Whopping 100!!...

I cannot believe this is my 100th posting!!! WOW - I know I'm full of it but damn! Good thing I put a filter on... just kidding!!

I was going to get to this post last week but just when you think you've snuck around the corner from your MS... It pops out behind you and scares the pee out of you!!! And I use that analogy because that's exactly what my MS is NOT doing to me!!!

I have noticed that those of us in this MS universe have no problem discussing our bodily functions. We can't - it's too much of our daily vocabulary to ignore it. Then, even if we try - our lovely doctors, nurses, PA's, NP's, and all those other lovely medical professions potty-mouth train us early on...

Last Saturday - normal visit to the in-laws in Jamaica Beach. Didn't feel as active as I normally did but it was the first day of all relaxation since returning from the wedding/honeymoon trip. Didn't think anything of it. Spent all day there and got home and was tired. Normal. Then, Sunday morning happened. I thought I'd been run over by a Mack truck towing a yacht followed by an 18 wheeler moving van. And, on top of that - running a fever. Nothing too high but fear initiated!

Woke up Monday and no better - even worse because later Sunday I developed some horridly horrible stomach cramps and nothing was staying inside the body. And, when I try to empty the bladder, it wants to hold onto it a little longer before releasing it. Fever still there = staying home curled in a ball with the heating pad. Which, was not fun considering I was burning up!! Tuesday was an exact repeat of Monday. Plus, the wonderfully new symptom of a burn where the sun don't shine and there should never be a burn!! When I woke up Wednesday to nothing changed - I finally broke down and called the doc.

Got in later that morning and they suspected what I suspected... the dreaded UTI, possible bladder infection. I peed in their damn cup and gave it back to them. The doc prescribed Macrobid and ordered me without caffeine and chocolate. Let me just pause and give you the image of me while finding out that news: I am a police officer, therefore I own guns. It was also that time of the month for me... SOOOO telling me no chocolate AND caffeine - I warned the doc there might be dire consequences to that order.... I mean, I was planning on going right home after the doc visit but I did have to be in traffic!!! She told me I needed to do that while on the antibiotics. Sigh - let living hell begin.

I go home and start the damn pills. I give up my damn caffeine and chocolate. I still feel like crap the next morning but the fever starts to break. I'm going to the bathroom 80 times an hour due to all the water and cranberry juice I'm drinking. By mid-day I can't look at the TV or my computer or my book because my head starts hurting so bad. I'm thinking it's a major caffeine withdrawal headache - I think I probably drink too much caffeine. I suck it up and take a pain pill and chill. Until Friday when the headache only gets worse and worse and fever starts to become an issue again... I finally break down and call the doc back and let her nurse know how my head's about to explode all over my newly painted walls. She says the doc will call me back..

The doc calls me back and tells me that if the headache doesn't get any better by tomorrow morning she would suggest going to the emergency care clinic. She also tells me to stop the antibiotics - apparently there was not enough bacteria in my pee-pee to make me keep taking such a strong antibiotic. I can also drink a smaller amount of caffeine. I try the caffeine and the headache eases slightly but still have no tolerance for looking at anything. The doc then calls me again Sat morning and tells me that she wants me to come back to the clinic to get some blood drawn for a kidney function test. She knows I have MS and knows that minor bladder issues can cause big MS issues if left un-figured-out. I appreciate her effort and can tell she doesn't like to not have a diagnosis. ( I don't think she's equal to House since I wasn't in an ER with all sorts of crap hooked up to me and besides, I don't have big enough boobs for him.)

I go and let them draw one of the big tubes of blood from me. The first outing from my house since the previous Saturday. We stop for a quick wally-world visit and I'm beat. Literally, almost passing out from exhaustion and nausea has set in. The headache has become a dull roar and manageable. I can watch TV but no reading. I figure I'm going to wait to see what doc says about my blood. The fever has broken and I'm not in the fetal position anymore. Sunday was not too bad. Still not feeling better than 80-85% but that's better than the 5% from Wednesday.

Doc called this morning and now wants me to pee in the bucket for 24 hours. Still working on how I can do that and go to work - I'm thinking that's not going to happen... Hopefully it can be done on the weekend. I can't afford to miss anymore work. Her nurse was supposed to call me back to tell me what clinic to pick up the wonderful supplies for that one... Apparently my creatinine was slightly elevated. And, when I say slightly - mine's apparently 1.04 on a .5 to 1.00 scale. I found one site that said anything between .2 to 1.5 was normal for an adult female... so wondering...

Oh, I did forget to tell y'all about the hot flashes that started around Saturday morning... I feel like I'm burning up and start sweating like I've just run a couple of miles but my temp will be normal - even a low-grade (lowest was around 97.6). And, when I stand up or bend over I get a wonderful head rush full of dizziness and not knowing if I'm going to be able to stand back up or fall flat on my hind-quarters!!! FUN!

You know, I was wondering what the hell I was going to write about for my 100th post... Here I was thinking I was going to write about my MS here lately - and how it had fallen slightly off edge (it's never really in the back of my mind). Doc's nurse said they were concerned because apparently extra creatinine means muscle wasting... and that's not good since my lazy ass has not been doing anything using my muscles lately. And, I have to admit - everything about that phrase scares the holy living crap outta me.

Holy crappola! Maybe I should have tried to limit this post to 100 words. Round 4,287 vs. MS - dammit - no KO for me (and the TKO is a long long long LONG LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG time coming!)