Question News and request for prayers

Hey guys

First let me say this is not an April fools joke.

Friday, April 1, I woke up with having fairly intense shortness of breath. I chalked it up as being overweight and went to work, but instead of going away it got worse. Worse enough that I became afraid I would pass out. So I sat with a coworker and tried to order my breathing, but couldn't. My boss was concerned enough that he insisted that I go to an urgent care place up the street. After a breathing treatment and an EKG (which came back normal) I began to feel fine. The doctor insisted I go to the ER because he felt that I maybe having a heart attack.

Despite being forty-six I actually have no risk factors for heart attacks. My blood pressure is naturally 112/70, my cholesterol is a perfect, my lipids are perfect, I'm not on any of the medications men in my age group normally are. That being the case, I still went to the ER where the doctor did a pair of blood tests to check for heart attack, both of which came back negative so he basically said that he didn't know why I was short of breath earlier but it wasn't a heart attack and since I was fine then, I was free to go. Saturday, I wake up and again I'm having trouble breathing, not as bad but sufficiently troublesome that I'm not going to play around with it. So I go to another urgent care I get another breathing treatment and hey presto everything is fine again. This time we took x-rays to check in case there was a clot that somehow missed the blood work and was causing this. No clot, but evidently I do have an enlarged heart. I'm a pretty big guy and by that I don't mean just fat I mean I'm excessively boned to the point that I've never completely broken a bone in my life and every radiologist I've ever spoken with has remarked on how remarkably thick my bones are. This is the first I've heard of having an enlarged heart. It could be that it's just bigger like everything else on me is the other reason you can have an enlarged heart that you had a heart attack previously.

But my EKGs and complete lack of warning signs seem to contraindicated that.

What I do have in my apartment is a mold problem. I've been here three years and every winter except this one this apartment is flooded because of the upstairs neighbors not running their hot water during a freeze. And when I say flooded I mean 5 foot holes in the ceiling water ankle-deep throughout the apartment and running out the front door like a creek. And while they did replace the pad that did not replace the carpet as it was quote cleaned unquote. I'm certain the inside of these walls are covered in mold. Of course none of the doctors believe that any of my symptoms comes from mold despite every physician's reference I can read online saying that they're all symptoms of mold poisoning.

The point is I am done waiting for a Dr. to give me validation I'm having to panic move to get out of here, because this apartment is killing me. This means I have to engage a panic move to a new apartment, shuttle everything I can into a storage unit as quickly as possible to facilitate that panic move, all while all as quickly as possible. As in within a month quickly. I don't know how quickly I'll be able to return to writing, other than the story I already have turned in to Kirsten. I'd like to express my most sincere apologies to the generation two team who have been patiently waiting on me and Bek to finish The Road to Whateley, as we both had quite a number of reversals that are held up the writing process.

I also apologize to all of you for the hold up.

While it's not in my nature to hold my hat out I will say if you are suddenly moved by my tale of woe my GoFundMe for medical expenses is still up. If you'd like to help you can find it here .

Thank you all for your time and your patience

Worst weekend ever.

So you've already seen how Friday and Saturday went, here's the rest of the weekend:

Sunday night I could not sleep due to my neck, which I presume aggravated the breathing issue I'm already dealing with. As I was having trouble breathing again I was remembering a local talk radio personality named Royal Marshall . Royal was a health forty-three, cut and ripped real man's man and something of a fixture in Atlanta radio is the side man and engineer for the since retired Neil Bortz. His widow says that Royal looked up at her and said, "baby I feel sick, I need a glass of water."

And then Royal Marshall fell over dead; myocardial infarction, or as it is more commonly known among EMTs, the widow maker.

