16th
No news
Since the previous pill cam came back negative, this would be #5 for those who are counting. I was referred to a hematologist whom I saw last week.
He does what one would figure a hematologist would do, he took tons of blood to run tests. My permanent record (sounds like something from school doesn’t it?) currently says Crohns. So the hematologist is going with that as the current working theory.
He ran all the standard tests like CBC, Chem Panel and such along with testing for CML (Chronic Myelogenic Leukemia), an Immunoglobulin panel (basically at my insistence) as well as C-Reactice Protein. I’m not sure what else he ordered but it was 12 tubes of blood worth =)
I’m still having my good days and bad days. My weight seems to have leveled off although I’ve said that before and have it go all bonkers. I’m currently weighing in at 165. So I’ve lost 75 pounds from a year ago along with 50% of my body fat from 34% to 17%. I’m mostly working addressing the nutritional deficincies that I have which include protein, B12, B6 and Folic Acid (I though that was for pregnant women?!). It’s hard because I can’t seem to tolerate large amounts of dairy and I can’t handle nuts of any sort except popcorn (how weird is that?).
I forgot to ask the Hematologist but I’m wondering if the protein issue is part of the cysts they found on my kidneys. I knew of one that has been there forever and ever, well at least I’ve known about since my Gall Bladder removal surgery in 2002. They found another, much larger one during a recent CAT scan but they believe both are benign, which I’m sure they are otherwise I think I’d be in much worse shape. Although my cousin brought up polycystic kidney disorder so who knows?
I wish I had more to write about but unfortunately I lead a very boring life right now. It’s sort of like sleep, read, Doctors appointments and that’s about it.
I do have a lot of faith in the current group of doctors that I am seeing now though, which hasn’t always been the case. I think we’re on the downside of whatever my diagnosis is and I’ll be in a phase where I can manage it rather than trying to find out what’s wrong and I can receive appropriate treatment and get back on my feet physically and also in terms of work and what have you. I went to lunch last week with some former co-workers and I really miss the camraderie and also the feeling of worth you get from working. Money aside, work and the ability to feel as though you’re doing something worthwhile is very important, well to me it is at least.
