Posts Tagged With: doctor

Sinus Infection and Hope

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Nahleen

Sinus Infection.

Infection.

That’s what I feel like I’ve heard over and over again over the past few years especially. Perhaps I don’t hear it as much as I used to but for awhile I think I was just one big walking infection of one kind or another.

And today was no exception. The only difference is, I haven’t been to see a doctor about an infection for 8 months. I think I’ve hit a new record. If I’ve felt sickies coming they have been fought off by my own body and Chiropractic adjustments have helped a lot too.

So I called my doctor’s office this morning at 9am when they opened and couldn’t reach anyone till 9:30am. Turns out their phones were ringing off the hook for at least a half hour straight with people calling like crazy trying to get squeezed in for an appointment because so many people had the same symptoms I have had. They have had the puffy swollen face, the cough starting, the sinuses filling up, the fever, the feeling of the head being squeezed off, sneezing, etc. And I found out later from my Physician Assistant that most of these infections have started with allergies and become an infection. She also said that most of her patients have said it has hit hard and fast and feel like they’ve been hit by a bus. Well, yes, I kinda have felt like my head was hit by a bus actually.

Yes. Ugh. Ow. All that stuff.

I was miserable today. I’ve been in a funk and not feeling good as you all know by now. I tend to get really upset when I get sick because I feel as though I am sick enough with MS and lupus. I really don’t have anymore room for any other yucky symptoms and discomfort you know? I really don’t want to be sick anymore. I would love to get a break. I was just icky mentally and physically.

Yet as I drove to my appointment this afternoon I took a deep (as deep as I can when I have a tight chest congestion issue) breath and looked to my left at the ocean. I love this drive. I love the area I get to drive in to get to this doctor’s office. I love the area itself where it’s located. To be honest, it’s one of the main reasons I go to this doctor.

Anyway, I looked at the ocean and its sparkles and then looked to my right to the cliffs that so clearly mark PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and I think it’s then that I found myself more in the Present again. It’s hard to stay Present when I don’t feel good. My head goes all over the place into the future, the past, backwards, inside out, sideways, and usually feels buried under bricks of ick. It was the ocean and the sunlight’s shadow play on the cliffs that struck me. There I was sitting in my car and feeling stronger than I have in awhile. I sat a bit more upright. I started feeling inside the rest of my body and realizing that this may be the first time I wasn’t completely overtaken by so many symptoms from all my ailments that I didn’t know what was bothering me. I just knew it all sucked. And I realized, I AM improving. I am feeling a bit stronger. This time I’m really going to the doctor to address the sickies. I don’t need to address all the MS, lupus, IBS and all the other symptoms that are completely overwhelming me. And for the first time in about 2 days I started to feel a bit more hope and positivity. That I’d make it past this.

I always find myself in this trap in my head. As if I’m never gonna get through the next wave of whatever is making me feel crappy. It feels permanent. Like I’m doomed. Quite often, though, the horrible wave passes and I pull out of that and go to the “normal wave” of discomfort.

But it was the ocean, the cliffs and sunlight that pulled me out just a bit. They gave me something to hold onto. And then as I talked to my PA at the appointment she helped me remember the progress I’m making and how far I’ve come compared to 3.5 years ago. She has always been there for me. She has coached me and encouraged me and also been able to take me seriously and with so much compassion. She reminded me that we are all human. That as humans we get sick. This is almost a normal thing to go through, this sinus infection. This is gonna happen. But she also acknowledged that yes it would be really nice if I could get a break. She knows how much I’ve been through.

So I’m now stocked up with antibiotics, mucinex, juices, water, tissues and anything else that will help me get better. I fought off this infection for 2 weeks on my own. THAT is a victory. This all still sucks but if I can pull my head out of the muck I can see where the hope is.

And as I’ve read before and I just love this quote:

HOPE: Hold On Pain Ends

It’s hope that keeps me going. So I will hold on.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: adjustments, antibiotics, appointment, cliffs, cough, doctor, doctor's office, hope, human, IBS, juices, lupus, MS, mucinex, ocean, PA, Pacific Coast Highway, patients, PCH, Physician Assistant, sick, sinus infection, sinuses, sneezing, symptoms, victory, water | 2 Comments

Life Interrupted…Again

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Nahleen

I’ve been sitting here on the couch. That is all. And yet there seems to be movement going on in my body. Movement of sickies taking over. The sinuses are getting fuller. The chest is getting a bit tighter and the cough is happening more and not just a little bit. This time it’s not looser like this morning. It’s getting tighter and the cough is turning more into a “bark” as I’ve called it. And this is just as I’m sitting here.

The cough came on apparently just for fun at about 10am this morning. It was more like a tickle. It was looser like it has been if I start to feel sick at all these days. Things have changed a lot since I started seeing my Chiropractor earlier this year and it’s been helping to boost my immune system with each session. Usually when I’ve felt sick now it starts up just a bit and then an adjustment or my own body fight it off.

Actually, I thought that’s what I was doing last week. I can’t really describe how I felt last week. I felt a wee bit sick and it was kicking my whole body into a bit of an edge-of-a-flare-overdrive. I was also exhausted. So I did a lot of sleeping and seemed to finally fight it off by the end of the week. And then yesterday what I believe are allergies, started.

This is my typical sick path. It starts with just getting that “pre-sick” feeling. Hard to describe but I’m guessing you know what I’m talking about. Then it comes on heavy, starts as allergies and immediately transforms into a full on infection. Been doing that pretty much my whole life off and on. I’m very sensitive to stuff. Stick me in a bubble and I swear I’d still get sick. It’s ridiculous.

So I started taking care of my almost chronic infections with a Pulmonologist almost 2 years ago and he helped me turn a corner to a much better version of “better”. There were actually breaks in between infections. And then earlier this year I started seeing a Chiropractor who has helped me keep the sickies away at least 6 times. Well not this time.

I saw him today. So my “allergy sickies” started yesterday…again. And they have been relentless. And then this morning the cough started at about 10am. I saw my Chiropractor at about 12pm. I told him about it and he said, “Well it sounds like you need an immune boosting Chiropractic adjustment”. I agreed. I felt much better from the adjustment. I start to take a walk outside again after the adjustment and the here come the full sinuses. Here comes the cough. They picked right up where they started.

So I’m thinking at this point in the afternoon that perhaps the adjustment dragged out the sickies. Perhaps I’ll be feeling a bit worse before feeling better. Well OK.

PERHAPS.

But at about 5pm I wasn’t thinking too much about it as I rested on the couch and debated getting up to feed Cleo and perhaps have dinner myself and then do some paperwork…

UNTIL I COULD FEEL THE INFECTION MOVING INTO MY BODY AND TAKING OVER.

It’s pretty much what it felt like as I sat there.

This is my LIFE.

LIFE INTERRUPTED…AGAIN.

So hard. So frustrating. So uncool. I’m trying to get some things done. I have my parents visiting in 4 days. I had plans this weekend. Yes I have learned to be flexible but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t get in the way.

Yet again I have to STOP.

STOP.

My body needs me to give it love. My poor body. My poor mind. My mind had other plans. There is life happening around me. I get so tired of resting. I get so tired of drinking and taking yucky medications and teas and special concoctions in order to TRY to feel better. I get so tired of feeling crappy. I have symptoms 24/7 of some sort. They have not stopped for at least 11 years. There is always some kind of discomfort going on in my body.

I have MS, lupus and IBS as my main crap.

THAT SHOULD BE ENOUGH.

But it isn’t. ‘Tis the season for getting sick. I’ll need to stay up tomorrow morning after feeding my Cleo Kitty and call my doctor’s office to try to get squeezed in for the day.

ON A FRIDAY.

Yuck.

I’ve found myself in a lot more acceptance in these almost 11 years since my multiple sclerosis diagnosis but I really just want it all to stop bothering me to be honest. I am tired of not feeling good. I am tired of all of it. I am tired of having a disability. I am tired. This is my life.

LIFE INTERRUPTED…AGAIN.

Don’t get me wrong. I know I’m still living. I know I can still have a life when I’m sick. But so much of it has to stop. I need to rest. I can’t be going out a lot. I can’t be using my brain too much or I get fatigued. We all know what it’s like to be sick. We have to really stop everything in order to get better. It’s just the way it is.

And I’m told I can work. Well tomorrow morning I need to try to get in to see a doctor. That doctor would probably tell me to be out sick for a few days. This can happen anytime and for numerous reasons for my body. It is not that easy to work. I’m not employable right now and that can really upset me if I think about it too much. I need to see doctors, I need to rest and try to recover, I need to deal with crappy bills and insurance, I need to have medical tests done and I need to have time to be me…

Last week I fought what is probably this same sicky bug and didn’t do much for almost a week. This week has been much better but here I go again. I’m trying to have a life flow here and get some things done.

But my body needs love and attention.

It needs to be Priority.

Again.

And so now that my sinuses continue to fill up and the cough hurts me when I breathe as I write this I will stop writing.

Because yes, my life has been interrupted again.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: adjustment, appointment, Chiropractor, cough, disability, doctor, employable, immune, infection, life, lupus, MS, priority, sick, sinuses, work | Leave a comment

I’M OK

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Nahleen

I’ve been reflecting a lot about my Blog post yesterday, “Diagnosis Part 5: MRI”.

