Ultrasound results are in.

Some of you that are following may remember that last week I underwent a Ultrasound to look at my upper right quadrant for any abnormality.  Guess what........there's nothing abnormal at all.  That's great news right? Sure it is but it still leaves the question unsolved about the excruciating pain I had two weeks ago. (I wrote about that a few posts ago).  So really the pain could have been a couple of things, but I think it was probably really really bad indigestion and my stomach flared up.  I've been taking Protensa, an anti-stomach acid, since my doc appointment and the pain has not returned.  I had to get all jellied up on my chest for them to use the ultrasound on me, but the jelly was really warm so it actually felt kinda nice.  The procedure was really quick too,just about 15 - 20min.  The US-Tech told me that he does so many of these types of ultrasounds a day that he could almost do them in his sleep.  Here is a picture of me with the ultrasound machine. Yep you're right I do have my shirt off.

Post Thanskgiving: taking the good with the bad

Holidays are wonderful times.  I love the holiday festive cheer and being surronded by love ones, it's always a good time.  But I never really realized how much food is involved with these holidays until my UC took over.  This Thanksgiving marks the 2nd one I've had while being inflicted with active severe inflammation and this time around I think my UC was a bite more tolerable.  With any type of family feast where I know that eating is the main activity I prepare by keeping my colon basically not active prior the feast.  So I fast, but I keep my fluids flowing though with my favorite Gatorade.

You see my UC has changed how I look at eating.  Eating starts you peristalsis motion of your guts.  So for me that means poop coming down the ol' poop shoot right where the nasty inflammation is which results in pain, aching, and field trips to the toilets.  So to enjoy myself with everyone before the feast I fast and my colon stays relativity calm.  But about ten bites into the awesome Turkey that K made I could feel those guts a moving and I had to take a time-out on the court to relieve myself (pretty typical).  Everything tasted so good and everyone was having a good time. Pics to follow of course

Afterwords came the rumble in my colon.  I just sprawled on the couch with the football game on while my guts moved up and down and around and around.  Uncomfortable.......... yes,  but good news was that I was able to get to a good enough spot  to enjoy a couple games of settlers with the family.  Overall I could say that I had a much better Thanskgiving than last year.  That makes me happy more than you can know.

New Pain leads to Doc appointment.

I'm see my GI doctor today.  GI stands for Gastroenterologist. Web site about GI docs. My visit today is an unscheduled due to new symptoms I've been experiencing.  It was last Thursday the 19th when what felt like a pretty common stomach ache turned into a full blow stomach attack of pain.  I woke on Thursday feeling this stomach ache which began at the bottom on my sternum and ended at my navel.  All the the day it persisted with varying degrees of achynes.  I remember around 5 it grew to pretty uncomfortable levels and I began messaging my tummy.  I felt it odd that the typical area of pain associated with my UC, the lower left quadrant of my abdomen, was pain free and I wasn't having any butt pain like I've described before.  Nausea grew and although I was hungry but the very thought of food upset my stomach even more.  I had been taking my usual Tylenol and took another 1000mg at this time.  This seemed to help a little, however by the time I got to bed around 12am the pain/ache returned with greater force.  It took me by surprise really.  It felt like someone had been punching me repetitively in the abdomen or like I had done a thousand sit ups.  The achy area now seem to encompass my entire abdomen with it's most tender area being below my sternum and above the navel and to the right of center.  I tried laying on one side and then the other to get comfortable, sitting up, on my knees, and even  hunched over a chair but nothing would dissipate the pain.

Most of you need to realize that I've been living a life for the past year and a half with a continuous level of pain, so I feel I have a pretty well developed high threshold for pain/discomfort. So when I tell you all that I honestly was scared about how painful my abdomen was that I thought of going to the emergency room, you can imagine it was pretty painful.  The nausea was horrible at one point I knelt at the bath tub wanting to vomit thinking that in some way it could bring relief but neither came.  It was 5am and I had been struggling with this pain since 12am.  I decided that I would take some Zantac (Heartburn Med, OTC).  I keep some around for the rare occasion I get heartburn.  I wasn't feeling any heartburn pain but I thought maybe it would help somehow. It must have because in 20min I found myself asleep and when I woke up 2hrs later the pain was gone, but the ache was still there.

