You Have Died of Dysentery

So here’s the deal. I’ve had GI issues (tmi: urgent, watery diarrhea that started out as intermittent then escalated to like 12xs by breakfast) and pretty intense abdominal pain since freaking Thanksgiving, but the doc here hasn’t been able to figure it out.

**Edit to add:  I initially went in asking for thyroid blood work because I assumed I had something wrong there. I was experiencing overwhelming fatigue and brain fog and even had some strange neck strain and pain. These issues along with the gut problems could very well have indicated a thyroid issue. My doc ordered lots blood work and a stool sample and saw that my fecal Calprotectin levels were elevated not nothing else of particular note. When he told me about the Calprotectin, he explained that it indicated inflammation in my gut. I basically rolled my eyes and thought, “No duh. I’ve been pooping my brains out for months! Of course things are inflamed.”

I was so convinced it was thyroid related at that point that I mostly disregarded this red flag. Although my blood tests came back with normal T3/T4/TSH/etc, I also had a thyroid ultrasound to look for any nodules. Sure enough, there was a “highly suspicious” nodule exactly where I felt something. (I’m telling you, I’m super sensitive to my body. In tune. Something. It’s a blessing but also makes me just a titch hypochondriac.) Spoiler alert: After genuinely convinced I had thyroid cancer (which, to be fair, I felt relatively hopeful about - I mean, it’s a “good” cancer to have. You cut out the problem and bam- cured. Still scary though), I was able to get a biopsy done through Tucson Pathology Associates (loved them) which came back…. drum roll… benign. Hallelujah. But then what the crap was wrong with me?!

Finally I looked again at that high fecal Calprotectin result. I did some googling and realized that not all angry tummies show these inflammation indicators. It’s fairly rare, actually, and it indicates Irritable Bowel Disease (either Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis). So this wasn’t nothing. Well, dang it.

I went to a GI specialist in Tucson who explained that it was likely IBD and was for sure not IBS (which I had wondered and even hoped as that’s a much simpler fix). He gave me some meds for the pain and the diarrhea and scheduled a colonoscopy as soon as they had an opening, which was six weeks out. I tried the medicine. Some kind of took the edge off, but nothing really helped. I figured I’d just have to suffer through this for the foreseeable future until someone was finally able to find answers. My self-diagnosis skills had failed me twice over. I was defeated. ** Tangent over.

Sometimes the pain is super intense and akin to unmedicated childbirth (really), but last night was way worse. So, so bad. And there was tons of bright red blood in my stool. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, and I was nearly hyperventilating from the pain for like 40 minutes. Had to wake Derek up, called and woke up the Wilsons to ask them to come sleep on our couch so our kids wouldn’t be alone.

We went to urgent care and then to Safford ER. They drew blood, had me do a urine sample, and put me on IV Tylenol. Somehow I didn’t have a fever when we left Morenci but definitely did when we got to Safford (and on the way. Poor Derek had to have the heater on full blast to try and calm my convulsive shivering). Waa. Then they did a CT scan with (IV) contrast. That warmed me up, thankfully. And the Tylenol helped the pain. And we waited.

Finally tests came in. I have Colitis. Which is vague. Could be from infection, could be from allergy, could be autoimmune. Who knows. So I still need a colonoscopy (with biopsies etc) to diagnose. I’m going to try getting in to the local guy (several docs recommend, he comes from Tucson. We’ll see). 

They did NOT see perforation, any tears or masses/build up, no Diverticulitis. So that’s good. Just not awesome, as most Colitis things suck and I’d prefer an easier-to-fix/manage diagnosis. Still, closer to an answer.

I also have a UTI. So that’s interesting. I’ve had them before and always am well aware, but I couldn’t tell because everything already hurts, I guess.

They gave me antibiotics to try and help the colitis if it’s infection related. I’ll also take one for the UTI. I’m to take OTC pain meds and try to avoid narcotics as they may exacerbate things. And I’m to call the local GI first thing Monday morning to see if they can get me in.

8.14.2021