Diverticulosis! That’s my Answer! February 15, 2012

So, after nearly 2 years of pelvic pain and believing it to be caused by endometriosis, I finally got an answer today: I have diverticulosis

I was surprised to learn this. I don’t know how it slipped by my primary care, but it did. The CT Scan I had back in October showed the problem, as did the report from the radiologist. Had I known this then, I would not have canceled my December appointment.

It is very uncommon to have this problem at such a young age (under 40). My father had diverticulitis (diverticulosis is the beginning stage and diverticulitis occurs with severe disease of the colon and often results in surgery). The doctor believes that this problem was likely caused by the lack of fiber in my diet. I have been trying to eat more fiber over the last 6 months and although I eat a lot of it, I still don’t have bowel movements. I need to eat more fruit and veggies. I like fruit. I hate veggies. I just can’t stomach most of them. I’m going to try to improve that, even if I only eat raw celery (one of the few vegetables I do like). It’s better than nothing.

I have a colonoscopy scheduled for April. I was against having this procedure done if the doctor had no reason to do (if s/he was just fishing around for a problem). Now that I know there’s an issue, I’m okay with having it done (my hemorrhoids, on the other hand, are not). The colonoscopy will tell them how bad the diverticulosis is and if there’s any problem with bowel adhesions (which could also be an issue given all the abdominal surgeries I have had).

In the meantime, I’m going to continue to exercise and try to get even better with my nutrition. If you have any good websites or recipes that mask vegetables’ true identity, please share! I need masked veggies desperately! 🙂

Quiet? Who…? Me??? November 29, 2011

I’m never quiet. Not in print and not in reality. I’m a loud mouth and rarely shut up. It’s okay because I embrace who I am! It’s part of my charm…at least that’s what I tell myself.

I am a little bummed that I haven’t had much to blog about lately. How many times can you say the same thing over and over again? Everyone here knows I don’t feel well and that we don’t know where my pain is coming from, blah blah blah. Although, after recent flare ups, I believe my pain is reproductive in nature. I know I keep flip flopping on this, but now I am convinced. I began having pain with intercourse again, and then pain following was unbearable. I also seemed to be worse right up to and including my period. Lovely. So for now, I’m going to stick with “I think my pain is from my defective reproductive parts” theory.

I do have an appointment with a gastro doc. I wanted to cancel, but I might as well see what he has to say. Perhaps it is something else and he has a better clue. Or, my gut instincts are right. I’m not signing up for any colonoscopies or endoscopies because I don’t think they are going to show anything. And, with my hemorrhoid problem, the last thing I want to do is a bowel prep for a colonoscopy. No thank you!

What are my options? Well, my primary care doctor increased my Cymbalta dose. I’m now on 40 mg. 3 weeks in, I haven’t noticed a difference. She did say it would be a good month before we would know if it helped. The next option is to go up to 60 mg and see if that helps. Of course, that will also take another month. Lastly, I can go to the pain clinic. I don’t want pain meds to treat my problem. I want them available to me when I’m in really bad shape, but I don’t want to live on pain meds. So, hopefully they will have alternative therapies that will help. I’m guessing that I won’t be seeing them anytime before February because a) we need to see if the Cymbalta helps first and b) there is surely a wait to be seen. This just stinks…big time.

My husband is encouraging me to call my doctor after yesterday’s painful intercourse episode. I don’t see the point. We all know what causes that pain (endometriosis for those of you who aren’t aware). It could be some other condition, but I highly doubt it at this point. Oh well. Time will tell.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I did! I am officially done with cooking for a while though! I am beat!