Diagnoses: When Symptoms Collide Part II

I'm finally sitting down to write the sequel to Diagnoses: When Symptoms Collide, which was a continuation of The Worst Rubes Goldberg Ever.

I left off in early December after having my iud removed and feeling much improved, but not cured yet of my inexplicable acid reflux. A week after that appointment I had an orthopedic follow up. I almost cancelled because I had been feeling pretty good but decided to go in anyway just to have a few questions answered. AM I GLAD I DID!

During the conversation with my orthopedist, I mentioned the possibility of my hyper mobility being a factor in my acid reflux. He didn't think that sounded too likely but as I explained the symptoms of my gut he said it sounded strange. He went to school with a guy who he thought could help me out. Right then and there he called his friend (who is a GI nurse practitioner of 20 years) and told him my situation. Of course, lots of people experience acid reflux but once he was told how old I am and all the things I've done to fix it with no progress, the GI guy wanted to see me right away. He cleared his schedule and I got right in for a visit.

What a blessing that phone call has been! If I hadn't decided to follow up with my orthopedist and if he hadn't "known a guy" and if "that guy" just blew me off like all the other GI doctors I had seen, I'd still be a miserable sack of acid. INSTEAD, I'm almost completely cured. Finally!

But let's go back a step or two...

So this GI guy is a bit of a character but that's what's made him an answer to my prayers. He listens. REALLY listens. He asks questions and digs until he has a clear picture of what I've been suffering with and what needs to be done about it. The answers are relatively simple but require a lot of patience.

• He said it was likely that I had the clostridium difficile bacteria in my intestines for years. It's very common to have it and not have symptoms. But when I got sick with the flu going on two years ago, it kicked off the delicate balance started the acid reflux, which was a symptom of gut that was already just hanging on to normalcy.

• When the other GI doctors prescribed me strong antibiotic after strong antibiotic, it kicked my gut into fledged clostridium difficile colitis. 

• After getting that under control (it's never really cured and can come back with another bug or use of an antibiotic) my acid reflux was still bothering me. Getting the iud out helped because the nerve endings in the uterus are somehow connected to the nerves in the intestines and the whole area was under such stress.

• I still had acid reflux though, so he had me continue my prescription-strength acid reducer and strong probiotics. But the kicker? He prescribed me ground flax seed to eat at the same time as the probiotic. See, probiotics will go straight through, not doing any good if they don't have something to bind on to and sit in the intestines working their magic. Enter the flaxseed. I have to eat a tablespoon of it at the same time every day (I usually put it in nutella or cream cheese or orange juice) because gastrointestinal systems very much likes a schedule.

• This has to be done for quite some time so it can build up in your body.

After 6 weeks of this I had become 85% better of all my acid issues. And then I went to Mexico... dum, dum, duuuuuuuummmmm!

Mexico was great. Mexico was grand. Until I got sick. Probably from some pico de gallo or the hands that prepared it. Many people get sick in foreign countries but it usually lasts a couple of days at most. Mine held on for a week, then two weeks, then over three weeks! I finally made it back to my trusty GI guy and he said, YEP! That's a lingering symptom of ever having c. diff colitis. My system will forever be oversensitive to food poisoning. 

Getting sick in Mexico kicked in my acid reflux once again. It was so bad. I had to sleep sitting almost straight up for three weeks and was miserable all day long. 

Once again, I had to give my body time to heal itself with the flax and probiotic and acid reducer. After two more months, I'm practically healed. I still feel it when I lay flat on my back or have a really empty stomach but that's it. I can now actually sit and I don't have to leave my pants unbuttoned all day like a redneck (but I still do because I'm paranoid that the acid will come back). 

A few follow up notes:

• I've been catching every sickness going around because many of the germs that make us sick get absorbed through our intestines. Since I've had weak intestines, my immune system itself has been weak.

