In order to keep this post less than 50 pages I will attempt to sum up where the H-E- double hockey sticks I have been since my last post in November. The end of November 2013 my husband and I made the move from Burlington VT to Raleigh NC. Many reasons led to this move including, better job opportunities for hubby, lower cost of living, less hours for me to work, less snow, something new and fun!
Even before our move I was feeling run down and exhausted. I worked long hours in the operating room and worked most of my 80-100 hours of call. I love my job (operating room nurse) but I felt it was wearing me out and I wanted more time to concentrate on my health and fitness. Anyway I'm starting to ramble....we made it to Raleigh NC in 2 days of driving. Moved into our new apartment and I started my new job a week later. I was working 8 hour shifts instead of 10s and had not started the tiny amount of call I would be taking. However, I was feeling worse and worse. My shorter work days were taking all the energy I had and I would come home and crash out on the couch I couldn't even stand long enough to make dinner. This went on for a few weeks. My skin got paler, my lips were a lovely bluish purple tint, I started to get short of breath with normal activities (like showering or getting dressed). With the pressure from my family to get checked out, I finally made an appointment to be seen by my new primary care doctor.
I went in for my appointment and my doctor took one look at me and stated I should go to the emergency room because I would likely need a blood transfusion. Long story short I have a long history of iron deficiency anemia, but this was something in addition to this problem. I was loosing blood from somewhere in my body and my blood levels had dropped dangerously low. Hemoglobin 6.5 for any of my medical professionals out there. They admitted me to the hospital and transfused two units of blood my first night. The next day I had to do a bowel prep for an endoscopy and colonoscopy. I will never be able to look at or smell lemon lime gatorade again!!!! After my "oscopies" the doctor came in and told me I had severe inflammation and ulceration of my stomach and intestines. She said they took biopsies and sent them out, but it appeared I have Crohn's disease. Crohns is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that is often grouped with ulcerative colitis. For more information on either of these diseases I urge you to look at www.ccfa.org. I am still awaiting final diagnosis from my GI doctor and I have an appointment this Monday for further follow up. Before I left the hospital they gave me an iron transfusion because my iron level was 4 and should be 56! I have been home for almost 2 weeks now, I'm on a large dose of daily prednisone that I will taper down over 8 weeks. I feel the best I have felt in a couple years. My diagnosis wether it is ulcerative colitis or Crohns is hard to hear but I am ready to face it! I will not let it slow me down, I will push forward and keep focused on my health and fitness goals. So if you have stumbled across my blog, please stay tuned! Expect some more paleo, gluten free, whole food posts as I try to find what foods I can and cannot have on this adventure. Thanks for stopping by!
One of my units of blood :)
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