Unsatisfying Doctor Visit # Eleventy-Billion

Today Justin went to see the Gastroenterologist, and I went with him. In case you aren't sure what's happened in the last week, here's a recap.

Thu 11/27: Justin to ER after Thanksgiving Dinner tachycardia & high BP. ER doc attributes to bad reaction to new ADD meds (adderall).

Fri 11/28: Date night? You must be kidding, the universe would not let THAT happen. Justin to ER after dinner & taking beta blocker (prescribed on Thu night @ ER). ER doc attributes to adderall & caffeine and this time decides J should no longer take the adderall.

Sat 11/29-Present: Justin feels like crap. Vomiting, diarrhea, sweats, tremors, headaches, stomach pain, trouble breathing ensue.

Mon 12/1: Justin has appt w/family doctor. Who tells him that he thinks it might be a carcinoid tumor. He orders Justin to pee in a jug for 24 hours. Refers him back to Gastro dr.

Which brings us up to today, when we went to the Gastro doctor and he said it's JUST YOUR IBS acting up. WTH? So unsatisfying.

He listened to all the symptoms and everything that has been going on. He wrote it all down. Justin could tell from the beginning of the appointment that he had already ruled out the possibility of it being a carcinoid tumor or something else, and he was trying to find some other explanation for it. He did not give us any information about the liklihood that either of the urine tests might be positive.

We also found out that we won't find out the results of the urine tests until probably early next week because for some reason, they have to send the stuff to Oregon to get tested.

He gave Justin more pills (woo.) to take to try and help his acid reflux, and basically said that it's probably just the IBS, which can be really tied to how you feel emotionally and stress, and that he thinks what we really need to do is just get the ADD under control and that will help.

Sigh... first off, IBS? Doesn't irritable bowel syndrome inherintly imply that there must be SOMETHING that is irritating the bowels? Perhaps we could try to figure out what that is. Secondly, I feel like IBS is a catch-all diagnosis, like how they used to say people had 'consumption'. That's not a real thing, it just means your body is falling apart.

So, no answers. More conflicting opinions. We're trying to be patient, but it's SO HARD when I'm sitting around watching Justin feel like total crap, get the sweats, not be able to sleep, then be tired all day, not be able to eat because he just gets sick. It's out of control. So, we have no information. Frustrating.

To add to the joy that is our lives, here are some other awesome things that happened this week...

I found out that my 'backup job' that I was going to apply for working in customer service @ T-Mobile won't happen, at least for a while. I had finally made the decision to suck it up and go back to a job I don't even like that much, but which pays well plus insurance. It's full time, but I could have worked evenings. Then I got an e-mail saying they are doing some roof work so can't do another training class until further notice. UGH. Back to the drawing board.

We still haven't received our dumb payout from Justin's 401(k) which we had to close after we'd lost about 1/2 of it because we need the money now to pay our rent and bills, and we can't leave it to recover. Sigh...

I finally got a certain monthly visitor after a 2 1/2 month absence and she is apparently angry at me with the way things have been going for the past 2 days.

So... basically... life rocks. Right?

It's not all bad though. This is just information. We're feeling annoyed that we're both a little sick right now, but at least Sam makes us happy, and keeps us laughing. Most of the time. :-)