Monday, September 15, 2008

I AM A Fa-REAK!



Seriously. So, I'm lying in bed. Its almost midnight and my mind is churning over what a freak of nature I am. I grew up with asthma and allergies. No big. But then weird things started happening. Like I choked on my food. Had to get my throat stretched out twice. With a balloon. Because apparently I'm allergic to certain foods that slowly swell my throat over time. Eosinophilic esophogitis. Oh, and then there was that episode of severe stomach cramping and blood in poop for a week with lots of tubal testing and no answers. Lets not forget the shingles. That's right. Who gets shingles??? And there's one little condition I have that I refuse to post in the internet. Let's just say its not right. Oh and then there's the anxiety attacks. What? Why? Plus there's the two blood clotting disorders. Apparently I have the same chance of winning the lottery as having dos thrombosis disorders. Which by the way makes me take heparin shots twice daily when pregnant. And which also excludes me from having insurance. Awesome. Plus it apparently caused Avery to be born a month early and within an inch of his life due to Oligohydramnios (amniotic fluid loss). You may remember I pee my pants more than any 30 year old should and I'm fat. HALF my hair went curl-frizztastic after having kids and my pinkies are crooked (so are Avery's).
Moving on to current matters. Went to the dentist 2 weeks ago. Got a crown. Now I have LOADS of pain radiating from tooth to ear. LOADS. L-O-A-D-S. I am on MAJOR pain meds and still feel it. Dentist doesn't get it. Went to doctor. He suspects possible infection somewhere he can't see, but most likely...Atypical (trigeminal) neuralgia. WHAT!!!!!!!! Care to read a bit of what Wikipedia has to say?:
"In the atypical form of TN, the pain presents itself as severe constant aching. The pain associated with TN is recognized as one of the most excruciating pains that can be experienced."
"ATN can have a wide range of symptoms and the pain can fluctuate in intensity from mild aching to a crushing or burning sensation, and also to the extreme pain experienced with the more common trigeminal neuralgia. ATN pain can be described as heavy, aching, and burning. Sufferers have a constant migraine-like headache and experience pain in all three trigeminal nerve branches. This includes aching teeth, ear aches, feeling of fullness in sinuses, cheek pain, pain in forehead and temples, jaw pain, pain around eyes, and occasional electric shock-like stabs. Unlike typical neuralgia, this form can also cause pain in the back of the scalp and neck. Pain tends to worsen with talking, facial expressions, chewing, and certain sensations such as a cool breeze. Vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve, infections of the teeth or sinuses, physical trauma, or past viral infections are possible causes of ATN."
"This disease has earned the nickname "the suicide disease," due to the unfortunate and drastic steps some have taken when they have been unable to find relief."
THE SUICIDE DISEASE!!!! THE FREAKING SUICIDE DISEASE!!!!!
I don't even have something normal like cancer. I might possibly have to live with this? Chronic pain! Uh, that's not okay. Its a no-go. Okay then.
Oh, and there's one more freakish thing. I have always been 65 and one half inches. Since puberty. For almost twenty years. That's 5 feet 5 and a half inches. And as of today, I am measuring 66 and one fourth inches. BLOW MY MIND!!! How does that happen? Really? Is that possible!
But I can honestly say (excluding the recent pain), I feel like a genuinely healthy person.
I don't know what to think... EXCEPT I do know that my grandparents were somehow related.....hmmmmmmm.....

13 comments:

Mindy Burns said...

Man! And I thought my insomniac problems we bad! Brian would say you're the healthiest sick person he knows (he says that a lot though- I just think it means he doesn't know how to cure any of it). The constant pain would be the worst though..I think..I hate being in pain, I hate having a back ache, so I can't imagine what kind of pain you're talking about! But your post did give me hope- I've been 65 1/2 inches my whole life too- for the past 13 years at least, so maybe there's still hope that I'll grow a little more! :) Keep your year supply of pain meds next to your wheat supply! I hope you get some relief soon!

Summer's World said...

Thanks Mindy! That's hilarious about being the healthiest sick person..coming from a doctor!!! And yeah! I guess miracles happen! Start growing sister!

Lisa Merkley said...

Summer, you always did crack me up! No fun about the pain though. Maybe you could donate yourself to science... :)

tawnya said...

Sum! Seriously. Did they say that is what your pain is definitely or is it just a "maybe"? (here's hoping...)

I'm so sorry!

Summer's World said...

Tawnya-It's a maybe, but all signs are pointing that way. HOWEVER, I do have an attitude that this cannot happen so I'm fully expecting a miraculous recovery. I can still somewhat function, but I'm either drugged up, hurting, or both so I prefer not to function. It better go away b/c we have a girls night to get to!

Brimaca said...

You sound like my mom. In fact she has trigeminal niralgia (sp?) and has for years. They did mention a brain surgery that might help but she refuses. It does suck. I hope they find out it is not that!

Brynne, Aaron and Cade said...

Summer. What the heck? What's with all the stuff? I'm sorry but secretly happy to hear that I'm not alone in my heath freakiness. I have some issues.....

