Journaling on estrip is easy and free. sign up here

Paul's Journal

paul
My Podcast Link

12/19/2007 12:19 #42581

What the hell kind of answer is this
Category: health
Well good news is they didn't say it was cancer but it is IBS or irritable bowel syndrome. What the fuck does that really mean. We don't know what is causing it but you bowel is irritated. No fucking surprise considering I have been complaining about that for about a month straight.

My favorite part of the wiki article

Misdiagnosis
Anecdotal accounts exist of poor patient outcomes due to treatable causes of diarrhea being mis-diagnosed as IBS. Common examples include infectious diseases, celiac disease,[5] and lactose intolerance.[6]



None of which I have been tested for. Still no stool sample, no bloodwork, no lactose intolelrance test, no test for celliac.

I guess I will go on one of those crazy nothing but rice and vegetable diets and adds stuff back into my diet to see if it help. Right now basically everything I eat goes right through me after getting a little bit bloody somewhere. Ya, gross I know. There is no consistency to anything I eat and everything makes my stomach ache.

I seriously am going to go crazy. And the lack of sufficient bathroom facilities at my work make it way worse.

I am thinking it is time to switch to a natural doctor for a bit and see how that goes. At this point I am willing to try anything to make it stop.

The molson ice hot water 40oz
Last night I made a hot water bottle for my stomach out of a molson 40oz beer bottle. It really helped. Maybe I should market them with little beer cozies?

paul - 12/20/07 11:50
I talked to the secretary again today and she affirmed IBD.
paul - 12/19/07 18:57
Seriously, it is not in my head. There is blood in the frickin diahrea that I have like 5+ times a day and everything hurts from my kidneys to my intestines. Pretty much all the time.
paul - 12/19/07 18:54
Its weird on our first conversation she said IBS but then she said IBD later and then said the medication was for ulcerative colitis. So who the fuck knows, I gues sthat is what I get for never getting to talk to a real doctor.
jenks - 12/19/07 18:30
wait, IBS, or IBD?
IBD - inflammatory bowel disease (i.e. crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis).
asacol is for IBD.

IBS, on the other hand, is (in my book) like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I.e. more psych than anything else.
(I know that statement offends people, I'm sorry.)

If they said IBS, it probably just means all their tests have been negative. That's what it is. A diagnosis of exclusion. "you're having a problem but we can't find anything wrong with you."

I would have thought they'd send you to a GI guy before a colorectal guy...

I'm sorry for the way you're getting strung along. I hope they get to the bottom of it.
paul - 12/19/07 14:37
I have told them, every freakin' time and no one does it. During this whole thing I only saw a real doctor for about 5 minutes 3 weeks ago. Since then it has all been assistants and secretaries.
imk2 - 12/19/07 14:17
so you were passing blood in your stool? you should change doctors. my family doctor, sadiqa karim, is very good and will do all of the necessary tests to get your stuff diagnosed properly. you should tell the doctor that you feel they should do more like stool samples, blood tests, etc. often times they will listen to you. you have to advocate for yourself when you feel they are not doing their job.

seriously though, i would totally recommend that you go see her. she is on transit, has a tiny office, so the wait is not long. she works by herself, so you'll never see a nurse practitioner or another doctor instead. she'll sit down and talk to you and she'll definitely order tests. she loves doing those. her number is 683-5600.
paul - 12/19/07 13:31
Seriously, I don't drink, I thought I ate pretty healthy - I guess I have stress but not an inordinate amount. I seriously would at least like to talk with the doctor instead of his secretary before taking medicine.
drew - 12/19/07 13:13
Sorry this is so frustrating. Thanks for the reason to keep a 40 in the house though!
hodown - 12/19/07 12:59
They said I had that in college.
lilho - 12/19/07 12:24
wow, thanx to terry for that 40!

12/18/2007 13:37 #42570

Barium Cocktail
Category: healthcare
I can believe I am drinking Barium Sulfite - and out of a styrofoam cup. It is some weird fruity and spicy flavor. I had to drink two jars of it.

image

image

image

leetee - 12/19/07 20:29
he did indeed, (e:Imk2) ... gotta love the Canadian health care system... come here for "free" slow medical care from people who think of patients as burgers needing flipping.
imk2 - 12/19/07 14:21
seriously lee? he told you to shut the fuck up!?
leetee - 12/19/07 08:35
How'd it go, Paul? I hope they find out what it is and it is simple and easy to fix!!

