Long time no talk!

It's been a while, busy year, lots going on, not much to really talk about on here, haven't felt the need to really.  Since my last post, I had my parathyroidectomy, which really cleared up a lot of symptoms I was having, from my knee to headaches to blood pressure, migraines have even gone away. 

The doctor I worked with the past 7 years, Dr. Dalton passed away in December, which was and still is a huge blow to me, I really miss him, every day.

Stephen and I are still truckin along, he's in 8th grade now, I still work where I work, I work with another doctor now, I've gone back to school to pursue my nursing degree, start my second class on monday, after that class I am done with my prereqs and I can apply for nursing school.

Stephen is 14 now, in his teenage years, and unfortunately it hasn't been all fun and games, his autism makes it really hard.  He's a good kid, but struggling emotionally, hormones and social and trying to cope with his inner anger and feelings in a world that doesn't conform to him.  It sucks, and I don't know how to make it better for him.  His school today has labeled him aggressive, and I get that on the outside looking at him its easy to stereotype, he's the kid that someone would point out as a sterotypical school shooter, but he would never do something like that, he's just socially awkward, he loves all things army, so he dresses head to toe in army gear.  He would never hurt anyone deliberately.  He had a bad day today, and it didn't end well.  I don't know what is going to happen in the future, if he will be able to stay at the school or not, I just know that if he doesn't get to, it's going to turn into a whole world of tears.  I worry for his future, I want him to be happy, and have a great future.  This whole thing sucks. 

I just wanted to ramble a little bit, I forgot about this blog until today.  I don't really feel like writing any more, but I hope that I'll remember to keep writing from here on out more often.

Busy week

So in my last post I updated with all the numbers and medical things about me, here.

I just briefly want to explain, a parathyroid is good for regulating the calcium in the body, my calcium level in my bloodstream is extremely high, which basically in laymans terms, the blood is sucking out of my bones and into the blood stream.  I'm explaining this because in the next paragraph, my knee connection to the parathyroid is told.

Basically this week was just insane with doctors..


I saw a endocrinologist on the 5th of june, he had me come back the next day on the 6th and do an ultrasound, he saw two suspicious things on it, so he sent me to a surgeon.  on the 7th, which was actually my birthday, I saw the orthopedic, who said I have a mass in my knee.  I have also developed osteoarthritis.  I'm 37 and I have arthritis.  It's all connected to the parathyroid though.  I have to do another MRI and a CT with contrast on my knee, but I'm dealing with the parathyroid first.  I had an appointment the 8th with a surgeon, and I'm scheduled for parathyroidectomy on June 15th, next Friday.

I really hope that the parathyroid removal will help with the knee stuff, otherwise I have a mass of some sort in the knee that may have to be biopsied depending on what the future MRI/CT scan says.

My diet and exercise has been postponed a week or two, not really the diet so much as the exercise.  I'm going to be having my first surgery ever in a few days, I can't figure out if I'm nervous or excited.  I'm just ready to be done with this, I'm ready to feel better.

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.

Pensive today

There is a girl that I used to work with, still have her on my friends list on facebook, we still chat here and there.  She's a slight bit older than me, but not by a huge amount.  I knew she had a new scary cancer diagnosis recently, but today I read her blog, the story of the how, and I learned that she's got stage 4 breast cancer, that has metastasized to her spine and sacrum.  This is a woman that just a couple of years ago did Iron Man.

I know there are so many people in so many stages of struggles with health and cancer going through things right now.  I have a cousin that's done it several times, my stepmother is going through radiation, I have family that had cancer and passed, I see patients every day.   Reading Nicoles story though it just brought tears to my eyes, life is so precious.  To be so strong and capable of running/biking/swimming miles all day long, to hearing those awful words, its truly heartbreaking.  Cancer sucks.  I know she can beat this though.

I'm going to hug my son just a little bit tighter tonight, and tell him that I love him, just a few more times than my usual once, because tomorrow isn't promised, so much can happen.  If something does happen to me though, ever.  I want for my mom or my dad to have him, I know they did a wonderful job with me, that he will be just as cared for if not more.  