It helped so much to write that. I needed to really get that out. I needed to tell the whole world about my experience. It freed me a lot. I felt lighter after I wrote it and I’ve been breathing easier ever since.

And what I’ve become aware of even more today is something so enlightening and positive.

I’M OK.

I, Nahleen Virginia Blake (yes that’s my Middle Name), am OK. Oh my goodness! I’m OK. If you had told me that night of my first MRI that over 10 years from that whole experience I’d say I was OK I’d have pushed you away. I’d have ignored you. I wouldn’t have believed you. I probably would’ve gotten sick to my stomach.

No Way! I was so terrified about my life, about my future, about my body and everything that I had no control over. I “HAD CONTROL” of my life back then…I thought. I was on my path. Full speed ahead! Get out of my way. I’m following my dream. Actually…I’m chasing my dream. It can’t get away. My grip is so tight and I won’t let go. Keep on going and going and going and going. Well, guess what Energizer Bunny? You can’t keep going either no matter what those commercials say. Sorry but you run out of Oomph too!

Throughout these 10 plus years since I have been told by so many people older than me that I am too young to think the way I do. That I am too young to go through what I’ve gone through. That I should be going through all of this illness and crap when I’m older. Well, let me tell you all, I HAVE NO CONTROL AND I NEVER HAVE. I was powerless over what was happening in my body and my mind was bound to change. My life was bound to change! My outlook was bound to change! Change change change! Life is about change!

How could all of that not change?

I couldn’t work 2 jobs anymore. That was crazy to start with. I couldn’t be a Production Assistant for 12 hour days on my precious weekends anymore. I couldn’t couldn’t with the couldn’ts. Suddenly my life came to a halt.

SORT OF.

I had to rest more.

I’M SORRY. DID I SAY REST?

What is REST? Well, that means I STOP all I’m doing to the best of my ability and sit my butt down. I can lay down on the bed. I get some quiet. I learn how to meditate. If I can’t stop I at least SLOW DOWN. Yes, slower is OK. Really. There are so many ways to rest. Forcing everything to a point of a racing heart is NOT RESTING. Nope. Everything in Fast Forward is not resting.

Actually, my life is usually better than OK but I didn’t know that until 8 years later when I was diagnosed with a second disease of lupus. A…SECOND…DISEASE……..OF…LUPUS….Now THAT ONE KICKED ME OFF MY FEET AND STRAIGHT ONTO MY BUTT and there was no getting up.

No question.

I hit a wall so hard it’s a wonder I even survived and I am NOT EXAGGERATING.

And my choices were simple yet so complicated for someone like me to understand. You see, simple is not simple. It can’t just be that pretty much everything in my life has to STOP AND SLOW DOWN and not just a few things here and there. This affected EVERYTHING.

I HAD TO CHANGE.

MY LIFE HAD TO CHANGE AND FAST.

I FELT I HAD NO CHOICE.

See, I used to say I had no choice. I had to stop working…for now…until further notice…maybe…no really…I still wasn’t feeling up to it months later…symptoms just kept kicking my butt…I needed Tender Loving Care from everyone but especially from ME. I could’ve gone back to work. Right. OK. And run around and been in an environment that was so toxic for me that I would’ve ended up in the hospital the next time. Sounds like a great quality of life.

It was ME. I had to change MY LIFE.

I had to take care of ME.

Why was that so hard? Why IS that so hard?

I know it’s worth it. I know I’m worth it. And it’s a work in progress…It really is about Quality of Life, not Quantity.

But when I focus on TLC and turning the attention of my TLC to me my life gets better. My life looks different, feels different, and even smells different. There are flowers to smell and see everywhere here in LA. There are trees with leaves that blow in the breeze. That is one of the most lovely sounds I have ever heard. There are clouds. Oh I have always loved clouds ever since I was a little kid. Give me a cloud to look at and I am thrilled. Everything else goes away. There is an ocean that keeps me Present when I can see it. Even driving by it changes my mood if I can see it. I am in the moment. Do you know how beautiful the moment is? Have you been able to feel your breath as you look at the vastness and the colors of the ocean as the sky and the light of the sun reflect on the ocean? Have you watched a seagull float along in the sea breeze? Even watching other people in the water puts a smile on my face.

Smiling. I do that so much more than I used to. I used to be told all the time to smile when I was in my 20s before the MS diagnosis. I had no idea I wasn’t smiling. I was so dang busy pushing and pulling and forcing and going that I forgot to smile. I had a frown on my face I was so intense. It’s a wonder I had any friends, family, work colleagues or anyone else who wanted to be in my life.

But somewhere along the way I forgot me. I still do sometimes and I am constantly working on bringing ME back.

And bringing my focus back to me, I see the shining emerald green glimpse of hummingbird. I see the butterfly off in the distance. I find myself sitting in my car listening to my favorite song and not getting out until I’ve finished belting it out to myself. And back to smiling because I find it so powerful. Smiling at others? Smiling at others and watching them smile back. It is so rare now for me not to connect with others with a smile. I have met some of the best people in the grocery store. We are all just people living our lives trying to get by. I have had lovely conversations in hospital building elevators with others about colors and clothing and my Muppet bag/purse.

I have sat next to some wonderful people while sitting in doctor waiting rooms. See doctor waiting rooms are tricky for me. I still can’t stand going to the doctor. In fact, I think in some ways it’s worse now because I have so much chronic illness doctor’s office visit fatigue if that makes any sense. I am sooooo done seeing so many doctors even though the appointments are currently usually further apart. Usually. But those waiting rooms can be so grueling and talking to others helps. If I don’t I feel closed off and not grounded. I find myself more nervous about the appointment than I was before. I find myself noticing that so many people are not feeling well, that they’re older and looking at me wondering why I’m there at whatever Specialist Doctor I happen to be at. It’s rough.

I have gotten to know the office staff at almost every doctor. I now have at least 2 friends at the Pharmacy I go to and I’ve had coffee with one of them. They are people too. Great gals actually. I have learned that it’s really not a problem usually to stand in line at a store. Why not look around? Why not watch a little girl or boy with their Mom and see what they see as they look around? Getting annoyed and irritated is probably going to make me feel worse. Life does not have to be lived so fast.

And what about finding myself through writing? I think I’ve always been a writer. I have written off and on all my life. This Blog has helped me get through what was a huge writer’s block for too many years. I need to write. It is part of my Being. Even if I write the hardest and deepest thoughts and words I still come out of it smiling. I wrote! I expressed myself!

And then there’s meditation, guided imagery, spiritual support groups, coffee groups, texts with friends, Facebook, Twitter, the online community in general, the longer conversations I get to have with people on the phone if I feel up to it (this one is still hard for me because being social is one of my favorite things but it also tires me out very quickly and as I get better I am more able to talk and maybe even visit but it’s still a one day at a time thing), the exploring of neighborhoods as I walk every day (by the way it’s been over 450 days since I started taking a walk every day!) I never know where I’ll end up. I have found the greatest local businesses that way. Some of the best coffee shops are in Santa Monica. I wouldn’t have known that before.

And sitting on my balcony especially at night is one of my favoritest things to do ever. I sit back in my lounge chair and look at the sky, look at my iPad (feel so fortunate and lucky to have such a supportive husband who bought me an iPad even before my lupus diagnosis and it has changed my life–the online world is a much more accessible place because sitting at the computer with the big screen can be hard for me for so many reasons), talk to my plants, and I can even have plants that I love and adore! And let me tell you, they respond so much better when I talk to them and give them love.

I have found faith and hope during these slower times. During these quiet times it has not all been fabulous. As they say every rose has its thorns and that is so true. There is beauty in life everywhere. There is also struggling, and excruciating feelings, and trudging, and crying, and anger, and memories, and reliving traumas, and temper tantrums, and grieving, and missing the old days when I thought my life was something else, and when I was younger before my MS diagnosis, and wanting to punch things and having very very hard times and hard days. I find I’m also having an identity crisis. Who am I? Who is Nahleen with MS and lupus? Will I ever work again? What will I do? Which idea am I going to pursue? Where is my life leading? Is this my life? I can’t live my life as someone who is identified only as my illnesses but it is a major challenge to break away from that when my life is lived in doctor’s offices talking about everything that’s still wrong with me, even talking about those few things that are getting better is still on the subject, just being there reminds me too much about my reality, having to prove my Disability to other entities who are trying to not help me, dealing with insurance issues, reliving the past for new doctors, taking over 4 hours to get going before I feel human in the morning, taking my medications, keeping up with my medications, keeping track of symptoms and the severity of them and watching for patterns, exercising so I can keep functioning and I could go on. Please let my life be more than that.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?

I’M OK.

I’m better than I was 10 years ago even before my MS diagnosis. I see the world in front of me more. I see the world. I am in the world. I am not on the outside looking in. I am NOT living the life I want to live on a whole just yet but isn’t that normal? I want to live a life WITHOUT MS and lupus but that is a lot to ask right now and to be honest it pisses me off and I can feel the rage right now even as I write this. But right now I’m in a better wave. I don’t know how long it will last or if it’s the new norm. Life is always happening and it is always in session. I have learned that time and time again. And I don’t know how I’m going to feel the next moment from when I write this sentence but for now I’ll take the feeling that life is a bit easier. How cool is that? I’m a bit more at ease. What a gift.

