Manfaat bunga melati
10 years ago
Sunday, August 31, 2008
What is it about the weekends?!!! Friday afternoon, I started feeling extremely tired and nauseated. I don't really remember how I got through the afternoon. Yesterday was horrible. I woke up extremely nauseated and with more pain than usual. I took two lortab pills, but the pain got worse. Three hours after the lortab, I took one percocet pill. It was not helping either and the pain was getting worse. After about 45 minutes to an hour (right about when I was going to call my doctor's office), the pain eased slightly. It got better and was able to be managed the rest of the day with the medicine I have here at home. Today, I am still nauseated, sore, and completely exhausted. I am also a little frustrated. My house is the mother of all messes, but I am too exhausted to do anything about it. I know that I am going to spend the rest of the day resting and trying to get some strength back. I am really hoping that the surgery in October will fix things up. If not, then I might seriously need that antidepressant medicine that my doctor keeps mentioning. Sigh. Six more weeks to go.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Here I am again. It's 3:30 a.m. and I have been up for quite a while. Although I am having more pain than normal right now, the thing that is keeping me up the most is nausea. I am not going to worry about taking pain medication at this point. Yes, I am hurting, but the level is only about 4-5. If it gets worse, I'll think about taking something. For now, I am waiting for the Zofran to kick in.
This place is my refuge. I am able to write what I am feeling and not have to worry about upsetting anyone. This is my secret, anonymous blog. I do have another blog that I just write things about that are going on in my life. Sometimes I put things from this blog on that one, but generally I do not put much on there about my pancreatic issues. There are only a small handful of people who know that this is my blog. I do have a link here for my other blog. You will notice that if you follow the link to my other blog that it does not have a link back to this one. This is mainly for the purpose of not worrying my parents; in particular, my mother. As a parent myself, I am well aware of how much we worry about our children. If there is something that can be done that is great. Unfortunately, I don't see that there is much of anything my parents can do to help this situation. Worrying will not make anything better which is why I have elected not to let them know about this blog. If I were to let them know about this, it would not serve much of a purpose. I would have to carefully monitor what things I chose to write on here. Hmmm, it seems like I am feeling a little less nauseated now. Maybe it will be safe to lay down soon.
This place is my refuge. I am able to write what I am feeling and not have to worry about upsetting anyone. This is my secret, anonymous blog. I do have another blog that I just write things about that are going on in my life. Sometimes I put things from this blog on that one, but generally I do not put much on there about my pancreatic issues. There are only a small handful of people who know that this is my blog. I do have a link here for my other blog. You will notice that if you follow the link to my other blog that it does not have a link back to this one. This is mainly for the purpose of not worrying my parents; in particular, my mother. As a parent myself, I am well aware of how much we worry about our children. If there is something that can be done that is great. Unfortunately, I don't see that there is much of anything my parents can do to help this situation. Worrying will not make anything better which is why I have elected not to let them know about this blog. If I were to let them know about this, it would not serve much of a purpose. I would have to carefully monitor what things I chose to write on here. Hmmm, it seems like I am feeling a little less nauseated now. Maybe it will be safe to lay down soon.
Friday, August 15, 2008
It is now a little before five a.m. and here I am. I have actually been awake for about an hour and a half feeling yucky. I finally decided that I should just get up since I am obviously not going to be able to go back to sleep.
I woke up with the usual headache and nausea, but also with more pancreatic pain than is normal. It is not unbearable right now, so that is a good sign for the time being. If it does not get worse than this, I should be able to make it though the day at work today. I may leave right after and come home instead of staying there until 8 or 9 tonight working on stuff I need to get done. The boys will be at their dad's house this weekend anyway and I can always go in to work for longer than usual tomorrow if I need to.
