I laughed last night when Holly Holliday on Glee said that she used to send hate mail to Tiffany (or was it Debbie Gibson?). Tiffany (or Debbie) then wrote back to her saying the stress of the hate mail was causing her to get Alopecia.
So today, I went looking. and here is what I found. I was thinking it was just something that happened to me out of dumb/bad luck.
Alopecia areata. A variety of factors are thought to cause alopecia areata, possibly including severe stress. With alopecia areata, white blood cells attack the hair follicle, stopping hair growth and making hair fall out.
I am hoping when my coworker is back from maternity leave, my stress levels will plummet.
Showing posts with label sickling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sickling. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
what ails me.
I may have stated this already here, but since the time change (well over a month ago) I've been having one heck of a time trying to fall asleep at night. For that first week, I just blew it off b/c of the time change. But after a few weeks of not falling to sleep until WELL after my bed time (sometimes around 2am!!) I decided I needed to head to the Dr. I've in the past had Lunesta prescribed to me... but... I have to pay every penny of my prescriptions until I hit my $1050 deductible (until last years surgery, I have never come close to hitting a deductible in one year!!). The Lunesta pills do not have a generic yet, and they are like $7 per pill... So I needed to get something different. I called the Dr hoping to have them call in a prescription since I've had sleeping issues in the past, but they said no, you must come in. I didn't make an appointment at that time, I thought I'd wait to see if I can get adjusted myself with the over the counter sleep aids I've been using.
About a week and a half ago I was getting out of the shower, and about to comb my wet hair... I noticed that I could see my scalp where my bangs started, I thought I don't remember it ever being that way before... I just shrugged it off and kinda forgot about it until the next day when I saw it again. A few days after that I noticed that about a half an inch back from my hair line I had this strange bald area... It is about an inch long and probably a quarter of an inch wide. I thought now that is SUPER strange. Again I shrugged it off... but each day seeing it again and again it started really bothering me. I showed it to my parents on Monday night, and they thought it was strange too. I talked to a couple of my hair stylist friends and asked them their take on it.... I forwarded a photo of it to my friend Ashley who told me that I should get in to see the Dr. So I called my Dr for a second time in a week.... this time I set an appointment.
Went in on Tuesday, and she prescribed me some medicine to help me sleep that wouldn't break the bank(YEAY!)... She also told me that I needed to see my dermatologist because she suspects my hair loss is Alopecia. I am so thankful that I have a friend that works at my dermatologist because I called her right away after seeing my Dr, and she was able to get me in the next day (had I not had my 'in' it would have been a month or two before I could see anyone!).
Went in on Wednesday and the derm confirmed what my Dr said, that I've got Alopecia Areata. She says it happens to a lot of people, that it may be the only hair I lose, but I may lose more in other places on my scalp. She said it's possible I could lose all of my hair but she said that it's more likely that I will only have little spots like the one that I currently have. She looked for other spots, but couldn't find any (THANK GOD). She also told me that it could have something to do with my thyroid, so she wanted to do blood work to rule that out.
Today I went to the pharmacy and filled my two prescriptions... soon I will be sleeping like a baby and growing hair in my "bald" spot.
About a week and a half ago I was getting out of the shower, and about to comb my wet hair... I noticed that I could see my scalp where my bangs started, I thought I don't remember it ever being that way before... I just shrugged it off and kinda forgot about it until the next day when I saw it again. A few days after that I noticed that about a half an inch back from my hair line I had this strange bald area... It is about an inch long and probably a quarter of an inch wide. I thought now that is SUPER strange. Again I shrugged it off... but each day seeing it again and again it started really bothering me. I showed it to my parents on Monday night, and they thought it was strange too. I talked to a couple of my hair stylist friends and asked them their take on it.... I forwarded a photo of it to my friend Ashley who told me that I should get in to see the Dr. So I called my Dr for a second time in a week.... this time I set an appointment.
