Friday, September 25, 2015

Another Mystery (Thank God)!

We've been blessed yet again! The MRI results came back as 'normal'. So there is nothing to be concerned about in Chad's ole' noggin'. While whatever happened to him remains a mystery, we can breath a sigh of relief that everything at least looks as it should.

While there he got a flu shot, and blood drawn to check both his B12 level and Thyroid.

They also put in for a consult with a GI doctor.

As always, many, MANY thanks for your continued love, support and prayers. We love y'all!

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Well His Eyes Are Good!

Chad had his MRI yesterday. I am not sure when we will get the results of those but I am praying everything looks as it should and his episode a week and a half ago will just be a distant memory.

He also had an eye consultation and while he does have astigmatism, his eyes otherwise look in great health. He has been given a prescription but whether or not he actually needs glasses is left up to popular opinion. And whether he'd ever actually wear them is highly unlikely but it may be worth it if it helps with the headaches. Only time will tell.

Other than that, he has his usual aches and pains and cramping in his belly. We'll continue taking it one day at a time and I'll be sure to post once we get the MRI results.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support, love and prayers.

Friday, September 18, 2015

September 22, 2015

I remember awhile ago I rejoiced in not having to make a trip back to Marion, IL until December. I think we've been twice since and will be heading back again on Tuesday. Chad will be getting an MRI to check his head and also has a consult with an eye specialist to try and sort out the headaches blurred vision.

Chad has been extremely fatigued lately, seems to have constant headaches and his body just feels tired. His legs are bothering him (I think those can be attributed to his varicose veins),his wrist is still painful (the one with the metal plate) and he still can't fully shake this sinus thing. It keeps coming and going - mostly coming.

It's difficult sometimes to not self-diagnose him with every type of cancer you can imagine because let's be honest - that's the fear. Anytime cancer touches your life in an intimate way, any and every ache and pain immediately morphs into the worst case scenario in your mind.

With that said, in my heart I believe he is okay and will continue to be okay. He's approaching 45 years old and I think some of these aches and pains can be attributed to that. He essentially had 7 months 'off work' and in that time wasn't able to be as active as he used to be. During that time his body also took one hell of a hit with surgeries and recovery. Now that he's been back to work for about two months, it's taking its toll. Naturally, Chad continues to push through. Probably a little more forcefully than he should but that's the southern man in him :)

A friend I met through this cancer journey had suggested Chad get his B12 level checked. We will definitely follow up on that because I had him take a few of my B12 supplements 'just to see' and I think it did make some improvement. So big shout out to Denise Wesley for that tip. And also huge congrats on the positive news. Her husband Tim had quite the appendix cancer journey thus far and they had their scan results today and they very encouraging! Sometimes I don't know what I would do without the people from my Facebook Support Group. There's a lot of sadness in the group but there is also a lot of hope and tons of information. The people are truly a blessing.

Anyways, so in MY HEART - I believe Chad will be fine. I think once he kicks this sinus thing, he will start to feel better. Hopefully the doctors are able to help him sort out the cause of the headaches and the TIA (or whatever it was) he experienced last week.

As always, I'm hopeful and putting it in God's hands (with a few little pushes from me to get the doctors to listen of course)

I'll post again Tuesday.
Peace and Love.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Update on Chad's Health

This blog started out being about Chad's Fight against cancer but its turned into a little more than that due to these other mysterious health problems that keep arising. Some related to surgery/recovery - others that leave us scratching our heads, holding out hearts and getting on our knees asking for prayers.

Chad has had sinus issues for a little over a week, seems he couldn't shake it. Today? He felt "Good". He texted me to tell me he felt "Good". You have no idea how long I've prayed to hear those words.

Within two hours, Chad was leaning over the dinning room table, telling me to take him to the ER. (insert heart break)

Long story short; he was at work having a ghey ole' time when suddenly he felt weird. Feet tingles that ran up the length of his body. Sudden onslaught of sweat, his skin went white as did spots of his vision. He got nauseous, both arms and hands were tingling and his legs were weak, buckling beneath him. He had a hard time swallowing and eventually speaking. In his mind, he was having a stroke.

The symptoms did not last long, aside from the dizziness but his fear did. He was having a hard time calming down and catching his breath because he truly believed he was dying. In my non-medical opinion he had the initial symptoms and then became panicked. It was at this point that he called his boss for a lift home and eventually - to the hospital.

When we got to the ER, they took blood, EKG, and an X-Ray of his heart. They gave him medication to calm his anxiety and monitored his blood pressure. After an hour or so, the doctor returned and said everything looked good and asked Chad if he was ever in combat and had PTSD. Chad said he did have PTSD but not as a result of combat but because of his wife dying about 15 years ago.

The doctor basically wrote everything off to a PTSD attack. While definitely possible, I wasn't entirely satisfied and I questioned him about it being a stroke or mini-stroke. He said the symptoms were aligned with that but he didn't think it was due to various factors. (I believe that it did NOT affect only one side, no sharp headache, etc.,) I still wasn't satisfied so I asked about the sinus stuff, could it be related. Possibly.

Good lord, why it is every time we visit the Calloway County Emergency Room they seem more concerned about getting you out of there than finding out what the hell is actually wrong? The doctor did prescribe some medication to clear up congestion along with anti-dizinness and anti-anxiety medication.

When we got home, Chad called the VA and the receptionist told him to wait until his appointment at the end of the month.

Yeah. No. I called back and spoke to a nurse and explained the scenario and we're going in tomorrow morning so she can check out his ears and hopefully get the MRI/CT Scan of his head scheduled. It will be another trip to Marion, IL but well worth it. The symptoms may have alleviated almost completely but there is still a cause and we have NOT traveled this far in health ordeals to take a back-seat in the decision making process.

So once again, I ask for prayers. Prayers for good health. Prayers for the doctors to figure out what happened and prayers for strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Thank-You.
Sincerely.
Shannon

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

That Was Loopy!

Chad gets in funny moods from time to time but last night was an extreme. He was  behaving very odd and I didn't know what to think of it. Once we sat down to dinner he explained to me that he felt 'very weird', as though his eyes were popping out of his head and everything was in slow motion. He said it felt as though his head was filled with helium and he was telling me so I would know and could keep an eye on him.

To say that freaked me out, would be a huge understatement. Chad has no problem telling me he feels lousy but I could tell it was concerning him. It was bothering me too and I kept telling him to try and act normal. When he put a whole bottle of salad dressing on his salad and sat there and laughed about it, it really worried me. That's just not Chad. So I took a breather and consulted my BFF. Google. I couldn't find much of an explanation except reaction to drugs or low blood pressure.

I came back out, grabbed my keys and told Chad to get into the car - that we were going to the pharmacy to get his blood pressure checked. He agreed, which also confirmed that he felt something was wrong. He is very stubborn and would not have humored me and most definitely not in the middle of dinner. Thankfully his blood pressure was spot on. He flat out refused to go to the hospital so we came home and kept an eye on him. Within a few hours, he felt more normal and he feels okay this morning.

Chad has had a Sinus infection/flu for a few days and I think his reaction was based on the sinus medication. He took one yesterday and didn't react like that but perhaps it was in combination with his regular medicine - I don't know. But man. That was weird.

Whenever anything feels 'off' for him, I get this worried pit in my stomach. Hopefully the longer we go and the more clear scans we get, I won't feel every health issue is a catastrophe...   In the mean time, thanks for humoring me!

Much Love,
Shannon