Day off

I had a day off from work on Tuesday. I could have spent it at home, sitting down in front of the television catching up on shows on Netflix, or watching one of the many movies I have but haven't seen yet, but I decided I needed to have a couple doctor's appointments.

I had my first appointment with my Gastroenterologist in the morning. He is thinking that my enlarged liver and spleen is because of Fatty Liver. This isn't the first time I have had to deal with this. 

About ten years ago, I gave blood for the first time, and it was rejected due to liver enzymes in my blood. This started some good times with visits to the doctor where I had Fatty Liver, and after some diet and exercise, it went away. Going through the process, I got all kinds of questions from the doctor.
I'll never forget being 18 years old, sitting in the doctor's room, and him asking me...
"Do you drink alcohol?"
"No."
"Have you ever used any illegal drugs, like cocaine, heroin, or meth?"
"Uh. No."
"Have you had multiple sexual partners?"
"Uh.... No. I've never had sex."
"And you're sure you don't drink alcohol?"
"I'm a pretty boring guy."
At least I felt that way.
He asked these questions because Fatty Liver is usually a symptom of Hepatitis, and he wanted to rule out getting sick due to a wild and crazy party life on the weekends
"Like I said, I lead a low-risk, boring life."
So when the new doctor started asking me similar questions, I just laughed.
"Have you ever snorted coke?"
"No."
"Have you ever injected heroin?"
"No."
"Have you ever solicited a prostitute?"
"Heh. No. Not at all"
And I found myself repeating my famous words from ten years ago.
"I'm a pretty boring guy."
The doctor thinks it is fatty liver, and that weight loss will help. He also wants me to avoid alcohol for the next three months. I don't drink much, but he wants to make sure this isn't a cause.
He said the same thing my primary doctor has said: "Diet and exercise should help."

This is where my back issues come into play.

The results from my MRI came back saying that the disc between my L5 and S1 vertebrae is bulging into the nerves of my lower back. Instead of sending me to a specialist, the doctor referred me out for physical therapy, which I started in the afternoon.

I wasn't sure what to expect, this being my first time going to a physical therapist and all, but I expected more questions, which is how my session started out. 

First he wanted to know how long I've had the pain, the location of the pain, how bad the pain was, and all that wonderful stuff. After a deep tissue massage, I had a device strapped on that basically did the same thing an Inversion Table does, without blood rushing to my head. I laid flat on the table, with one belt strapped around my stomach, and the other around my waist, and then the two would separate, lifting pressure from my L5-S1 disc. I sat there for about 30 wishing I had a book with me. 

Afterwards I got some exercises to straighten my core, which will take some of the pressure off my back, give me better posture, and (this is just my hopes) some rock hard abs. 

It all lasts about an hour and a half, by which time I hate everything. But, Michelle keeps reminding me that this will only be for a short while, and the results will last for a long time. I'll try to keep that thought in mind as I'm doing these exercises that borderline on torture.

Firsts

Today was a day of firsts.

After my physical, the doctor said I need to lose some weight, so I thought I should give biking to work a try. I rode there yesterday, but picked up my car on the way back. So today is the first day where I rode my bike to work and back for the first time.
It was also the first time I took a spill.
I was riding on the sidewalk, when another gent in his bike was riding toward me. I got to one side, but not before the bike got stuck in a groove a little bit bigger than the tire. I lost balance, and fell on my left side.
I'm okay. Just a little sore.
My wrist took most of the beating, and my jacket needs to be washed after I landed in a puddle, but I'm still walking.
I'll be taking some Ibuprofen tonight.

Also had my first MRI tonight as well.
I was little nervous going in, since I hadn't had one before. But once I got into the tube, it was just a waiting game.
Of course, I'm letting my imagination run around, and I start thinking of other scenarios where I would be in a tube. First, I'm imagining I'm in an escape pod that was just shot out of a spaceship that exploded, and I'm falling to Earth.
Next I'm in a sleep chamber travelling through space, and the loud beeping is the alarm waking me up telling me we are about to land on the alien planet.
Then I'm taking a break while working on underground pipes, with the sound of cars and trains going by above ground.
Eventually, I'm back at AMI, laying in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, getting magnetic rays blasted through my body to see just how bad the disc between the L5 and S1 section of my spine is.
Then I was just bored.
I got out, and was able to get a look at the images.
It doesn't look good, but I won't know the extent of the damage until Monday at the earliest, due to the 4 day weekend.
So again, I get to wait.

