Hello everyone. I haven't posted on this thread in awhile. Been very preoccupied with my FIL's passing. Lots of paperwork to do every night and we've got a long way to go before the estate is settled. Most of the responsibility will fall on my DH since we live in the same state as FIL. His siblings are in Massachusetts. They've been down all week sorting through the house but they go back home today. We've got cars to sell, accounts to settle, a house to sell, etc.
I seem to be doing better. I haven't said much about it but starting in late January I ended up have diarrhea every day that lasted for about 6 weeks. I know what started it (something very stressful to me) but the fact that it wouldn't let up just freaked me out and probably made things worse. I sort of thought I might have been a little hyperthyroid and my endo agreed so I backed off my thyroid meds slightly. That didn't help the intestinal issues and my TSH ended up getting to 3.0. I am now back to normal with my TSH. The intestinal issues have mostly resolved. I think it is/was a stressed induced attack of colitis and not your typical IBS stuff. I've seen two gastroenterologists. The first one I saw was a one I had never gone to before but he was very well rated and very close to my home. I *loved* is PA who interviewed me for about 20 minutes before he came. When he came in (for 5 minutes and without my file in hand and wanted to know the whole story all over again) my heart sunk. He then kind of blew me off, scheduled me for a colonoscopy (which I knew was coming) but I had the feeling that he was not going to pursue the "microscopic colitis" possibility that the PA brought up because he didn't think I had diarrhea "bad enough." In order to diagnosis it, they have to take about 12 biopsies from different areas of the colon because it can't be seen with the naked eye. I had no confidence he would do that.
So, I scheduled another gastro appointment with a practice I used for all my previous GI issues. I haven't been to them since 2011 and I didn't overly want to go because they are about a 40 minute drive from my house (and it's worse in traffic). It's not fun to have to prep for a colonoscopy and then ride up to their offices with all that pressure and get stuck in rush hour traffic. But I did like them. Anyway, I could only get a PA appointment there which even that took awhile. Fortunately, the PA was able to bring the doctor in during our visit. So I got a better feeling from the doctor and she agreed she would definitely do the colitis biopsies. She also wants to do an upper endoscopy since I have a history of issues there. The other doctor noted that but he wanted to do two separate procedures. Well, even though I'm mostly better now, I still need the exams (I don't want to do it though!!). But I could not get in until MAY 31st!!!! This doctor is apparently popular. Crazy. So I now have that looming.
I feel like I've spent the first part of this year in the doctors' offices: podiatrist, endocrinologist, 8 weeks of physical therapy for my ankle/foot, podiatrist again, labwork, the dentist, gastroenterologist (twice), oh and the dermatologist. Once the colonoscopy is complete, it will be time for my annual GYN/mammogram appointment. That should happen in June. I then get the month of July off (barring any new issues) and it all starts again in August with the endocrinologist.
Whew! Hopefully one day I will be back to my old self.
My mother's wrist healing is going well. She has a plate and about 8 pins in her wrist. She's in the physical therapy phase now and the PT told her she was having AWESOME healing. Even though my mother is 75, she is very active and takes care of herself so I think having that good baseline helps. I never did make it down to see her new house with all my problems and she is coming back up here at the end of April/beginning of May to sort out her house here. Maybe I'll get down there in the fall!
Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend.