I thought about whether or not to post this story, but I really need to write about it, so I am. If you're a regular reader or a real life friend of mine, you may already know that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2005. That diagnosis isn't an easy one to get and it's even harder to treat. In 2004-2005, I went through a series of medical tests to check out some symptoms that are sometimes related to fibro and sometimes they can be related to other things with scary names like MS and ALS. The tests included an MRI and a biopsy of some muscle from my left quadricep and some nerve from my left ankle. That left me with very little feeling on the outside edge of my foot 2 not-so-pretty scars - one that is on my thigh and one that runs parallel to my Achille's tendon. Fortunately, the tests came back negative.
I was not diagnosed with a life-altering disease...unless you count fibro in that category, which many people do. My fibro symptoms come and go and sometimes even change, but the whole thing can pretty much be summed up as chronic pain to some degree all over my body. Lots and lots of people have it. My goal is to be one of the many people who have it but you'd never know. The other end of the spectrum is the people who have it and literally lose their quality of life because their pain is so great that they can't function. I, thankfully, don't fall into that category. What I do experience is chronic fatigue and achiness with occasional flare-ups causing those symptoms to be exacerbated. Sometimes, though - strange symptoms pop up that I've never had before.
The newest one started 2 years ago. I was walking down the hall at school when I felt like I had been electrocuted in my right leg. I had to stop walking and catch my breath. The shock only last a second or two, but WOW it hurt. I didn't have another one for a while. Now, they come and go and sometimes will happen more than once a day and sometimes only once a week. They now happen in places besides my leg and the most common location is in my tongue. That's a strange sensation and a bit of a hindrance for a speech pathologist. I find that stress makes the shocks worse. After they continued for a couple of months, I made an appointment with my doctor to get his opinion.
My doctor put me on B12 supplements and told me to come back in a month. I didn't see any improvement with the supplements. When I went back to the doctor for my follow-up, I had just found out that I was pregnant with Nola. We decided to hold off on any tests until after Nola was born. My doctor told me to follow up with a neurologist after that.
This summer, I had my first appointment with the neurologist at Mercy. I was scared to death. I had read some things online about people who experienced the shocks that I was feeling and most of them had MS. I had researched MS the first time around and knew what that could mean for me. Even worse, though - I was nervous about having to endure a spinal tap - a common procedure for MS diagnosis. The doctor listened to my symptoms, asked me some questions and did a physical exam that tested my balance, reflexes, etc. He ordered some bloodwork and an MRI.
I went for my tests on August 3rd. The MRI experience was just as I remembered it - loud. I was given headphones to listen to music and I know that God was giving me peace the whole time. I smiled because as I was laying there on the table, the music coming through the headphones was Zac Brown and Kenny Chesney - both musicians who make music that makes me happy.
When I went back for my follow-up appointment, the neurologist told me that my MRI looked good. I got tears in my eyes as I heard that. I never thought I would say the words, "So it's JUST fibro?" But, yes, in this instance, it was JUST fibro. I'm supposed to follow up now with a rheumatologist to look into some fibro treatment options - something that I haven't done yet because I wanted to make sure we were finished having children before I began taking any medications.
Hallelujah for JUST fibro. I can handle that most days. Actually, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
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