Week two of the new year, and I feel like the only things I want to write about are complaints! Who wants to read that crap?
Update on the stomach: I am on Omeprazole, and while I want to believe this stomach issue is the only thing going on in my body, I know better. The front of my neck started to hurt, badly, three days after I started taking the medication. The pain hasn't gone away; we're going on 9 days of pain. I messaged my primary and she wrote me out a prescription for muscle relaxers and was thinking maybe my joints are swollen, assuming the neck is just another muscle ache. (she called it costochondritis - don't worry I had to look it up, too: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/costochondritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20371175). I referred back to one of my breast cancer support groups and found this was common for radiation patients, and others had also had these muscle pain issues. Something I did not mention in my New Years post is that I spent the morning of 12/23 in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I wasn't, and they told me to take Advil and Tylenol and sent me on my way. This lead to me seeing my primary on the 30th. Between the Omeprazole and muscle relaxers, my shoulder and chest pains are gone, and my stomach discomfort has subsided. Something is definitely working the way it should.
The neck pain, however, is worse. In fact, now the front of my throat is a little swollen. This could be a trick of my body though. I also came down with a bad cold Wednesday. This isn't swollen lymph nodes in my neck though, this is the center of the front of my throat. It isn't a muscular pain, and it's swollen around my windpipe/esophagus. It hurts to touch it, and it hurts when I lean my head backward. It is getting increasingly difficult to sleep because of it. No fun.
Months ago I wrote a blog about how you really should not consult Google on medical questions. The same goes for now, but who really listens to their own advise? Of course, the first thing that comes to mind whenever I have a health concern is CANCER. Is it back? It this metastatic breast cancer that spread somewhere else? I know it's possible, but I also know that throat and thyroid cancers aren't likely to become a metastatic area for breast cancer to spread. That being said, both chemo and radiation can cause thyroid issues... so now I am worried about THAT! Oh goody.
I swear, I was not a hypochondriac before I got cancer. I worried like anyone else, but never really took those worries seriously until something serious happened. I read through some of the symptoms of thyroid issues after it popped up on that Google search that I mentioned I should not have done. I have gained some weight over the last few months. I figured it was inactivity, but then I joined the LiveStrong class and worked out regularly for 3 months... but only gained more weight. I have the neck pain thing going on. I've got the muscle soreness. I am always fatigued so how would I be able to tell if it's worse? I could go on and on, but long story short, you can make ANYTHING sound like it fits when you're freaking out. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/symptoms-causes/syc-20350284
So now, I am counting calories, working out even more, and drinking a TON of extra water. I lost 4 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Two weeks. Two weeks. Almost as long as my throat pain has been going on. Weird. Again, I am going to try to stop freaking out. The pain never goes away though, so the thoughts are never far from my mind.
I mentioned I came down with a cold on Wednesday - oh what a doozy! Evelyn came down with the cold on Sunday, Tyler had it the next day, and Wednesday was my lucky day. All of us had fevers, sinus issues, dry cough, and scratchy throats, (not to be confused with the throat pain I have in addition to this). I stayed in bed, literally, all day Wednesday, falling asleep on and off. Tyler toughed through it and didn't take any days off, but I can tell I am recovering from my cold already and he is still plagued by his. He probably should've taken a day off. Evelyn also seems to be getting better, too. We've been careful to keep the boys at an arms length so they don't also get sick.
I've had other small things stressing me out that don't weigh on me as much as the health issues going on, but are always still there; a text squabble with the ex I didn't see coming, Shamus's behavior at school, work stress, money stress because who doesn't, marital stress, work stress, and the list goes on. Ok, obviously today is not one of those "looking on the bright side days" and that's OK. Once I get these aches and pains figured out, I'm sure my piece of mind will return...
But until then...
Whine... whine... complain... and so on.
