MRIs and Valentine’s

Hello to all, I hope you had a great week. I know this post comes late, but since my IBD News Today column goes live on Fridays, I will be posting on Saturdays from here on out.

After last Friday’s blog posts went live, both Early Signs and Symptoms of My Crohn’s Disease and Eggshell Days, it was date night.

Just before Christmas time, we found out that Georgetown had an Irish Pub, Slainté, so we have visited that place a few times since the discovery. Friday night we went there before our Qdoba dinner, an easy date night for two after a chaotic week, and a nice surprise for me not to cook dinner.

Saturday the Cats played (Univ. of Ky), so dinner at home was a must. Steaks, baked potatoes, green beans, and, a Cats win. It was another ideal evening, and I even made devils food cake cupcakes. But, I think I have eaten almost all of the 24 by myself. Only 9 remain today, but it is time to let them go. I’ll make some strawberry muffins tonight to replace my stash. Edit – no muffins were made. Phil wanted to eat out rather than have me make dinner. I wanted Texas Tortilla Soup but he didn’t.

Sunday-Funday means refilling my medications and doing last minute homework, as always. Philip made a meatloaf for us and we stayed in pajamas all day.

Monday is for homework and I am a tad upset with myself. I procrastinated a little and did not get as good of a weekly grade as I would have liked. I was up until after 2 am completing my paper, and then insomnia hit until around 4ish.

Senioritis is taking over and each week I dread the class work. This week is the final week for my current course, Research for Journalism, and as usual, a new class begins Tuesday, with Journalistic Writing I.

4 more classes. 20 more weeks. That’s it. This is what I keep telling myself, but the motivation is lacking this year.

Going to bed at 4ish, it was Valentine’s day. Philip and I couldn’t wait (read: I couldn’t wait), so we exchanged gifts at midnight. A large frog, for me, and a wooden watch for him. Candies all around, of course, and I would receive flowers that afternoon. The frog holds a pillow that reads ‘Kiss Me’, but the ‘Me’ portion looks like ‘Moe’, hence his name.

Philip got off work early, and we had originally planned on going to dinner. Philip had made reservations at a really nice restaurant in town, in the effort was more than appreciated. But seeing how this is our 10th or so Valentine’s day together and the Cats played at 7, I didn’t need an expensive dinner and I knew Philip wanted to watch the game. So, we decided to have beer and wings instead.

We went back to that Irish Pub, Slainté, and then to BW3s for a very romantic dinner of chicken wings, onion rings and fried pickles. An easy dinner for two, what could be better

I also wore orange on Valentine’s, rather than the usual pink or red. Resolve and other sites dedicated to infertility asked that people error orange in solidarity and to bring awareness. 1 in 8 couples suffer infertility, and male infertility is just as common a factor as female infertility. We have waited 52 months for a little lamb and awareness for the struggle that is infertility is an important issue. Mary wants a little lamb, dammit.

Wednesday, I had an abdominal MRI Enterography, and the doctors waited until Tuesday afternoon to inform me that I needed medication prior. I was told Tuesday afternoon around 2, before our Valentine’s date, that I needed as prescription of Bentyl, to calm my stomach before the scan.

So, I got to call the VA pharmacy to see if it had been ordered, it hadn’t. I got transferred to telephone care, and luckily the representative knew the GI nurse Joanna when I mentioned her, so she transferred me to her. Joanna talked to my GI doctor, Dr. S, and the order was put in. Chaos for one pill. I also scheduled my Occupational Therapy consultation for my hands, I won’t be seen until mid-April, sadly.

Philip and I had originally planned to see a matinee for Valentine’s, but instead, we got to visit the VA pharmacy that was surprisingly busy and full of sick people. I should have brought my mask, autoimmune disease and all.

After 6 am, to prepare for my MRI Enterography, I was not allowed to have anything beyond a sip of water to take my medications. After that, it was 8 hours until my scan. No coffee, no food, only the Barium solution before the scan.

I had to remove all my metal jewelry, of course, and I was terrified my septum would close back up. This is the 2nd piercing, do I did not want to have to do it again.

