Breaking free of the cotton candy web of denial...

[onatreetop]

I can relate to all these sysmtoms as well. My sinus checked out good though. headaches have always been an issue. The vision and hearing ups and downs I always related to the wegs and meds with a bit of allergies. I am going for five tests on friday. CT of pellvis, abdm. and chest. Two mris of spin lower and middle. Still getting the pain in my side on the left which was kidney stones before but Soloway doesnt think thats the case now. The neurologist I saw did the EMG on my hands arms and legs feet. But came back ok.

[elephant]

Good to hear Onatreetop. How about a Echo cardio gram- they have you walk on a treadmill and take pictures of your heart. Or they don't think it is the heart? Glad they are doing the CT's need to rule out why your having chest pain.

[Sangye]

Onatreetop, glad you're getting checked out. I don't know if you've had MRIs before but they're much longer than CTs. Make sure you move around a lot and stretch and walk between the CTs and the MRIs. They'll do the 2 MRIs without letting you out of the MRI tube. You'll be in there for at least an hour, unable to move at all, laying on a hard surface, etc... They'll tell you exactly how long. It always seems much longer. You might want to take some tylenol beforehand, if you have any pain.

[Sangye]

Elephant, I've never had an echocardiogram done while moving-- just like a regular ultrasound. Is that a special type? Do you know what it's called?

[JohnL]

Lola - I was giveen an IV of Bicarbonate of soda during one of my stays in hospital. It made me
feel much better and i still take a teaspoon -level- every night. Something about acid build-up
and my kidney - I only have one foe some unknown reason- unable to cope.

[Sangye]

John, you only have one kidney?

[elephant]

You can have a regular echocariogram without moving. Last year when I had severe chest pain they did that too. A couple of months ago they did the treadmill echocardiogram to check the strength of the heart and check the valves and thinkness of the chambers and such....They just want to to see how my heart was after exercise and used a ultrasound (pictures) of the heart, they also do it with Dopamine I think....not sure. I recently had a CT of my heart to check for calcium build up. Insurance did not pay for it. It was 100.00 dollars.

[elephant]

John, sounds like you in kidney failure? Your electrolytes and acid/base were off ....Sangye and Lightwarrior can help you on this one. I use to work on a kidney floor, long time ago and can't remember the correct medical term they use when the give the bicarbonate. Acidosis? Alkalosis?

[Doug]

I have a private little saying following my experience with Wegs, "Things are never so bad that they can't get worse!"
Sorry. That wasn't very positive was it?

No, but it is cogent! Anyone familiar with your WG trail has to respect how much misery there is behind that statement, and how important it is to address symptoms as though they are the signs of what will kill you. That's not too positive either, is it!? But the outcome of ignorance and failure to bring up the "whiney" patient in you (to paraphrase the new and wonderful contributor, Lola!) is too serious to trivialize.

[Doug]

Onatreetop, glad you're getting checked out. I don't know if you've had MRIs before but they're much longer than CTs. Make sure you move around a lot and stretch and walk between the CTs and the MRIs. They'll do the 2 MRIs without letting you out of the MRI tube. You'll be in there for at least an hour, unable to move at all, laying on a hard surface, etc... They'll tell you exactly how long. It always seems much longer. You might want to take some tylenol beforehand, if you have any pain.

Sangye's comments of the stretching and moving around are very critical, I think, and I wish I'd done such things before I had mine. I'm fairly large by human male standards, so the narrowness of the opening did cause some concern for who would pay the price if I got stuck in the dang machine! Seriously, the procedure can be uncomfortable, so the moving around and light painkillers before hand always are a good approach to an MRI.