FibromyWHAT?: Surprise, Surprise!

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Surprise, Surprise!

I am probably going to shock the crap out of you all by resuming my blog after so long. I had even forgot my password and had to use the reset password to get in! But here I am! Thank you all for being patient and supportive during these long months. I just needed time to figure out where I'm going and how to get there. A problem we have all grappled with at some points in life and are still looking how to get there. But enough heavy stuff!

Here is an update for those of you not on Facebook. Gee, who is NOT on FB these days?! :)

I now weigh around a 160, down from 398. The bariatric surgery was a flamin' success! It's hard to believe all that weight came off in 2 years. I still have a little more to go and a tummy tuck is in my future, but I'm satisfied for now. :)

On June 15th of this year, I woke up with the left side of my face swollen. It was hot, red and very painful. I thought the top of my head was gonna pop right off! I went to the ER and was admitted with methicillin resistant staph aureus( MRSA). Yikes! Probably got the little buggers from my nursing jobs. I have taken care of so many MRSA patients, I have lost count. The cultured my nose and blood and my nose was positive for MRSA. So in the hospital I stayed for 9 fun filled days of IV Vancomycin. I will say the cable TV was a treat, as we don't fave that in our room. I recovered just fine, but my poor hair fell out nowhere else BUT in front! It looks positively horrible! I am forced to do a comb over with the hair on my side to partially cover my bald front. And to wear hats! I sure hope this is temporary. At least I am alive. And the moral of this story is to always wash your hands after the potty, before handling food, after being in any public place, but especially after visiting hospitals and clinics. MRSA no longer lives JUST in hospitals and nursing homes!

Then, on July 16th, my husband, Frank was rushed to the hospital with left lung pneumonia and pleurisy. He was in terrible pain on that left side and his vitals were crashing. I almost lost my best friend that day. Thank God Banner Thunderbird knew what they were doing! He was in ICU for 4 days, then a step down for another 4 days and then the remaining days on a medical floor. He finally came home this past Saturday and is recovering nicely. I don't know why pneumonia loves him so much, but this is the fourth time in as many years, it is almost a tradition! Or maybe he was competing with me for the longest hospital stay. Well, he wins! What a contest!

My lower back has gotten extremely bad this year. I had an MRI on June 4th and it was a three page report of all that's wrong with my back! Herniated and bulging discs, a cyst on one of the discs and I no longer have the spongy material between the discs that serves to protect them from friction. So what I have going on is bone on bone action and it is incredibly painful! I am back to using the walker and I've got so many drugs, a drug dealer would be jealous! I am finally going to have surgery August 13th. It is the point of no return and my last option if I want to get my life back.....and to resume college to become a medical assistant. I am scared to death, but I'm gonna keep plowing through with my head held high!

My last bit of news is our furry little kitty boy is not eating. I have a whole buffet out for him....tuna, seafood medley, pork and beef. He will smell it, then turn his nose up at it. He hasn't eaten in two days. Although he had a little bit of "people" tuna and not cat food tuna. He either is sick or playing us to spoil him even more than he already is! He probably goes back to his hiding place and chuckles to himself how gullible we are! At any rate, he has a vet appointment on Saturday.

This has been fun! I promise to write again soon. I will keep you posted on how my surgery and recovery go. Without a hitch, right? :))