But it is not a life to be rushed through. Time goes by too fast. I was a tied up ball of knots rushing around plowing my way to the next goal in my mid-20s thinking I would someday rule the world, but it was never good enough. And in the past few days, life is good enough. Sure, I want more money, I want a bigger place to live in, I want that dent out of my car that someone so nicely put in there at a time I wasn’t around to see it happen, I want to be thinner, I want to feel so good that I am frolicking and skipping down the street and I don’t ever want bad things or hard things ever to happen again.

But that’s not real.

And I’M OK.

And the best part is there are parts of my life that are so very happy. I am happy with my husband and my Cleo Kitty. Corey keeps me laughing and on my toes. He is so incredibly supportive and always by my side. We are the best team I know. Cleo Kitty and I are best friends. We have been there for each other during each of our health problems for the past 3 years. She cuddles and plays and needs to eat and she demands her pets.

I also have a roof over my head, wonderful people in my life who don’t let me isolate even for one minute and they are from all parts of my life, 2 cars that run well, air conditioning that usually works, clothes to wear, food to eat, a bed to sleep on even if the mattress is so old there are hills and valleys in it and the list is endless.

I have a full life. A pretty darn good life. It can be very hard. And sometimes it can be easy but those times seem rare. Perhaps that will change. I don’t know. What I do know is that I breathe easier. I’m not nearly as tense. I feel much better than I did last year in July 2012 (and it doesn’t mean I am all better but I will take whatever I can get), I smile and giggle more than I frown and grumble. My bad days aren’t nearly as bad and intense and I recover quicker. And this is all just for today.

That is all I have. That is all WE have.

And that is OK.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 2012, air conditioning, appointments, balcony, bed, Being, best friends, Blog, boy, breath, breathe, breeze, butt, butterfly, car, challenge, Change, choices, chronic illness, Cleo Kitty, clothing, clouds, coffee, coffee shops, colleagues, colors, commercials, complicated, computer, connect, control, conversations, diagnosis, disability, doctor, dream, elevators, emerald green, Energizer Bunny, entities, environment, exercising, experience, Facebook, Faith, family, fast forward, fatigue, favorite song, feel, flowers, focus, food, friends, frown, functioning, gift, giggle, girl, goal, grocery store, guided imagery, health, hills, hope, hospital, human, hummingbird, husband, identity crisis, illness, in the moment, Insurance, IPad, July, just for today, kid, LA, laughing, leaves, let go, life, local businesses, lupus, medications, meditate, meditation, Middle Name, Mom, money, morning, MRI, MS, Muppet, Nahleen Blake, neighborhoods, nervous, norm, normal, ocean, office staff, OK, online community, patterns, people, Pharmacy, phone, plants, post, Present, Production Assistant, pushing and pulling, quality of life, Quantity, rage, real, reality, recover, reflect, reflecting, rest, rose, Santa Monica, screen, sea breeze, seagull, simple, sitting, sky, smile, social, Specialist, spiritual support groups, sun, symptoms, team, Tender Loving Care, tense, texts, thinner, thorns, TLC, toxic, trees, Twitter, until further notice, valleys, waiting rooms, walk, weekends, working, world, write, writing | Leave a comment

Diagnosis Part 5: MRI

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Nahleen

I looked back on the last time I wrote a part of the “Diagnosis” story of my life and saw that it was on 05/17/12. It has been over a year since I wrote about the story of my diagnosis. That is how painful and hard my story is and how excruciating this next chapter is. I had to be so ready to write it that I was bursting at the seams! Lately I have found it very challenging to come up with the words. I am a writer with too many words and no words. I truly believe there are not enough words in the English language to describe so much of what I’ve been through.

BUT IT’S TIME. IT’S TIME TO GET IT OUT. IT’S TIME TO TAKE ANOTHER STEP TO BE FREE OF THE TRAUMA.

As you can tell from the title, my focus will be the first MRI that changed my life. THE MRI.

Here goes. I know you’re all here with me so I’m going to jump in. I can already feel the adrenaline of anxiety rushing throughout my body. The emotions are rising to the top. Those really really hard emotions. I can do this.

It’s November 2002. I’m 25 at what I believe is supposed to have been the Prime of my life. Or at least I “believed” it was supposed to be. I gotta admit, if that year was the Prime of my life then I’d have nothing to hope for. That year my family had decided to have a family reunion of sorts with my Mother’s side of the family for Thanksgiving. We were all going to meet at my Grandpa’s up north in Monterey, CA and it was going to be a grand ole time! My sister had planned on visiting me in LA for the first time the week before Thanksgiving and we were supposed to hang out and cause some trouble before the family shenanigans started.

Looking back I’m not sure what I was thinking when I scheduled my first MRI to be at night on the first night my sister was visiting. I mean, I know why I scheduled it at night. I had to work during the day. My sister and I met at a small mall for lunch and she was going to hang out for awhile before I could get out of work. I was scared that day but on top of the world. I can remember feeling so proud and so “up”. My sister was visiting MY WORLD. I was going to show her MY WORLD. I had seen HER WORLD before in the past but this was mine. She’s older and I was so proud to show her LA, to show her I was “making it” out here. Still not sure what “making it” means but I digress. I can remember walking down the sidewalk at this mall and looking for her and thinking it was a pretty day and oh by the way, I had lost almost 50 pounds so I couldn’t wait for her to see that too. Weight has always been a challenge for all of us in the family so the idea that I could even lose 50 pounds was AMAZING!

Anyway, we met up, had lunch, I took her on a tour of my workplace and I was so so proud to do that. Look Lori, I work at a television station! I’m really starting to do what I came out here to do! Those were the thoughts in my head. Isn’t it weird how we can bring ourselves back to our past mindsets and know they’re familiar but almost not recognize them? That was over 10 years ago. I have been through so much since then. My mind even feels different.

I don’t remember much until I showed up at the hospital in Burbank with Corey and Lori and had to fill out the paperwork. Actually, much of that is a blur. I was so nervous. I’m sure I had decided to just have the MRI then because I had to wait weeks for my HMO at the time to process all the red tape to even approve an MRI for me so I just wanted to get it over with. Plus I had had sooooo many medical tests by then that had come up with NOTHING that I might as well get this done. If I didn’t do it then then I’d have to wait till after Thanksgiving. On a side thought, I wonder if that would’ve changed much of the course of events?

I then remember being called by a lady to “Come on in and we’ll get you started” and she lead me through white hallways. Please tell me, why must all hospital hallways be white or yellow? Why can’t they be calming colors or fun colors? And I know they’re supposed to be sterile but some decoration of some sort would be nice. And about the fluorescent lights…PLEASE GET RID OF THEM!

So the next thing I know I’m being sat down at a small table to the side in the middle of the hallway it feels like (at this point I was so not used to being in a medical fishbowl and everything felt like it had to be a secret and why were we sitting in public–even though no one was really walking by or anything) and this nice lady with long dark hair (blurred out everything else) sat me down, pulled out a pile of paperwork and a pen and proceeded to ask me questions I could not answer. That was the first day/night I ever heard about fibromyalgia. The who the what now? That was the first day/night I ever heard I could have symptoms of fatigue and that they were real. That was the first time ANYONE had ever asked me if I felt any real pain and where and did I have any other autoimmune diseases? What are those? Why was she bringing them up to me? That was the first time for so many things. I think I was a medical virgin or something. It was all so surreal.

Back then, the MRI machines (this was only 10 years ago) were very different than they are now. They were long tubes and they were dark and they were skinny. Here’s my thing. I was so much skinnier and yet I felt cramped in there. How could anyone bigger than me fit in there at all? I don’t remember much of the process just yet but I know I was hardly wearing anything. I had to take off all metal, all jewelry, my bra with the metal underwire, my pants with even a hint of a metal button (don’t think the button was metal actually). To be honest I can distinctly tell you what I was wearing that day. So weird. So much of it is a blur but what I was wearing is clear as a bell still to me. I was wearing my favorite navy blue long sleeve button down shirt that I had just bought in a size smaller due to my weight loss and I was so proud of me and of it. I was also wearing khakis that I don’t think I’d be wearing now. Not that I’d even fit in these clothes now but still. At the time I was wearing contacts so I didn’t have to worry about not seeing and feeling vulnerable that way and I had to wear a very thin white hospital gown. I felt so vulnerable and I also knew I was claustrophobic but I didn’t know how much because luckily I had never been put in that situation before.

These days I have had much better experiences with MRIs. I usually have one a year. I believe I’ve had at least 15 MRIs but if I count any that have been done in a row in the same session (meaning 4 in a row with all kinds of machinery and equipment locking me down and in and not being able to move for OVER 2 HOURS) I’d say it’s close to 20 by now. Each time they’re different. Fortunately, the technology is so much better and the MRIs I have had have been shorter, a bit wider, some of them have music and I don’t have to take off much of anything. The ONLY thing I usually have to take off is my bra still but that’s it. Why? Because they are usually only interested in my brain to see where lesions are for MS. Why did I have 4 in a row once? Well I was at USC where they have state of the art equipment and my MS Specialist Neurologist at the time wanted a whole picture of me. The technicians usually ask me if I want to take a mood enhancer drug of some sort to help me not care about the experience and I have told them No. I like being with it afterwards. Then again, if I EVER have to do such extensive MRI tests AGAIN that make me stay in one position for 2 hours then I will have to take a drug. I WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN COMPLETELY CONSCIOUS. I was in so much pain from not moving and I was told that if I moved even a little bit then they’d have to start over. Plus it can be extremely hard to get my head out of the “tunnel mode” and back into the big wide world with no tubes enclosing me. Oh and I have had an Open MRI before but to me it was worse because there’s no tube BUT it’s like they put you inside a sandwich of a top and bottom of a machine and you can see out the sides but it’s not like you can move your head to see them and all I kept thinking about was how it was going to crush me or the machine would eat me or something. But I digress.