So what was the trigger for this time? I'm not sure. I did eat one piece of pizza yesterday, but I have done that in the past and been okay thanks to my pancreatic enzyme pills. My doctor has suggested that stress might trigger this and I suppose that is possible. I had a busy day yesterday, but it was not necessarily stressful. The morning was just the usual stuff, get up and get the kids ready and off to school. Then I picked up my good friend and her daughter and we went to work. (She is the one who is having stress right now. Her car broke down last week and her oldest daughter just got married.) Yesterday the students had early release and went home a little before two. At two I had a grade level meeting that was still ongoing when I left a little before three to take my 9 year old son to scouts. I came back and went immediately to another meeting for ELL (English Language Learners) teachers. After that, I went back down the hall to the first meeting that was still not quite over. Then I hurried and picked my son up from scouts, dropped him off at home, and went back to the school. After that, I made some copies of papers for my parents for open house and typed a letter for them which I printed out in English and then Spanish. At 4:30, I took my 14 year old son to his counseling appointment and dropped him off and went back to the school for open house that started at 5:00. After the open house thing, I went and picked him up, bought a couple of pizzas, and headed back to the school to pick up my friend. (My 10 year old normally has scouts at 6:00, but it was cancelled this week.) Then I went to my 10 year old's open house at his school and left there a little before 7:00. Next, I dropped the pizzas off at the house for the kids to eat and my friend and I went to Heber to pick up her car. It was kind of relaxing to just drive and visit. I don't get to visit with my friends as much as I would like to, so it was a nice chance to get to just unwind and talk. It was nice to relax and visit a little. I have always enjoyed driving, but don't do it as often as I used to since the gas prices have gone up so much the past couple of years. We got back into town around 9:30ish. That was when I ate the piece of pizza. Maybe it was not the best choice, but it was not something I would have to prepare. I got the kids off to bed and was actually in bed myself by a little after 11:00. I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept fairly soundly until I woke up feeling this way. So, as I said, it was not really a stressful day, just a little bit busier than normal. I guess I will finish up the laundry I started a little while ago and then get ready for today. Hopefully, I will not feel any worse as the day progresses than I do now.
I woke up with the usual headache and nausea, but also with more pancreatic pain than is normal. It is not unbearable right now, so that is a good sign for the time being. If it does not get worse than this, I should be able to make it though the day at work today. I may leave right after and come home instead of staying there until 8 or 9 tonight working on stuff I need to get done. The boys will be at their dad's house this weekend anyway and I can always go in to work for longer than usual tomorrow if I need to.
So what was the trigger for this time? I'm not sure. I did eat one piece of pizza yesterday, but I have done that in the past and been okay thanks to my pancreatic enzyme pills. My doctor has suggested that stress might trigger this and I suppose that is possible. I had a busy day yesterday, but it was not necessarily stressful. The morning was just the usual stuff, get up and get the kids ready and off to school. Then I picked up my good friend and her daughter and we went to work. (She is the one who is having stress right now. Her car broke down last week and her oldest daughter just got married.) Yesterday the students had early release and went home a little before two. At two I had a grade level meeting that was still ongoing when I left a little before three to take my 9 year old son to scouts. I came back and went immediately to another meeting for ELL (English Language Learners) teachers. After that, I went back down the hall to the first meeting that was still not quite over. Then I hurried and picked my son up from scouts, dropped him off at home, and went back to the school. After that, I made some copies of papers for my parents for open house and typed a letter for them which I printed out in English and then Spanish. At 4:30, I took my 14 year old son to his counseling appointment and dropped him off and went back to the school for open house that started at 5:00. After the open house thing, I went and picked him up, bought a couple of pizzas, and headed back to the school to pick up my friend. (My 10 year old normally has scouts at 6:00, but it was cancelled this week.) Then I went to my 10 year old's open house at his school and left there a little before 7:00. Next, I dropped the pizzas off at the house for the kids to eat and my friend and I went to Heber to pick up her car. It was kind of relaxing to just drive and visit. I don't get to visit with my friends as much as I would like to, so it was a nice chance to get to just unwind and talk. It was nice to relax and visit a little. I have always enjoyed driving, but don't do it as often as I used to since the gas prices have gone up so much the past couple of years. We got back into town around 9:30ish. That was when I ate the piece of pizza. Maybe it was not the best choice, but it was not something I would have to prepare. I got the kids off to bed and was actually in bed myself by a little after 11:00. I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept fairly soundly until I woke up feeling this way. So, as I said, it was not really a stressful day, just a little bit busier than normal. I guess I will finish up the laundry I started a little while ago and then get ready for today. Hopefully, I will not feel any worse as the day progresses than I do now.
