My Personal Medical Investigation

For the past 15 years or so I've encountered several medical problems and I'm only 38 years old. I've come to the point now where I wonder if there is an underlying issue or is all of this just normal and par for the course. I've been doing a little personal inventory and investigation, and I thought you'd like to take the journey with me. In the process, maybe we can come up with some answers.

When I was in my early- to mid-20s I went to my primary care physician with complaints of exhaustion, but before anything could be discovered about what was going on I had to have emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder. In order to keep this short, I won't go into many details, but let's just say had I waited one day longer I probably would be dead.

I was in the emergency room after they ran tests and performed x-rays when a surgeon entered and said, "You have to have surgery today or tomorrow at the latest."

"I don't have time for surgery," I said, listing the classes I was taking, the daughter I was caring for and a bunch of other nonsense that doesn't seem as important when your life is on the line.

I had the surgery and about six months later when I returned to my primary care physician for my final recovery checkup he asked me how I was feeling. I told him that I often awoke exhausted regardless of the amount of sleep I got. He asked me several questions and concluded that he would send me to an oncologist for some tests.

For some reason in my addle mind, I thought hematologist. So when the oncologist told me I had myeloma I didn't think much of it. I wasn't even fazed. I had no idea it is a type of cancer. It wasn't until three to five days later that I happened to be reading the newspaper and saw a letter that was written to a physician. The letter was asking about myeloma and it explained what type of cancer it is.

I remember a fog descending on me. The fog lasted about six months. I had to go in every week to get my blood drawn. At the time I was taking 18 college credits, working two part-time jobs and caring for my 3-year-old daughter. I was taking chemotherapy by mouth, which would lower my white blood cell count so I had to give myself shots to raise my count. (Please forgive me for not giving the specific medical names for the medications – that's my addle mind at work again and I don't feel like looking for the information.)

My advisor had talked to me about reducing my workload, but I was determined to graduate on time. I was already eight years behind in my plans thanks to my detour into the Air Force and my immaturity when I first attended college. So I plugged through. Upon graduation I decided to move to Atlanta, sought a referral and continued my medical care at Atlanta Cancer Care.

The first thing the doctor (I'm purposely leaving out his name) there told me was, 'Myeloma happens to be my pet subject and without even looking at your chart, I don't think you have myeloma. I don't think you've ever had it.'

He explained that I did have some type of abnormality in my blood, but it wasn't myeloma. I stopped seeing the doctor because I couldn't see continuing to pay a co-pay just to monitor my blood. But that didn't work for long because I had to eventually have a checkup and I sought care at the veteran's hospital in Atlanta. As soon as they learned about my history they had me seeing an oncologist.

Up until that point I had had bone marrow taken twice (sooooo painful), bone scans, bone surveys and every examination and blood test you can think of. It all came to a small pause when I became pregnant in 2003 with my second child. However, during my pregnancy an ultrasound technician found fibroids during my first ultrasound.

In 2004 I got pregnant again so that put another delay in my other medical issues. (Just in case you're wondering, I was married in 2002.) In January 2006 when I was finally finished with pregnancies and breast feeding, I made a personal commitment to follow up on all the lingering issues.

I called my current oncologist to follow-up on a test that said – between pregnancies – that my liver wasn't functioning correctly, and continued with the blood monitoring, which is what I call it. Everything seems to be "fine." There are no signs of cancer, at least not in my blood, so we're back to the exhaustion issue. The oncologist did tell me that the reason I have daily pains, aches and soreness in my bones is because of the chemotherapy I had and I will probably have to take Aleve for the rest of my life to relieve the pain. My response to that was, "Or at least until I'm healed by God!"

So, why do I have periods of time where I wake up extremely exhausted – no matter how long I've slept? The exhaustion is so extreme that it's hard to describe. I feel like I haven't slept in at least a week. The oncologist doesn't have an answer. My blood has been checked and it indicates nothing amiss. She suggested I get my thyroid checked by my primary care provider. That was at least two months ago.

Just to fill in some of the blanks. I've also had a colposcopy and LEEP procedures because of pre-cervical cancer cells (and an unrelated colonoscopy, which, thank God, came back near perfect), and I am one week away from my six-month follow-up appointment to see if the pre-cancerous cells are gone and my PAP smear results are normal.

What could be the cause of my exhaustion? Has anyone else had their thyroid checked? If so, why and what were the results? To me it seems like so much is going wrong. Does that seem normal to you when I'm just 38 years old?

One thing that I have that helps the exhaustion and pain some is healthy coffee (Gano Excel), but I often feel like I'm just covering up the problem. Every time I read an article that mentions some of my symptoms I'm wondering if I have what they're talking about. Could it be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Depression? I doubt it!

I appreciate any feedback, input and insight on my personal medical investigation.