The rest of the day Friday seemed as though I had just been in a boxing match but only getting hit in the abs. I called my GI doc and explained everything that I experienced and he couldn't squeeze me in but that on Monday first thing he could.  I haven't experienced that same excruciating pain again since Thursday night and the ache "just hit in the stomach feeling" has dissipated too, but not entirely.  I hope I get get some answers to what or where this pain came from. Maybe it can be explained by really really bad indigestion?  I'll post to you all what my GI doc says after our appointment. So keep posted and if you're following please sign up as a follower.

Why I use so much toilet paper.

I do use a lot compared to a normal person.  Just from the the number of trips to the toilet I take in a day (10 - 12 avg) would account for plenty of TP usage, but there is also another reason.

I was with my buddy Matt the other day having a good time talking about cars and stupid stuff when like clockwork my bowls began to grumble.  I knew it was gas trying to make it's way down to the exit shoot.  Problem is my exit shoot is angry with inflammation and like an old crotchety old man doesn't like to be bothered.  But my bowls couldn't take the increasing pressure from the build up of gas anymore.  I realize that it's normal to pass gas, everyone does it everyday, but for me passing gas hurts and is usually messy.  Messy because in order for my colon to protect itself against the inflammation copious amounts of mucus coat the lining of the inflamed areas.  So when I pass gas I usual pass the mucus too.  It turns out to be a really juice fart, literally.  Matt was particularly impressed with how juicy sounding it was and with a concerned look on his face asked if I just goobered my pants.  I hadn't and not because I didn't pass any mucus but because I had prepared by stuffing my underwear with TP.  This way the TP catches all the mucus junk and I don't soil myself.  I explained this to Matt and he asked me if I always had a wad of TP down there and I realized that stuffing my underwear had become such a daily routine that I indeed always had TP in my pants.

I know what your thinking, Dave why just get Depends and wear those around.  To be honest with you all, I have and occasionally I will.  But I still have huge reservation for wearing them all the time.  It's hard to explain why I don't. Partly the reason is that for me to wear them means that I've let the UC beat me one more time,  that it's winning.  I'm some small way I've let my UC get the better of me. I guess me not wearing an adult diaper gives me a little victory against my UC.  I can say to myself, "at least I'm not that bad that I have to wear Depends all day long." Plus I associate adult diapers with old dieing folks that live in stinky old folks homes.  So that's why I stick with the TP stuffing.  Lately I've tried to a great success folded up paper towels and stuffing with super absorbent paper sheets the kind used at hospitals as a barrier.  They all do the trick most of the time from having to change my underwear and pants.  Although I keep an extra set in my car with me all the time and yes I've had to change many times.  Sometimes I pass so much mucus that the TP just isn't enough. But most of the time I can make it to a toilet or in desperate times out in the beautiful wide open.  There are some funny stories to tell about that, but I'll save those for later.

Another frusterating night.

It's 3:30am and it's been six days now since my infusion and I don't want to jinks myself but I do seem to feel, and I'll put it this way, less miserable.  But whats six days really.  My doc, Doc Sleven, has told me that these biologic drugs really take a good 4 weeks to really start showing any response.  With that said, I'm sitting here in my room and my butt hurts and with a little bit of annoying left side pain.  It just sucks because I'd like to go to sleep but this pain just won't dissipate.  My normal tactics of siting on my heating pad help and laying on my left side help.  Interesting fact is that by laying on your left side as opposed to your right, your bowls actually relax more.  So tonight is another sucky night.  If it gets real bad I'll take a real hot shower to relax those butt/gut muscles.  I do take Tylenol too and that helps with the crampy achy pain.