You know, A LOT of people knew what was going on with me at that point and a bunch of them had had MRIs before and they all had different ideas of what they were like and some told me that they were awful and some told me that they were easy and so on…However I will tell you this, if you have never had an MRI before I will not tell you what it’s like for you. I will only tell you what it was like for me if you ask. I will however tell you that I’m sorry you have to go through that and wish you all the best. My experience was different than that of anyone else who told me what their experience was like. In fact it was so unique and traumatic that it’s so hard getting over it still which is why it’s so important for me to share with all of you what happened and to get it out.

Anyway, when the paperwork was finally done and I already was so nervous my heart must’ve been beating out of my chest at that point and I was in the paper thin white gown, I was lead into the room with the MRI. I remember the room being a yucky yellow and I saw this big machine and a little circular opening into darkness was there. I knew right away this was the MRI. It’s fight or flight right? My head was running away so fast yet my body stayed put. I’m sure I tensed up all over the place. I’m sure my breathing was labored. But I toughed it out. I could do this. Oh yeah and the room was cold because the machine could overheat fast. Plus it was already so so loud in there just from the monster machine. So they had me lay down on the thin flat cold table and locked my head in telling me not to move it. They put earplugs in my ears or headphones on (don’t remember), asked me if I was OK–UM does anyone see the logic in this? I still have technicians doing that with me. They block my ears and lock my head in so I can’t turn and can barely interact and then they ask if I’m OK. WHAT????? Did you say something? My instinct is to move my head. And then panic, oh wait I can’t. GEEZUM! Someone’s gotta tell them that makes no sense. Perhaps walking us through some hand signs would be helpful or something. Eye contact with me directly over where my head is locked in would be good too.

The next thing I know the table starts moving and I’m sent into the dark tube. The tube I could barely fit in. And they kept sending me into the darkness. Oh thank goodness the MRI machines I go in now are white and have a lot of light. I kept trying to remember what my Rheumatologist had told me. Look straight up and you’ll see a mirror that reflects the window to the room where the technicians are. Look at them if you need to. She reminded me that I’m not stuck in there. I could slide out if I wanted to. However all I could picture was panicking and trying to sit up and knocking myself out because I’d hit my head on the head cage or the tube or both. She told me I could wiggle my fingers if I crossed them on my stomach (really not too comfortable for all that time) and I could see them in the mirror so I’d be aware that I hadn’t detached from my body somehow. However, I was still sooooo scared to move. I didn’t want to have to do this over again. I just wanted it done with.

Meanwhile I’m aware that Corey and Lori are in the Waiting Room. I think it was in that dark long squished tube where I got a glimpse of how vulnerable I really was. I was locked in. I was taken away from my people. Yes I had watched too many movies, TV shows and read too many books but I’m not convinced “weird” stuff doesn’t happen. How do I know? I started thinking about how they were looking at my brain. I started thinking about how I had a brain. Hey, I really had a brain! What were Corey and Lori doing? Wow, this machine is really loud even with my ears blocked. Oh my goodness I have an itch on my nose. How much can I wiggle my fingers? Can I move my feet at all? Doesn’t any movement of my body move the rest of it? As I looked in the mirror into the other room, I wondered, how I had not seen that room when I came in? Where was it? What were they seeing? Why were there so many people in the room? Dang it! Breathe! Oh my goodness I’m in a dark long tube! How long has it been? Why aren’t they talking to me? Can they please not talk to me? Can they please not tell me how much longer? Wait why is it so silent? What do the sounds mean? What does my brain look like? Oh my goodness this tube is long. I hope there’s not a monster just waiting to grab my head in the part of the tube I didn’t enter. Why am I so far in? Didn’t Dr. S say I wouldn’t be pulled all the way in? Uh oh. Why the silence? That’s a long silence. I can do this. Really I can. Uh huh. I got this. Soon enough it’ll be over and I’ll be on my way and Lori and I can have our visit. Why is it taking so long? Or has it been long? I’m feeling cramped. I’m so hungry! UM DID THEY FORGET ME? Why does this machine vibrate too? No one told me about that part? WHAT IF THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY WRONG WITH ME? WHAT IF I HAVE MS? The mind loop was endless and I worked so hard not to get worked up that I was so stuck in my head. Did I have a body anymore?

So then I feel the table start sliding me out. I must be done. OK. I can do this. Phew! I’m done! Wait, that long haired lady is back and she has a serious look on her face. Does she have a serious look on her face? What is she doing? Shouldn’t she be pulling me out? I’ll ask her. Where’s my voice? Why can’t I say anything? Did I forget how to talk? Can I move? AM I DONE? What is she doing with that needle? WHAT’S HAPPENING?! No. No more needles. I’ve had enough needles and blood taken from me in the past 6 months. (Little did I know it was only the BEGINNING…).

I really don’t know if she told me she was putting “Contrast/Dye” into my veins. I just remember thinking that I felt like a specimen and some kind of experiment. I must be a part of a horror movie right now. Wait! I don’t remember being told I’d have this done. Why is it happening? She asked me what arm was best for veins and I told her I wasn’t sure. So she just tried. (I now know it’s my left arm just on the outside. Otherwise, my veins hide and don’t like being bothered. They’re busy.) OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! The shooting pain was abominable. I was strapped down. I think I jerked and she tried to hold me down and apologized and said she had missed it and would have to try again. I asked her what she was doing anyway I think finally and she said she thinks they might have seen something (ummmm not a good idea to tell me this and aren’t they supposed to keep their mouths shut?) and so they are putting ink in my veins to find out.

FREAK OUT BUT STAY STILL!

STAY STILL?! STAY STILL?!

OH MY GOD! WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?! SOMETHING WRONG? WHAT DO I DO? I can’t have something wrong with me. My sister’s here. I’m supposed to be tough for her. I’m not supposed to show any weakness. And then she moved to the other arm. Yes, I’m still locked in. I have a ridiculous force of will to stay in one place because honestly my head had me sprinting out of there so fast and yelling and screaming down the hallways. GET ME OUT OF THERE!

And something in my head told me to try to calm down. Let’s just get this over with. It may be nothing. They had told me that before during this journey of finding out what’s wrong with me. They thought they saw something and I’d freak and worry and lose my mind and then I’d found out it was nothing or that oh so fun medical word, “inconclusive”. Oh the things I could do with that word…

So she tries my other arm and she just couldn’t get the vein. She didn’t just stab me this time but squeezed my arm so tight and had me clenching fists and FINALLY I think she got it. Meanwhile, the other arm was still screaming. She had gotten the ink in my muscle. Who knows what that did to me. I still wonder. Before she sent my head into that dark tube she asked me if I had anyone there with me in the Waiting Room and I told her yes and who they were. She said she’d tell them it was taking longer than expected.

So she says, OK, this shouldn’t take too much longer and she sent me back into that dark tube abyss…to be in my own head…to freak out…to be so horrified and think I was living in a nightmare…Did anyone really tell Corey and Lori why it was taking so long? What did they say? Did they know more than me? A part of me knew, I KNEW, that something was really wrong with me. What it was was terrifying me. The possibilities were endless. Would I find out right away? Would I have to wait forever to find out? What now? This should be done with me! I want out! Get me out of here! I was clearly wound up with so much stress I could barely stand it. I don’t know how I did actually. I guess a survival instinct took over. I was so worried about what Corey and Lori were thinking and that this shouldn’t have had to happen while she was here and now what and my head just kept exploding with crazy thoughts.

FINALLY…

THE MRI MACHINE STOPPED…

AND I WAITED FOR-WHAT SEEMED LIKE-EVER FOR SOMEONE TO PULL ME OUT OF THAT TUBE.

I had tensed up so much I could hardly move. I was so in my head I could barely function. This time the person taking me out was a blonde older woman with curly hair and glasses and she looked directly over me where my head was and I’ll never forget her eyes and the way they looked at me and kept staring at me as she unhooked my head and loosened it all up around me.

SHE LOOKED AT ME AS IF I WAS GOING TO DIE.

DIE.

I still have those eyes of her’s so stuck in my memory that I don’t think they’ll ever come out. So as I’m still laying there and I now have my ears clear, she asks me all kinds of questions. How am I feeling? What are my symptoms? When did they start? Do I have anyone here with me now? And I can hardly talk. I try to sit up really quick and I almost fall off the table I’m so dizzy and out of it. I’m so traumatized. I’m 25. I’m invincible remember?

