Hello everyone, I hope the holidays went well for you! Mine was great but my health wasn’t too great..I would like to blame it on all the great food I ate during that time but something else had reared it’s ugly head.
In my last post I had told you the blockage pains had come back and I am now taking the Entecort (steroids). About one month later, I still wasn’t feeling great but couldn’t figure out just what it was. I was feeling very fatigued on top of all this. One day while my Home Health nurse was at the house, I was telling her my symptoms and how I was feeling. When she took my vitals, she found that my heart rate was 50 bpm. It is normally 75-80 bpm and she acted alarmed that it was this low. She told me that this was probably the reason why I was feeling fatigued. She then called my primary doctor and told her what was going on.
The primary doctor ordered some blood work and told me she would like for me to wear a heart monitor for two days to record what is going on with my heart. The blood work showed that I was moderately anemic and that I definitely had something going on with my heart. My heart rate during the two days ranged from 41-144 bpm. I’m still not sure what they are going to do with me about that – I haven’t heard from them regarding a game plan yet. For the anemia, they told me to put more red meat in my diet. That’s kind of ironic due to the fact that I gave up eating red meat this past summer because it is the hardest meat to digest with my Crohn’s. I didn’t think about losing iron because of it. I’m still not eating red meat but I found at the pharmacy this “shot” of iron called Pur Absorb. It is literally a shot of water infused with iron. It taste like drinking water from a rusty pipe but if it helps and keeps me out of the hospital, I’m willing to do it!
Just this past week, the job I had before I was laid off in 2012 called me out of the blue. They offered me another position, full-time and told me they would consider my medical condition. For 3 days I was really considering going back because it would have been for a lot more money and we could get some bills paid off and go on some great vacations! I considered the pros and cons and in the end, I had to decline the offer. I had to consider my health of course, the surgery hanging over my head, my heart thing and the fact that if I did go back to work, I would lose my disability. The way my health is now, I could be fine for a day, a month or even a year and then one day before you know it, I’m in the hospital for some reason, having surgery or just not able to get up off the couch. I would then be out of a job and have lost my disability. It was so nerve wracking for those 3 days though..my brain was telling me one thing as my body was telling me another. I really would love to get back to work one day but this just isn’t the time. I still have some kinks to work out!
On the other hand, I am a very spiritual person and firmly believe that everything happens for a reason..this is another reason why I struggled with this decision. I pray to God all the time to open my eyes and ears and let me see/hear what he wants me to do for my future. Then all the sudden, out of the blue, this job offer lands at my feet. Was this some kind of sign or something or was I thinking too much on this? Also, the same day I declined the offer, I got a phone call from Mercy Hospital in St. Louis inviting me to one of their job fairs for lab personnel! I did tell God that he would probably have to hit me on top of my head for me to get it as I don’t get subtle hints very well – they kind of fly right over me!
I do feel a little better now but still fatigued. My heart rate is back in the 70-80s bpm. I did however just get some more blood work done and I am waiting on those results. It did feel good that my old job is still thinking of me. Maybe one day I will able to go back to work and live like a normal person. I have to take this disease one day at a time and work toward the goal of getting better!
Chow for now!
Kelly