Co morbidities

1/8/2008 7:25 PM
Co morbidities
Ahh, where do I start?
To date I have; high blood pressure, sore joints, plantar fasciitis, calcaneal fracture, fatigue, hypothyroidism, PCOS. Oh, and gallbladder disease.
My back pain has bothered me for several years. There were days I needed lots of time to be able to straighten up in the morning. There were some times I had to sleep on my back with several pillows under my knees for support. There were times my back hurt so bad I didn’t go to work. In my youth, and until 10 years ago(hmmm…see a pattern??), I owned,trained and rode horses. Any rider will tell you that it also means I have fallen off of horses for years!! I’m sure I hurt my back in one or many of any of the falls. It didn’t help that I have been losing and gaining weight for so long. A decade is a long freaking time.
I have been up 20, down 50, up 50, down 10..over and over again only to land about 60 pounds from where I should be.
In 2003 I became a Massage Therapist. Upon completion of my education I intended on fixing my back. The pain had gotten so bad that I was put on temporary disability. I had an MRI confirm I had two herniated discs. I had PT for 10 weeks. I had meds to use if needed – Percocet and muscle relaxers. I was going to the Chiro but only found that to be frustrating.
I returned to work in the OR but have a reduced schedule. It helps to have a break in the week but my back still runs about a 7 on the 1-10 pain scale. 7 is much better than the 10 (where it used to be for days at a time).
I stretch and get massages often. I work on my feet all the time. If I am in the OR I am standing on a cement floor for hours at a time.
The floors have probably contributed, along with my ever climbing weight to my foot pain/plantar fasciitis and fracture. I have had several steroid injections in my heel. NOT fun! I perform therapy on my own feet. I can resolve the pain in my left foot but not the right. The foot pain has left me off work for a week straight. That scared me because I do not like living on reduced wages. Thank goodness I have great insurance.
Oddly enough there are a few other hospitals where I work and the floor doesn't bother me.
In SC, I never have foot pain (form work).
For as long as I can remember I have had “tummy trouble”, rumbles, pain and diarrhea after eating. There definitely are trigger foods but more or less it happened all of the time after eating. I remember always just rubbing my right side….and “getting over it”. This “rub it away” pain was intense but it would subside after about 20 minutes. One afternoon I was scrubbing in a case and got the pain. I started perspiring a lot. I must have been wearing the pain on my face because my circulator was worried about me. She asked me if I wanted to break (leave the sterile area/room), that she would get someone to relieve me. “Nah” I said, “I’ll be ok in a bit”. A coworker came into my room and asked if I was ok and if I wanted to finish the case. “I’m ok” I said again. When the case was over I put my instruments away and asked the nurses in recovery to take my pressure because I felt wrong. I had the tummy pain but it was moving to the center of my chest. “GREAT” I thought, “I must be having a heart attack”. My pressure was 200/100. The recovery room nurse manager told me to go to the ER. I didn’t want to. She was very insistent. I told her that my Dr. is on my way home and that I would promise to go there. She called the Dr. to more or less force me to go to his office. I went. He saw me, took vitals and asked me if I wanted him to call an ambulance! I drove myself to the ER (about 2 miles) and was admitted. That was on a Friday. I had my LapChole on Saturday morning. I had a 2cm X 2cm stone.
Having been followed for hypothyroidism for nearly 13 years I go to the Dr. about 4 times a year for bloodwork and meds. I have never had especially high blood pressure. It ran about 126/85. Not that bad for a chubby gal. After the gallbladder attack and removal I had VERY high blood pressure. Upon my return to work after the operation (6 weeks) I ran very high BP. It lingered at 190/95 ish. I was put on Lopressor 100mg twice a day. With meds I linger about 130/83. I would like to get OFF of the meds.
I started an administrative position at a hospital in 1993. I had great insurance and went to the doctor. I wanted a regular check up and talk about getting an appointment with a nutritionist. I wanted to lose about 25 pounds but wanted to do it in a monitored and sane way. In filling out the health questionnaire I wrote that I had either gained or lost more than 50 pounds in the last 2 years. YES. I then had some routine bloodwork done and found that my TSH was astronomical. Not really knowing what a high TSH level was I was at first confused. HIGH? Then why am I getting fatter? Apparently the higher your TSH, the less your thyroid is working. AHA! Ok, WOW, this could be good. I can get leveled and then I will be able to shed the pounds no problem at all. Finally I had an answer. No one told me it can take months of meds adjustment until you find the right level. It took about 8 months. I don’t remember what that level was but I am now, nearly 15 year later, taking .175 mg/day of Synthroid. Another med! I remember losing about 19 pounds but it just crept back on again.
The PCOS was diagnosed by my endocrinologist who I recruited as my PMD because I loved his approach to healthcare and finally felt heard by a doctor. I was put on glucophage to help with insulin resistance which pairs up with PCOS. I had some but not all of the symptoms of PCOS. Apparently it affects your fertility (HELLO), can give you lethargy, malaise, and a whole host of other ailments. I had a lot of the laundry list. The glucophage has horrible side effects for some people and of course if it involves tummy trouble, I am part of the SOME PEOPLE. I had the poopaloopas for EVER! I gave the medicine a good 6 months before I asked to be taken off of it. I lost about 10 pounds but yet again..creep creep creep. I lost my endo as my PMD because he switched his practice to only take peds. I found another Medical Doctor.
Both the PCOS and the hypothyroid definitely make weight loss a bit harder but in no way make it impossible.
I was at about ten pounds over my comfortable weight in the mid to late 90's. By 1998 I had gained 60+ pounds with the pregnancy. Been cycling ever since.
I can understand about 6 months of weight gain or stall back then. Afterall I was a nutcase. I'm a little amazed that I even survived.
If there is anythingn I can thank Michael for it is being there for me then, even though we weren't "together".
My hope is that with the band I will be able to get off of the blood pressure medicine. I can heal my foot pain; I can have a pain free back.
In one season of TBL I remember one male contestant who had lost a lot of weight. His wife hugged him and asked about his asthma. “Gone” he said, “Gone”. I know in my head that a lot of my “maladies” can be erased once the weight is off, I just can’t wait!!