I also was incredibly tense with MS and didn’t know and probably lupus and didn’t know that for so many more years after that that it’s a wonder I didn’t have a major attack/exacerbation/flare right there on the table or in that room. She kept those “You are going to DIE eyes on me the whole time.” I felt violated and so alone. I just wanted to get out of there. And in that same tone with those eyes, she said, “Now I need you to call your doctor right away in the morning. It’s too late now because you’ve been in here so long.”–Oh it wasn’t just me thinking it was long? It REALLY was that long? Poor Corey and Lori! I was so used to trying to please everyone and entertain everyone that I couldn’t be anything but that strong person. How was I going to show myself? I didn’t even know what they had said to them. They must be so worried.

So I tried to sit up and that wasn’t happening very well. I almost fell off the table. I had “freaked out dark tunnel scared to death” head. Horrifying. Why didn’t I wake up yet? Worst nightmare ever. Especially those “death” eyes of her’s. She caught me as I teetered to the side and held me upright and still looked at me as if I was going to DIE right there on her. I wish I could be exaggerating here about how she was looking at me but to this day with everything else I’ve been through, I have yet to see “THOSE DEATH EYES” on anyone else. So she told me to just sit there for a bit and she’d go out into the Waiting Room and tell Corey and Lori I was done and coming out soon. She came back in and asked me if I was OK getting up.

YES! GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!

And I jumped up. Ooops. I stumbled and almost fell. Get me away from this woman please! She’s scaring me! Where was my voice? Did I even know how to talk? I had hidden me away somewhere deep into my brain. I was protecting me. I think I was a shell at that point. So upon seeing that I’m stumbling and clearly my legs are jello she tells me I’m going to have to ride in a wheelchair out into the Waiting Room and she’d be back.

WHAT?! A WHEELCHAIR?! I’M STRONG! I CAN WALK! I’M OK! I HAVE TO SHOW EVERYONE I’M OK! I CAN’T BE WEAK! PLEASE! NO!

I think I mumbled to please not do that but if she heard me she ignored me. All the while those “death” eyes on me as much as possible. I’m surprised she left me alone at all.

So she helped me a little too much into the wheelchair. By that time I had more of my bearings and was entering my body a little bit more from my hiding place in my head and I gave her a look like, “I GOT IT!” and forced myself into that chair. And then horrified, I was wheeled into the very bright Waiting Room where I saw Corey and Lori. As she’s rolling me she’s on a constant loop of telling me to call my doctor and not to ignore it and it was very important and when I finally found a voice to ask her what was wrong she told me she couldn’t tell me but that it was so very important and oh my goodness.

I was mortified that Corey and Lori would see me in a wheelchair because I mean really, I had only had an MRI. I was fine. I could walk. What the heck? I couldn’t look weak. I got this. Really. So still struggling to find my words, I try to get up out of the wheelchair ASAP and that blonde woman was STILL THERE! GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE! DON’T TALK TO THEM! I HEARD YOU! I’M RIGHT HERE!

“Please make sure you talk to her doctor tomorrow OK. It’s so very important. You really need to do that. You can’t waste any time.”–as if I’m not there and I’m not understanding what she means and she gave them those same “death” eyes.

HERE’S MY QUESTION TO HER OVER 10 YEARS LATER:

WHY DID SHE NOT MAKE SURE SOMEONE CALLED MY DOCTOR THAT NIGHT NO MATTER WHAT IF IT WAS SUCH AN EMERGENCY TO HER?! WHAT AM I MISSING?!

So she walks away and Corey and Lori are looking at me like I need to be treated with gentle hands. That’s what I felt like. Now I know they were looking at me like they were concerned and worried and they were allowed to be. They got those same EYES from that woman that I did about me. Scary! So as I start bawling and Corey’s telling me it’s OK and I can stay in the wheelchair as long as I need to and ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT WHEELCHAIR! I CAN WALK! I CAN GET UP ON MY OWN! LET ME!

I still had a bit of a hard time talking especially with the crying and finally he understood that I wanted to get OUT OF THAT FRIGGIN’ WHEELCHAIR and into a regular chair and I wanted to throw that wheelchair as far away from me as possible. Somehow FINALLY I found my way into a regular chair and I bawled and bawled. I think I left a piece of me in that MRI room. I lost a lot of innocence that day. I found out I was mortal. I found out I wasn’t invincible.

I was human.

HUMAN.

We sat in that Waiting Room for a long time while I regathered myself a little bit more. When I look back on that night I think about how Lori was there and Corey was there. I wasn’t alone. That was no mistake. That was why I had scheduled the MRI for that night. I needed my Sister. Corey needed my Sister too I think. My Sister and I were still struggling with our relationship then and I had to be me with her the next few days. ME. And that was OK.

And one side note: I’m not surprised I couldn’t stand that wheelchair. It turns out I get very dizzy in them or I used to even up to a year and a half ago. I don’t know about now and I’m very fortunate not to know. I’m so grateful I can still walk. It’s weird. I’m OK with others in wheelchairs (well as OK as I can be considering these people are having a hard time in some way) but I felt like I couldn’t be in one. However, I now know that it’s hospital protocol. The last thing they want is me falling on their watch because uh oh I might sue. Oh poor things…

That’s it for now. I’m glad I got it out. As you can tell, I didn’t DIE. I haven’t DIED yet. I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. I’m too busy living.

And what happened after that?

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! So much so that I need to recover from this post in order to write another one. I hope it doesn’t take me over a year because I think it’s ready to come out and I can tell already that I’m more healed from finally writing this.

Therapists have now told me that I am still suffering a bit from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from just that one experience and that there are separate episodes to work through too all connected with this one. I believe it. I wish there had been enough sensitivity at the time to really see what I was going through. I feel it in my heart that we all need to see Therapists at some point in our lives but when going through such trauma as medical tests and the limbo part before diagnosis and then the diagnosis of the Chronic Illness along with maintenance care throughout–we should be REQUIRED to see a Therapist. To not talk about it is poison and can only make our health worse.

Medical Journey Trauma (I think I just came up with a new term) is REAL. And we all deserve to talk about it, process it and move on with our lives.

Oh and how do I feel about MRIs these days????

THEY STILL SUCK!

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Telling the Truth is Really Hard

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Nahleen

TRUTH: The past 24 hours have SUCKED mostly physically but mentally too! There I said it!

I TOLD THE TRUTH!

DETOX IS HARD!

ANOTHER TRUTH!

Being on an emotional roller coaster yesterday for HOURS was REALLY HARD!

MORE TRUTH!

Feeling A LOT OF PAIN, FATIGUE WITH HEAVY LIMBS, SHAKINESS, LIGHT-HEADEDNESS, WEAKNESS, TINGLING, WAKING UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WITH A HORRIBLE KNIFING PAIN ON MY RIGHT SIDE (making me freak out it’s my appendix or something crazy) AND HAVING TO RUSH TO THE BATHROOM (TMI–just getting you ready) ONLY TO HAVE MY BELLY MAKE THE LOUDEST RUMBLING NOISES AND THEN ACTUALLY HAVING THAT TRIP TO THE BATHROOM BE PRODUCTIVE (used to not be in the middle of the night and I would suffer for hours so that’s something) AND THEN HAVE THAT PAIN GO AWAY BUT FEEL THE DIGESTIVE AFTERMATH IS REALLY HARD! BUT–THANK GOODNESS THAT KNIFING PAIN WENT AWAY AND HAS NOT COME BACK.

YES I’M YELLING!

PHEW!

It feels so good to get it out.

I have only had 2 Chiropractic treatments in the past week, BUT I have also added an Alkaline Water Detox prescribed by this Chriropractic Doctor added to my treatment so it has been extra potent. I CLEARLY have a ton of acid in my body.

IT HAS BEEN 1 WEEK AND MY BUTT FEELS KICKED FROM 2 CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENTS?!

OY!

You know, I have heard over the years from all kinds of people on social media and elsewhere talk about all the “GOOD” effects of Detox of the body. NOT ONE OF THEM THAT I’VE NOTICED HAS EVER TALKED ABOUT ANYTHING NEGATIVE. Did they ever feel anything crappy going on in their bodies or was it just absolutely divine and magical with birds chirping with light breezes as they frolicked over the rolling green hills singing songs from the “Sound of Music”? That’s what it’s always felt like to me. So I have no idea if these people have EVER felt crappy.

Is it because they don’t want to tell the truth because Gawd forbid they look weak? Is it because they really are feeling JUST PEACHY (although if you ask me I’d never say I was Peachy because I CAN’T STAND PEACHES so it would be the opposite for me if I said I was PEACHY. In fact let’s all make that note now. PEACHY for me is CRAPPY. OK then. Now that we’re all clear. Back to my ranting…) KEEN? Did I even spell that word right? The point is, AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS FELT CRAPPY FROM DETOX? AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IS NOW TELLING THE TRUTH?

MORE ON MY TRUTH: Okay. So for the past 24 hours I have wondered what wall I hit this time. In some ways I haven’t felt like this in a long time. Felt like someone kicked my butt and the rest of my body really hard. What’s interesting is that the first 24 hours after treatment were actually QUITE GOOD. I think I was on a mental high and my body was TRYING to follow along. I felt so much mental clarity and relief and life almost felt like it was ALL good no matter what. I almost wanted to skip down the street singing “La la la” but my legs weren’t QUITE up to it. Oh and just to be clear, I didn’t feel up to frolicking through the rolling green hills singing songs from the Sound of Music. I wasn’t THAT good. That’s good right?

