I’m back! I (obviously) took an unexpected 2-week blog vacation, but I’m back now. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I had a small medical emergency last week, which triggered an arthritis flare, and I spent most of last week in a hotel. Today we’re talking about what happened over the past 2 weeks, what’s going on with me, and you also have the chance to win a $50 Etsy gift card!
Life Update
Why did I take an impromptu blog vacation? After 3 months of 2-4 blog posts a week, I was starting to get a little drained. I’m also at the beginning of finals because finals in a grad school program for literature lasts 4-6 weeks. By May 16, I have 3 papers to write culminating in 40-50 pages. And as much as I love blogging – and I really do – I’m paying thousands of dollars to study for a degree. I’m going to put a fair amount of effort in to really learn and get my money’s worth. Plus, my sister’s college graduation is right in the middle of my finals, so I need to get my papers done a little bit early.
So I decided to take a week off of blogging to mentally recharge and focus on school, especially since I had a presentation on April 7 and I was supposed to have another one on April 11 (but then I had some medical issues, as discussed below). After my ER trip on the 11th and due to mold issues (again, see below), I had to stay in a hotel in order to recover from everything and I was doing poorly. I was there for Tuesday to Saturday and was in pretty bad shape until Friday or Saturday.
What’s everything look like going forward? Like I said, my finals have started. I’m going to aim for 3 points a week per usual, but it’s very possible that it will get down to 2 when May comes around. The good news, though, is that after that I have 3.5 months off! I’m really looking forward to that.
Health Update
The Event – Randomly on Saturday afternoon, I felt incredibly nauseated. I spent the next 48 hours on the bathroom floor or in bed. I couldn’t eat anything and I had abdominal pain. I couldn’t really drink anything either. I took Pepto Bismal pills every couple of hours but it just made me comfortable enough to sleep. I tried to get an appointment with my PCP on Monday, but they couldn’t fit me in, and my nurse told me to go to walk-in care. Once I got there, they put me through triage and admitted me before taking me to the ER. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t stand straight. The only reason I stopped crying was I was too dehydrated. After a couple of hours at the hospital – I hate how slow the ER moves – I was examined by a PA and then the doctor. They decided to give me fluids, morphine, and zofran (nausea medicine). After that was done, I started feeling better. I even got an appetite for the first time in 48 hours! The ended up doing a CT scan to see what was going on, and it turned out that at least one if not multiple ovarian cysts had ruptured, and I currently have another one. They gave me more fluids after I almost passed out – whoops – and then I was finally discharged. I went home and slept for 8-10 hours, during which I apparently woke up screaming twice due to morphine. Before 1 PM, I had managed to have several bowls of Cheerios, drink a fair amount of Gatorade, and take my pills for the first day in a couple of days!
Lungs – I’m still having asthma issues, but the hope is that the worst of it is behind me because I’m on a whole bunch of asthma meds now and the mold is out of our house! The mold mediators – yes, that’s what they’re called – removed SO much mold from my bedroom. As in, up to 40″ of it on 3 walls of my bedroom. Not only is living in mold bad for you, but I’m also allergic to it. And I’m immunocompromised, aka my immune system is suppressed by my medication since I have an autoimmune disease. The combination of all of that leads to my body basically freaking out.
Arthritis – I’m waiting on my Stelara to kick in, which could happen any time in between now and the end of June. But between the events of last week and the mold, I’ve also entered an arthritis flare. Basically, my immune system has revved up and is attacking my body even more than normal. Think larger amounts of pain and fatigue (which is super fun when you have anemia).
Enter the Etsy Giveaway
Kate the (Almost) Great | Bourbon, Lipstick, and Stilettos | Travelvan | Rhyme & Ribbons | Hey, It’s Kate | Collectively Caitlin
We’re giving away a $50 Etsy gift card! This contest is only open to the US (sorry!) and you must be over the age of 18. The giveaway begins 4/18/2016 at 12:00 AM and ends at 4/24/2016 at 11:59 PM. If you lie in your entries, you will be disqualified. The winner will be chosen within 48 hours of the giveaway ending; once they are chosen, they have 48 hours to reply to the email they’ll receive to confirm their win. Good luck!
Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.
Oh my goodness! I am so sorry to hear about your horrible recent health ordeals! (As if you don’t have enough of that to deal with anyway!) I can’t imagine the pain and discomfort of multiple rupturing cysts. Yikes. I hope you can get to feeling much better soon.
Thank you! I’m definitely recovered from the cysts, but I’m unfortunately flaring now because of it all. I’ve already been on high dose of steroids for my asthma (which is also the response to a flare), so hopefully that will help.
Oh goodness, friend. I hope you feel better soon 🙁
It looks like you’ve been feeling better, from Snapchat. I didn’t realize your place had mold though — that SUCKS. As if you needed that to make everything worse.
Yup. It has been awful. There was just a HUGE amount of it in my bedroom. We now have a mold guy and we’re doing more testing to make sure that it’s all gone. Things getting wild out here!
I understand being in pain. I have chronic pain too. Mine is due from different things but I do have the arthritis and fibro too! A pharmacist recommended me a vitamin for my fibro because the Lyrica made me sick. The vitamin helps with the flu like symptoms fibro makes us have. If you ever need it please let me know and I’ll give ya the name of it. I’m hoping for the best for you and many prayers as well. ~Jeanie
Thanks for the offer! I’m not on Lyrica, but thank you anyway.