Tuesday, March 16, 2010

We Had an Emergency Room Honeymoon!

March 15th was my maternal grandfather's birthday.
March 17th is St. Patrick's Day.
And for twenty-three years, the day in between was pretty insignificant.
Last year, March 16th was set up to be a pretty good day. My favorite local band, Antenna Inn, was playing that night at the Saturn Bar. They were to be followed by Caddywhompus, and I had only heard good things about them. So I got there, stood outside for a while, socialized and smoked cigarettes. Once I entered, I ordered some red wine, which I rarely do since I don't like red wine; however, this wine was served in a single-serving mini-bottle that made me feel like I was either drinking on an airplane or playing the part of a radioactively-enlarged monster terrorizing the cast of Sideways.
As Antenna Inn set up to play, I found a place to stand in the already-crowded stage area. My legs started to ache. I've never really been a fan of standing in one place for a long period of time, and I wanted to sit down, but knew that wasn't gonna happen, so I tried ignoring it.
Right as the band started to play, I got lightheaded, and it felt as though I had stood up too quickly. My vision went dark. Usually, however, that feeling disappears in a matter of seconds. This time, it just kept getting worse. I couldn't see at all, and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stand for much longer. Knowing I needed some assistance, I turned to Kathleen and Richard, or at least where I thought they were, and told them I needed to sit down. However, the feeling of passing out grew stronger, and I couldn't wait for them, so I turned towards where I knew I could sit down, and blindly barreled my way through the crowd. In my stupor, I ran face-first into a metal pole. Finally, my friends caught up to me, and helped me sit down by a video-poker machine.
After a few minutes, my vision returned. I was covered in cold sweat, and i wanted to go home, so Kathleen drove me in my car.
I had never passed out before. EVER. So i went to the doctor the next day, but they guessed that I probably just had an anxiety attack.
That night, I went to the ER because I couldn't breathe when I laid down.
They thought it was pneumonia, and treated me for that.
Two weeks ago, my left foot swelled, and I couldn't stand for long without my legs getting stiff.
The doctors were baffled.
They gave me a CAT scan, a MRI, an ultrasound, they did x-rays.
They did a biopsy on the rashes that had shown up the previous summer, never went away, and had been previously disregarded as being plain ol' dry skin.
They did a biopsy on my kidney.
They did a biopsy on my lymph nodes.
On March 16th, I got sick in a way that I hadn't before.
A month later, I found out I had lupus.
A year later, I pretty much have it under control. My blood work looks normal. They've got me on a ton of medicine. Most of it does its job, though I have been pretty sick recently, probably as side effects to new medicines I started taking or as side effects to old medicines I'm coming off of. Things, however, are a hell of a lot brighter than they were one year ago.
I'm sure this won't be the last time I talk about lupus or lupus-related things. (I have all kinds of wonderful stories.) Unfortunately, it was a pretty big part of my life this past year, and it will always be a part of my life. I'm determined, however, for it to not be a big part in the future.
Anyway, happy anniversary, lupus.
I got you some paper.

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