Anyway, I did so much in that 24 hours because I thought, WOW, I can do this. This Chiropractic treatment stuff rocks. It was ONLY the 1st Treatment that would be really hard at first. Perhaps I’ll be feeling this later but not now. LIFE IS GOOD. I got home, made some medical business calls, wrote a Blog post, did stuff and things and I DID let myself REST a bit BUT THEN off I was running out to get groceries that evening while my mental hyperactivity was still on overload (I think now that I look back). I mean, we NEEDED groceries and my head told me it was RIGHT then no matter what. So I left at 6:30pm and by 7:30pm as I was almost done my ARMS started telling me they were really tired and didn’t want to work much more and then they were in pain. Then by 8pm my BODY was done. By 9pm my MIND was done. And yet there was still some clarity so I stayed up way too late. I CONFESS. I didn’t LISTEN enough to my body at that point.

Got up for a dang Fasting Appointment the next morning to have blood work done with a doctor I have VERY mixed feelings about and thought all was going to be OK. I was still OK. Sure I was tired but Fasting Appointments are really hard for me. My body with its MS, lupus, IBS and you NAME IT needs its routine. No food means no medications. No medications means my body is already unhappy. No food yet already being active when on a normal day it usually takes me over 4 hours to really feel like I can go on with my day as a human being is not a good thing for me. At least let me have some food. PLEASE. If my body lets me that is…

ANYWAY, after the appointment, I ate and I felt a bit more invigorated YET to be honest my body was starting to protest more. And then I ran around doing too many errands at once when I should’ve just gone back home to at least get some more rest before doing them made my body VERY UNHAPPY before 12pm. The appointment had been at 8:30am.

BY 12PM I had HIT A WALL.

ALL DONE. Had to push to do the basics. The emotional roller coaster (was told this would happen even more and be magnified according to my Chiropractor as the emotions are cleared out and released from my body and it was ALL part of the healing process) started for the next 5 hours at least, my body had a hard time letting me do the basics like get up and move around. It was shaky and weak and in pain. SOOOO DONE WITH ME.

So I rested. AND RESTED SOME MORE. Resting helps.

RESTING HELPS.

Phew. Sometimes resting doesn’t ALWAYS help the way I want it to. My body has been recovering ever since. I’d get waves of physical symptoms into the night last night and then there was that time in the middle of the night of complete and utter pain and discomfort and I’ve been working through that ever since.

SO GLAD I CAN WRITE THIS.

Yesterday I wouldn’t have been able to write this in any way. ALL OF ME WAS DONE.

DONE.

But this Blog post has been bubbling up to the surface ever since I FINALLY was able to really get up out of bed today. EXTRA SLEEP HELPED TOO. I HAD TO WRITE THIS TODAY. I HAD TO EXPRESS MYSELF. I know it is all part of the healing. I call it EMOTIONAL HAIRBALLS.

Meanwhile at the same time, as I think about how my body is overall, I know it’s not a regular lupus/multiple sclerosis flare. I know my body is flaring up because all kinds of healing trauma (WHAT? HEALING TRAUMA? Parts of me want to object to what I just wrote and argue with me.) because it feels cleansing. It feels like all kinds of toxin crapola is being FORCED out. My mind is clearer. My body is clearer. So strange to say that and feel it and NOT REALLY BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE IT.

So the FEAR comes up. Is this Treatment too much for me? How will I do this? I DON’T WANT TO MAKE MY BODY WORSE. I CAN’T MAKE MY BODY WORSE. I DEAL WITH ENOUGH. IT’S HARD ENOUGH. But then the nurturing side of me comes in and gently reminds me that I am feeling better at the same time. I’m going to NEED TO BE VERY UPFRONT with the Chiropractor tomorrow at my next treatment and tell him EVERYTHING that has gone on in the past 24 hours BEFORE he jumps right in and manipulates my body into its relieving craziness of the next treatment. He had told me it would be hard especially at first and to try to trust and be honest with him and myself in all ways at all times about how I’m doing. That we would adjust treatments accordingly. He also told me I’d have to rest more.

That’s hard to do. I’m TRYING to have a life and I have SO MUCH going on right now. FINDING BALANCE is a whole other issue I’m dealing with.

WHERE DOES IT ALL FIT IN?

Well what I have to remind myself is that it all fits in the way it is supposed to fit in. It will all work out and it will happen or not happen BUT the world still turns. It doesn’t explode because “MY PLANS” didn’t work out the way I liked.

DO THEY EVER?

SO WHY DO I KEEP TRYING TO FORCE MY PLANS OVER MY LIFE? It doesn’t work that way.

So for now I’ll go back to resting and doing THE BEST I CAN WITH WHAT I HAVE. It feels really good to have communicated this today. Thank you ALL for reading. It means so much to be able to get it out and STOP HOLDING ONTO IT. Something tells me this may not have come out if it wasn’t for this detox and new treatment journey I’m starting.

I feel much better and calmer right now and I will enjoy it while I can.

Take care all and please if you can, be gentle with yourself and your body. Healing can be really hard but what I’m discovering is that I’m worth it and so are you.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 24 hours, alkaline, appointment, arms, balance, basics, bathroom, birds chirping, Blog post, body, Chiropractic, Chiropractor, confess, detox, digestive, doctor, emotional hairballs, emotional roller coaster, fasting appointment, fatigue, fear, flare, food, groceries, healing, hyperactivity, IBS, life is good, light breezes, light-headedness, limbs, listen, lupus, medications, mentally, mind, MS, multiple sclerosis, negative, overload, pain, physically, positive, productive, recovering, rest, shakiness, sleep, social media, Sound of Music, suffer, symptoms, tingling, TMI, toxin, trauma, treatments, truth, water, weakness, world, write | Leave a comment

CAMBRIA HERE WE COME!

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Nahleen

YIPPEEEE!!!!

Heading to Cambria today at some point when we can pull ourselves together! We have reservations at a spa/hotel/resort in a room that has a king size bed, jacuzzi style tub with spa jets, a fireplace, a pillow top bed, a spa to get massages and facials, supposed live entertainment on Saturday nights, a luxury continental breakfast in the mornings, a walkway that connects to a boardwalk that leads through a State Park straight to the ocean and the list goes on and on! I can’t wait!

Yesterday was the kind of day that went really well in the beginning and it all flowed really well and then about halfway through after making a business call it sank and it sank fast. I don’t want to get into it but this trip has come at the PERFECT TIME!

Not only is Cleo Kitty doing quite well (and we have a lovely lady coming to watch and stay with her who has bonded with her in the past which I tell you is a VERY RARE THING if you’re not Corey or myself), I am feeling much much better from taking care of myself and going to the doctor and taking antibiotics that IMMEDIATELY kicked that infection’s buttinsky and from the storms happening last night that ACTUALLY INCLUDED ONE HUGE BRIGHT FLASH OF LIGHTNING AND THEN A HUGE CRAZY CRACK OF THUNDER RIGHT OVERHEAD (which is VERY RARE AND EXCITING IN LA) so that helped me get some physical relief, I’m actually feeling up to taking a road trip (WHOA! LOOK AT ME GO!–haven’t been able to plan a road trip or trust that I could do one longer than 2 hours and that was pushing it…for AGES it feels like), I’m going with Corey and I can’t remember the last time we got away just the 2 of us to a place that wasn’t connected to anyone we knew (don’t get me wrong I love my peeps but we need some REAL TIME AWAY), and well IT IS JUST TIME.

So off we go at some point today. Part of this whole trip is the road trip. We will get there when we get there. I used to love road trips with Corey. We have the best time if we just go with it. I keep thinking we should be hurrying up and leaving now but then that’s not either of our styles to be honest and that would kick my already emotionally fragile lupus and MS butt that has made my physicality a bit fragile too today. So when it’s meant to be that we go, we go.

To be honest, after that phone call yesterday regarding YET ANOTHER BIG LIFE DECISION (HAVEN’T I MADE ENOUGH OF THOSE LATELY!? A GAL NEEDS A BREAK HERE AND THERE!), if I wasn’t already getting away and planning on running away anyway to try to relax and clear my head, I would’ve run away anyway. I have mentally had ENOUGH!

So enough of this writing chatter. Gotta get back to my self care so we can get the heck outta here.

THE ONLY DOWNSIDE?

… (sad face here) Leaving Cleo Kitty. I haven’t left her since the whole “cancer” episode (I say that because she is so resilient and awesome that she doesn’t seem to have cancer (really long story–but she does have some other serious health problems and sensitivities. Never did get a definitive diagnosis because she’s a kitty and didn’t need to be more traumatized than she already was for goodness sakes) and that was in December 2011. We are quite attached to each other and have been each other’s caretakers since then. So as much as I know it is for the best, it will still be hard. But we will be back Sunday night. And I have to remember that the fact that we can even leave her at this point is amazing. In November we had planned a similar trip to celebrate 15 years together and 6 years of marriage and had to cancel it because her health was so questionable and we couldn’t leave her. Now I look at her and it’s hard to believe that happened. She’s so in the mood to keep living and we finally got to the bottom of her health stuff too so that’s good.

Anyway, I keep babble-writing. Off I go!

Write soon!

Oh and to my new followers HI! Yay! Thanks for joining me on my crazy path. To my commenters–yay thank you for commenting! I plan on responding next week.