I got to the MRI office and was given 3 Barium drinks to finish, each takes 20 minutes or so. After I finish them, the scan could begin. I tell you, putting that much liquid in my stomach all at once hurts. You get bloated and almost sick to your stomach. I wanted to vomit but I knew it needed to stay in there. So. Much. Fluid.

When I went to have the scan, lucky me didn’t have to wear a gown. I had cleverly picked out clothing and undergarments without any metal embellishments, which meant I didn’t have to change. For the scan itself, I got IV contrast are well, so that meant a large needle in my arm.

Then, oddly, I was told to roll over, onto my stomach, because that’s how this scan was done. She placed a heavy plastic mat like thing over my back and strapped me down, I was given a pillow to put under my knees and another to put my head on. She gave me a button to press in case I needed her to stop the scan and headphones that played music and helped with the loud noises from the MRI.

I joked that I would fall asleep during the scan, but the nurse told me I wouldn’t be able to. She told me I would have to hold my breath and be still at times. So, I would have to pay attention. But, like I had anticipated and warned the nurse, I fell asleep.

I remember the beginning of the scan, with Shinedown playing on the headphones, and I remember feeling my head getting heavy. I tried to shake that feeling away without messing up the images but I failed. Next thing I knew she was waking me up. I told her I fell asleep but she assured me that I did fine.

Instead of an hour and a half, we finished in an hour. I was sent to the waiting area again and then given a CD of the images. Sadly, I don’t have a CD drive on the laptop here so I cannot view them.

I immediately went next door to McDonald’s for an iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and maybe I’m biased, but it was mediocre. I finished my sandwich and headed home. I got to vomit that back up into the paper bag that it came in, all while driving. Philip said I’m not allowed to eat while driving anymore.

After getting home, I had to write and submit my third article for IBD News Today, the second part of my four-part series about Crohn’s disease. This week’s topic, Crohn’s Disease diagnosis, and next week I’ll discuss how to cope with a diagnosis.

After the scan and writing my article, I was extremely tired and woke up Thursday feeling the same, if not worse. I was supposed to drop off a package at UPS but Philip volunteered to do that for me.

The night was spent watching Lost and writing. I have been trying to come up with blog and column ideas, so while Philip watches his shows at night, I get to research for my writings.

I was up until after 2 a lot this week, insomnia and belly issues. Being up late means I sleep in until 10-ish. I hate sleeping, and sleeping badly, never feeling like I get sufficient rest.

My stomach issues persist, I vomit multiple times throughout the day, every meal and snack I have comes right back up, it gets very mundane and I am so tired of it. My throat hurts. My lungs and my body aches. I am in constant fear of getting sick, my throat is always making me question if I’m getting ill.

Upping my migraine medication has seemed to help my head a little bit. My skin has looked a little better after using my new lotions and creams, but my hands and joints ache something fierce. And, I went through 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, eating a sleeve at a time. Philip saw my dealer (Girl Scouts) at Kroger today, and he bought me 4 more boxes.

Friday, I spent writing with Bilbo. We sat outside in the 60-degree weather while I had coffee and wrote this blog. Friday means the weekend means date night! We went back to Slainté and stayed up late, made new friends and enjoyed most of the night.

We didn’t get up until late today, Saturday, and I woke to more photographs from Klix Imagez and La Sirena Designs. Savage! — And, as always, you can find them, and myself, on Facebook and Instagram.

This afternoon, we watched Arrival, with plans to go back to Slainté today for the Cats game this evening.

Another week down but another week where I’ve had positives and some good days, forever hopeful and grateful for them. Really, It Could Be Worse.

Thank you for reading, and for keeping up with My Crohn’s Journey. Please Like It Could Be Worse Blog on Facebook!

And as always, any information you’d like to offer up about Remicade infusions or any of my current struggles and/or issues, I have open ears and I’ll happily take any tips you have to offer!

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IBD News Today Column:

Welcome to ‘It Could Be Worse’ – A Column by Mary Horsley