Went in on Tuesday, and she prescribed me some medicine to help me sleep that wouldn't break the bank(YEAY!)... She also told me that I needed to see my dermatologist because she suspects my hair loss is Alopecia. I am so thankful that I have a friend that works at my dermatologist because I called her right away after seeing my Dr, and she was able to get me in the next day (had I not had my 'in' it would have been a month or two before I could see anyone!).
Went in on Wednesday and the derm confirmed what my Dr said, that I've got Alopecia Areata. She says it happens to a lot of people, that it may be the only hair I lose, but I may lose more in other places on my scalp. She said it's possible I could lose all of my hair but she said that it's more likely that I will only have little spots like the one that I currently have. She looked for other spots, but couldn't find any (THANK GOD). She also told me that it could have something to do with my thyroid, so she wanted to do blood work to rule that out.
Today I went to the pharmacy and filled my two prescriptions... soon I will be sleeping like a baby and growing hair in my "bald" spot.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
When Gallbladders ATTACK!
Well well well... As you know I've been having some issues sleeping and then waking up with horrid back pain. Last Friday I had an ultra sound test to see if I indeed had a gallstone.... Went in early Friday, and sure enough I had two stones... I had a second test scheduled, but decided not to go to it knowing if I got rid of this gallstone I'd be good to go.
I got a call from my surgeon's office to set an apt for my consultation... Monday at 11am. I was hoping to get an apt for my surgery on Tuesday.. I really wasn't looking forward to having another gallbladder attack... but... It happened Monday morning anyway... 4am and I was up in major pain... vomiting and all... by the time I was supposed to be getting up, I was doing much much better. still felt it, but It was tolerable. Went into work, and carried on with a dull pain in my back still. Mom and I met at the Dr's office where I met with my surgeon. He told me the ultra sound showed two stones, one 1.5 and one 1.8cm... The lady who did the ultra sound had me roll over, and one of the stones didn't move, it was stuck at the duct where the bile is supposed to secrete. This is probably my cause of pain... The Dr was great, he explained what he would do and what I should expect, he for sure helped ease my nerves. He told me his person would call me to set up a time to get my gallbladder removed.
Monday night I went home and started up my laundry, knowing I wouldn't want to do that when I was recovering... While I was putting away the clean clothes, I felt another attack coming.. This was by far my worst attack I've had. Typically they happen in the middle of the night... but this one started at about 7:30pm. I thought since I woke up at 4am that day, I'd take some Tylenol pm and fall asleep... yeah that didn't happen. I vomited about 15 min after taking the pill... then continued to do so thru the night. I think it was about 11:15 when I thought I'd try to get up and take a shower, as whenever I did that in the morning while having an attack, I'd felt better.... yeah didn't work. I turned my shower into a bath, that didn't work either... I called the hospital after my bath to find out what I should do as I vomited 4 times already... they told me to get into the ER right away. Called mom and let her know I was on my way to her house... then we'd head to the ER. It was around 1am when I got there, I think around 2 am they brought me back to do an ekg as I told them I had pain in my chest... that's when I started vomiting again, which I think helped me move up in the list in front of others that were there...
My ekg was fine, again.. around 3am they got me into an ER room, but didn't see a Dr till about 4:30....they finally got me some morphine at 6am.. they gave me 3 tubes of it before they admitted me to the hospital. I had 2 more tubes pf morphine before the pain started going away at about 10am.
Mom stayed with me until my surgeon came in to talk to me. Dad came around 9am to sit with us too. He said they could do the surgery at 10pm, or just keep my original apt at 8 the next day... I was soooo thirsty as they wouldn't let me eat or drink anything since they thought I may go into surgery... so I told him lets just keep tomorrow's apt so I can drink and eat... So that's what we did. I did pretty well on Tuesday as they wouldn't let me eat anything but clear liquids. But I was sooo thankful to be drinking water.