I'll pray that DANG chronic pain away, or do my best anyway. I'm so sorry!

Maressa Vincent said...

Summer, as always I love reading your blog, you are hilarious. So sorry about another wierd medical challenge! That is terrible!

Danielle said...

Holy crap honey!! What can I do for you. Just to brighten your spirits a bit...my sister had shingles. So now you can say that you know someone else who once had it. The pain thing though...that sucks. Don't go committing suicide on me though, you still owe me lunch! HAHA! Seriously though, can I do anything for you? I feel really bad.

Danielle said...

Oh yeah, I want to know about the thing that you can't mention on the internet. Email me!

Summer's World said...

Hi everyone-
I almost feel bad that I posted such a feel sorry for me blog. Tried to be funny, but this does suck. I'm doing a bit better. At least at managing the pain. Found the right drugs that keep pain at bay without loopiness. On a bright side, Michael gave me a blessing and said it would go away and the doctor seconded the notion that nerves can heal. So I just have to be patient. Anyway, thanks for the notes and thoughts. And oh my gosh, Brittany, THAT SUCKS for your mom. Sheesh. I talked to a surgeon up here at Cyberknife that she may want to talk to. Sounded like a good thing.
Hangin' tight,
-Sum

mandy said...

Hey home girl!! dang I wish I could take it all away.. You have always been a trooper!! dont know how you deal Just so glad you do and you set such an awesome example for me. Yer my hero!! love ya prayin for ya...mandy

Christina Bond said...

Summer, what is going on? This is crazy! I feel bad to have to break it to you but I think i know what it is.... YOUR ALLERGIC TO MICHAEL! I've just been recaping your life for the last 15 years or so and realized that the crazy stories begin with your wedding day and haven't stopped since. The good thing is that I hear allergies can go away with repeated exposure. So there is hope. Hang in there and thanks for making life's worst situations sound so darn funny (even though I'm well aware there not).

About Me

My photo
Logan, UT
So I used to think... I used to think it was my world. Maybe Michael thought it was his. But we have been re-educated. By a 4 year old and a 2 year old. It's their world. We live in it.

A peek into our window

Birth of Child #1

Birth of Child #1
He looked like a blue alien. Luckily it didn't stick. And thank goodness we didn't go with Michael's idea to name him based on what he looked like.

Birth of Child #2

Birth of Child #2
Much less eventful, thank goodness! She was born with red hair and 2 teeth... and skin colored skin!

Quincalicious!

  • Quincy says "Where's Avy? I dunno." She talks sooo much and she's so small (5th percentile) that is seems like she shouldn't be talking at all.
  • She roams wildly during church and has become quite the scavenger approaching anyone with food. Its embarrasingly adorable!
  • Quincy's vocab has exploded to include the words, "please, thank you, outside, sucker, candy, Avery, Grandpa, slide, ride, hold you, ni-night, water, bird, doggie, airplane, etc.....! She seems so little!
  • One of the most "wow" things she has done is climb one of those HUGE blow-up slides and slide down REPEATEDLY, ALL BY HERSELF!!!
  • Quincy (with great effort) threw the upper couch cushions on the floor and then proceeded to dive off couch, climb back up, repeat.
  • She says"I want: cookie, go, this, that, drink, wa-wa, play." She also says no, baby, hello, bye-bye, and peek-a-boo. And of course she says "Mom and Da."
  • Quincy talks a lot now. But first thing in the day and then 100 more times: "I want coo-kie." Very telling about her love affair with food.

AVERYISMS

  • A day after being educated, Avery pulled down his pants and touched his boyhood saying, "Hey Grandma, these are my private parts." HA-larious!
  • (After using the bathroom) "I made a waterfall. Then I made it stop."
  • "Hey Dad. This is my [invisible] friend Caillou. Will you be a monster and scare us?"
  • "Grandpa, what's in your belly?" says Avery. Mom says, "What do you think is in there?" "A baby?" guesses Avery. "Nope. Just lots of cherries," says Grandpa Schaefer. HAH!
  • Quincy was crying in the middle of the night and Avery said, "Take a deep breath, Quincy." It was sweet.
  • Quincy was screaming like a pterodactyl for Avery's food, so he snapped "Chill Out Quincy!"
  • In Avery's first attempt at being a smart-a, he was playing with his friend Jaden Knight and we were asking the boys their full names. Avery responded that his name was Avery James Day. Might have had to be there.
  • Avery still tries to stick his hand down my shirt. When I won't let him, he occasionally asks if he can stick his foot down my shirt instead.
  • I told Avery that Heavenly Father lived in heaven. He thought I said he lived 'with Kevin', so in alarm he asked, "With Kevin and Melissa?!!!"
  • Avery was out cold and we had to go. It was odd how I couldn't wake him, so I threw him over my shoulder and started heading out. All of the sudden with startling gusto, he yelled "I see Jesus." I thought he was a visionary, but turns out he woke up just as I walked past a picture of Christ.