Have a great weekend y’all! I know I am not the only one going through this thing we call life and holy moly it can be hard and intense…

Love to all!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: antibiotics, Cambria, cancer, caretakers, Cleo Kitty, December, diagnosis, doctor, facials, fireplace, health, hotel, infection, jacuzzi, kitty, life, lightning, live entertainment, lupus, luxury, marriage, massages, mental, MS, November, ocean, physical, physicality, resort, road trip, Saturday, self care, spa, State Park, storm, Sunday, thunder | Leave a comment

THE COUGH DECIDES TO START NOW?!?!

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Nahleen

I’M COUGHING TODAY?! TODAY?!

I’ve been waiting for and fighting off something like a sick bug that I could feel trying to start for what seems like 2 months and it has worked. I have held it off. AND TODAY IT WANTS TO START GETTING BAD?

UM HELLO! COREY AND I ARE TRYING TO GET AWAY THIS WEEKEND TOGETHER TO GO TO CAMBRIA!

We’re overdue for it. This is supposed to be to celebrate 15 years together (actual Anniversary was in November) and 6 years married (in November too). We weren’t able to go because our poor Cleo Kitty was sick and I don’t blame her for that.

And all has been going pretty well with my health (I mean ups and downs and IBS stuff yesterday if you read my Blog post about that–it’s better if you’re wondering at least for the moment) and it’s been pretty manageable till NOW?!

NOW?!

I TRIED not to have any expectations about whether we would really take this trip but of course I have some. Of course I’m feeling like I should go into CRISIS MODE and think EVERYTHING’S OVER.

I should just crouch in a dark corner and not come out for goodness sakes. I mean, if the cough has started on Wednesday, how can I be better enough for Friday? I know how my cough is. And how can I get those “things” done I think I HAVE to get done in time for then?

WHY ME? WHY NOW? DANG IT!

So action time it is. No not running around like a wild mess (just…yet…anyway…). I got up, called my doctor and have made an appointment for 2:15pm. HOW COOL ARE THEY TO BE SO AVAILABLE? Oh and I get to see my favorite PA there too so another positive. I’m moving in the right direction. It is currently 12:45pm. I have to finish up writing this ASAP (and that’s true) so I can shower (always a big event for me with MS and lupus and now this dang sickness that’s coming on that has also turned into a fever–OK 99.1 but for me that’s a fever no matter what ANY doctor says) and drive over there and get to the solution ASAP. I have been told time and time again and even lectured by my doctors to not play with my cough. I have asthmatic tendencies that could EASILY turn into full on bronchitis or pneumonia especially with a messed up and compromised immune system so I CANNOT (emphasis on the NOT here) play with this. There is NO WAITING. If I feel a cough I do my best to get to the doctor ASAP.

And I have more of a MOTIVATION. Let’s kill this now. NOW.

DID I SAY NOW ENOUGH? You know, as if I have any control over a sick bug…..

Ha ha ha. Yeah right.

But I will do what I can to kill it.

Earlier this year I declared it was the year of OPERATION NURTURE NAHLEEN 2013!

Well…this is it.

OPERATION NURTURE NAHLEEN IS IN FULL EFFECT!

……….

P.S. I will do my best NOT to go past the NOW, not to go past TODAY and NOT to jump into the FUTURE which is only an illusion ANYWAY.

GOLLY I HOPE THIS HELPS AND WORKS.

I really really really really really (I can’t stress the reallys enough here) wanted to get away for a few days. THAT’S ALL. I haven’t gotten away in so long.

PLEASE.

I guess I’ll be flip flopping between Crisis and Operation Nurture all day. Suppose I’m human right.

Hmm. Interesting.

I’m a HUMAN…

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 2013, Cambria, cough, crisis, doctor, human, IBS, infection, lupus, MS, Operation Nurture Nahleen, PA, sick bug, weekend | 2 Comments

I Survived the Hydrogen Breathing Test!

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Nahleen

Well. That’s over.

I did it. I’m still recovering and settling in but it was OK.

I did the test with one other gal who was pretty pleasant. Another person was supposed to do it too but she showed up too late and they rescheduled her. I don’t even think she was ten minutes late. Phew. Glad I got there early and stuff.

Anyway, first we had to drink this cup of water that had this weird sugary powdery not so yucky but not so good stuff in it. Then we had to blow into this bag/balloon thingie and this tube and apparently it was measuring things and stuff from my breath. CRAZY. From what I read, it was measuring the amount of hydrogen I was producing just from my breath and that’s supposed to tell them if I have any small intestine bacterial overgrowth because I guess some of the bacteria can produce hydrogen.

WEIRD HUH?

Anyway, so I hadn’t eaten since 8:30pm the night before and was really dragging and doing things like almost punching Corey in the eye while saying goodbye to him this morning while he was still waking up in bed. Then I was draggy and words weren’t registering when I got there when others talked to me. Then I was achy and creaky and all I wanted was water. I kept trying to reach for my invisible water bottle. So used to always having some water. And my body was so confused because it was out of routine and I hadn’t taken any meds yet and then it had to drink this weird stuff.

So then my belly reacted and everyone was like “UH OH” but I think it was just like–“What the heck is this crapola and where’s the real stuff”? because then it seemed to calm down. Then every 20 minutes this nice lady would come in and have us breathe into the bag and tube and around and around we went. One time I lost track of my concentration and was worn out from doing this breathing stuff and first sucked in and then had no air left to go out but she said it was still readable so OK.

I tell ya though, drinking water and eating afterwards was GLORIOUS! I’m so blessed to be able to drink and eat when I’m allowed to and have enough money to do so. I know some people have to go days without drinking or eating and never know when they’ll be able to do so again so I was trying not to get too whiny about it, BUT IT WAS STILL HARD. I’ll admit it.

MY BODY WAS OUT OF ROUTINE.

So I have been spending the rest of the day trying to get myself back. I’m pretty wiped and yet I’m so glad that my body is strong enough to be able to handle such a strange experience to go through that is completely out of my comfort zone. I know there is a reason I haven’t taken the test until now. I would’ve been much more of a mess before if I had done it in the past.

Monday I see my doctor and hopefully I’ll find out the results. FINALLY. Been thinking about taking this dang test or something like it for years. I didn’t know what I’d be in for but was told and cautioned by my Gastroenterologist at the time to be cautious and to wait if we were to do it at all because it may take a really big toll on my body.

Well it hasn’t been awful. It’s just been uncomfortable and thankfully I didn’t have anything else planned that I HAD to do so I was able to REST MORE today and into the evening.

So that’s that.

Another test I can check off my list. Oh the strange things I do to find out what’s going on in my body…

GOOD TIMES!

Categories: Appointments | Tags: doctor, Gastroenterologist, Hydrogen Breathing Test | Leave a comment

It’s So Hard to Have Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus and…Part 3

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Nahleen

…and BE ME…

…and HAVE LIMITS…

I mean, let’s face it. I’m a hard person to be. I have goals. I have ambitions. I am a Go-Getter. I am a Type A Personality by Instinct. The first idea in my head is GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!

There’s no room for LIMITS…

Hmmmmmmm……

Welllll……

That’s really hard to deal with when I have multiple sclerosis and lupus. I’m not even mentioning the digestive symptoms and syndromes, food allergies, environmental allergies, any infections that I might be fighting off, the fun womanly once a month irritations, sinus symptoms and issues, my crazy GOGOGOGOGOGOGO head, or even headaches that might come and go here and there. I mean really. I don’t get a chance to GOGOGOGOGOGO. And if I do by chance get back into that habit, I am in TROUBLE and back on my butt FEELING AWFUL FOR SOME REASON…

UGH…

Sure that’s probably a really good thing. Actually, it’s a blessing that I am grateful for quite often. I’m grateful that I have to take it slower and actually see my life go by. I don’t get a chance to be sprint through it. I get an opportunity to get to know myself (scary sometimes yet really nice to do), to get to know others out there in the world who are cashiers and other customers for example, to smell the flowers, to really take care of my plants, to love on my dearest Cleo Kitty, to sit and just BE (so hard sometimes), to take my time, to look at the sky, to watch the world, to take a few extra breaths and maybe even DEEP BREATHS here and there…

BUT I WANT THE CHOICE to GOOOGOOOOGOOOO…or Do I?

I really have no idea.

I just don’t like having multiple sclerosis and lupus. That’s just it. I can’t stand them. I want them to go away. If I’m not careful I get sucked into a black hole of “Why me?” and “What did I do to deserve this?” and “Why won’t they just leave me alone?” and the list goes on and on…I think I could go on forever in what I call “WHOAISMS” and sometimes I believe I’m allowed to do that. But I hope I have something to pull me out and I usually do.

So then I need to really work on spirituality whatever that means to me that day. I could be meditating. I could be actually letting myself sleep if my body and schedule allows. I could be looking at the flowers. I could be beating on my Bongos. LOVE THAT by the way! Seriously, if you have anger, I suggest you find something to beat on as long as it’s not yourself, or another living being, or something you’re going to damage—hmm….maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned to find just anything to beat on. For a long time I’ve used the Hulk Hands that are out in toy stores that Corey has bought me (the first pair really was the best) that actually had Hulk’s voice and yelled, “Hulk Smash!” and would growl so when I put them on I got to laugh and feel big and strong and punch the wall. I don’t recommend punching a wall without that kind of cushion. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHATEVER YOU DO.