Mom headed to work and I to sleep... I slept on and off, with the nurses coming in to check my vitals and everything... It was easy to fall back to sleep though after being awake from 4am Monday till noon Tuesday...
My friends Grandpa was two or three rooms down from me, so their family would come down and visit me from time to time... I had lots of visitors, so it was nice. After work mom dad and stef came to visit, Stef had flowers from me that Dan bought for me. He's very sweet. I just wish he was here to hold my hand through this!
Wed morning came along, and it was time for my surgery. I was very nervous...but all the nurses and drs were very sweet, and kept me pretty calm. I got into my surgery room and they were talking to me, before I knew it someone was waking me up... I couldn't breathe, they asked me "do you want the tube out?" I nodded... they took it out.
They brought me back to my room, I kept asking for my dad, no one was getting him... Finally someone got him in the room, and my surgeon was in soon after that. He said "well, one of you stones was actually the size of a golf ball!" gooooood lord! no wonder I was in so much pain. I thanked him, happy I'd never have to feel that pain again.
Dad stayed with me for the day. I asked the nurse around 4, "they said I'd be home two hours after surgery" She said "well considering your stone was the size of a golf ball, I think you are doing just fine"
I was able to go home at 8pm.... it was nice, I was thrilled to get out of the hospital.. I've been out for just over 24 hours now... I'm in some pain at the site where they took my 'golf ball' out of.. It's tough getting up from laying down.... and laying down from sitting up...Right now I'm doing my best to avoid laying down again....
I know that the pain I'm in now will go away. It really sucks, but I know I'll never be in as much pain as I was with those gallbladder attacks, so I'm very thankful for that.
Hope everyone is doing well.... When I feel up to it, I'll do a blog on my trip out east :)
I got a call from my surgeon's office to set an apt for my consultation... Monday at 11am. I was hoping to get an apt for my surgery on Tuesday.. I really wasn't looking forward to having another gallbladder attack... but... It happened Monday morning anyway... 4am and I was up in major pain... vomiting and all... by the time I was supposed to be getting up, I was doing much much better. still felt it, but It was tolerable. Went into work, and carried on with a dull pain in my back still. Mom and I met at the Dr's office where I met with my surgeon. He told me the ultra sound showed two stones, one 1.5 and one 1.8cm... The lady who did the ultra sound had me roll over, and one of the stones didn't move, it was stuck at the duct where the bile is supposed to secrete. This is probably my cause of pain... The Dr was great, he explained what he would do and what I should expect, he for sure helped ease my nerves. He told me his person would call me to set up a time to get my gallbladder removed.
Monday night I went home and started up my laundry, knowing I wouldn't want to do that when I was recovering... While I was putting away the clean clothes, I felt another attack coming.. This was by far my worst attack I've had. Typically they happen in the middle of the night... but this one started at about 7:30pm. I thought since I woke up at 4am that day, I'd take some Tylenol pm and fall asleep... yeah that didn't happen. I vomited about 15 min after taking the pill... then continued to do so thru the night. I think it was about 11:15 when I thought I'd try to get up and take a shower, as whenever I did that in the morning while having an attack, I'd felt better.... yeah didn't work. I turned my shower into a bath, that didn't work either... I called the hospital after my bath to find out what I should do as I vomited 4 times already... they told me to get into the ER right away. Called mom and let her know I was on my way to her house... then we'd head to the ER. It was around 1am when I got there, I think around 2 am they brought me back to do an ekg as I told them I had pain in my chest... that's when I started vomiting again, which I think helped me move up in the list in front of others that were there...
My ekg was fine, again.. around 3am they got me into an ER room, but didn't see a Dr till about 4:30....they finally got me some morphine at 6am.. they gave me 3 tubes of it before they admitted me to the hospital. I had 2 more tubes pf morphine before the pain started going away at about 10am.