4:00am The feeling now is like a heaviness on my anus and it won't go away.  I've been tossing from side to side on my bed and using the heating pad directly on my bum and still I just can't get it to go away.  It's so uncomfortable. If I lay on my left side I hear my guts rumble and sometimes I can release some gas.  It feels better to do so but it also strains my smooth muscles down there to the point that they feel clinched up and that just hurts.  Finally I go into the bathroom to use it and I'm able to relive my bowls after some coaxing and straining.  I'm in there for probably 15+min but it changes everything in my guts.  All that built up pressure is now released.   I'm now able to sleep, well at least for a few hours.  Until I'm woken up because I need to pass gas or something.  But the worst of it is over for tonight.

I'm going to get my last colonoscope pics scanned and posted up here.  Then you all can see how bad my inflammation is.  Untill then, I hope you all are getting a better night sleep than I.

Taking my Ulcerative Colitis (UC) seriously.

I would be lying to the world if I said that my life has been great or even "just ok" since April of 2008.  UC has changed my body and my life to such an extent that to deal with it I mostly force the reality of my situation out of my mind.  I've delayed with starting this Blog about my UC story because of this very fact, but I'm compelled right now to write about my experience and fight to share it with others.  Not just with my friends and family, but hopefully with others that are also fighting against UC or other inflammatory bowel diseases.  My hope is that others will be able to have a better understanding of this disease and that maybe some can find support through my fight.

Hopefully at this stage of my recovery I'm more towards the end of the tunnel.  Rather than talking about the last year and a half, I'll interlace the past through out my posts to give a full picture.  For those whom are unfamiliar with UC I suggest going to this link: www.mayoclinic.com/health/ulcerative-colitis/DS00598 there you'll get a better idea of the disease. Short answer is however: inflammation of the large intestine (colon), add pain, cramping, explosive mucusy diarrhea butt and you got UC.

This past week I entered into a new study drug group with my GI Clinic.  Which means I get a novel drug for UC and all the office visits and subsequent colonoscopy on the study's tab.  A small perk too is they actually compensate me like $45 bucks each office visit.  This new drug is called Vedolizamab and I get it by infusion once a month.  This week last Wednesday (Nov. 11) was my first infusion and I'm very hopefully that this will end the voracious inflammation inside me.  The good news is that others in this same study have seen wonderful improvements in just 4 weeks of there first dose.  It's just been 4 days for me so I still have to wait to see how my body response.

I'm going to monitor my weight and post this.  Before UC ravished my body I was a constant 205 lbs, now I'm 155.7lbs (Nov. 11).  I should begin to keep more weight on as I get better, but if drops it means I'm getting worse.

Update after a long winter..........

So finally it's a nice sunny day here in Portland Oregon. We saw 70+ degree temps and blue skys. Finally no rain or snow. My medical condition (Ulcerative Colitis) has improved greatly, although it's still hanging around in my colon. My last scope shows signs of healing and I feel a lot less cramps. But I'm not out of the woods just yet. I hate talking about it, because honestly this condition I'm in has consumed all parts of my life. At times I get depressed because I want to have my freedom but I must stay positive and be rest assured that all your prayers are being answered, because I am improving.

3rd of July

So I'm not quite sure who is keeping up to date on my blog, besides Paully-Wog, but I'm going to give out my link to my family so they can start. Summer has finally started in Oregon and it's great this whole week we have had 80 degree weather!! We've even had some awesome thunder storms that shake the whole house. Just last night around 2am I went out on to our balcony and just watched nature's show.

Last blog I talked about my medical condition and I'm happy to update that I've been getting better. Everyone says that I'm looking better and that I'm gaining more weight. This is all true, but I'm still around 183, which is still about 20 lps where I'm usually. I'm taking my medication regularly and that really does help. Especially the predisone. I still have to be carefully about the foods I eat though. I stay away from Spicy Mexican food and salads, but it's nice to be able to eat pretty much anything I want.

