Finally a Diagnosis

Over the past two and a half years I have been to Dr. after Dr. trying to figure out why I would be in constant pain like I am.  I have been to the emergency room so many times I can't even keep track anymore.  I have been misdiagnosed with every thing from Type 2 diabetes, Gluten intolerance, and IBS.  In the past three years I have also had two surgeries, one of which actually helped take some of the edge off.  July of this year I finally went to see my husband's family doctor to see if he could help me out at all.  When I got in to see him, he wasted no time and had me an appointment scheduled for me to have some tests ran.  He received the result the same day, and he called me as soon as he got them.  He informed me that every thing he saw on my scans were outside of his scope, but he was going to get me in to see a specialist right away.  The next day I was sent to one of St. Luke's clinics and they were good enough to work me in to their already busy schedule.  The doctor told me he saw some things on my scans that made him nervous, and that he wanted blood work done.  He also told me that he had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and that a blood test would just confirm it.  I walked down the hall, and got my blood drawn right then and there.  I had to wait a few hours for the results to be processed, but it was nice having the results the same day.  The doctor had me come back to the office to go over my results.  He informed me that they tested a few different areas of my blood such as my LH and FSH numbers, the levels of androgens, and my TSH. He said that after looking at these levels, and seeing all the cysts on my scans, that I had Poly Cystic Ovarian Disease and a high possibility of endometriosis.  He said that unless I had surgery, they wouldn't be able to really know whether or not I had endometriosis.  I had a lot of things run through my mind.  What could I do to make it better? What would this mean for my husband and I?  Most of all was this going to be a long term thing we were going to have to deal with.  I was also extremely upset, after all the trips to the doctors, and all the trips to the ER, no one ever thought to run a simple blood test for this?  Instead they poked at me more than was needed, did close to 40 some ultrasounds, and even did a few MRIs.  I understood that the ER is there to stabilize a person, not to diagnose, or fix the problem, but I did see and OBGYN more than once, and had blood work done there, and was told that every thing was "fine".  He told me that my best chance at feeling better was to have Laparoscopic Surgery done in order to remove any scar tissue and/or cysts on my ovaries.  I followed his advice and had the surgery.  I didn't have any cysts that were large enough to remove just a lot of smaller cysts.  We did find that I had a good amount of scar tissue on the back of my uterus and had started to displace itself to one of my kidneys.  Since she removed the scar tissue my kidneys have hardly hurt me anymore.  I can't really say much for all my cysts, but they have become more than a problem for my husband and I and we are dealing with them one day at a time. 

Winter Gardens aGlow!

Holidays bring the chance to share wonderful experiences, and I am lucky enough to have in-laws that love their traditions.  One of these traditions just so happens to be an annual trip to the Idaho Botanical Gardens to see all the lovely Christmas lights at Winter Gardens aGlow. I must admit it is the same thing every year, Christmas lights beautifully displayed all over the garden, wall-to-wall people and hot cider accompanied by a cookie.  However, one thing is not the same every year, and that is the memories.  As my nephews and niece get older, they teach both my husband and I so much.  They never cease to catch us off guard, and make us laugh.  This night wasn't any different.  Watching my niece's face react to everything and to see her eyes take everything in, was worth the visit to the gardens.  My youngest nephew was a riot, talking about "the scary ghost" that he thought was in the guard tower, and how GiGi's house has two bathrooms.  I don't really know how this came about, but he made sure to tell everyone about her two bathrooms.  My other two nephews are like sponges, they take everything in, even when you don't mean for them to repeat what you say.  There is a part of the garden that I absolutely hate, and the kids love going to that side of the garden so I follow along.  You may be wondering why I would hate any part of the garden since it is so beautiful, but this side stinks.  There are hedges on this side of garden that stink so much that they make me sick to my stomach every time I go past them.  I made the comment to my sister-in-law that I hated these hedges because they smelled like "cat pee bushes".  The boys picked up on this, and continued to call the hedges "cat pee bushes" while laughing hysterically all night.  While we were at the Gardens aGlow we took the chance to spend family time together, laughing and visiting.  We also took advantage of the opportunity to take some pictures of both the kids and adult having some fun.  I love that I got the chance to relax and do something fun with my husband.  With Kirk working, and myself working and going to school we are busy people.  All in all I think everyone had a great time! The kids got to see all the wonderful lights, explore, and even got the chance to ring the bell.  The adults got to spend time together and see the kids enjoy themselves.  As an added bonus we all trekked back to my in-laws house for hot coco with snowman marshmallows and Christmas cookies.  I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life, and to have the opportunity to make so many wonderful memories with my husband.        

As I Start Out...

I have wanted to start a blog for a bit now, and I don't really know why it has taken me this long to actually get to it.  I have a few reasons for starting this blog, most of which are for me, and a few reasons are for others.  I wanted to start this blog to keep track of all the terrific memories my wonderful husband and I make together, as well as remember the trials we have been through, and to help remind us why we are so perfect for each other.  I also wanted to start this blog to help my family understand some of the things Kirk and I have been through and are going through.  It isn't easy for Kirk and I to understand, or even know how to cope from day-to-day, so I don't expect our families to always understand or feel like they need to fix it.  Plus I don't want them to feel like we are leaving them out of the loop, or that they aren't important staples in our lives.  I also wanted to share in order to help other couples know that there are others out there, that are just like them, human beings doing the best they can. 
To all who continue to read my posts, I hope you enjoy.
This is our life so far...