Mom stayed with me until my surgeon came in to talk to me. Dad came around 9am to sit with us too. He said they could do the surgery at 10pm, or just keep my original apt at 8 the next day... I was soooo thirsty as they wouldn't let me eat or drink anything since they thought I may go into surgery... so I told him lets just keep tomorrow's apt so I can drink and eat... So that's what we did. I did pretty well on Tuesday as they wouldn't let me eat anything but clear liquids. But I was sooo thankful to be drinking water.
Mom headed to work and I to sleep... I slept on and off, with the nurses coming in to check my vitals and everything... It was easy to fall back to sleep though after being awake from 4am Monday till noon Tuesday...
My friends Grandpa was two or three rooms down from me, so their family would come down and visit me from time to time... I had lots of visitors, so it was nice. After work mom dad and stef came to visit, Stef had flowers from me that Dan bought for me. He's very sweet. I just wish he was here to hold my hand through this!
Wed morning came along, and it was time for my surgery. I was very nervous...but all the nurses and drs were very sweet, and kept me pretty calm. I got into my surgery room and they were talking to me, before I knew it someone was waking me up... I couldn't breathe, they asked me "do you want the tube out?" I nodded... they took it out.
They brought me back to my room, I kept asking for my dad, no one was getting him... Finally someone got him in the room, and my surgeon was in soon after that. He said "well, one of you stones was actually the size of a golf ball!" gooooood lord! no wonder I was in so much pain. I thanked him, happy I'd never have to feel that pain again.
Dad stayed with me for the day. I asked the nurse around 4, "they said I'd be home two hours after surgery" She said "well considering your stone was the size of a golf ball, I think you are doing just fine"
I was able to go home at 8pm.... it was nice, I was thrilled to get out of the hospital.. I've been out for just over 24 hours now... I'm in some pain at the site where they took my 'golf ball' out of.. It's tough getting up from laying down.... and laying down from sitting up...Right now I'm doing my best to avoid laying down again....
I know that the pain I'm in now will go away. It really sucks, but I know I'll never be in as much pain as I was with those gallbladder attacks, so I'm very thankful for that.
Hope everyone is doing well.... When I feel up to it, I'll do a blog on my trip out east :)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Back Pain!
So I was just looking back at my blog posts for this one. I remembered this happening to me long long ago. It happened again in the summer while at the cabin... and it's happened a handful of other times. More recently the nights that it is affecting me are getting closer and closer together. They were happening once a week for a while, then it happened Saturday, Sunday and now again today. I was trying to hold out till January. I know I'm going to hit my deductible, so why do it at the end of the year, lets do it in Jan, so I've got a full year after fulfilling my deductible. I know I'm going to hit it, so why hit it in December, and then again in January.
Well the back pain was just too intense for me this morning, so I went to urgent care. The Dr had no idea what was wrong with me. He asked if I had any operations ever, I said not since I was young, he asked what happened, I told him I bit my tongue off.... He was suddenly very interested in my tongue. I'm like dude, I'm not here because of biting my tongue off 25 years ago! He was asking if I had feeling in my tongue, if I could taste blah blah blah. I said yeah I can taste. "well what about on the tip of your tongue?" I said I guess since it happened when I was six I really don't know the difference... then he wanted to look at it. WTH?! Stick your tongue out. .. so I was all like :P ... then he looked at it from one side with his little light thingy... and I was all :| he's all "stick your tongue out again" so I was all :P and he looked at it from the other side.. then I was all :| stop looking at my tongue.
finally he moved onto my back problems. He had no idea. I told him about my family and their history of heart attacks... so what does he do? orders an EKG. which turned out to be fine. Can't wait to see that bill.
Got to work and decided it's time to call my PCP. She right away asked me if he checked my gallbladder. I don't know, can he check it from looking at my tongue? hehe. No I said well he listened to my stomach with the stethoscope... She's pretty positive that I've got something going on with my gallbladder. She said not to take ibuprofen any longer... She thinks that's what is making my stomach upset and making me get sick (makes sense, because each time I got sick, I had done the ibuprofen thing...) She wants me to call her back if it all continues... I have a feeling I'm going to have some work done shortly. Lovely. Too bad I didn't keep my hospital income policy going. That would have helped in this situation. uuughhhh.