I had to drink that shit once. When i told the tech i was going to barf up the icky pink stuff, he told me to shut the fuck up and lay still. So, i made sure i puked on his nice white jacket. Passive agressive? Who? Me?
paul - 12/19/07 06:28
Please jenks, access it from anywhere. I would love for you to look at it.
pyrcedgrrl - 12/19/07 03:20
Guh! I finally got around to signing in (working swing shift and finishing up a semester is not fun), and read about all the problems you've been having!! I hope your CAT scan goes well and they find out what's going on in the tummy!
I had tummy issues a couple of Christmases ago that ended up being a common bile duct stone. I wasn't even able to keep water down for 4 days and was sent home each day by St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston. I finally went to sisters and they admitted me immediately. I had jaundice so bad that my eyes were yellow. Apparently that is not enough of a sign for St. Mary's. lol!
Anyway, I hope all goes well! Good luck and feel better soon!
jenks - 12/18/07 23:32
yeah really.... you'd think they could flavor it a little better.

hey! I wonder if I can access it from home...

but i won't.

without your permission.
joshua - 12/18/07 21:55
There is a Lake Success, NY? Obviously this is not upstate... ba doom *crash*
paul - 12/18/07 16:05
From the way I feel about the medical systems right now I would assume probably next June.
jim - 12/18/07 15:52
How long do you have to wait for results?
drew - 12/18/07 15:14
better down than up!
mrdeadlier - 12/18/07 15:05
mrmike, that's exactly what i thought
jim - 12/18/07 14:52
Good luck, Paul!
james - 12/18/07 14:21
a drink? A DRINK?

kids today have it so easy
mrmike - 12/18/07 13:52
Love the illustration on the bottle. Like we didn't know the point was to be Drano for Humans

12/18/2007 11:04 #42566

The CT scan
Category: health
So at 3PM I get the CT scan at Buffalo general. I have to go there at 1PM though. I am so excited on one hand about finding anything out and so scared on the other hand about finding anything out and so scared on yet another hand about the radiation.
paul - 12/19/07 11:21
God, I hate waiting. I would really like to know why my intestines are being so sick.
paul - 12/18/07 13:48
Sorry to dissapoint you (e:james) but I drank the drink instead.
james - 12/18/07 11:18
enjoy the barium enema.

12/18/2007 09:51 #42565

I am so angry/sick
Category: health
So my abdominal area just keeps getting worse and I am really sick to my stomach. It is not normal to have to go to the bathroom like 5 times during the night.

I got up at 8:45 to schedule the abdominal CT, as at this point I would do anything to find out what is wrong. They told me they had two locations. Buffalo General and one in Wiliamville. I told her Buffalo general was better and she said she would call me back when she schedules. At 9:20 I still had n word so I called the doctors office back and said I would gladly drive to Williamsville if it was faster,easier I could get in sooner because my stomach is killing. She said she would call me back. Here we are one hour later, still no freakin' word.

I seriously, cannot believe how this is going for. In the mean time i don't know if I should try and eat anything or not because what if you need to have an empty stomach for it and it is today and then I have to reschedule. I wish it would render me unconscious at this point.

And then there is some unreasonable deadline at work that I am working against which normally is fun for me, but this time it is making me crazy because I am sick.

Now what I really want is a test for celiac disease just to rule that out in case and what about the blood and stool tests. Why none of them yet? Looks like for me they are going to skip to step 5.

Diagnostic Tests for Crohn's disease

Test for Crohn's disease

* Physical examination
* Complete blood count - for anemia and white blood cell counts
* Stool sample analysis
* Upper GI series - barium X-rays
* Lower GI series - barium X-rays
paul - 12/18/07 11:05
I have the colonoscopy scheduled for Jan 9th and the CT they just scheduled for today.
museumchick - 12/18/07 10:48
I have Crohn's. Usually for Crohn's, they have to give you a colonoscopy before they do any kind of diagnosis. Maybe you need to go to the ER if things don't work out with getting the CT scheduled. They can usually order a lot of those kinds of tests for you, right in the hospital.

12/17/2007 23:11 #42562

Hot Water Bottle
Category: shopping
As (e:tinypliny) suggested I ordered a hot water bottle for my stomach aches. Sounds like a great idea as warm really makes it feel better. I searched around this time to find one that supposedly does not smell. You all know how I feel about things that smell like rubber or plastic.

If anyone else is looking for one, I order it from fashionhot.com
They were in good housekeeping and accept paypal.

image