How are you?
This is the question people ask, but they do not really want an honest answer unless that answer happens to be a positive one. I have learned this and really, it's okay. I wouldn't want to hang around somebody who just complains all the time either. I have found that it is best to just answer in relative terms. If you always compare how you are feeling to a much worse situation, you can always honestly answer that you are feeling fine.
So, there are subtle ways that you can tell if I am feeling well or not. The big one (#1) is my contacts. If I am feeling horrible, I certainly do not take the time to bother with putting contacts in. When I am wearing my glasses, it is a good sign that I feel bad or I felt bad in the morning when I was getting ready for the day.
The second big thing is that I will not be quite as social as normal. This may be a relief to some people who get sick of listening to me talk all the time. I am not generally rude or anything, I just don't feel like talking as much and will keep more to myself.
Another lesser way is by what I am wearing. I will wear clothing based on comfort. It will not be jeans that are tight or that require much effort to remove in an emergency. (I know, too much information.) My shoes will be ones that I can move quickly in or kick off of my feet in a hurry and run.
Make up is another way to tell. The worse I feel, the less I wear. It is just not worth the effort. This isn't the best indicator because I am pretty attached to my foundation and mascara. I will usually have at least those two things on unless I am knocking on death's door (or feel that way anyway).
I'm not really sure why I am writing all of this. It's not like anybody has ever read anything on here other than myself. I guess that sometimes writing is a little cathartic.
So, there are subtle ways that you can tell if I am feeling well or not. The big one (#1) is my contacts. If I am feeling horrible, I certainly do not take the time to bother with putting contacts in. When I am wearing my glasses, it is a good sign that I feel bad or I felt bad in the morning when I was getting ready for the day.
The second big thing is that I will not be quite as social as normal. This may be a relief to some people who get sick of listening to me talk all the time. I am not generally rude or anything, I just don't feel like talking as much and will keep more to myself.
Another lesser way is by what I am wearing. I will wear clothing based on comfort. It will not be jeans that are tight or that require much effort to remove in an emergency. (I know, too much information.) My shoes will be ones that I can move quickly in or kick off of my feet in a hurry and run.
Make up is another way to tell. The worse I feel, the less I wear. It is just not worth the effort. This isn't the best indicator because I am pretty attached to my foundation and mascara. I will usually have at least those two things on unless I am knocking on death's door (or feel that way anyway).
I'm not really sure why I am writing all of this. It's not like anybody has ever read anything on here other than myself. I guess that sometimes writing is a little cathartic.
The most recent hospital visit
After leaving Mayo, I actually started to feel gradually worse over the next several days. The following weekend, the pain became pretty severe. I toughed it out over the weekend, but called and went to the hospital on Monday. The vomiting was the thing that put me over the edge that time.
After checking my enzyme levels a couple of times that day and the following day, I was sent home. My levels were not high at all. That does not mean that I didn't have pancreatitis, because I have had it enough to recognize that pain. I honestly don't know why the levels were not high. Maybe it was because I waited so long to seek medical attention. Perhaps the levels had dropped by that time. They dropped very rapidly between the Saturday I was in the hospital and the Monday when I was at Mayo. I just hope that this doesn't mean that my pancreas is not working as well. Here's one of several articles about not having elevated enzyme levels: http://gut.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/44/4/542
Of course, that particular article mentions alcoholics as the primary patients with pancreatitis; a category that I do not happen to fall into. Honestly, this constant pain is getting frustrating. I am just kind of tired of it.
I did have a theory that maybe there was some chemical imbalance in my brain causing this to happen. I have had recurrent headaches with increasing frequency. They are usually worse in the morning when I wake up. Often, they are accompanied by nausea (yuck!). I also have dizziness, visual disturbances (for lack of a better description), memory problems, and sometimes ringing in my ears or "stuffiness" in my ears; you know that feeling that you are in a tunnel, but you ears won't pop? Maybe it is nothing and I am just a freak or something. I just want them to find a reason for this that can be quickly remedied.
That's about all for now. I have to mull these ideas around for a while. I don't know that it matters. I am just the patient, not somebody with any answers or expertise.
