Evagation

Thursday, March 23, 2006

What makes news "good," exactly?

My news isn't really good, or bad, it's simply news. Although to jump back a few days--it's been wacky in my life. After dealing with all of the doctors on Monday, I called Devin to let him know that I may, or may not, need to go the E.R. In the four years we've been together, it has never been easy for me to tell Devin when I'm sick, and how bad it really is. I don't know why I can easily write about it on the internet, then turn around and have a hard time sharing my problems with my husband. But I'm trying to be better. So, I called Devin and let him know what was going on, which lead to me telling my father-in-law everything because he could tell I was sick (being passed out on the couch was probably an indicator) and he is my boss, after all. Devin's Mom also happens to be a nurse in our local hospital, and when she came home on her lunch break, I told her what was going on and she promised to ask some of her E.R. friends about it, saving me the trip (and the money). Then I had to tell my parents because I needed them to drive me to Fresno. Good lord, that was a lot of people to enlighten about my problems. Everyone was great but it felt strange to have so many people hovering over me when I'm only mildly sick. (Since recovering from eye surgery, that is now my new measure for sickness. If I ever feel that awful again, then I'm pretty damn sick. If I'm nowhere close to feeling that bad, then it must not be a big deal.) Besides the blood, I only felt achy and tired, which could have been attributed to PMS and not Crohn's. But everyone seemed to think it was a Big Fucking Deal, so I got to stay home for a day and watch a whole lot of "Gilmore Girls." My first doc visit--with my Gastroenterologist (GI)--went as expected. The first thing he said was, "Well, you need a colonoscopy, eh?" "Yup," I replied. "It's been about two years." "Well, let's get that scheduled and then we'll decide on if you need steroids or not." Yes! I screamed inside my head. He's not going to simply pump me full of steroids that I might not need. I really like this new guy. Apparently, since he's also got some sort of M.D. in pharmacology, he realizes that steroids are evil, evil drugs and should be used sparingly, especially in an adult woman who's already got a litany of problems due to excessive use of steroids during her formative years. (The arthritis? Combination of Crohn's side-effects and the fact that steroids deplete calcium in the bones and fuck with your joints. I'm also an estimated two or three inches shorter than I would have been had steroids not stunted my growth. They also apparently mucked with some of my other internal organs--steroids can mess with almost everything in the human body. But I'm not entirely sure what all of that means at this point in time. All I know is that taking steroids now could mess with my reproductive system--I didn't get my period until I was seventeen because of steroids--and since I do want to have kids within the next five, or so, years, I really don't want to be rendered infertile quite yet.) I guess this was good news. A doc who doesn't want to put me on steroids for no good reason is a really, really wonderful doctor. I don't even mind going in for the colonoscopy (which is in May) because I knew that was coming and I've already had a bunch, so they don't faze me anymore. Also! I saw my Retinologist and he told me that I'm almost fully healed! I suppose that would be great news. He's given me the go-ahead to call my Optometrist and get fitted for a new lens for my newly-improved left eye. (The surgery completely changed my prescription, obviously. Which is sad, in a way, because I'm more blind now than before--but I can see, so I really have no complaints.) Which means I'm only a few weeks away from losing da eye patch! Woo! Woowoowoowoo... and I could just go on forever. I can also do yoga again! (Which means I can bend at the waist for extended periods of time.) And in three months, I'll be able to ride a roller coaster again. (Apparently that is not a question the eye doc usually gets asked because his patients are all sixty or older, so he had to consult with some of his colleagues but general consensus was that a roller coaster shouldn't knock the rubber band from around my eye, or re-detach my retina but I still need to wait a good three months, which is fine.) He also told me that, in six or nine months, I would be a good candidate for Lasik. Which surprised the hell out of me. I didn't think they could do Lasik on a detached retina patient but I guess they can. It would be beyond weird to have Lasik--I've been wearing glasses since I was in the second grade. And I'm legally blind without them, so I can't see a damn thing first thing in the morning. I can also, apparently, go back to wearing contacts as soon as I feel comfortable. Which was another surprise because I thought I'd have to wait a good two or three more months before wearing contacts again. But eye doc said no, I could go back to wearing them now if I wanted to but I'm probably going to wait, anyway. Because my eye still hurts (which is normal, I'm told, this was a Big Deal surgery and it's going to be a while before my eye stops hurting entirely) and putting little bits of rubber in it seems counter-intuitive to me. But. Wow. I'm going to have my life back. I'm going to be able to drive again! Devin and I are even looking into getting me a cheap, but decent little Kia or Saturn so I don't have to drive the '92 Merc. Cougar anymore. Because that thing needs to be put down. Although I'll probably end up donating it to the local Polly Klaas Foundation chapter (you know, that girl who got kidnapped and murdered from Petaluma, CA or somewhere like that). They'll take anything, and the Cougar is actually in pretty good shape, it's simply not street legal. Which is fine, they've told me, because they'll pay all of the DMV fees (the tags on it are from 2004). So, I guess this is all good news. I'll soon be able to get back to my regularly-scheduled life.

Posted by Katie. on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 8:24 AM | Permalink | 1 comments | links to this post   

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