On 08-28-17, I tweaked my back when I quickly turned to my right attempting to keep Apollo out of Angel's water dish. Yeah, it was sore, but not debilitating. Until the following morning when I could barely get out of bed and was hunched over like my great-grandma was when she was 80 in order for me to walk. As my morning went on, I couldn't tolerate the pain any longer so I got an appointment to see a Family Practice MD at my regular MD's office. She works part time and although my medical conditions don't come often, when they do, I need access to someone that works more than three days a week.
So on 08-29-17 I saw the doc. He ordered physical therapy, a series of x-rays that appeared relatively normal, and standard blood work. He also gave me a work excuse for the rest of the week. He prescribed prednisone and Flexeril, all pretty standard stuff except that I was still looking at the top of my shoes whenever I had to walk anywhere.
My blood work from 08-29-17 was significantly abnormal. My white blood count was 23.4 when the normal range is 4.0-11.0. Because I was a lab rat while working at St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, I knew that my granulocytes, lymphocytes and absolute granulocytes being elevated wasn't good. Neither was an ESR (sedimentation rate) of 32 when the normal range was 0-23.
I was back at the MD's office on 08-30-17 to recheck these abnormal labs and run blood cultures. Everything my blood was telling them was that I had a pretty serious infection going on somewhere, but it was never found. Then it was decided I had an inflammatory condition going on somewhere, but that was never found. The more testing I had, the more abnormal results I accumulated.
I actually saw my doctor on 08-31-17. She ordered more blood work, a lumbar spine MRI and a pelvic ultrasound.
When I saw her again on 09-11-17, the ultrasound showed "more than a cyst, but not quite a mass" in my uterus. Bam! Referral to OBGYN. Continued increased white blood count. Bam! Referral to hematology. Lumbar MRI results that are so fucked up I won't even type the impression. Bam! Referral to a neurosurgeon.
All of these results and referrals were laid on me when I was attending a trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy training in the WI Dells. I left the training within the hour to come home, longing to be wrapped up in comfy pajamas, a blanket and spend time with Angel and Apollo curled up beside me.
So far I've seen the OBGYN who was not at all concerned with the ultrasound and told me to come back in six weeks for a follow up ultrasound and appointment to see her.
I have an appointment with a psysiatrist on Wednesday to determine where I need back surgery and if cortisone injections can help delay the need for that surgery.
My labs were still elevated when I saw the hematologist the first time, so now he's ordered "the fancy tests" which include markers for leukemia and lymphoma.
In the midst of all of my body's internal wacky-ness, I also fell at work, my foot getting caught in a divot in one of our group home yards. I came down face first and caught myself with my left forearm, causing a small fracture in my left ulna. I see the surgeon for that on Tuesday.
I'm not sure which of the fates I've pissed off, but enough is enough, bitch. If this is karma coming back to bite me in the ass for bad ju-ju, I get it. Enough. But if karma is just running laps in my celestial circle, I'd hate to be the person she visits next.
