Isn't it ironic?

Although I hate birthdays, I did have an enjoyable day on May 31^st, which was my 22^nd birthday.  The day began with my roommate Meghan and I going on a sunrise hike somewhere off of Skyline drive; it was spontaneous and fun.  The hike didn’t go as planned, probably because of our lack of planning but I think that comes along with turning 22.  We had more fun trying to find a hiking path and trying to see the sunrise, then actually seeing the quote on quote perfect sunrise.  After my birthday hike, I was fortunate enough to enjoy breakfast at one of my favorite local diners that has mostly organic food including the coffee!  I, of course, indulged because it was my birthday and I was with one of my closest friends!  Following breakfast, I had a bit of down time, which wasn’t really even down time because my phone was blowing up with people wanting to wish me a Happy Birthday.  After talking to my sister on the phone, who was in California at the time, I headed to Crosskeys Vineyard to truly embrace being 22 with two of my roommates!  We did a wine tasting and then did an additional glass of wine; I must say I was truly “feeling” 22 after that.  You would probably expect the day to be over by now, but nope I decided to go downtown and have pizza at a local pizza shop that opened with my two roommates and then the girl that got me through the year with the PICC line!  I couldn’t have been more excited to that she attended the dinner; she would change my PICC line dressing weekly and sometimes more than that if I had sweat too much or had gotten it wet.  She was a blessing.  The day as a whole was picture perfect with people that have helped me bridge the gap from 21 to 22.

Meghan and I on our sunrise hike

I somehow found this ironic that I saw this deer on my 22nd birthday and I was able to find it magestical and peaceful even though this animal has caused me such pain and devestation.  Isn't it ironic?  Life can just be so strange sometimes.

Birthday dinner with the girls

In terms of how things are going since my last blog post, I would say okay.  My summer has had its ups and its downs, but isn’t that life!  Someone broke into my house last month, but luckily my lease was up at the end of July so I just moved into a different townhouse in a different development.  So far I really like my new roommate.  He has a dog named Angel, who really gets a long well with my dog Kona, which is a huge plus for me!  They run in circles all day and tire each other out; it’s great!

As far as health goes, I was doing quite well in the beginning of the summer besides my gallbladder issues, which are a setback, but in terms of Lyme I felt like I was making progress!  I ended up getting a HIDA scan and an ultrasound of my abdomen to check out the gallbladder; the results lead the radiologist to believe that I have biliary dyskensia.  Pretty much all biliary dyskensia is, is a big fancy word to say that my gallbladder doesn’t contract when I eat fatty foods.  It sounds like it would be great because then I would avoid the fatty foods and everything would be swell, but it isn’t that simple.  For my stomach, nuts are considered fatty foods at this point.  The discomfort that many foods are giving me isn’t worth it, I ended up going to see the surgeon and he says that surgery has a 70-75% chance of taking my symptoms away.  My symptoms are pain after eating, abdominal discomfort, severe bloating, gas, shoulder pain, nausea, etc.  I would say those are pretty high odds.  This surgeon wants to do the surgery robotically, which I am a bit skeptical of because there is more pain initially after the surgery.  I guess we will see though, the surgery is scheduled for August 14^th. 

As for my current protocol, it hasn’t changed since I got my PICC out; the only thing that has changed is that we added another day of Diflucan in my protocol.  Oh, I am also taking Activated Charcoal to aid in detoxing as recommended by the Biotoxins doctor that I have been seeing for a few months now.  I just started taking that, so as of now I have nothing to report on if I think it is working or not.  I did try the Protandim and I did not think that helped me.  It was worth a shot, I read so many things on the Internet and on support group websites that I end up trying these supplements if people say it helps them and if/when it doesn’t help me, I feel such a personal defeat.  I know it is not the end of the world, there is always another pill, another doctor.  But more importantly there is another day; I have to remember I am only 22.

“There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.”