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February 21, 2008
Thank You
I just wanted to thank everybody who wrote in with ideas on my Diagnose Me entry. I'm fairly confident at this point that it's my thyroid because lately I've felt a huge lump in my throat that makes it nearly impossible to even swallow at times. I also lose my voice on and off, both of which are symptoms of thyroid issues. Hopefully my blood tests will confirm this. Without all your comments, though, I never would have even gotten that blood test! I had no idea there were so many people out there who read and care enough to write in to help. Thanks everyone!
And now, because I owe you big time, I'm going to actually post some pictures. These are all from my iPhone and were taken in all different times and places. Hopefully I'll be able to do a more legitimate entry sometime soon.
Hartford has some of the prettiest nighttime skies:
I think I took that picture at night when Brent and I were on our way to his house because Brent needed to pick up the bunnies to take them to the vet to get their pedicures. While there, I took these adorable pictures of Shadow who was very happy to see Brent back for a night:
While we were over in Avon (where Brent lives) there was SO much fog! Probably because it's sort of a mountainous area. Anyway, somehow I don't have those pictures on my computer. I haven't quite mastered my iPhone yet despite the great book about it I got for Christmas, but I'll try to get those pictures off my phone tonight. Anyway, the fog was really thick but also so pretty.
We hung around in Avon for a while at a local hardware store looking for some sort of anti-ant stuff. I could have just said "ant repellent" but "anti-ant" was more fun. The dorms at school have a major ant infestation. Brent and I both bought some non-toxic ant traps a while ago but there are still literally hundreds! I'm particularly upset about this because I'm severely allergic to ant bites. Oh well, that can just be another thing to add on to my mysterious illness.
Anyway, this is such a disjointed entry and I'm sorry for that, but I'm going to blame it on my trick thyroid so you have to bear with me. That being said, here's a story about squirrels. After reading that sentence, I realize how much I need a life right now... but about those squirrels.... Brent and I were walking to our dining hall when we heard this awful screeching noise coming from nearby. We both turned, expecting to see a vulture, when we discovered that the noise was coming from a squirrel. It was hiding on a car tire and screeching really loudly. There was then a similar reply from off in the distance, where Brent and I saw a nest of squirrels, nervously peering out of a hole in a tree. We were obviously perplexed, not really knowing squirrels to screech and scream at each other, when we saw a huge hawk in a tree nearby. We felt so bad for the scared little squirrel whose family was warning him about the hawk that we thought we had to step in. We scared the hawk away so that the poor little squirrel could get safely back to his home. Here he is on the car tire:
At this point I'm not even going to try to connect this entry into anything coherent, just so you know.
A few days before Valentine's Day, Brent and I went to see Casablanca at Cinestudio, our school's 1930s-style movie theater. I managed to sneak this picture inside the theater. Don't you wish all theaters still looked like this?
Here's Brent right after the movie in the snow:
Snowy campus:
Brent in the process of cleaning off his car windshield:
There he is again:
All right, now this next part should probably be an entry in and of itself but it's not because... well, because I don't feel like it. On a completely different day... maybe before the above pictures, maybe after... I have no idea how time works anymore... there were snow squalls that came through Hartford that produced real white-out conditions. I have pictures of this on my real camera as well, but they're still on one of my memory cards rather than my computer, so for now I'll post the ones I had on my iPhone.
First of all, these pictures were all taken at about 4:30pm when the sun is usually still out. Brent and I had been at his house for something (most likely something animal-related, but I don't remember) and as we started driving back to school, the sun was out and shining bright! We were commenting on how nice the afternoon was when we saw what looked like huge thunderheads rolling in. We stopped off at Michael's craft store because I needed ribbon (Brent will tell you that I have an obsessive useless ribbon collection, but he is wrong) when the sky suddenly got very dark and saw the first snowflakes falling out of the sky. When looking at these pictures, remember that this is just minutes after the sun had been out and we had full daylight:
The wind started howling and blowing small objects across the parking lot. It reminded me of some of the crazy thunderstorms we get in Florida (my favorite of which involved a flying shopping cart in a strip mall parking lot). Here's Brent walking into the wind as the sky continued to get darker and the snow started falling harder:
Shopping cart on the loose!
