Hopefully the last semester

[ellen]

I was supposed to graduate college in May.

In March I started getting weird abdominal pains in the middle of the night.

In April I got extremely anemic and couldn't focus on classes anymore. I was dragged to the ER because the abdominal pains were getting more frequent. They made me look like I was about to die.

In May I got an ultrasound that diagnosed me with gallstones, had to get an MRI because they found liver tumors, and the abdominal pain was so bad I almost stopped eating altogether because it felt like everything made me sick.

I got a letter from my college congratulating me for graduating, then an E-mail saying "Oops our bad no degree for you!".

The anemia had been dealt with by this point, but abdominal pain was lasting 9+ hours a day. I was prescribed nausea medication and pain pills. I couldn't keep them down.

By the end of June I'd lost 20lbs from not eating. A surgeon removed my gallbladder and told my parents that it was ready to rupture at any time.

In July my 91 year old grandmother passed away just when everything looked like it was getting back to normal.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for March to make sure the tumors aren't getting bigger from the prescription used to treat the anemia. Apparently these tumors are benign unless they interact with the medicine, at which point they carry a slim chance of rupturing my liver.

It's now the end of August.... I just want to start and finish this semester problem free. This has been one of the worst years ever. At least I know my tortoises are doing alright...

 

[Tom]

That sounds like a rough ride. Hope things get better from here on out.

 

[ellen]

Thanks, Tom. I'm trying to stay positive but I have do admit I'm terrified that something else will go wrong this semester like I'll break my dominant hand or get into a nasty car accident or just fail my courses.

 

[Baoh]

Strength to you. What has the characterization of the liver tumors shown? Are your enzyme levels elevated?

 

[Jacqui]

Think only positive thoughts! I have found that once you start thinking negative ones, fate seem to think it needs to grant them to you, so stay positive!

 

[ellen]

Thanks Today's the big first day back. Oooh. So nervous.

Baoh - We didn't investigate that deeply into the tumors. The main concerns were dysfunctional uterine bleeding (which I prefer to just call anemia) and cholecystitis.

My doctor called them focal nodular hyperplasia and said that it had something to do with taking birth control... Which is sort of silly since I just started taking it and there's no way I could get a pair of tumors measuring out to 3 x 4 cm and 4 x 5 cm in a matter of a month but I'm not the medical professional so I won't argue. Another possibility is that it's related to a hemangioma I had on my face as an infant.

She said if the birth control causes any changes in the tumors I should stop taking the hormones because of the very slim chance it'll rupture my liver, cause hemorrhaging, or even necrosis. A lot of fun stuff.

Jacqui - You may have a point there... I hadn't even considered that. Ohhh fate, I'm sorry for being a negative nancy!