• I shouldn't visit countries that have a high risk for making travelers sick. Well, Mexico, it was nice knowing you! I wasn't happy hearing that about 1/3 of the world is now un-travel-able to me. 

• I can't take any antibiotics, EVER, without cultures being done first to see exactly what bacteria to treat and exactly how low and short of a dose can be taken. AND it has to go through my GI's approval first. 

• I will eventually be healed completely of my acid reflux and other symptoms to the point where I won't need to take any more medicine for it. It'll still take another 12-18 months, though. BLEH.

My body will always run the risk of getting c. diff colitis again. If I do catch it again, the likelihood of catching it again and again goes up exponentially. Then the only likely cure for it is (hold on to your seat, folks...) a fecal transplant. Say, wha??!!!! Yes I'm totally serious and yes, Rob has graciously volunteered his excellent poop. Oh. My. Goodness!!!! You, guys!!! Cringe, cringe, cringe!!  

So that's it. 

Easy as pie, I hang my head and sigh.

Home Decor: The Library

When we walked into our future home for the first time and saw the open loft with builtin wall-to-wall bookshelves, we were sold. Done-zo. Done dealio.

A quick 5 years later and we have finally decorated our beloved space. Bad Julie.

Obviously the books are the stars of the show here. I've written a few posts about the thousands of books we have read, the process of collection, some interesting stats on them, and the hilarious Part 1 and Part 2 of Rejected Books: So Bad, Yet So Good.

I painted the back of the bookshelves a dark slate blue and put an Ikea gold clip light over the overstuffed chair (which came from my late grandma's house). One adult and all 3 kids can sit on it at the same time with one on each arm rest and one laying on the top of the backrest. Cara also likes to tilt the lamp so it shines behind the chair in a little dark corner so she can read back there.

I wanted a bright, fun pillow and had this fabric and decided it works with the colorful children's books.

I bought fabric to sew drapes but decided they were too dark and heavy for the space. It gets a lot of natural light but I need to keep the blinds shut most of the time because of the glare on the computer screens. My sister bought these drapes for her house and changed her mind but they couldn't be returned. I tried them and they look great.

This is the happiest hanging house plant I ever did see. I have always loved hanging plants. They help fill in corners and are out of the reach of pets and kids. You can even see it from our front door downstairs and makes the whole space look more homey.

We desperately needed a new office chair. Our old hand-me-down was broken and dirty and hurt my back so we threw it out and I used Rob's drum throne for a couple of months. I finally decided I needed to stop being so cheap and go get a comfortable chair for me since I write here every day.

This one is wonderful. It makes me want to curl up in it and fall asleep (which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it). It's this Serta chair from Office Depot and I recommend it. They have a higher back version as well.

The desk is huge and dark and not one that I would buy myself but it was my brother's. When he bought it long ago I remember him being so proud of his new fancy office furniture. Then, not long after that, he sat at his new desk and planned his own funeral. Ahem. Sorry. So where were we? Okay. The desk is huge which works out because we can store all of our unsightly junk in it without needing extra shelves or filing cabinets so it's actually nice in that way.

Rob wanted two monitors and after using them together for a couple of years now I can't imagine ever going back to one. It's so handy having so much work space!

I wanted as much desktop space as possible so I had Rob fashion a shelf on the side of the desk tucked away in the corner for the printer.

We have a lot of space underneath the desk so that's where we hid the subwoofer. There is also the footstool I bought when Nate was potty training. I'm so short I don't like having my feet dangle.

I decided to keep the negative space above the desk. I'm sure having nothing there would bug a lot of people but I embrace it.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the wall space around the desk. I had lots of more modern ideas but then I brought home this mirror from Ikea, just to see how I liked it, and decided to keep it.

We really needed a desk lamp but I didn't want it sitting on top so I searched all over online and found about a hundred sconces that I loved but then I saw this one in the store on clearance and the price was unbeatable so I grabbed it.

The trash can is from Pakistan, I think, when Rob's grandparents lived there long ago.