Black and White

Sometimes when I look at Stephen I don't see autism, I don't see Aspergers.  I see a normal boy, with no challenges, just that he is who he is.  I love him no matter what, regardless of what label is attached to him.  He's so much amazingness all wrapped up in this gigantic ball of boy, all arms and legs and taller than I would expect him to be at this age.  Even though I see all this normalness and amazingness in him, there are times when it smacks me right in the face again, boom..there's the aspergers.

He has always enjoyed music.  More recently his passion has become classical, and to narrow it down even further, the organ.  He wants to learn how to play the organ.  This is his music instrument of choice when it comes to listening at night as he sleeps, or when he's in a place that is too loud and has to put music on with his headphones.  It's his go to when he has a meltdown and needs to step back and calm down.  It sounds like an awful racket to me, but he loves it.  This weekend I thought about going into a music store in town and inquiring about lessons.  He went with me of course, because he was excited about the possibility .   When we got there he went and ogled the guitar.  Guitar has also been a lifelong wish to learn as well.  So I inquired about lessons.  And that's when it hit, the big revelation that my kid has Autism.

There is often a hard line between black and white with kids with Aspergers.  They have a hard time seeing the grey.  On this particular instance, the man told us that there isn't any organ lessons, but there are dozens of teachers that teach piano lessons.  He kept asking about the organ, where he can go to learn, etc.  The man tried to tell him that the piano is the same, except extra keys.  I could tell though, Stephen no longer wanted lessons from this place.  He doesn't see it has a piano can give him a foundation to the next instrument, its organ or nothing.  I was going to get him lessons, maybe start right then because there was a instructor available, but nope, he was ready to go.  I told him to think about it, but it's clear the window has passed.  He doesn't want music lessons anymore.  Maybe one day the guitar will come back around, but the idea of learning a piano instead of an organ isn't as appealing.  He said he wanted to think about it, but I know him, I don't think it will happen any time soon.  It sucks.  I think he would enjoy it.

I'm trying to get him out there, lessons, either music, or basketball, or cooking lessons, something to get him socializing and learning something that he enjoys, get him out of the house.  I may be shelving the musical lessons for the time being, but he seemed excited about cooking lessons, so I'm online googling up a storm!  Hopefully the black and white won't trip us up again.

Trials and Tribulations

When you are a parent, either single or a double parent, there are many trials and tribulations that you can face when raising a child.  You watch your child go through milestones, go through make up and break ups of friendships, succeeding or struggling in school.  So many things parents go through, at all levels of difficulties.  For me, watching my kiddo struggle in areas that come so easily to people, is the hardest thing I ever have experienced in my life.

He's been diagnosed with Autism (aspergers or ASD) ADD, dyslexia and dysgraphia.  School is a constant struggle for him, and now that he's growing older, some of the challenges I see him face aren't just academic.  I had a meeting this morning with his school, it was for the 504 plan he had in place, they were regrouping and updating and making sure that everything is going okay.   Academically I think he's doing pretty good, his biggest challenges are tests and turning in assignments/homework.  He came to the meeting, he had some input, and one of the things he said was absolutely heartbreaking.

He's struggling socially.  He has no friends.  It's so hard for me to type that.  When we were in elementary school and karate, he had friends, mostly karate friends, friends that he did things with.  Those friends are starting to get older and are outgrowing the things that Stephen loves so much.  He's almost a teenager, but he still loves legos.   He went to a friends house this weekend while I got my car fixed and he left so depressed, because his two friends were more interested in playing video games against each other than play with him.  He feels like he's not friends with them anymore.  And today at the meeting he told them that he sits by himself at lunch, he doesn't have anyone to talk to or socialize with, everyone thinks he's weird.  As a mom, that is just so freaking heartbreaking, I'm just tearing up thinking about it.

I knew it was coming, because people with ASD tend to have a hard time socially, and they tend to think about things on a different level, and his lego passion is a childs thing, whereas people in middle school have moved on.

It just hurts.  I needed to process this and vent it, decided to do it on a blog here.  His school has assigned him a social worker, and theres still now IEP in sight despite a letter and a prescription with his diagnosis on it, he's got to go through intervention process again, and even though he's been in intervention 5 years now, it doesn't really matter because he's in a new school, new district, so he starts all over again.  ugh.  but the social worker is supposed to help with social skills and things like that, so im hopeful.