Royal was two years older than I am, and I'm not a health nut, and I'm not cut and ripped. And so I didn't take any chances and I went back to the emergency room again this morning. So I've had more blood work, and more x-rays (if I could just get those gamma rays, I would start turning green like Bruce Banner!), And yet another EKG which joyfully is fine. The cardiologist did give me some good news, he believes that my enlarged heart, which he referred to as only slightly enlarged, is due to what in his opinion is sleep apnea, which I've had since I was an infant. He isn't sure what is causing the constriction of my lungs, but he admits that mold could be at least a factor but not likely overriding cause as my other roommates are asymptomatic.

I'm still breaking this lease and getting out of here of course!

So he increased the dosage on my inhaler, and my steroids, told me to trust that the inhaler would fix things and home I went with the $700 bill. That's after insurance by the way. The good news is it now at least I have the confidence that I'm not going to keel over and can just ride out this respiratory issue until I can get my domicile changed and put it all behind me.

Hospitals are so much fun I don't know why everyone doesn't hang out in them!

So Saturday, went down to visit my mom and her new place made all the suitable and expected noises about what a nice house it was how it was going to be great and her plans for improvement. We go out to eat dinner and as I walk into the restaurant there's an odd metallic taste the air.

And then I can't breathe.

My mom says all the color left my face I broke into a sweat and the inhaler didn't seem to be helping. Mom being mom, insists I go to the ER because she certain I am having a heart attack. Some more blood work, more x-rays, still not having a heart attack. I'm there till 5 o'clock in the morning told I have to go see a cardiologist to have an echocardiogram to be absolutely sure I've still not having a heart attack after all the bloodwork that had done.

So I take it easy Sunday and Monday I can't breathe again.

So I end up at the ER again, and finally I get a doctor who actually listen weighed everything I've been saying, plus all this information from all of these ER visits which he had access to. He did do an additional blood oxygenation test which hadn't been done before and got some interesting results.

My lungs are actually working quite well, despite feeling like I can't catch my breath the lungs are actually working my blood oxygenation is fine by CO2 gas exchange is fine and while he made me promise to see the cardiologist just to be certain he agrees with with me that most likely happening is having is an acute allergic reaction to the mold or some other trigger in the apartment aggravated by my sleep apnea.

He recommended adding a Zyrtec and put me back on steroids. So far (knock wood) different seems to be night and day.

Of course it's been very expensive finding this information. Sigh. If you'd like to throw a little something in the hat my go fund me still open. Link is above.

Thanks

Of course you know thoughts and prayers and such are still with you. Glad you found a doc who actually listens. Finding one like that seems to be such a chore these days... Anyway, chipped in a bit more, and as always, prayers with you.

Damn, Duke, you are worrying me!

So snap out of it! Lose fifty pounds by tomorrow, Noon at the very latest! Get a cyber-heart! Be able to run at 100 MPH in slo-mo while having all the facial expression of a Ken doll! Dig that power ring that you been saving for a rainy day and charge it up!

Dammit, I am too dang young to be burying friends all over the place! The Seventies weren't THAT long ago!

Bek

Well, get me a M2-F2 and I will happily go be the $6 million man!

On the plus side, if I've learned nothing else about myself is that I'm in remarkably good health. Or is the doctor yesterday pointed out, short of being in the ER, you are the picture of health!

My issue seems to be completely environmental, so once I can get that taken care of I should be able to get back up and running shortly.

If I'm at a doctor, it must be Monday.

Another wonderful update for those who care about such things. So I came off of being on steroids over the weekend and just like every other weekend this is happened come Monday I can't breathe. So I go back to the Urgent care place and I received not one but 2 breathing treatments and finally I get to breathe again, but I have a little bit of fortune on my side this time. In the same office at the urgent care place is the systems allergy clinic. The urgent care dock arranges for me to be seen by the allergist who gets my life story about all this and agrees this is most likely mold, based on what she seeing I don't have asthma, and the mold while not being held down by the steroids in flames my lungs so badly that I only have about 30% use of them.

