My Reconstructed Medical History, Part 2

So, here's my history as best as I can remember from 2006-present:  
2006:  

Pretty good year.  Sinus problems get considerably better with move to Knoxville.  Occasional joint pain, usually in wrists/backs of hands, etc.  REALLY BAD IBS issues that summer when I visit Knoxville before moving.  I think this is the same year I had a throw-up binge just before flying home from Christmas, probably from too much fatty foods over break.  Oh, bleh. 

I think I had more bruising but decided to ignore it.  

2007:

In Feb., my left eyelid swells shut.  Goes away over the weekend before I can show the doctor.  It happens again (on the other eyelid), I think near the end of the same year.

Hand numbness back.  Dr. M. sends me for a nerve conductivity study, which shows up nothing.  Neurologist is pretty cool though, and she shows me some ways to alleviate symptoms.

IBS and sinus problems, sure, but they're more than manageable.  

I think this was the year of my second lupus screening.  Everything comes back negative.


2008:

In March, I try to do a 5.5 mile hike one way and just about die.  (Well, I felt like I was.) Every time my heart rate got up a certain level, I'd get all weak and the world would black out.  I was a little pile of jelly by mile three, and I made it to the top on sheer willpower, frequent breaks, and getting dragged up to the top.  It was during Spring Break and I was in denial, so I did not tell my doctor, and I did not get an EKG.  In all actuality, this was probably a second bout of pericarditis but I'll be damned if I was going to admit it. 

Some light numbness in hands when the weather warms, but it's gone in a couple of weeks.  Joint pain and sinus problems, but all manageable.  I miss at least two days of work in the Writing Center a semester because I have throw-up fits. 

I have another bad batch of random bruises, this time on my face.  Happens twice this year, I think, once early on and once a week after finals are over.

Dr. M. does a second round of lupus screening since I've lived in Appalachia in December, I resent/protest considerably; these come back negative.   I start to get really resentful of the "maybe it's lupus" response to my symptoms. 

2009: 

I start missing a lot of church because I feel to0 wiped by the time the weekend rolls around to get out of bed.  Start falling into a bad nap routine, can't sleep at night, only want to sleep in the day.

I start having throw-up fits, severe pain in my side when eating, unending abdominal pain.  Ultrasound shows nothing, but I have an abnormal liver screen and a very bad hida scan showing a non-functioning gall bladder (this is a hereditary problem in my family, though).  They take my gall bladder out, eventually, in the summer, and suddenly food is no longer disgusting.  Even though I can eat again, I keep losing weight like nobody's business.  

I lose at least twenty-five pounds between about February to October, going from just under 160 to 132.  I go from a size ten to a size two in pants. 

Lots and lots and lots of canker sores.  I lose count of the number of breakouts and it's hard not to drool when I eat. 

I get severe stomach pain, cramping, nausea, and loss of appetite following the surgery.  Abdominal scan, CT, endocscopy and colonoscopy, etc. all turn up normal even though I can't stand up straight.  Eventually goes away on its own.

Random bruises break out again in the fall, big ones, which I try unsuccessfully to cover up with makeup and just end up looking like an abuse victim. 

My sister, a nurse, swears up and down that I had a pull in my left eye over Christmas. That's the second neurological problem I've had with my sight. 

2010:

All hell breaks loose again:

• It starts with an unbelievably bad breakout of canker sores throughout my mouth.  It lasts I think up to two months.  Even talking is difficult, and don't even ask about brushing my teeth. 
• Big bruises on my chin and shoulder.  
• In Jan/Feb, my scalp and the soles of my feet itch so bad I want to take a veggie peeler to them.  I treat my feet for athlete's foot for weeks even though there's no signs of infection.  
• In Feb., the absolute WORST bladder infection I have ever had, coinciding with the worst yeast infection I think I've had.  I go to the emergency room on a Saturday night because I'm peeing urine the color of a Bloody Mary.  First time they detected protein and cells in my urine, naturally.  
• The Macrobid they give me doesn't do the job, so two weeks later I'm back at Student health with severe bladder/kidney infection symptoms.  They give me the nasty stuff (Cipro) and that does the trick.  
• I notice swelling in the backs of my hands for the first time.  
• I keep having bladder/kidney/vaginal discomfort for a couple of weeks after that.  I have to get treatment for the yeast infection twice, too.  
• I turn in my field exam on March 1st, wake up to find I'm covered in a bumpy red rash on my head and neck.  Spreads to most of my trunk by the next afternoon.  Diagnosed with folliculitis. 
• In April, the weather warms back up and I can't feel my fingers again.  Only this time it's a lot worse:
  --Fingers and toes, both hands, and it never goes away.  
  -- Nerve pain in hands, feet, forearms, shoulders, and (eventually) back and neck
  --I get very, very clumsy, drop things, trip over my own feet...
  --I feel pretty depressed and sluggish, can't read, can't study, no motivation...
  --My face starts to go numb once the neck symptoms start up, speaking gets interesting...
  --I'm sleeping all the time...
  --and I can see/feel actual inflammation in my elbows.  The little knob on my inside elbow goes away completely, and the joint feels warm. 
• When driving on a road trip, my hands go completely numb and cold.  I see Raynaud's phenomenon in my right hand for the first time, but only for about ten minutes.  The next week I go back in for a consult with my doctor at Student Health, and I get my fourth round of lupus screening including a syphilis screen.  These are all negative except for the ANA, which is a clear positive for the first time.