The drums are gorgeous and match the woodwork exactly so they stayed but Rob did downsize them a little for me. Such a gentleman.

Even though a mirror is so predictable, I felt like we needed something reflective on the wall to capture the window light and direct it into the room without it messing up my screen time. Now I can't imagine the space without it. I feel like the wall would look dead and flat without that extra depth and window light reflection.

We've always loved hanging out in this room but now we love it even more. It's so comfortable and feels very inviting.

 

Rob really wants to pretentiously call this room "The Library" but I'm not sure he'll be successful. We've been calling it "The Loft" for so long now that it'll be a hard habit to break.

Dear Tulum: A Love Letter

Dear Tulum,

You stole my heart and I will never be the same again.

I succumbed to your carefree vibes.

I soared when you touched me with your delicate sands.

My worries melted away with every delicious taste you gave me.

Your light shined on my bare porcelain skin and left me in afterglow.

My inhibitions washed away in your secluded waters.

Oh, my dear Tulum. You will always hold my sweetest memories, my deepest love, my heart.

Devotion Forever,

Julianna

Playing in Playa

Even though we stayed our first night in Playa del Carmen, we didn't actually do too much there because of the other locales we were looking forward to visiting even more.

We did walk the touristy street our first night and found somewhere a few blocks off of it for dinner.

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast

before we had a leisurely walk on the beach. (Ugh. Why do clothes always look so big on me??)

Then we drove into town, took way too long trying to get money out of an ATM, and then spent $20 on a pair of $5 fake, beat up ray-bans since I left my sunglasses at home.

We were glad to leave the hustle and bustle of street vendors and traffic behind as we made our way to our quiet, secluded paradise.

 

Princess Julianna & Her Test of Bravery

Once upon a time there was a princess named Julianna. Her life in the Land of Snow was pleasant, until one fateful day when she was forced to take the Princess Test of Bravery.

One night the Test of Bravery unexpectedly began. It came in the form of terrifying sounds echoing from inside the castle walls. The princess had no doubt what was the source of these terrifying sounds. A Dragon. She just knew there was a dragon living inside the castle wall.

The princess decided that the bravest thing to do would be to summon the prince to come and slay the dragon for her, which he so nobly did, cutting off the head in one fair swoop. The princess swooned for the prince and thought she had passed her Test of Bravery.

Little did she know, there would be a second test calling for her to be even more brave than she ever had been before. For the very next day, another dragon escaped from out of the castle wall and scared the very brave princess almost to death. Getting up enough courage as she possibly could, she escaped the castle with her royal subjects to the area of recreation outside the castle grounds, loudly summoning her prince once again.

Princess Julianna ever so bravely plead with her prince to summon the royal exterminator as quickly as possible in order to take care of the filthy, fire-breathing beast and any of its evil friends.

Princess Julianna knew it would be a terrible idea to go back to the castle until all the dragons had been slain so she requested they flea to the Land of Marriott stay in the quaint and comfortable Fairfield Inn. Her request was granted so late in the night the royal family traveled in their carriage to wait out the terrible slaying that, so unfortunately, was taking place right inside their precious palace.

All the next day she bravely stayed away, exploring the unfamiliar land and trying not to think about the predicament awaiting her.

Finally, the dreadful time had arrived and the brave princess slowly, but surely, made her way back to her castle. Alas, 3 more dragons had perished through the night.

Knowing there were a few more dragons waiting to strike, the princess bravely bypassed the cookery and headed straight for her bed, all the while requesting the prince bring her something to nibble on and sip after he'd taken care of the awful scene.

Two more nights of the prince fighting off dragons occurred before the princess triumphantly entered the cookery once more.

At long last, the dragons were no more living in the walls of the castle and were forever more banished from entering into the Land of Snow. And the brave princess (and her prince) lived happily ever after.

The End

These are scenes from our brave explorations after our night in the Land of Marriott.