That's the bad news, the good news is she put me on a much stronger inhaler to deal with that, put me back of the steroids to keep the inflammation down, and I hope eventually the credit union will come through the loan the RV that is going to be mine and my brother's new home for the next year so we can get out of this lease and the apartment that is trying to kill us actively.

I just hope that Blue Cross and Blue Shield doesn't drop me like a hot potato, because work switched to them from Aetna on April 1, the very day this health care nightmare started for me. And in one month I have managed to almost reach my yearly deductible For out-of-pocket.

I would really like to have a week where I don't see a doctor. That would be really awesome.

If you're moved by my tale of woe feel free to click the link to my go fund me. The hat can always use the help.

Thanks! And will keep you in the loop.

The allergist insisted I go see a lung specialist, Which I did yesterday. He does all the tests and comes back that I have not been crazy this whole time, he believes that my lungs are coated with mold and an allergic reaction is binding and clogging things keeping me from breathing. So tomorrow at 11 I report to the hospital I get put under general anesthesia (always a little scary) and they put a tube down my throat to suck all the nastiness out and do an eyes on inspection.

Dr. says he expects everything will go well, I may need to be on antifungal medications for a little while, but he says that in a couple of weeks this will just be an unpleasant memory and it will finally be over. I'm praying to God that is so.

I'd appreciate your prayers too. Thanks and will see on the other side.

You're always in my prayers, my brother. All will go well, and you'll be feeling much better very soon. Keep me posted, please.

"Curiouser and curiouser," said Alice.

So as you gathered by this I'm awake and alive and those are both good things. Doc tells me he vacuumed both lungs clean, but what has him concerned was that there wasn't enough "stuff" to account for my symptoms. My lungs are extremely inflamed, and there was mold which was inflaming them, but not enough to account.

This is further troubling because he asks me about a blood test I took back in October that he found in the system. He wanted to know what my primary had discussed with me about it. To which I informed him, "he said all the blood work came back fine is that not true?"

And you never want to hear your specialists say, "no it's not true."

Come to find out the tests were indicative of the connective tissue disorder possibly an autoimmune form of lupus. So he does the procedure cleans out, doesn't find enough of what is expecting, and one plus one are beginning to turn to 2. They take new blood work and I'm awaiting the results of that, so we'll keep you in the loop that way.

If I do have lupus he tells me that condition is completely manageable, and the treatments are actually restorative so I should get normal function back. So whether this is still mold or mold aggravating lupus to prognosis seems to be good.

We will see.

This is the Hell of the modern medical systems: how much of what's happening to you is real, and how much is the tests gaming the system so they can sell you a pack of really expensive drugs that you don't really need? Currently, I'm on a cholesterol drug and Vitamin D, along with a diabetes drug. Of the lot, the only one I'm really certain that I need is the diabetes drug. But wotthehell, I'm getting dinged for the medical benefit anyway...

Well, that was not fun!

My rescue inhaler changed brands because of my insurance, and it didn't react the way I'm use to, even though it's the exact same chemical. I know it should not make a difference but it did. Normally when I use the rescue inhaler is because of a feeling of mild constriction or tightness in my chest. And the one chemical relieves that sensation. This one didn't.

And we both know what tightness in the chest could be.

So I figured better safe than sorry and I went back to the ER. This time they admitted me, and I was there from Thursday night at 10 or so to Saturday night at about the same time. Did the tour the radiology department, I was x-rayed, CT Scanned and had the echocardiogram I've been trying to save up for. Had enough blood taken to open my own blood bank, but there is good news at all this.

The echocardiogram came back completely normal, with "trace amount of back flow from one ventricle not completely closing, not sufficient for intervention at this time."

Which is pretty much the final nail in the is something wrong with my heart coffin? Which is basically no, nothing is wrong with my heart. My good cholesterol is slightly high, my triglycerides are slightly high, which is somewhat expected because I am hundred pounds overweight and I eat out too much.