I rode my bike home afterwards, and that was when I had my spill. Don't worry. I didn't hurt my back. Just broke the seat.

Adventures

I had my first physical in years on the first of the month. Besides trying to figure out what was going on with my back/kidneys, I had to get an overall checkup, which included blood tests.
All the tests came back good, except for the cholesterol test.
My cholesterol is high.
The plan we started was a three month period where I will try to lower my cholesterol with diet and exercise. If that doesn't help, then I'll have to start taking medication to lower it.
This is one of the many adventures I'm currently taking with my health, which leads me to the one I mentioned in a prior post.

I had my CT scan a week ago. Since it was a Renal Stone Study, there was no prep involved. No fasting, no drinking Volumen an hour prior, and no IV contrast. I showed up, changed into scrubs, and the exam took all of three minutes.
I was told by the tech that I could speak to the radiologist and he could go over the exam with me (one of the perks of working in radiology).
After my courier route, I went back to see the radiologist, and we went over my exam.

Of course, when you get a radiologist's report, it only says whats wrong, so when I speak to the radiologist, I know I will only be told what is seen, but any follow up will have to be with my doctor.

The radiologist said I have no stones, but that my liver and spleen are a little big.
I told him why I was having the exam: the back pain, nausea, multiple urgent care visits, medication, and all around fun. So he checks my spine. The CT scan is mainly checking out my intestines, and isn't that good for checking bone. He still takes a look at spine, and can see that I have a bulging disc. He said he'll write an addendum saying that he'd recommend an MRI to better evaluate my lumbar spine.

I had a follow up appointment with my doctor the following Wednesday. He said he's taking the radiologist's recommendation and ordering an MRI. He also noted the enlarged liver and spleen. This may be a side effect of having high cholesterol, or the reason why it is so high, or really have nothing to do with it whatsoever. Either way, he is referring me to a Gastroenterologist (or G.I. Doctor) to further evaluate it.

So here is the breakdown of my current adventures:

• I will be having an MRI for my lower back to see just how bad my bulging disc it.
  I'm a little nervous, mostly because I've never had one, but since I've worked in radiology for the past five years, I know that some people can handle it and some people can't. You don't know until you are being put in the tube.
• I'll be visiting a G.I. Doctor sometime in December. I got a voicemail from the office with a tentative appointment. I just have to confirm the time, and I'll be visiting another Doctor.
• I've been dieting a little. I need to get back in the habit of visiting the gym on a regular basis. I did get a bike, and once I have a couple more things (at least some lights so I can ride at night, and a jacket to wear in the cold weather) I want to start riding my bike to work. It's only a 20 minute ride there, so I'll just have to plan ahead by waking up earlier and packing a lunch.

My first doctors visit in five-plus years, and I've been back twice, and I expect to be back a lot more. At least I get the chance to read more. Still trying to reach my goal of 10,000 pages read in one year. Had a bit of a slump in the middle of summer, but I hope to finish strong by the end of the year.

Otherwise, there's always 2014!

New title for the blog

I realize that most of my blog posts have been about my diet, or health, or some way that I'm trying to improve myself, so I've decided to embrace that and take my title from an older blog post (and song from years ago) and this is now "Building A Better Me" with the subtitle being the old title, "Truth Belongs to God, and the Mistakes are mine."

I'll continue by saying the results from my CT came back. I don't have Kidney Stones, but the radiologist noticed a couple other things (including a bulging disc). I'll post more about it later, because it's a good story. Thanks for your prayers!

My health is like a Roller Coaster

Haven't posted in over a year. I want to get back into the habit of writing something at least once a week.
So guess I'll start with my health.
Over a month ago, I started having really bad back pain. 

This is nothing new. 

I've had back problems for years, but it usually lasts less than a day, and goes away after a couple of Advil's. But this pain wouldn't go away.
After a drive to Exeter to visit Michelle's mom, my back was in so much pain I had a hard time getting out of the car. Sleep was next to impossible.
The next day I drove to Porterville to visit family while Michelle was at a baby shower. My parent's asked me why I was limping when I walked into the store, and I said my back was hurting.
I spent the rest of the day with my dad, where he introduced me to the bank teller as his father, and walked slowly with me as we walked into Mexican restaurant for some Saturday morning Manudo. Sitting hurt, standing hurt, walking hurt: I was in so much pain I was nauseous. My dad and brother both told me the pain must be from Sciatica, which they both had, and I wasn't excited to hear that. The thought of being stuck with this pain for, possibly, the rest of my life made me a little more upset.

