.:reflections of twilight:.

Well, it's time for the non-stop carnival fun ride that is my annual colonoscopy. For those of you who are new to my journal and may not know, I have Crohn's Disease which I was diagnosed with 12 years ago. So now, since I've had it for as long as I have, I have to go once a year for a colon check-up to make sure everything is looking good. Last year I had a bit of a relapse, but hopefully that won't happen again this time.

So, I've kinda made it a tradition to post an article one of my favorite writers, Dave Barry, wrote about when he had his colonoscopy a few years ago. He sums it it pretty well actually. For those of you who've read it before, you can skip it if you want. Or you can read it again. Up to you.

( read on, MacDuff! )

So today was my prep, which is ALWAYS fun. Not only do I have to eat nothing but clear liquids all day (which make me feel hungrier than if I hadn't eaten anything at all) but that leads up to the highlight of the evening, the liquid prep. It's ostensibly cherry flavored, but it really tastes more like what I presume camel spit would taste like. Then I get to spend a few hours locked in the bathroom while it takes effect. So, hopefully this will all be worth it.

Luckily it's only once a year.

In other health related news, I may have a disorder with my thyroid that needs to be checked out. I see the endocrinologist in a few weeks so hopefully we can find out what's going on. Like this is all I need in addition to everything else.

Also, my boss decided to put me back on 5-8s again instead of my former 4-10s during the week. She says it's going to be temporary, so hopefully she's right. I found out from a friend of mine that it's due to the company that is looking to buy us out wants us to get as much money posted as possible before the summer is over. So maybe things will get back to normal after all of that. I like having a day off during the week to be able to unwind and take a breather.

So my main issue is trying to find out what to bring for my lunch since I had things already planned out for only four days. Yes, my main issue revolves around food. Kinda sad, isn't it?

Just a brief post to update everyone on what's been happening.

The main thing is that I just got home from spending nearly a week in the hospital due to a severe Crohn's flare up. I had mentioned before how I had been feeling sick and I wrote an earlier post about the various doctor's visits et al regarding all of that.

Saturday night I decided that the outpatient care I was getting wasn't cutting it. I actually voluntarily decided I wanted to go to the hospital. This is not something I decide on a whim. For one thing, I really am not fond of hospital stays. Previous experience had taught me it's not a lot of laughs (understandably given the nature of hospitals). But I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. There was something seriously wrong and I wanted to get it fixed.

Mom drove me to the ER and I got checked in. Did various tests of course and then I was finally admitted. Since it was close to midnight, we did get to be entertained by a random crazy guy who needed to be escorted off the premises by security. So that was kinda of fun.

I got sent up to my room which I shared with a nice older lady who was having what seemed like major back pains. Of course, by this time, I was pumped full of morphine, so I was feeling pretty good. I had a hard time sleeping that night because not only were the doors open and personnel kept coming in at various times of the night for vitals and blood work, but we also had a moaner on the floor. I dunno what her issue was, but it seemed she was in constant pain. She moaned almost the entire time I was there.

I kinda miss The Moaner...

I knew I was having a bad flare up, but I only hoped it wouldn't take long to get it under control. The goal on my board in front of my bed was "To be able to eat!" You would think that was a rather silly goal to have, but when one is in the throes of a Crohn's flare up, food is the least appetizing thing you can think of.

So naturally I tormented myself by watching the Food Network almost 24/7...

I was attached to an IV which was pumping me full of fluids. I can tell I was dehydrated because I didn't have to pee any of it out until several days later.

I think the cramping was the worst part of it. I did hole myself up in the bathroom a few times and sobbed like a baby. Hey, I think I was entitled for at least a few times. It was very cathartic. I have to consider myself lucky in that this is the only flare up I've had since I was diagnosed with this stupid thing 11 years ago.

My mom was able to talk to my supervisors at work and explain the situation as to why I was out for two weeks (maybe a wee bit longer). Thankfully they were pretty understanding about it and I won't get in deep for being out.

Now I am going to try to get my life back to semi-normal. I did receive a Remicade treatment while I was in the hospital. Hopefully it should take effect pretty soon. It depends on the severity of the inflammation and the reaction of the individual. I have another scheduled for a week from tomorrow. I was also sent home with an entire pharmacy of drugs, so that should help for a little while.

Oh, I also received the first book I ordered from you guys, dqbunny and secondlina! Very exciting!!

Well, in case some of you were wondering what's been going on with me, I'll tell you.

It seems that after lying dormant for 11 years, my Crohn's decided to erupt again like a volcano. Now, remember me telling you that when I had my last colonoscopy, that there was more inflammation than usual. Well, this week it decided to rear it's ugly head. So I've been stuck at home with nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea, loss of appetite and fatigue. Joy.

At first I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of stomach bug. Up until Sunday I felt pretty ok. Still having what I thought was a difficult recovery time from my procedure. Then Sunday, I was feeling really terrible. I was lethargic and weak and had no appetite. It was really bad during the birthday party my aunt threw for my uncle's 70th birthday because she cooked so many of my favorite foods and I had not the heart to eat much. Normally I would've been wolfing it down and going back for seconds (including cake), but not this time. I was barely able to eat the small portion I had on my plate, which was very disappointing for me especially.

So I vomited some while at home and laid in bed most of the rest of the day. Same thing for Monday, July 4th. I mean, we had a game night planned for Sunday, yet I couldn't go because of the way I was feeling. It was pretty upsetting to say the least.

Tuesday, mom had me come in with her so I could be seen at the walk-in clinic there. Needless to say I was dressed for work like I had actually planned to go in. Silly me. So the walk-in doctor saw me, gave me a rectal exam (such fun), took some tests, drew some blood, took a urine sample and took a few abdominal x-rays. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, he came and told me that I had a UTI and rectal bleeding (due to the diarrhea). He wanted me to follow up with my GI doc as soon as possible (which would be the next day). So he gave me a doctor's note excusing my absence from work, gave me a prescription for antibiotics (for the UTI) and mom used her lunch hour to drive me home.

Wednesday, I was still feeling pretty sucky, so my mom had my aunt pick me up and drive me to the doctor's office since I needed to have an abdominal ultrasound done before the GI doctor saw me. So that was done and I was squirreled away in an unused room until it was time for my appointment. So then my GI doctor came in and examined me and asked me all sorts of questions and looked at my test results. His conclusion: my Crohn's had been reactivated. I pretty much had (have) all the same symptoms as I did when I was first diagnosed 11 years ago. Except for the cramping. I never had any of the cramping before. He attributed that to the UTI, which he said can sometimes cause cramping. He did say there was no bleeding in my abdomen, which was a big relief to me, because due to my anxiety disorder, I tend to be somewhat of a hypochondriac. So naturally I was thinking all sorts of things, like internal bleeding, appendicitis, ulcers, ect...

So he prescribed me a few new temporary meds like a medrol dose pack, which is a specific days worth of prednisone in order to get my colon back in shape so I can be a functioning human again. I also received some anti-nausea meds which knocked me out. Thankfully I only needed to take those once or twice.

So that has been my life lately. Too sick to even really get out of bed, much less do anything productive. Hopefully while the meds kick in, I can start to feel normal again and also eat like a human being again.