It seems more and more likely that what I have is actually lupus, and that's my immune system is attacking my body. Once that is under control and I get my weight and diet under control I should be good for another 40 or 50 years.

Here's hoping anyway. I intend to live forever or die trying!

At the rate I am racking up medical expenses, I'll need to live forever to pay them off! If you'd like to help with that, there's a link to my go fund me in the first post of this thread. Any little bit helps.

Thanks! And now I'll see if I can actually get some writing done this weekend.

EE, it might seem a silly question, as you say they've done a load of blood work, but have they checked how your thyroid is doing?

You know, I don't know. Why do you ask?

Because the symptoms you seem to have are pretty similar to the ones my wife has. She has allergic ashtma - mild as a child, but now much worse as in her mid-20's her immune system decided her thyroid was alien and attacked it. So it basically doesnt do anything any more. This seemed to make her allergic reactions worse.

They took years to actually diagnose this, possibly because this is something normally found in 70+ people, and the doctors didnt think to look. Its easily medicated, but as I said, they didnt think to look. It might be worth just checking.

have you ever found yourself in the Curious position of being told that you don't have a disease, and that's bad news? This is where I find myself. It is been just about settled that I probably had lupus. It would have explained all my symptoms nicely I do several other autoimmune diseases and that all would've made sense. Unfortunately mother nature is not going to cooperate that way.

Unfortunately all of the tests have come back negative so I do not have lupus. Which leads me back to square one but what do I have? Being a systems engineer I begin to look at the problem. I have possibly have a pinched nerve in my neck, which is the likely culprit of my hands being out. So I asked lung doctor is it possible I misinterpreting shortness of breath and reduced one capacity over neuromuscular pain for a pinched nerve?

Doc thinks that's as good a theory as any, so now I'm off to the MRI to see how bad the nerve is. Here's hoping it's a co-pay I can afford. Stay tuned.

Well, at least I know.

Results of my MRI from Friday are in; I have a herniated disc at my C2 vertebra that requires surgery of an evidently immediate nature. I'm currently waiting a phone call from the surgeon to discuss options and schedules and how long I'm going to be out of work, the short answer is apparently 2 weeks.

Prayers are of course appreciated, and if you have any loose change burning a hole in your pocket you can contribute to my go fund me which is linked in the first message of this thread.

*Fights back tears*

There aren't words for how awesome you guys are! Thank you so much!

First, the demon had a name; herniated C2 vertebral disc. Now I've looked the demon in the eye; the bulge pressing into my spinal cord is the size of a marble. Half of my spinal cord passage is affected right at my brains stem. The doctor is surprised my symptoms are not worse.

I will go under the knife, assuming my cardiologist and pulmonologist both give the surgeon yes he will survive the anesthesia hold harmless forms, August 15. Where my neck will be cut open like a fillet front and back while this thing is carved out of my spine bit by bit. And if the surgeon loses concentration, or the scalpel slips, I don't wake up.

Don't mind saying I'm a little scared.

On the plus side, they tell me I should be up and walking the same day of the surgery, and while I may need to get some practice typing again I should have full use of my hands and senses almost immediately.

May God will it to be so. Your prayers are appreciated.

you know you've got them, my brother.

it may be scary, but knowing you'll wake up feeling better is a huge upside.

Definitely praying for you, EE. Hope all goes well.

I've said a prayer, lit a candle, burnt some money and said a few 'Nom myoho renge kyo's in your direction, EE. Here's hoping that this is the last of your thrilling medical drama.

And hey, look at the bright side! You've got a killer 'let me tell you about my operation' story for when you're a geezer! Y'ain't there, yet, son!

Thoughts are with you, and hoping it all goes smoothly.

Medical and surgical advances make even something like this a cakewalk; just think, when you were born they didn't even bother touching the spine, and now they can do it and have you out and active the same day. Your surgeon has likely done hundreds of these with no issue.

You can worry, but there is no need to. You got this.

That said, you have all the prayers you could want.