After checking my enzyme levels a couple of times that day and the following day, I was sent home. My levels were not high at all. That does not mean that I didn't have pancreatitis, because I have had it enough to recognize that pain. I honestly don't know why the levels were not high. Maybe it was because I waited so long to seek medical attention. Perhaps the levels had dropped by that time. They dropped very rapidly between the Saturday I was in the hospital and the Monday when I was at Mayo. I just hope that this doesn't mean that my pancreas is not working as well. Here's one of several articles about not having elevated enzyme levels: http://gut.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/44/4/542
Of course, that particular article mentions alcoholics as the primary patients with pancreatitis; a category that I do not happen to fall into. Honestly, this constant pain is getting frustrating. I am just kind of tired of it.
I did have a theory that maybe there was some chemical imbalance in my brain causing this to happen. I have had recurrent headaches with increasing frequency. They are usually worse in the morning when I wake up. Often, they are accompanied by nausea (yuck!). I also have dizziness, visual disturbances (for lack of a better description), memory problems, and sometimes ringing in my ears or "stuffiness" in my ears; you know that feeling that you are in a tunnel, but you ears won't pop? Maybe it is nothing and I am just a freak or something. I just want them to find a reason for this that can be quickly remedied.
That's about all for now. I have to mull these ideas around for a while. I don't know that it matters. I am just the patient, not somebody with any answers or expertise.
The crappy thing
So, in the last post I mentioned that something crappy happened during that visit to the hospital. Sometime while I was either in the ambulance or at the hospital, someone stole a bunch of my pain medication! I did not notice that it was gone until the next day when I was taking my stuff out of the bag from the hospital. I noticed that a lortab pill was on the bottom of the bag. I thought that was strange because I hadn't opened it after I put everything in the bag. When I opened the medicine bottle to put it back, I noticed that I hardly had any pills left. There were four pills in the bottom of the bottle. It was nearly full when I took it to the hospital. Then I checked my other medications and discovered the same thing had happened with my percocet. The zofran and my blood pressure medications were not touched. This would indicate that the person knew what kind of medicine they were looking for. I called the hospital and reported what had happened. They said that they would make a report, but that there really wasn't much else they could do since it was kind of after the fact. I guess you really have to be careful. It's too bad that you can't trust people to be honest even when you are ill. I will not do that again. I have decided that I will save my empty bottles and put them in a box or bag. That way, if this happens again, I can just take them empty bottles to show them my medications and the dosages. I was really upset that someone would do something like that.
July 18-19, 2008
This was the weekend of my 20 year high school reunion. That was a little bizarre when I stopped to think about the fact that 20 years just sailed by. I actually was not sure whether or not I would attend, but decided to go shortly before it. We met at a local bar in my hometown on Friday night (18th). That sounds like the perfect place for a little pancreatitis to get started. HOWEVER, I did NOT drink anything that night (as usual). I did notice that there were a few other people who should probably be having some pancreatic issues, though. I was glad that I had decided to go. It was fun to see old friends and even the people I didn't hang out with as much in high school were friendly. It was nice to see that everyone was pretty much contented with their lives at this point, but did not feel the need to try to "impress" anyone.
