Life with a Flare

Look at this girl! It has been a year(plus one day) since I have had my last surgery! And there isn't any surgeries that I know of in my future! I have not had to go to PT is about 9 months! This is what I call crazy! My left hip is doing pretty great! It is stronger than it has ever been. If you had told me a year ago that less than one year post op I would run a couple miles cause I could I would have laughed in your face. I am at a place I could never imagine I would be at. I do still have active enthesitis in my left hip, so I m not yet pain free but it is a completely separate pain than FAI and/or a labral tear. My rheumy even comments how much more ROM my hip has then when I first saw her, when I was only a couple months post op. If anyone is thinking of have a hip scope for FAI or a labral tear I would definitely recommend it! It was one of the best decisions I ever made. You can barely see the 3rd scar! This side actually looks better than the right.

As you may remember a few months ago I started to run. My new year's resolution was to run a 5K or at least start training for one. It took till February to start out on that goal but I did, and I was even doing well for a while. Then that nasty infection hit right after spring break. I tried to keep running but it didn't go so well. I had to create a no running within 48 hours of vomiting rule. Yeah that is a thing. Well almost 2 months had gone by and between my schedule and regular vomiting and dehydration I hadn't been on a run. Since I had to stop taking sulfazalazine I had notice more stiffness in my joints and decided I needed to go for a run. I started to prehydrate with some Gatorade. I went about 1.25 mile and felt good. Post Run Selfie and Starbucks Two days later I had a final in the afternoon and was feeling stiff so I decided to go on another run. I had a light breakfast in anticipation and once again prehydrated. Right before I hit the 1.25 mile make ...

There is never a dull moment in my life, although I would not mind one. The latest chapter in the saga of "Joan's Body Doesn't Work" my stomach symptoms did not go away like I thought they head. As the pain and vomiting continued it was clear they had no intentions of going away so my GI ordered a gastric emptying scan. What that entailed was eating radio active eggs and then lying on an x-ray table for 2 hours (Which my joints did not appreciate) while it took pictures of my abdomen every few minutes to see how fast my stomach is digesting food. At least I got to watch MU during the scan. I find the fact I get a sticker for radiation exposure ironic. A few days later my GI called with the results, apparently my stomach is not emptying fast enough. She thinks it was caused by the infection I had and will go away in 8 weeks (even less at this point since that was a few weeks ago). She prescribed a medication called erythromycin which I take about 15 minutes...

Since being diagnosed with Celiac in December leaving my dorm has taken more preparation than it used to. Every meal and snack has to be carefully planned out., each restaurant research, all snacks packed. So going to Celiac Education Day at CHOP was quite a treat, I only had to bring my cell phone and wallet with me. For the first time since being diagnosed with Celiac I didn't have to worry about it, irony at its finest. The day was amazing. I got to play with adorable children, one three year old informed me that she had Celiac and a wheat allergy, and was very excited to learn that I have Celiac as well. Even more exiting I could eat everything! There was a ton of samples! There were a few things that stuck out for me. First of course were Sweet Note Bagels . As a Jew who grew up right out side NYC, bagels play an important role in my life. Between finding out I probably had Celiac and the final blood test the two things I got while in NYC was a bagel and a black and white ...

Two weeks ago I started to go to the bathroom like 5 times a day, all the food I was eating was going right through me. The whole things was unpleasant to say the least. I was constantly battling dehydration, and barely winning. With Gatorade on my side I survived (on a side note as a child I was only allowed Gatorade when I was sick, so I associate it with stomach bugs). By the end of the week I was a bit concerned and after some telephone tag with my GI's nurse I had an appointment first thing Monday morning.  Gatorade and I have a love/hate relationship. At my doctors appointment we decided to run a bunch of test. So far only my blood test came back but so far so good. Celiac panel was clean, no signs of ingesting gluten. No indication of Crohn's (which was the worse case scenario). My white blood cells and platelet counts were both low, so the guess at this point is I have an infection and it trigger my regular symptoms to flare. On Monday my GI also advised me to cu...

Celiac Update I started meting with the dietitian on my campus and she is really great (I actually babysit for her kids now). She had me keep a food journal, and we saw I was not eating enough. I added in snacks, I try my best to get two in a day but some days just go better than on that front. I can't seem to break 125 lb, which is okay if I maintain it but not id I lose anymore weight. I also met with Disability Services on my campus and was able to get my meal plan down graded so I am mostly cooking for myself. I was also able to get disability housing for next year so I am getting an apartment with  full kitchen. Last week I saw my GI. She prescribed Periactin to help my nausea (which is why I have so much trouble getting enough food). I am only taking one pill a day right now but we may up it this week. The reason I started with such a low dose is because it causes severe drowsiness. I was actually falling asleep in class the day after my first dose as I was drinking cof...

It is hard to believe that I had a major hip surgery a year ago. Recently I have been reading some of the post I wrote leading up to the surgery and right after. It amazes me how far I have come. The past year has been such a roller coaster for me, there was a point where I felt like I was just doomed to be on crutches forever. This week I ran a mile. That's right I actually RAN! I really never thought I would be at this point. The first week after surgery was probably the hardest week of my life. Quite frankly I don't even remember what my hip felt like that first week, but my head as pounding. The spinal headache I had made me think I was going to die. There was one point when I just cried for a half hour because I couldn't even lift my head without getting dizzy and nauseous but I couldn't fall asleep because I was on caffeine pills. Thankfully it subsided without needed another spinal procedure (I might have flipped as I am now very afraid of needles anywhere ne...