Ahira's Hangar

So went back to the doctor's office today to give them my decision about stating to take drugs for anxiety (the answer was no way, by the way). Turns out that my blood lab values had come back badly for thyroid function. Their initial diagnosis is hyperthyroidism (to be specific Grave's Disease), and they pulled more blood to retest the values. So on Friday I will call and find out if the bad values were confirmed by the second blood test and if the regular doctor will be doing anything or if they will be punting me directly to a specialist in endocrinology.

Now hyperthyroidism causes symptoms that mimic extreme stress - mood swings, racing heart, the works.

Combine that with a lot of actual stress from work, and no wonder I have been a stressed out mess.

Wow, Duchess. Good luck with finding out what's going on.

Good luck, Duchess. Doesn't Barbara Bush have Graves' disease? Having a messed-up thyroid is no fun at all....

And thanks for the congrats. Yeah, the real value of NaNo for me, I think, was in showing me that I *could* carve out the time to write. Good luck with your story!

I think that Barbara Bush, her husband, and even their dog all came down with it at about the same time.

I have mixed feelings today. Still a bit shocky, but also very glad. I have not felt well in years - the bad stress diarrhea started in 2006 (and it turns out that diarrhea is a symptom of this thing) - but I had not felt well for a good year before that. Always tired and run down and getting sick a lot and feeling stressed out and sad.

So maybe now that they have found out what is wrong with me, with treatment I can start to feel better. And get my life back.

So many of us feel bad for so long that we forget it's natural to feel good. I sure hope it works out for you!!! Holy cow, what will you do with yourself if you feel... good??

Probably get out a lot more than I currently do. It has gotten to the point over the last few months where I do not leave the house other than to go to work or other necessary stuff like grocery shopping or appointments unless someone else is willing to drive me. I'm just...too tired to feel like going out anywhere or driving to get there.

Should get back the results of the last batch of blood tests tomorrow.

My first day of a vacation week and I get to go to the dentist and doctor. Fun times.

The results fo the second round of bloodwork came back yesterday and confirmed that all of the thyroid levels are out of whack.

I am currently waiting for phone calls from the endrocrinology office of UM Hospital, along with the peopel who will make a scan of my thyroid.

Ah well, at least now you knolw and can get doing the right stuff about it.

--A

Yeah, glad they found out what the problem is, duchess. (Assuming it is the correct diagnosis...)

I sure hope it is the right diagnosis. I desperately want to feel better.

I have today (and this coming week) off from work. I had asked for it off a year ago, thinking I would get the hosue ready for Christmas.

So today my older son dragged the artificial tree and trunks of decorations upstairs, and we got the tree put togaether and got the lights up. I will slowly decorate it as the week goes on.

I love the holidays. I love the decorations and the lights and the singing and giving gifts.

My younger son started heaving postconcussion syndrome again once he got back into the wrestling room last month. He had been clear of the symptoms sicne last March (the last concussion he had was in a wrestling match last December). We have taken him to the regular doctor, and they wanted us to start taking him to the neurologist again.

So today we took him to a chiropractor for an evaluation. They said his neck is a bit messed up. Then we went to the sports neurologist at University Hospital. He said it could be his neck or his brain or a combination of both. So he and the chiropractor are going to call back and forth and share xrays and the like to determine the best treatment for him.

Hopefully little man will start feeling better one way or anther soon, because seeing him so quiet and dispirited is killing the rest of us. He is usually mischievous and energetic as a kitten, and it is horrible seeing him crawl home and ball up the couch with a blanket over his head, all grouchy and listless, every afternoon.

As for me, on January 6 & 7 I will get a thyroid check and scan from the nuclear medicine dept at UM. I will see the nuclear medicine doctor then. But the endocrinologist did not have an opening until early February. I suppose I do not want to see that dioctor until the scan has been done anyway...what they will do is give me a tiny tiny tiny tiny dose of radioactive iodine, then take xrays on the second day to see how fast my thyroid has absorbed it. ***sigh***

Sorry to hear your son has postconcussion syndrome. I remember seeing a story about concussions on Nova. They focused on a teenager who was normally alert and high-spirited, who enjoyed all sorts of athletic activities in school. But one day he had a concussion; don't recall if he had actually been knocked out cold, but at the time, nothing appeared to come of it and he shrugged it off. However, (if I recall the story correctly) after a few days the teen became very lethargic, and he also began having severe mood swings. And all that was the result of one concussion. That teen is okay now (as far as I know) but that whole episode with his sudden behavorial changes understandably scared the heck out of him. The Nova story talked about how there ought to be an early warning system to help, say, high school coaches assess the seriousness of concussions on the spot. The problem is in getting the general public to be more aware of the serious risk posed by sports concussions, even seemingly minor ones.

(Ooh, nice new avatar, duchess!)

Uh...too much wrestling?

--A

He has gotten three concussions from wrestling. One in January 2005, one in December 2005, and the one he cannot seem to get over was in December 2007. That one gave him crippling headaches until march 2008, when he finally started feeling better. he went through the summer OK, and made it through the fall soccer season OK. As soon as he went back into the wrestling room in November, the headaches started again.

I know cali would probably like to fry my ass for suggesting this, but get him out of wrestling and any high contact sport right now! Tennis, Basketball, Swimming, zen stuff.