I wasn't sure when or if I was going to get this personal on our blog. I can be very outgoing and am usually an open book, but putting this out there on the internet where millions (I dream big) of people could possibly read it makes me very shy.
It all started almost 9 years ago. I started getting sick with symptoms like headaches, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and severe weight gain. I went to the doctor a few times, but every time they would do some blood tests and say I was fine. As time went on the symptoms got worse, but I got better with dealing with them.
About 4 years after that my husband and I went to an infertility specialist. We had been trying to have a baby for around 3 years with no luck. The doctor ordered a lot of tests (I don't know how many, but they took 26 vials of blood that day) to get a feel about what was going on. When the tests came back they showed that a bunch of my hormones were all over the board (a lot being high and some being very low). They sent me to have some of the same tests done again, when they came back saying the same thing I was sent for an MRI. A few days later I received a call (yes, a call) saying I have a brain tumor. The first picture above shows where my brain tumor is located (the picture is from here).
Fast forward 4 years from there, I went in for my yearly check-up to see how much the tumor (we call it Fred) had grown - the first year it doubled in size, every year after that it has just grown some. I got a call the next day from my doctor (what is it with doctors and devastating news on the phone?) and I knew something was coming, because it was her day off, but I was not expecting this. In addition to my tumor - I also have MS (Multiple Sclerosis).
When going to the MS Center and looking at my MRIs from the past we can see that I have had it all along. Someone please tell me why no one thought to diagnose this earlier (I mean it's right there all over my brain)?! The second picture shows the scar tissue caused by MS (this picture is from here).
That brings us to now and the third photo (from here). Did anyone notice I was gone on Monday? :) Thank you Beth for filling in on such short notice!! Over a week ago I came down with a little cold. Not a big deal right?..... So wrong. When I get sick, no matter how minor a bug, it turns into Defcon 5. My body just cannot handle anything else and completely shuts down (I'm sure the fact that I do not slow down has nothing to do with it). I have been extremely sick, so I have not been working on any projects, but maybe that's not such a bad thing because it brought me to share a part of my personal life with all of you.
As you can see I have a lot of health challenges to get through, but I am lucky to have an amazing husband, loving family and awesome friends to help me through. Thank you to all who read this for letting me share (not so easy) pieces of myself with you!
J
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