We were in the store for under ten minutes and came outside to this:
Now remember, this is the middle of the afternoon! Brent and I made a mad dash for the car and the conditions kept getting worse and worse. We were going to try to make it back to school but the visibility was so bad that we had to stop at Barnes & Noble to wait it out. Here's the last picture I took on my iPhone, when the storm was getting better:
Anyway, Brent and I got back to school, grabbed our cameras, and walked around campus taking pictures which I will hopefully post soon.
Before I go, I have one final update on my health issues for you all. While I was writing this entry, I got an e-mail from the Health Center that my bloodwork all came back normal. I still think it's my thyroid but, of course, it's going to be difficult to diagnose.
Thanks again everyone!
-Lauren
Posted by lauren at February 21, 2008 01:23 PM
Comments
Sheesh. Well I am so glad your blood test is normal. But it sounds like something is going on with that Thyroid.
Also, maybe you are allergic to wheat? My friend Kendra from work is, and she told me before she figured it out (it came on in her 20's) she would get dizzy and/or faint frequently. She also had stomach problems? But it effects everyone differently.
While she was seeing several different Doctors trying to find out what was wrong with her they thought she had another disorder called Menieres. It is caused by a sensitivity to salt in your diet. It sounds weird but it affects your sinuses and it throws off your balance and makes you dizzy & faint.
Soooo look into those ailments and try changing your diet for a week--wheat free and/or no salt and see if it helps. Also Kendra told me that the Doctors taught her to pull down on your earlobes firmly and open up your ears if you feel faint. It opens up your sinus passages and helps you recover quickly, instead of you know, passing out on the subway platform--or in your case in school. Let me know if this helps at all!
Posted by: Jocelyn at February 21, 2008 02:41 PM
Thanks so much Jocelyn! I don't think it's my diet because during one of my hospital visits I got a complete blood workup of every single chemical in my blood and was told that everything related to food, etc. was normal (I don't really know what that means... but basically it tested for all my levels of EVERY vitamin, nutrient, electrolyte, mineral, etc.) and, unless I'm way off on this, I think it might have shown up on that if I had a food allergy. Also, I don't really get "dizzy" I get lightheaded. I'm not sure if that's what you meant, but the neurologist I saw said that dizzy and lightheaded are two completely different things that don't go hand-in-hand. Dizzy means it looks like things are spinning, which it doesn't for me, I just get this really fuzzy feeling in my head. I'll absolutely keep it in mind though and mention it to whatever doctor I see next. I still think it's probably the thyroid though, I seem to have EVERY symptom of thyroid disease.
Thanks again!
Posted by: Lauren at February 21, 2008 04:39 PM
There is no blood test for a wheat allergy. That is why it is so hard to diagnose. Anyway, it's something to think about if the thyroid thing turns out to be nothing.
Posted by: jocelyn at February 21, 2008 06:15 PM
Glad to hear you are looking into the possibility that it is your thyroid. Hopefully it gets figured out soon. My friend also is allergic to wheat, which i think means that she can't digest it, and the allergy manifests itself in weird ways. She gets really moody and really bad stomach problems.
Maybe this is too obvious, but are you under huge amounts of stress? Sometimes it can do strange things to your body.
Posted by: Christine at February 21, 2008 08:33 PM
Jocelyn - if it doesn't turn out to be my thyroid, I'll definitely look into allergies. I haven't had any stomach problems at all though, so I'm not so sure about Celiac Disease.
Christine - I don't think I've really been under any stress. I'm done with my college major and am taking a lot of easy classes that I really like so I haven't had a ton of work to do. The only thing I'm really stressed about is being sick all the time!
Thanks again everybody!
Posted by: Lauren at February 21, 2008 10:14 PM
trick thyroid... you're a piece of work.
and that snow squall was amazing. as was casablanca, as always.
Posted by: brent at February 25, 2008 02:32 AM