Where did this come from anyway?! Just last Friday I was playing Softball and caught the ball coming in from deep left field! The runner hit my leg (and thought I was trying to trip him), but that wasn't the side that was hurting! I only started feeling this bad after sitting in the car and driving for an hour. From what I remember about Sciatica, it usually manifested itself after sitting down for a long time, especially in a car ride, but what was different this time?

After the day in Porterville, I drove back to Exeter. 

The plan was pick up Michelle and drive to Fresno that night so I could play Bass in the morning at church. After the half-hour drive from hell, I didn't want to spend another second in the driver side of the car. I asked Michelle if she could drive home, but she was also counting on me driving so she could sleep after her long day helping with the baby shower. Turns out she wasn't just going to the baby shower, but helping run it, with multiple trips to get last minute items, and the joys of tearing down and cleaning up.

The new plan became one more night in Exeter. I texted Pastor Tom telling him I wouldn't be there in the morning, and I was really sorry for the last minute cancellation, and tried to sleep again. I could go to Urgent Care on Monday, and hopefully find out if this is Sciatica, and how to treat the symptoms. I need to at least know what it is I'm dealing with.

I took some pills, and the pain went away enough to where I could sleep.

The next morning, I wanted to see when the Urgent Care I go to opened on Monday morning, and found out they had Sunday hours! Relief was now sooner! Only a painful hour long drive to Fresno!

We got in the car, and we couldn't get to Fresno faster. The pain got so bad that after a half-hour or so, I was really close to telling Michelle to pull over so I could throw up on the side of the road. I kept it together, mainly because I didn't have anything in my stomach and didn't want to dry heave on the side of Highway 99. 

Is this much pain normal!? Something else has to be going on.

Michelle and I were supposed to go on a group trip to the Zoo Sunday afternoon, but I the new plan had me going to the doctor instead. I told Michelle she should just go, because there's no point in both of us not having fun, and all she would do is wait in the office and think the worst while waiting for me.

I went to the doctor. Michelle went to the zoo.

I drove to Peachwood and signed into their urgent care.

The doctor did a few tests, and said it wasn't Sciatica, but Kidney Stones. The pain and nausea was from the stone(s) moving through my urinary tract.

This made sense.

He gave me some prescriptions for the pain and nausea, and told me I should be passing the stone sometime in the next few days, and these pills will just make life bearable, and if I don't pass anything by Wednesday to follow up with my doctor.
Monday I stayed home.
Tuesday I went to work, but didn't do too much work.
Wednesday I did work, and called my doctor.
This is where the fun begins.
I called my PCP, and I found out that I can't be seen until January because I haven't seen my doctor since I switched my PCP. Of course, if I would have made an appointment months ago when I first got my insurance, or when I said, "I have a week off, I should see my doctor." The quickest way I can see a doctor is to find a doctor who is taking new patients and switch my PCP over to them. I found another doctor, and switched my PCP on my HMO, and found out that it won't take effect until the first of the next month.
This is on October 9.
I'm screwed.
I decided to go back to Peachwood Urgent Care on Thursday after work.
I spoke with the PA on duty and told her my current situation, and she asked me where I got my radiology done for my Kidney Stone. When I told her I didn't get one, she was shocked.
"Why didn't you get anything done? How do you know you have them? We can't know for sure that you have them until you have a CT done!"
So she has the doctor come in, he does some more tests, and says I don't have kidney stones, and it's just lower back pain so bad I get nauseous. He prescribed me Vicodin and muscle relaxers, and told me to make an appointment right away with a doctor.
I switched my PCP, and made an appointment for the first of the month.
I had pain every now and then.
Took the pills a few time.
Didn't like them.
So I went back to using Ibuprofen.
That Sunday one of the ladies at church came up to me talking about Kidney Stones. I said I didn't have them, and she said I might still have it. She has Kidney Stones all the time, and says they get stuck sometimes, and the pain won't be as bad because it only hurts when the stone moves.
So I might still have them.
When I finally had my doctor's appointment, I kept this knowledge to myself, because if this was the case, I wanted the doctor to suggest it.
Which he did.
So tomorrow, I'm finally having a CT to see if I'm pregnant or not.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.
I'll hopefully be posting soon about the joys of giving birth.