Medical Mystery

When I was 10 years old, I spent the weekend at my Grandparents house down in the cities. For dinner we had hotdogs and later that night I started to feel sick. I ended up vomiting up the hotdog that I had eaten earlier in the night. The next day I woke up feeling just fine. We went about our day like nothing had happened the night before. A few weeks later I ate a salami sandwich with lettuce, mayo, and mustard. Again, that night I ended up vomiting. Once again, we didn't think anything of it. A few weeks later, I had hotdogs again for dinner, and I'm sure you could guess, but I got sick that night. We decided to talk to a doctor after this was happening a few times a week. The doctor said it was probably acid reflux. So they put me on a small pill that I took before bed. They also decided that it might have had something to do with the nitrites in processed meat so they told me to stop eating processed meat. Within a week, it proved to not work as I kept getting sick. We decided to try a nausea pill after that but that didn't work either. 

For the next few years, the symptoms weren't as often but they were still occurring. When I was 16, I started getting sick every night. I started losing weight and it was getting to the point that none of my clothes were fitting. We said enough is enough and we headed back into the clinic. This time they decided to run some blood tests and still nothing. They sent me back home and said just stay away from all meat since they thought that might be what is getting me sick. I kept getting sick and it started putting a damper on my after school activities, my schoolwork, my grades, and my social sleep. If I was home, I was normally sleeping. After continuing to get sick, we went back in. They decided to check and make sure that everything was normal with my stomach and my intestines. I had a CT scan done on my whole abdomen to check for cancer and praise the Lord it came back completely clear. So, they decided to run some more tests and this time they saw that my thyroid levels were zero. My left thyroid basically stopped working and my right thyroid was barely giving off any hormones. They decided to do an ultrasound on my neck to make sure that my thyroid was in good condition and everything appeared normal. They put me on some thyroid medication and slowly I started perking up again. I didn't miss as much school, my grades were going up, and I was able to make it to after school practices. Because of my thyroid problems, I still have to go to the doctor once a year to make sure that my thyroid hasn't shut down again. 

Unfortunately, we thought that maybe my thyroid was causing me to get sick, we were wrong.  I was still getting sick and the longer and longer it went on the more frustrating it got for us and the doctors. Finally my doctor said that he has tried everything he can and that I needed to head to a specialist. Sadly the wait to see a specialist at the hospital he suggested had a three month wait, and we couldn't afford to wait three months. Thankfully we found a wonderful doctor in the cities that only had a two week wait. Two weeks later we prepared ourselves to leave this appointment with no answers, but we were wrong. My new doctor decided that we needed to do a endoscopy because she thought that maybe there was something actually in my stomach that was causing me to get sick. First of all I do not wish an -oscopy anything on anyone. Lastly, prep alone is rough enough. Thankfully, the procedure went really well I didn't remember anything. The bad part, they didn't find anything. Also in the time from my first appointment and my endoscopy they put me on an extremely heavy dose of sleep medication. When we went to our follow up appointment she said there is good news and bad news. The good news, they didn't find anything. The bad news, they didn't find anything and the current medication they had me on had awful long term affects. She discussed how there is this new thing they are finding in young teens that is called intestinal migraines. There is no known cause, they just happen when they want. There is also no known treatment for them so there is no point in being tested for them because even if they told me that is what it is, they can't do anything for me. The doctor ended the appointment by saying that she was going to put me on an as-needed medication so if I ever feel sick, I should take it. Since June 2013, I have only had four episodes which is very good compared to the previous years. 

What happens now? I just get sick the rest of my life? Well the answer to that question is yes. Until they come up with new tests or medications, there really is nothing I can do. Since seeing my specialist, I have cut out all processed meats from my diet and I watch what I eat. In one way it is a blessing because for the most part my weight stays very normal, on the flip side if we go out to eat or to someone else's house, I can't normally eat the main dish. I have learned to stay away from highly processed foods like certain cookies, certain frozen meals, and many kinds of pizza. I have learned to really love fruits, vegetables, and different dairy products. I still struggle with getting my full protein intake but sometimes just eating a big, fresh steak will do the job. 

Until next time,

The Medical Mystery