My first major medical event was not even in this country.  I was 14 years old and on a mission trip in Egypt exactly one day when I fell unconscious from dehydration and remained so for two weeks.  After an injury to both knees, I came home ill and it was decided that I had returned with probable Hepatitis A.  By the time I was 17, I developed noticeable allergies.

By the time I was 20 years old, I was making the rounds to various physicians of various specialties trying to figure out what was wrong with me now.  Almost a year passed when I passed fresh blood and was admitted to the hospital.  The next week was spent going though whatever test they could think of, getting “my affairs in order” and preparing “for the worst”.  One highlight of that week was learning about suppositories.  Another was my first colonoscopy that soon followed and my first diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

But that’s not all.  The rheumatologist came in the day after and reviewed all of hospital tests and reports from the previous year and performed a physical exam before announcing – “I know what’s wrong with you!”.   And then he introduced to me to Fibromyalgia.

Finally, I was visited by the Rheumatologist who took the time to review all of my test and past records, perform a physical test before making his grand announcement – “I know that is wrong with you!”.  That was the first time I heard of Fibromyalgia.

Though the fibromyalgia went into “remission” after a few tough years, the IBS progressed into Ulcerative Colitis (UC) which I tried to manage over the next 7 or so years.  Those were eventful and stressful years were peppered with accidents and ER visits and surgeries.  I also collected a Hiatal Hernia and awful reflex (GERD).

By the time I married again at 29, I was beginning to manage my UC well and perfecting the art of the having a colonoscopy, working on my current record of 8.  I was symptomatic for a few years, I was finally diagnosed with Hyprothryoidism when I was 34.  The following year brought another surgery for a cyst growing out of my chest.  For a while, I had a trick breast that would bleed without warning and for no reason.  I decided to skip that “exploratory” surgery.

As the years went by, my stomach got better while my thyroid meds kept increasing.  Several years ago I was gifted with anemia and vitamin deficiency and a little over two years ago I yet another familiar illness – Fibromyalgia.

This is where I got mad and I will post that story later.

To finish this history, we cut to this past week.  In the past two years, I have had many health victories so you can imagine my disappointment when my latest test results revealed that I have developed Hashimotos Thyroiditis.