If everything is on schedule, then EE has (or had) his surgery today. Needless to say, I'm concerned about my friend and will be that way until I hear that he's doing better, or that his surgery was rescheduled, or whatever. Meanwhile, continuing the worry / thoughts / prayers for a successful outcome.

You're not the only one, El. Praying for him as well, that everything goes smoothly and as planned.

If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

It has been a while since I posted, and while I wish I could report all things are rainbows and unicorns, my experience has been exactly opposite of that. August 31 was when I was supposed to go under the knife for the surgery. Instead I caught pneumonia, which pushed everything backwards. Meanwhile I am becoming distressed that the checks from the short-term disability insurance I've been paying for for 3 years are not coming.

So while fighting a pneumonia infection I get to play phone tag with my HR director and the insurance company. Assuming nothing worse happens, I am finally sufficiently well to undergo surgery Monday. This would be when the insurance company chose to call to inform me that because I had only started with them April 1 of this year and the condition I'm having surgery for was considered pre-existing, I would only get two weeks of pay as opposed to the 12 I'm supposed to be entitled to.

There must be some mistake, I inform the insurance company I've been paying for this for 3 years since I joined the server group at IBM. Well, the lady informs me, not exactly. While I have been paying for short-term disability insurance for 3 years, that was with a different company. As my contracting firm changed companies April 1 of this year, I'm considered a new enrollee and so I only get 2 weeks.

Are lawyers going to get involved? Of course they are, and in 3 years or so when this is settled I'll get what is due me. Of course it doesn't pay my bills in the meantime. So if you'd like to throw something to the starving artist, there's a link to my go fund me in the first message of this thread.

Thanks again and I'll see you on the other side.

It's not fair.

I should be just getting out of surgery. I did my part, I reported at 530 this morning. Where the nurses remarked about how swollen my hands and feet were. Which I replied yes I know I was concerned myself, so I call the surgeons nurse last week to make her aware, and she didn't seem concerned.

Evidently she was so unconcerned she didn't tell the surgeon. Who now won't operate because my hands and feet are swollen.

*Beats head against wall*

What do I have to do to get this fixed? Now I'm back to the regular doctor to fix the hands and feet.

Sorry, I posted something and then remembered that this was an open thread

Well, I can't say I ever expected to be using this thread like this, because asking for any kind of help is tough for me, but in this case it's a bit different.

I just found out that a long-time friend from my high school days is in a custody battle for her son. The biological father was abusive to her during the pregnancy and she's been separated from the guy for years, but apparently all of a sudden he's pushing for custody, while my friend doesn't want him to have anything more than supervised visitation. I don't know all the details, but I do trust this friend with my life, so when I saw that she started a GoFundMe to help pay for a lawyer (her exe apparently has a very pushy lawyer being paid for by his own father), I decided I had to at least help spread the word.

If any of you reading this feel moved to help, here's the link: www.gofundme.com/2sunm278
Anything you can give would be tremendously appreciated, both by her and by me. If you're reading this and are unable to help this way, then I would ask that you at least share the link where you can, and keep her situation in your prayers.

So I spent last night in the ER. Again. And now I have pneumonia. Again. I still haven't had my damn surgery and now I can't until I am well again!

Can we be done with 2016?! What a year of suck!

Thanks Kirsten, at least it's not all bad news. Just got the results from the lab tests back on the website and there is actually quite a bit of good news! First the results of my NT-Pro Bnp test which basically monitor your risk factors for having had or in the future having a heart attack.

The excepted range for my age group is 0 - 450 pg/mL and my results were 61 pg/mL so really good. The other is the diuretic that I've been on seems to be working as not only is the swelling going down in my hands and feet but in other places. Previous chest x-rays had found Widened mediastinum and Heart is enlarged. However, Thanksgiving's x-rays return Heart size is top normal. So unlike the Grinch, my heart getting smaller is a good thing!