But then now I have these Bongos and that’s great but I can’t just jump in and do a long set of banging. I have to pace myself and only do it a few minutes at a time and build up to longer because then my hands and arms hurt. Well, that’s just great.

So that’s what I mean, I’m always putting limits on myself and what I can do but in TRUTH: THERE REALLY ACTUALLY ARE LIMITS. I’d like to continue to be able to use my hands and arms which are the most affected by both my lupus and MS and I’d also like to not feel the pain and throbbing from having overused them…on the bongos that I just enjoyed banging on to help me relax and calm down…

Then there’s the exercise. Exercise is great to keep me flexible and stable. Yay. Go me. Notice I’m not too excited about it. Some days it feels like real work and like my body is complaining the ENTIRE TIME. Then other days my body is thrilled and wants to be stretched and moved even more. But again, there are actual limits if I want to keep functioning. It is cumulative. However, WALKING HAS BECOME MY THING. I am well on my way to having walked 300 days in a row by the end of February. AND THERE IS A LIMIT TO THAT. I need to NOT JUDGE myself about walking and what I did that day. I need to not push myself to walk an hour every day. I need to be willing to only even walk a few minutes if that’s all I can do. The TRUE BENEFIT comes out of keeping my legs and body moving and honestly, it’s helped my mind immensely too. I have so much more confidence now than I used to in general just because of walking but they have truly loosened up and become more stable, strong and can endure more. They DON’T complain that often anymore. And by now it’s become such a habit to take a walk that I can’t imagine my life without it.

But then there’s trying to have a life. I know. Crazy.

A LIFE.

You know, that life where I can socialize with people, maybe even have some real friends out here in LA, maybe even keep in touch with the friends and family at a distance, spend more time with my husband, get out into the world and do things besides grocery shopping (although that is important too), and doctor appointments, and medical tests and be on the phone with something regarding Disability, Medical Insurance, following up with doctors, finding an attorney for a legal issue, filling out paperwork and the list goes on. And what about being creative? I yearn to be creative but I can’t do too much OR I have to slow down and my body asks for it. But when will that happen?

WHEN AM I DOING TOO MUCH? WHEN IS IT WORTH IT TO PUSH IT? WHERE IS THE LINE?

There is no pattern or predictability.

Again, the worst part about these diseases is the UNPREDICTABILITY.

For goodness sakes, if only they were PREDICTABLE. What a different world it would be. I might be able to make plans and keep them. I might be able to sign up to take regular hobby classes or regular ANYTHINGS.

I mean, let’s not forget it takes me at least 4 hours to get ready in the morning if I’ve included waking up, stretching my body in bed to get it moving again (tends to get stuck and stiff from sleeping if I’ve slept that is), do more stretches to stand up, follow a spiritual way of life (numerous ways to do that and I try to be creative with that), probably go to the bathroom (I know TMI), take a few pills, feed and be with my Cleo Kitty who has health issues of her own and is desperate to eat by 7am or ELSE, try to wake up a bit more before eating and taking more meds, plan out my day, get stuff ready to go if I have a medical appointment and I usually have at least one a week (the next 3 weeks I have 2 each week–goody gumdrops for me), pull myself together meaning exercise to the best of my ability to wake up my body, take a shower which is an event in itself and can take a lot out of me, not to mention brushing my teeth (an electric toothbrush is best so I can save my hands and arms and their energy), get dressed, try to make my hair look presentable (thank goodness for purple short hair so it’s already kinda cool and easy), pet and love my Cleo Kitty who always needs extra love and well so do I, make sure I wear my hat to protect from the sun, wear my sun protective jacket or at least a shirt with longer sleeves, get Cleo ready for me to be gone, make some sort of business calls if I have the chance, try to sit and rest here and there because it’s a lot to ask my body since so much activity has already happened, try to maybe wash the dishes or at least some of them, sort through any weird symptoms I’m having and do my best to take care of them, and the list can still go on.

THAT’S JUST THE MORNING EVENTS…no matter what even if I’m feeling crazy fatigue–I may go back to bed but what if I can’t because I have an appointment? I’ve gotta get through it. I’m so exhausted from thinking about my morning and writing about it that I haven’t even written the next parts of the day where I have to keep myself in check and have all my meds sorted out to take and make sure I take them on time and have meals at good times or I end up feeling worse.

And there’s always laundry to be done. Can I do it today? Should it wait? What if we need underwear? (Hey, I’m being honest). And what about groceries? What about the “What abouts”?

What’s the real priority? There’s always some sort of life that needs to get done and if I let it go it’s still there tomorrow and I have to try to be ok with not getting it done YET. I’ll admit, that is one of my biggest struggles. LETTING SOMETHING GO UNTIL TOMORROW…OR ANOTHER DAY…OR ANOTHER DAY…

YET SOME THINGS CAN’T WAIT…

I’VE LEARNED TO LET GO OF A LOT BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I’M OK WITH IT.

So life just keeps on happening. I keep having multiple sclerosis and lupus along with all the other syndromes and issues and the world keeps spinning. Thank goodness for choices but it’s still so hard sometimes. I really have eased up on so much in my life and with my expectations but it takes a strict way of thinking that I really can’t get lazy with too much (sometimes it’s a wonderful thing but I can’t let go of it too long or I lose myself again and may go back to pushing too hard)…

SO I GUESS I’M STILL LEARNING…

THESE CHRONIC ILLNESSES I TELL YA…

There is just so much I can say about them and so much I don’t have the words or energy to talk about.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: ambitions, appointments, bongos, chronic illnesses, digestive, disability, doctor, exercises, flowers, friends, goals, LA, learning, life, limits, lupus, medical tests, meditation, mornings, MS, multiple sclerosis, plans, predictability, rest, shower, sinus, socialize, sprituality, symptoms, syndromes, Type A Personality, unpredictability, walking | Leave a comment

2nd Opinion Gastroenterologist Turns Into THE Gastroenterologist!

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Nahleen

So today I have an appointment with a doctor who used to be my 2nd Opinion Gastroenterologist. I call him THE Gastroenterologist now because he really has become the doctor to help me the most on my health journey right now when it comes to digestive issues and apparently I REALLY HAVE THEM!

He helped me figure out that I was dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (and probably had been all my life without being aware of it) in November and his treatment and CALMING DEMEANOR have really helped me. The 1st Gastro doctor was very helpful for me for almost 2 years but he was so stuck on me having a small intestine bacterial infection that that was all he saw. Soooo, when my digestive system started acting up he’d throw me on antibiotics which I will admit really did help in the beginning. BUT THEN, I’m pretty sure they were REVVING up my IBS and my intestines were screaming at me!

So glad I listened to some gentle nudges from others close to me because I don’t know where I’d be now. I asked for a referral from a newer Gynecologist (who may just end up being my new one there too even though I LOVE my current one) and she was able to give me the name of this current Gastro specialist.

Not only did I like the office environment but I was told right away by his Medical Assistant that I was in the right place and that the doctor I was seeing was the expert with IBS and other digestive issues. She also said I was in good hands and not to be too nervous–when she had noted how elevated my blood pressure was from being nervous in a new doctor’s office. She said he was very calming. And then she pointed out that I was in the right place and that the whole team of doctors in that office work together to help their patients get better. She said if there’s a problem, they’ll figure it out. I’d never heard a medical professional within the same office have so much faith in who they worked for…

This doctor sure is calming. Wow. AND he’s proactive. He is very much about dealing with the problems of the moment and not thinking too much in the future and he’s gentle and to the point. The treatment he first prescribed me helped me a lot. I FELT LIKE A DIFFERENT PERSON–so much better than I had. He told me that he was sure my MS and lupus would also feel better if we could just get my body to calm down. Well that was true too! He also assured me that there were a lot of various different types of treatments and so if this first one didn’t work or last that we could go a different route.

Well a few weeks ago I was hit with a sinus infection and the doctors get really scared when I get any infection because the diseases I have could flare up and I’m very apt to go from something minor to something major like pneumonia in no time so they’re hit with the dilemma of needing to give me antibiotics to kill it right away. I wondered this would do to my IBS and my IBS treatment. Well, let’s just say I haven’t been able to get it back to the “better” it was at since then. It does still seem to be working but I’m flared up a bit again and according to this doctor, it just means it’s not the right treatment for me or balance just yet.

Soooo, we’ll see how it goes. As much as I’m so tired of going to the doctor, I’m also really tired of having a part of me that feels really crappy. So it doesn’t bother me too much to go to this doctor and see what we can do about my situation. It’s nice to have a doctor who wants to try new things at least to get it right and be proactive and NOT have one who was really telling me to JUST DEAL and keep staying on the antibiotics for the supposed small intestine bacterial infection (I’m convinced I did have one at some point but NOT then) for as long as needed. I also look forward to his calming influence. I need that a lot these days.

Yet again I learned to listen to my body. My body tells me when something’s not right. I know my body better than anyone. I need to speak up for it when I can. I also need to take care of it too which means less stress. I’m working on that but it’s hard with some of the financial and healthcare insecurities I’m dealing with these days but that’s a whole other Blog post or posts for that matter.

It’s nice to get back into this. I’ve missed it. Thank you all for joining me and for reading.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 2nd Opinion, appointment, doctor, Gastroenterologist, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, lupus, Medical Assistant, MS | Leave a comment

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