Anyway...the only thing that I did that was bad was ate a piece of pizza; which I did after taking my enzymes. Maybe that was what set me off this time, but the actual pain didn't start until 4-5 hours after I ate the pizza. I left the bar around 10:00 p.m. because I just wasn't feeling very well. My pancreas was hurting noticeably more than usual, so I decided to go back to the hotel. By the time I was back at the hotel about 10 minutes later, I knew this was going to be one of those especially unpleasant attacks. I took some lortab and ran a tub full of hot water to soak in. I did not have a heating pad with me, so I thought maybe soaking might help. The kids and I went to bed after that, but there was not going to be sleep for me that night. I curled up with a pillow and tried some of this junk where you massage pressure points, but that didn't help either. (I guess I'm not a very good witch doctor.) By 2:00, I couldn't stand it anymore and took 1 percocet pill. That didn't really help at first. After about 45 minutes, I felt slightly better, but the pain was still pretty bad. By this time the nausea and vomiting were kicking in rather strong as well. I took some zofran and actually stopped vomiting, but was still hurting and very nauseated. I took another percocet pill at 5:00 a.m., but it just wasn't helping. At about six, I had Erica call an ambulance while I gathered up my junk to take to the hospital. (insurance cards, medications, note from my pcp). I was in no condition to attempt to drive. I went outside to wait and told Erica to just go back to sleep and to let the boys sleep in. Soon two fire trucks drove up. I was a little grouchy about this and told them, "I'm NOT on fire! I just need a ride to the hospital." They called the ambulance on their radio and off we went. The paramedic went through the whole questioning me about my drinking habit routine and then asked about my gall bladder. (big surprise) He gave me some morphine in my IV, but that did not do anything. Sometime after that, they gave me more morphine and that time it worked almost immediately. I also started itching like crazy, but who cares? It made the pain stop. They took a blood sample and sent it off. My amylase was 889 and my lipase was 1254. I asked for a copy of my lab results to take with me to Mayo. They let me go a while later. Actually, they called a police officer to take me back to the motel because I had no way of getting there. I guess I had criminal pancreatitis. I did learn something I didn't know before, though. The normal range for amylase is 28-100 and for lipase is 13-60. I had been told my levels before, but I didn't really know what was considered normal to have something to compare it to. Two days later at Mayo, my levels were almost normal. I was amazed that they dropped so quickly. I guess that I now have a smaller window of time in which to decide whether or not to seek medical treatment before my levels go back to normal.
More about this junk later. I found out that something crappy happened while I was incapacitated this time. See the next entry for more info.
Anyway...the only thing that I did that was bad was ate a piece of pizza; which I did after taking my enzymes. Maybe that was what set me off this time, but the actual pain didn't start until 4-5 hours after I ate the pizza. I left the bar around 10:00 p.m. because I just wasn't feeling very well. My pancreas was hurting noticeably more than usual, so I decided to go back to the hotel. By the time I was back at the hotel about 10 minutes later, I knew this was going to be one of those especially unpleasant attacks. I took some lortab and ran a tub full of hot water to soak in. I did not have a heating pad with me, so I thought maybe soaking might help. The kids and I went to bed after that, but there was not going to be sleep for me that night. I curled up with a pillow and tried some of this junk where you massage pressure points, but that didn't help either. (I guess I'm not a very good witch doctor.) By 2:00, I couldn't stand it anymore and took 1 percocet pill. That didn't really help at first. After about 45 minutes, I felt slightly better, but the pain was still pretty bad. By this time the nausea and vomiting were kicking in rather strong as well. I took some zofran and actually stopped vomiting, but was still hurting and very nauseated. I took another percocet pill at 5:00 a.m., but it just wasn't helping. At about six, I had Erica call an ambulance while I gathered up my junk to take to the hospital. (insurance cards, medications, note from my pcp). I was in no condition to attempt to drive. I went outside to wait and told Erica to just go back to sleep and to let the boys sleep in. Soon two fire trucks drove up. I was a little grouchy about this and told them, "I'm NOT on fire! I just need a ride to the hospital." They called the ambulance on their radio and off we went. The paramedic went through the whole questioning me about my drinking habit routine and then asked about my gall bladder. (big surprise) He gave me some morphine in my IV, but that did not do anything. Sometime after that, they gave me more morphine and that time it worked almost immediately. I also started itching like crazy, but who cares? It made the pain stop. They took a blood sample and sent it off. My amylase was 889 and my lipase was 1254. I asked for a copy of my lab results to take with me to Mayo. They let me go a while later. Actually, they called a police officer to take me back to the motel because I had no way of getting there. I guess I had criminal pancreatitis. I did learn something I didn't know before, though. The normal range for amylase is 28-100 and for lipase is 13-60. I had been told my levels before, but I didn't really know what was considered normal to have something to compare it to. Two days later at Mayo, my levels were almost normal. I was amazed that they dropped so quickly. I guess that I now have a smaller window of time in which to decide whether or not to seek medical treatment before my levels go back to normal.
More about this junk later. I found out that something crappy happened while I was incapacitated this time. See the next entry for more info.
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