Hmmm.....

Okay, so I have had a little problem with the UC the last week, actually, things haven't been great since the 28th of December but since last Wednesday, it has escalated to "full blown flare".

This whole post is probably going to be in and out of GRAPHIC ALERT, so I am just labeling the whole thing as one big, giant, GRAPHIC ALERT.

I have a spot, his name is Wilbur, he has lived right on my anus for the last year or so. He gets big and little depending on how bad the UC gets, to be technical, he is a skin tag, not confused with a hemorrhoid, he doesn't itch or burn and he is a direct result of having to go to the bathrooms more than 10 times a day, a little piece of skin got folded the wrong direction one day and got inflamed, when it was time to get "un" inflamed, there was too much skin left, hence Wilbur. We live quite well together most of the time but before Christmas, I started feeling like Wilbur was giving birth to a little Wilburette, and this was making life, well, a bit more painful than normal. So, I called the gastro and he said call your gp, who said see the surgeon. I saw the surgeon on the 28th, his prognosis--the shape you are in, bathroom-wise, if I cut there, it will never heal. Long live Wilbur, Doc Reid did give me a cream to put on Wilbur, to help him not hurt as much, get this, it is nitroglycerin. Now if you now that Nitroglycerin was the precursor of TNT (it is an explosive liquid), you will understand the jokes that my guys have put through themselves. Anyway, on this little tangent, the nitro is actually shrinking Wilbur, the docs doubt he will go completely away but I won't miss him if he does.

That day, at the surgeon's, I also had an endoscopy, I NORMALLY get put all the way out for procedures such as these, but not that day. Here I sat in the table with my knees on one plane, leaning over a vinyl armrest with my butt up in the air so a scope could be put inside to see if Wilbur had any friends or if they could see any cuts that would be causing Wilbur to yell more than usual. The scope itself was one of the worst things I have experienced in quite a while. I am sorry, I cannot imagine anybody letting anybody else purposely put ANYTHING up there!!! Ok, gonna get off that subject before I get on it. Anyway.......ever since then, I have been bleeding again. Oh and no little Wilbur friends and yes, there were cuts, those too from the inflammation and constant bathroom usage.

Last Wednesday, it got worse, much worse and I started taking 40 mg of prednisone a day to try to stop it. This normally works but as of today, it hadn't touched it and I was running out of prednisone. So, I called the doctor.

I called, got the receptionist, told her I needed a refill on my prednisone and she said she would get the nurse to call it in, I got off the phone and thought I had gotten by with that pretty easy. A half hour later Kim called.  Kim is my favorite nurse and we are a lot alike, running 100 miles an hour 24/7 and loving every minute of it. However, Kim is also a bulldog and knows I try to keep things going on my own. So, she started out with "What's going on?" and as I told her she said you need to just come to St. John's to the ER. I said I was 2 and a half hours away and couldn't do that. I told her I used to be able to go to a friend of mine who was a PA and have an IV of prednisone and get over it, she said that is what I needed this time. Unfortunately, my friend no longer is in the area. I told her I would compromise and if we could work something out at the Effingham hospital I would go, otherwise I couldn't possibly come to Springfield before Thursday or Friday. She went and talked to Dr. Peterson and called me right back. Try 80 mg of prednisone today and tomorrow, if we don't see a big difference by Thursday, I am going to Springfield. I agreed. Oh, and as ALWAYS, I have to take a sample to Effingham to test for C-Diff. The girls at St. Anthony are so used to me doing this that they sent home extra supplies so I don't have to make a separate trip over. So, Andrew brought the "hat" to catch the sample and my bottles and I had a sample ready by 1:00. I had a conference call at 1:30 and then I ran my specimen to the lab. I know I don't have C-Diff, I feel okay, except for spending way too much time in the bathroom and starting to feel weak because of the iron and lack of blood thing.

For those of you who work with me, you aren't getting rid of me that easy. I feel fine to go to work and I will continue to do so. Sitting at home and 80 mg of prednisone is a dangerous combination, especially on my recent weight loss. See the prednisone causes a little weight gain just from water retention ( I was up 3 lbs this evening so I planned on running to Casey to WW, I didn't do it to myself because that will go away when the dosage comes down) However, prednisone also makes you feel hungry. I know this and don't buy into it, but if I was sitting at home watching tv and feeling sorry for myself, I would be eating so we aren't going there. Life goes on, and I will too.


It is what it is.