Slightly broken

I'm slightly broken, that's the verdict!  I've gotten more testing, blood work, and I even got a MRI of my knee, finally.  I have been dealing with my knee since September.  I saw an orthopedic and went through therapy, and a shot, and it still hurts just as bad if not worse.  So here are some results, copy and pasted from my patient portal.  There's a lot of mumbo jumbo that if you don't work in the medical field might make your eyes cross.


My lab results:
The bold is the result, and the number beside it are the range, so all of these are not good



Calcium, Serum/Plasma 5/3/2018 11.60 mg/dL 8.6- 10.3
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) 5/3/2018 50.00 U/L 13-39
ALT/SGPT 5/3/2018 56.00 U/L 7-52
Alkaline Phosphatase 5/3/2018 165.00 U/L 34- 104

She tested deeper into the Alkaline Phosphatase
Alkaline Phosphatase, Tot and Iso,S
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 200 H U/L 37 - 98
Liver 1 % 24.1 L % 27.8-76.3
Liver 1 48.2 IU/L 16.2-70.2
Liver 2 % 5.1 % 0.0-8.0
Liver 2 10.2 H IU/L 0.0-5.8
Bone % 70.8 H % 19.1-67.7
Bone 141.6 H IU/L 12.1-42.7
Intestine % 0.0 % 0.0-20.6
Intestine 0.0 IU/L 0.0-11.0
Placental NotPresent Not present


She wanted me to see a rhuematologist, because the bone levels are high, indicating something like bone cancer, pagets disease. 


She also tested deeper into the elevated Calcium
Calcium, Serum/Plasma 5/11/2018 12.50 mg/dL 8.6- 10.3
Ionized Calcium 5/11/2018 1.69 mmol/L 1.12-1.32


and Finally she tested my PTH levels (parathyroid)
PTH Intact 5/11/2018 160.00 pg/mL 12-88


so basically my liver levels, my alkaline phosphatase and my PTH are all linked and indicate hyperparathyroidism.  Shes hoping that its also the cause of the bone issues, and may be the cause of my knee problems (which is why she ordered the MRI)  I'm waiting on a referral to a endocrinologist to see about this.


My MRI results:

IMPRESSION: 1. There is a lobulated T1 hypointense, T2 hyperintense lesion within the distal right femur which is suspected to be a cartilage-containing lesion. There is patchy surrounding T1 hypointense, T2 hyperintense marrow signal which could represent a portion of the lesion that is out of phase or may represent sequela of patchy red marrow (which is also seen in the proximal tibia). However, chondrosarcoma is not completely excluded in this case and needs to be considered. 2. Oblique undersurface horizontal tear of the posterior horn and body of the medial meniscus. 3. Small joint effusion. 4. Partially ruptured popliteal cyst with fluid extending along the proximal medial gastrocnemius


sounds pretty yuck right?  yeah, so basically I have meniscus tear, runners knee, a partially ruptured cyst, and some other lesion looking things, and the chondrosarcoma is basically a cancer thing.  So they would have to rule that out.  I do have an appointment with a new orthopedic on june 7th to follow up with this.



Thats pretty much my update, I'm still on my diet, still working out, I did a 4 week challenge, that I really improved on, my numbers were amazing, (copy and paste from a facebook post):  April 17th I did a 17.51 mile, today i did 14.51. April 17th i did 5 pushups today I did 16. April 17th I did 18 situps, today I did 47. I know I lost 9 point something lbs but dunno exactly.

waiting on the results of who won the challenge, last week was kinda awful because it stormed every single day.  didnt have my fitcamp:(

I hope to keep everyone updated more often, All of this was just a LOT to process so I took some time to reflect and let it soak in.  

Health Journey

Thursday evening on March 30th, my life changed.  I had gotten home, was in the process of changing and looking into going to see a movie that night, I can't remember now which one it was, when all of the sudden I had the most intense pain in my head, my eyes started involuntarily moving, I got very dizzy because of the movement, I had my son call 911, when they got there I had the hardest time with focus and answering questions, my BP was 240/140, all of this are the symptoms of a stroke, they transported me to the hospital of my choice, but at the hospital they determined it was a migraine, and never ran any more tests other than a CT and a pregnancy test.  My BP remained consistently high, though never as high as that first number, but still in the 150's/90s and my pulse was high.  They never did address that, and I am really upset with this hospital, especially considering the fact that I WORK FOR THEM.  but that's ok,  I still will go there,  and I love my job and the hospital.

The following Monday I went to the doctor, the pain in my head was still there, not as bad, but it was there before the episode too, but only when i coughed or sneezed.  My BP had been consistently high, she put me on lisinopril and ordered labs, and off I went.  a few days later I got my labs done, and since I did it at the same hospital I was working, I was getting the results sent to me real time, and they were NOT good, everything from sodium to liver levels was off.  My sugar and cholesterol, aside from the triglycerides was normal,  the triglycerides were high.    Things like osmolality and calcium levels, things I had never seen before, I can only imagine if they were off on Thursday, almost a week had gone by before I did labs, what if something caused the episode?  April 3rd I went hard at my health.  I did get taken off lisinopril,  my BP was too low. I got placed on metoprolol instead,  foor the head and high pulse.

Since April 3rd I haven't had a drop of caffeine, chocolate, sugars, candy, red meat, I eat a LOT of fish, chicken on occasion, asparagus cause its my favorite, zucchini, squash, brown rice, complex carb stuff.   I've majorly cut dairy out, no cheeses, milk if I have any is fat free, but i rarely have milk.  I stay away from a lot of breads, though I cheated for my sons birthday and had 1 slice of pizza, I have been firm on what I put in my mouth.  I've started walking every day, and even more recently started joining a group of people at the park for free "fitcamp" I have been working hard.  I've lost weight, but I don't go by the scale anymore, I measure myself, I have lost inches everywhere along with the pounds.

What I am most proud of, aside from my positive attitude, my lack of depression, my newfound energy, is that from April 6th (date of labs) to May 3rd (date of second labs) I was able to make my triglycerides go from 154 to 88.  I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF.  I do still have a ways to go, there are still concerns, despite cutting dairy out and stuff my calcium levels are still high.  My liver levels are ALL shot.  They even got worse this blood draw, so I am not sure what to do about that information, the doctor I work with said maybe if I keep exercising they will start to turn around, but it's concerning and I need to watch it, I see my primary doctor on the 11th to follow up.

SO this is my life now, it's only been a month, I know I have plateaus and things coming up, but I'm hoping that my stubborness and determination to NEVER get at the point I was at again will help.   I have a positive attitude about this, and I really believe I can do it.  AND I WILL.