Life Choices

We all make life choices. Some easy and simple and maybe silly and others difficult. But everyday we do make choices.

Our choices will either be good choices or bad choices. I'm writing about this because we all make choices about our health and what we do about it.

There comes a time in our life that an illness or a condition enters it. How we take care of it depends on the choices we make We go to a doctor to find out what it is. Take for instance me: I have IBS - irritable bowel syndrome. I have had issues with my health since April of 2013. But it's not an illness, it's a condition. It does no damage to the body so that is why it is a condition. I have also discovered because of this condition and because I have had my appendix removed and my gall bladder that I am lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive. My choice in this instance is, do I want to live miserable or live  comfortably? The choices I make in eating are what decides the answer to those questions. 

Now like my husband, he has health problems but won't find a good doctor. He hasn't been to his primary in a couple of years, except to go get a prescription of Viagra. His priorities are all messed up. He prefers luxuries over life.

I have a friend who just found out he has Lupus and may have had it for years. He lives with pain every day. His choice is to either suffer or live. He can live by the choices he makes and to educate himself on his disease and how to live with it with as little pain as possible. 

I have co-workers who have health issues. One has sugar issues, one has diabetes, one has diverticulosis, one has had cancer and beat it and one who seems to be chronic period.

So what I am getting at is the choices we make when we eat. My husband eats a lot of junk food. He really shows no care in his health or even mine. But that is a whole other issue. Some of my co-workers don't even learn about their condition or if they know, they don't manage it. The one with diverticulosis doesn't eat nuts but does not eat a high fiber diet and still eats greasy food, especially fast foods. He hasn't educated himself about his issue either.

The person with diabetes will eat McDonald's or something if they don't want to work the next day. How many times a week or a month can you eat this stuff without the affects that will show up later in life. I believe they are in their mid 50's. What will their life be like in their retirement years after eating so many fast food breakfasts or other wrong choices. 

People either don't realize or don't care how this will affect their body years on down the road. They could be bed ridden or 24 hour nursing care because they ate all this junk that is not good for you instead of eating right and exercising. I had one co-worker tell me, sometimes it won't work. Well if you think like that and don't learn and educate yourself and change your life style then yes it won't work. I had another tell me exercise won't help. I'm sorry it does help. Even if it is just walking, it does help the body improve to a better life. 

So like the sign says our choices decides our destiny. So if you have a battle with a serious illness or a bad condition, learn about it and find out what foods can be best for that and exercise. Even if it is walking. But if you don't care then your decision will lead to your destiny and I hate to think what that is. It could lead to death. How do you feel about that?

Why This Blog?

You may be asking why I have a blog titled Learning To Live. I have several other blogs but I haven't stuck them. I have written about my relationship with Jesus Christ to the storms of life to living and learning about IBS.

Yes, if you read my profile, I have a condition called IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). As of April 2 years ago, I realized I was loosing weight. Wasn't much at first. I thought it was because I was trying to work out and eating right. Wrong! I went and bought some new clothes for my old ones didn't fit anymore. I wore one of my new shorts one day, got home from work and took them off. I realized I didn't unbutton them when I took them off. I lost more weight.

Originally I weighed around 120 pounds. I weighed my self after the first weight loss and it was roughly 7 pounds I lost. Then after this incident I weighed myself again and lost 6 more pounds. Now I began to worry. For a small person already, it's nearly impossible to lose 13 pounds in a short amount of time.

Found a doctor and went for a visit. By the time I got to that appointment, I went from 120 down to 105 pounds. She took some blood and said my monocites were high. Immediately she scheduled me to a doctor that looks for cancer. All the doc visits I went to they ask what is wrong. Besides the weight loss, my lower right quadrant of my abdomen kept hurting. They put me through a lot of tests to rule out things. So far no cancer.

Went to a gastrologist and had my first colonoscopy done at age 49. I was 48 when all this started. He found a large polyp and had it tested and it was negative. He did tell me if I did wait until I was  50 for a colonoscopy, I would had colon cancer. That was in October. Had another
colonoscopy done in December to make sure he got all that polyp out for it was in a bad location. Again I told him my lower right side hurts. He then suggested to get a Hida scan done. I did and found out my gall bladder wasn't emptying.

Dr. King preceded to remove that. Felt good for a few months and then April rolls around again and I started having pain in the lower right side again. I had another colonoscopy done and things were still clear. So eventually, Dr. Brown ruled it as IBS-C. C standing for constipation. D would be diarrhea and A alternating.

I did have 2 other ER visits during this time because of the pain and some bleeding. They wanted to look at the appendix. One CT scan showed a mass in front of the appendix and so they couldn't see it.
On the other trip, CT scan showed the mass gone and things were fine, supposedly.

Dr. Brown put me on Lizess which I eventually stopped for it took me in the other direction. Bad idea for a mail carrier. (LOL)  So I had to learn all about IBS and what I can do to live with it. There are books out there and of course a vast amount of information on the internet. I am also Lactose Intolerant and Gluten Sensitive during this journey. Some people say it may be because I had my gall bladder removed. Who knows. I now have to change my eating habits and I have to live with this condition.

It is a condition for it doesn't do damage to the body. Nor do the doctors know or understand this category of this condition because it doesn't do damage to the body.

 Now it's April of 2015 and things have happened already before this month arrived.

January 9 I went to work. Been up and down through the night with a annoying pain, of course that lower right side. Started to work and the pain kept getting worse. I told the supervisor I needed to go to the ER. He said ok, came out to my car and asked if I needed someone to drive me. I told him I think I can make it.

ER doc comes in to talk with me. Going to have another CT scan done. He thought it odd that one CT scan showed a mass and the next one it was gone. Well he comes back and says I need surgery for I have appendicitis. Oh I thought. He asked which surgeon I wanted...Dr. King or Dr. Pugh. I said it didn't matter, I have seen both. I called my supervisor and told him I was having surgery. He's like WHAT?  Follow up appointment Dr. Pugh mentioned that the appendix was swollen and really infected. Glad I do listen to my body.

Then I had the annual mammogram done. They called me a few days later wanting to have more images done. There was suspicious specks deep within my left breast. So I eventually had to have a wire guide lumpectomy done. Specks are negative so again Thank God.

My weight has maintained around 105 pounds. I wear Jr size clothes. I do have good days and bad days still. Even when I watch what I eat. Work doesn't help because of the stress level there. Stupidity if you ask me how things are operated but that's my opinion. There are days that start out good but can turn to bad. I still have pain from time to time. So we will see where it leads me.

As I have mentioned, it's April once again. This is why I am writing a blog called Learning to Live with? It's just not what I have. I have friends that have health issues and family that are living with issues too. I want people to know. Knowledge is power. We can be strong together and learn to live with what ever life throws at us. I will be researching conditions and diseases and posting on here and how one can live with it. I hope it teaches people about health conditions and diseases and gives them an understanding of what one may go through. And I hope this will help those that may have a health issue now or future to cope and live with it.

I care and you are not alone. Remember that please.