Dear 2015

This post was nearly ready to be published last week when we had the devastating news that Willow had a tumour in her breast, should the X-rays showed that it had spread, we would have to make the hard decision to let her go. Due to the intense emotional distress this caused both hubby and I, we decided together that I would skip a week of the blog until we knew what the future held, life with or without Willow.

 I am happy to report the tumour hadn't spread and it was successfully removed. The tumour was a mixture of benign and malignant cells so from now on we will keep a close eye on her. So here it is the post I prepared before even knowing that 2015 was going to be a roller coaster.

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Dear 2015,

I know that you are just a few days old but I wanted to give you a heads up, 2014 was a bit shit health wise if I am honest and I would sincerely like it if you would give me an easier 12 months. Although with awful PoTs symptoms starting on New Years Eve, I think its clear what your evil intentions are.

2014 was going swimmingly until I had a glucose loading tilt table test to confirm the diagnosis of postprandial hypotension in February. However it also changed my diagnosis from PoTs to severe Autonomic Dysfunction making my diagnosis even harder to explain to the myriad of medical professionals I would encounter during the remainder of the year.

Following the TTT my health took a massive decline. Just five days after the tilt table test (TTT - for short) I was bed bound and hooked up to my oxygen concentrator 24 hours a day for a week. I was inducing stress levels in my husband that I didn't think were possible to survive without provoking a heart attack. No one had any answers, all my gp could suggest was going back onto fludrocortisone (florinef for you in the USA) and increasing my fluids. My hospital consultant was on holiday, so my gp and I were winging it. As always my main aim is to stay out of hospital because dealing with idiots when I am unwell drives me nuts, even well-meaning idiots. When I say idiots I mean the ones that although well-meaning presume they are experts in my condition after 5 minutes on google.

Thankfully that time I avoided a hospital stay, the next admission in April 2014 was planned. This was for a trial of the drug Octreotide to see if I could tolerate it and if it prevented my postprandial episodes as I refer to them as. The drug worked but the whole trial was farcical, with me being discharged after only injecting the drug once myself and arguing continually with the nursing staff who kept trying to give me the drug hours before meal times which as I later found out due to my own mistakes would have produced horrendous hypoglycemic attacks. I was also discharged with very little information and with my gp having no way of ordering the syringes or needles I needed to inject the drug because they weren't available on the pharmacy list which gp's can order from. This took several months to rectify, oh and I have failed to mention that I had no information regarding the disposal of the sharps bin either. As I said farcical. 

May and June 2014 saw repeated bouts of cellulitis and I was very lucky not to need I.V antibiotics to sort it out. I had blood tests and antibiotics coming out of my ears but no cause for these repeated infections was ever found. I am just lucky I guess. I had no appreciation before hand how ill cellulitis can make you feel. The first bout started with what we presume was a spider bite on my knee, the second bout started after I had a manicure and the third and fourth bouts happened after I was bitten repeatedly by mosquito's. I was very poorly but as always I chose to ignore it as I have found burying my head in the sand always works well. Spot the lie.

The end of June was equally dramatic with Acute Urinary Retention occurring on the 20th June resulting in me being admitted to hospital on the 21st June with a blocked catheter. If I thought I had lost my dignity when having a smear test (PAP test in the USA) in the past I was in for a rude awakening when having catheters fitted and subsequently removed. By the time a catheter becomes necessary you no longer care what it will take to relieve the agony of an overly full bladder. I have very little recollection of these events and I kind of understand women who say they forget the indignity and pain of childbirth. I think I have blocked the memories from my mind. Only to be remembered when I read the blog posts these incidents are contained within.

So six months in and 2014 had been one of the most eventful years of my professional sick persons career. So 2015 I would be grateful if you could keep the drama to a minimum. I don't mind drama as in I have a winning lottery ticket or a National Newspaper wants me to write a regular column for them, that's fine. I just don't want the health drama for me or any of my loved ones. There is too much drama in the world already without adding a whole new level of shitty health problems.

