-world. It's been an insanely busy summer, that didn't really feel like summer, unless you're a northwestern native, which clearly with all my complaining, I am not. Hopefully next year there will be better weather and more time off.
Lately, my life feels like it's flying by faster than I can keep up. I ended up working at my internship for most of my staycation, but I can't complain when I'm working on trails and at the fair. There have been lots of changes at work, my babies are both in middle school where I have been volunteering with the band, and the hubby turns 40 in nine days! We are going to have an awesome night of family, friends, bbq, gambling and a his-and-hers pampering at the Tulalip Resort.
My parks internship has been extended into November, and I am about to go back to the city in three weeks. Not sure how working 6 days a week with school is going to work out, but at least I only have two classes this quarter, one of which is intro to GIS, which I already took at EvCC. Of course, I have to take it again, just to get that 300-level class on my transcript, but it should be cake.
Speaking of cake, I need to get busy on the over-the-hill version. See you peeps later!
Lately, my life feels like it's flying by faster than I can keep up. I ended up working at my internship for most of my staycation, but I can't complain when I'm working on trails and at the fair. There have been lots of changes at work, my babies are both in middle school where I have been volunteering with the band, and the hubby turns 40 in nine days! We are going to have an awesome night of family, friends, bbq, gambling and a his-and-hers pampering at the Tulalip Resort.
My parks internship has been extended into November, and I am about to go back to the city in three weeks. Not sure how working 6 days a week with school is going to work out, but at least I only have two classes this quarter, one of which is intro to GIS, which I already took at EvCC. Of course, I have to take it again, just to get that 300-level class on my transcript, but it should be cake.
Speaking of cake, I need to get busy on the over-the-hill version. See you peeps later!
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