More About Me

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a health update about myself here and it’s probably about time.

As you know if you’ve been reading along for awhile, I’ve been sick since last September.  I’ve been to several doctors (ENT, GI, my primary care, OB/GYN) and have recently added a new component to my health care team.  I’ve been seeing a chiropractor who also specializes in alternative medicine and this week I had my first appointment with an acupuncturist. 

Some of the treatments have been a bit, well, wacky, but the truth is I’m feeling better than I’ve felt in more than a year.  The symptoms are not gone.  But they are less frequent and I am learning to manage them a bit better.  I’m working hard to reduce my sugar intake (so please, don’t offer me any cookies – I just can’t resist) and that seems to be helping. 

There is still no official diagnosis but all of the doctors seem to agree that it appears to be a problem with my hormone levels.  They test fine but clearly something is out of balance.  I’m waiting on the results of a saliva hormones test and hoping that will shed some additional insight.

To anyone who has suffered a chronic illness, I want to offer you my deepest sympathies.  I never before realized just how difficult and draining it is – even when it doesn’t seem to be “that bad” or you “get used to it”.  The truth is, it may become part of your life and your routine, but you never really get used to how deeply it affects your life. 

And if you are part of the support system for someone living with chronic illness – thank you.  That’s a hard job – possibly even harder than being the one who is sick.  I can only imagine how helpless you feel when seeing your loved one suffer. 

Let me end this entry by saying that being sick changes who you are as a person.  Sometimes I barely recognize myself anymore and I can hardly remember what it felt like to feel normal.  But I’m working really hard to get back there.