Recently We had our 10th family reunion in Bend Oregon. It was a lot of fun. To all my cousins that missed it, you were missed and you missed out big. There was a lot to do like Whitewater Rafting, Hiking, Mt. Bike, I didn't do any of that... I just laid out at the pool. So nice and sunny and relaxing. Kierstin came too and she also had a very relaxing time. At night we played Settlers with the Reibera Cousins. The resort, The Inn at the Seventh Mountain, is an excellent place with nice rooms this made everyone very comfortable.

Right now I'm working a lot a the Hospital because I have regular hours now!! this means I'll get benefits, which is good because I need some dental work with Ben. I'll be working tomorrow on the fourth, which is a bummer, but at least I'll get Holiday pay. I'm also looking at other Jobs and I'm getting really excited for a chance to be a Sales Rep for Dynasplints. Looks like a job that really fits me well.

Happy Summer for everyone, until next post

Middle of May

Hey Blog world, I'm not really good at keeping this up to date, oh well. So where does life find me right now. The big thing of course is my health condition. I've been diagnosed with Ulcerative Coitus. This is a Inflammatory Bowel Disease of the colon. It's been pretty horrible for me for the past two months. I've lost a lot of weight and haven't been able to do much because I have to stay close to a toilet. I've had to change my diet around a lot too. I mostly eat soft foods and stay far from really spicy foods, high fructose corn syrup, carbonated drinks, red sauce, lettuce, and other foods that upset my guts. It's like I have to live a slightly modified life right now. I'm on medication which has helped a lot, but it's slow. I judge my recovery in weeks.

On a brighter note. I've got my car back and running again!! Thats a huge relief for me. Thats what she looks like now!! I've really become quite a gear head over the past year. I saw Iron Man when it came out with my cousin Ben. It was a very fun movie. I'm also excited for my Cousin Paul and his family to visit Oregon in the next week ahead. We'll have some fun times.

Kierstin and I are still dating and having fun. She has really been getting a green thumb lately. She has decked her patio with a abundance of flowers, plants, and herbs all of which are in cute planter boxes. She loves to take care of them each night carefully watering each one. If she had a plot of earth I bet she would start start growing crops!!

I'm still working at Emanuel Hospital in the ER. Things are changing a bit there. My old boss left and my department is looking for his replacement. There are more shifts that are available for me to pick up. But since I've been so sick lately that I haven't been working as much as I would like too.

Getting Things all worked out!!!

This picture is of Kierstin and I at our Halloween Party. We're Hippies!!

This week has been one that seems like I've got most of the wrinkles out of my game plan. I've got a lot going on and I've been stressed out because of it. Here let me list them: To finish my application to OHSU PA program I need to take the GRE, I finally got the go a head to sign up just in time for the November deadline. In the mean time I've been studying for it at Kaplan. So I'll be study intensely for that these next two weeks. Also I've got everything sorted out at PSU. Although I've graduate with my Bachelor degree last summer, I've decided to finish the rest of my pre-requisites sets for medical school. Which is Physics series, Genetics, and Cell Biology courses. What I didn't know was that I had to sign a couple of forms to get back into PSU, oh plus $50, so that I could be a post-baccalaureate student. Good news is that I'll be able to get financial aide to pay for the tuition. I'll probably find out how much in a week or two. But I'll tell you having to get everthing worked out from the Registers office, Financial aid office, FAFSA, and having enough credits to even get aide has been a headache. Needless to say I got that everything situated with that. Since I'm taking Physics I've been studying for that. A lot of equations and math, so much fun!!! and I had my first test this week too!!
Also I've applied for a new job at the Hospital. I'd be working on the child/adolescence phyc unit . This would be a great pay increase and give me new experiences too. I've called the Unit Manager a few times this week so that he's aware that I really want the job. Hopefully next week I'll know more about the job. But if I don't get it, I'm going to look at research jobs at OHSU.
So I still feel like things are still kinda chaotic, but I feel like things are coming together and that my game plan is forming. I'm looking forward to things to settle even more, but untill then I'm staying optimistic for the best.