Well the back pain was just too intense for me this morning, so I went to urgent care. The Dr had no idea what was wrong with me. He asked if I had any operations ever, I said not since I was young, he asked what happened, I told him I bit my tongue off.... He was suddenly very interested in my tongue. I'm like dude, I'm not here because of biting my tongue off 25 years ago! He was asking if I had feeling in my tongue, if I could taste blah blah blah. I said yeah I can taste. "well what about on the tip of your tongue?" I said I guess since it happened when I was six I really don't know the difference... then he wanted to look at it. WTH?! Stick your tongue out. .. so I was all like :P ... then he looked at it from one side with his little light thingy... and I was all :| he's all "stick your tongue out again" so I was all :P and he looked at it from the other side.. then I was all :| stop looking at my tongue.
finally he moved onto my back problems. He had no idea. I told him about my family and their history of heart attacks... so what does he do? orders an EKG. which turned out to be fine. Can't wait to see that bill.
Got to work and decided it's time to call my PCP. She right away asked me if he checked my gallbladder. I don't know, can he check it from looking at my tongue? hehe. No I said well he listened to my stomach with the stethoscope... She's pretty positive that I've got something going on with my gallbladder. She said not to take ibuprofen any longer... She thinks that's what is making my stomach upset and making me get sick (makes sense, because each time I got sick, I had done the ibuprofen thing...) She wants me to call her back if it all continues... I have a feeling I'm going to have some work done shortly. Lovely. Too bad I didn't keep my hospital income policy going. That would have helped in this situation. uuughhhh.
Friday, January 8, 2010
ugh
stayed home sick today. I woke up somewhere in the 3am hour and got sick. glad i woke up when I did or it would have been bad news. i crawled into bed again at 325... after all that, my back was KILLING me... i hadn't had such intense back pain in, well, ever i guess. so now i lay wide awake because of my back... I was awake, with my heating pad on my back at least until 5am. By the time my alarm went off i was extremely exhausted, there was no way i could get up and go to work. and for some reason decided i would just keep hitting the snooze button rather than turning my alarm off... i was sleeping in 7 minute increments for about 45 min before realizing I may feel better if I actually reset my alarm to 830.... then i'd call work and go back to bed... Which is what I did. When the alarm went of again, I was still really weak and knew I was in for a day in bed. I called the boss man and let him know. Now not only did I feel bad after a night of sickness, but i ruined our christmas party... we were supposed to all get together at the Wagner household for dinner, and now they are rescheduling.
I spent most of the morning in bed... then came out to the living room to watch movies and get a jump start on that resolution... go thru 3 movies today... I am almost done with my movies that start with numbers.... next is 27 dresses and then 50 first dates... love em both :)
Around 1 i started getting a massive head ache. I chalked it up to the fact that I hadn't been drinking water all day, which is pretty much all i drink normally.. I took some ibuprofen and took another nap. When I woke up I still had a massive head ache, so I figured I had to go for the big guns... Diet Coke.. Ran down to the pool area and got me a DC. mmmm. it was delightful. and my head ache was gone within 30 minutes!
By 6pm, I was feeling back to normal. I am not sure what exactly hit me overnight.. I was thinking maybe it was the pizza hut mom and I had for dinner last night. Shes fine, so I just can't be positive that was it!
Oh well. Started cutting up material for my next quilt around 7... sitting around and watching movies all day is sooooo boring, i had to do something.
Now, I am heading to bed to watch some Ally McBeal. The episode I watched this morning was sad... Billy died! I only watched the last season of Ally when it was on TV... so as I have been watching the first few seasons, I had no idea how they were going to write him off, i just knew he'd be gone. I figured he'd run off with some woman and move to a different state... but no, they killed him off! crazy.
okay. bed now.
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