The following six months weren't remotely better, they just presented different challenges. From March onwards the back pain I had been suffering with since 1999 decided to ramp up a gear. I found out in September I have arthritis in my spine and a flattening of one of my discs. My palpitations, feeling faint etc have been worse for the last six months which has meant me staying on the dose of 3 fludrocortisone tablets a day. The steroids help but the bring other issues such as sleep problems and constant hunger. My weight has gone up and down like a yo-yo in the last 12 months. An outsider may think "weight should be the least of your problems" and I agree it should but I am so unhappy when I can't fit into my clothes. I can cope with my health being awful as long as I don't put on lots of weight. My weight seems to be the final straw. With my back pain being as bad as it was I spent much of the summer in bed in vast amounts of pain. With further reduced mobility I ended up putting on weight.

One good part of 2014 was finding out the answer to why my back was painful and discovering that gentle Pilate's could strengthen more core muscles enough to alleviate that pain. I found joy in completing the exercises and used my Pilate's time as me time. I could relax and found myself feeling calmer.....until my knees really started to hurt. I think the strengthened core muscles changed my gait which then altered the pressure on my knees or maybe the pain in my back was masking the pain in my knees. It doesn't matter because in December 2014 I could add early onset arthritis in my right knee and  possibly all of my fingers.

December 2014 was eventful due to another bout of Acute Urinary Retention and a urinary tract infection to boot. So again 2015 I beg of you don't meddle on the health front please. The last 12 months was hard to deal with and I am no longer bouncing back like I used to. My husband really can not continually cope with this level of stress. As a result of my declining health he has now put on several stone in weight as he is a stress eater. I want him with me for a long time, so please lay off me for a while so that he feels he has some kind of control in his life.

Last year I made a huge list of New Years Resolutions, it was the first time I had done so for many years. Looking back at the list I realise I didn't accomplish any of them due to the health issues. That was a bitter pill to swallow. 

One of my resolutions wasn't affected by my health, I wanted to get back into creative writing.....I didn't, I got back into blogging after an 18 month break. It has been one of the most rewarding things I have done. I have made a very special friend who I would never have met without my blog. I was nominated for a Wego Health Activist Blog award and I more than doubled my readership in the space of ten months. Something I am extremely proud of.

So if I maybe so bold 2015, I have provided you with my personal wish list for the next 12 months. I know you can't cure my numerous medical conditions but you can be kind.

- I feel its time you gave me a break on the health front, just keep me ticking along with the conditions / symptoms I am used to. Don't go throwing me any curve balls because I really don't think I have the energy to cope with them.

- Please limit my exposure to idiots in the medical field. I have been worn down by the constant exposure to them last year. Let someone else have them for a change or just educate them a bit better before you release them on the general public. I can't be the one to educate them all the time.

- Before one of my well-meaning acquaintances sends me the link to a blog where someone cured their PoTs through adopting a sugar-free, Vegan diet may you give them a change of heart or make their Internet connection go down until they decide I have probably already seen it several times.

- If they do send it let me receive it far more graciously than I did in 2014 but then again maybe not a little sarcasm never hurt anyone.

- If I do go into Acute Urinary Retention again can you make it on a day when I have shaved my legs and waxed my bikini line? It just makes me feel better to know that these are done if someone is going to be rummaging around in my lady parts. 

- Please don't let it be this year that my smear is due for the reasons above plus it is painful due to my retrograde cervix and dislocating my right hip when I adopted the "position" last time.

- If any insects or arachnids bite me this summer please let me avoid cellulitis and high dose antibiotics. By attack number 4 it got quite boring and the medication made me feel really nauseous.

- Please get my gp to admit fully that I have arthritis in my fingers. Seemingly them swelling up, being stiff and painful just isn't enough proof when I already have arthritis in my spine and knee. Please stop him holding onto the belief that its my stretchy ligaments causing the problem and admit it is EDS causing early onset arthritis.

There are lots of things I could ask of you 2015 but I really don't want to appear greedy. If you could just make it a smoother ride this year for me and my loved ones it would be greatly appreciated. I know there will always be bumps in the road so let me face them as I faced the ones in 2014, with humour and wit.