shame on you, you fool me once

So this post is looooong overdue. But it took me till today to be able to see my urologist. My kidney stones are basically a mixture of the two types of kidney stones people get. There are two types of calcium that make up the two different stones, you usually have one or the other. Well, my stone was a mixture of both kinds of calcium. My 24 hour urine analysis showed that I have very low citrate acid in my urine and my blood tests show the same the same thing, that I have low acid in my system. Doctor told me that I was born this way. Basically, I've had a birth defect for 25 years that no one caught.

Wondering how I treat it? Well, first of all, LOTS of fluid, which I've been doing ever since May. But I also have to get my acid levels up. If I wanted to do that organically, as in using food sources, I'd have to drink a GALLON of orange juice a day. I could probably do it, except for the fact that that would put a humongous amount of calories in my diet and also a ton of sugar. Like, to the point of making me diabetic probably, since I already have blood sugar issues that I've been able to control with just cutting down on sugary drinks. So instead of a gallon of OJ a day, I get to take pills. I have to take potassium-citrate twice a day. I'll start on one pill twice a day and then if it doesn't cause tummy issues, I'll move up to two pills twice a day. And also because it's potassium-citrate (you need the potassium to absorb the citrate correctly, like with calcium you need the vitamin D) I have to have blood work every so many months to make sure my potassium levels aren't too high. Yay, more needles! /sarcasm

But at least now I know why I get these stupid things and I can try to prevent them. As the doctor said, the treatment isn't 100%. There's no guarantee that I'll never have another kidney stone, but this makes it less likely that I'll have them. But the good thing is, I have a very mild case --aka my kidneys are mildly screwed up-- so I'm less likely to have more stones with the treatment than someone who has a severe case. The doc was like, I know it didn't seem mild to you, but it's definitely a mild case. It's like my Crohn's Disease. When I was diagnosed I basically thought I was dying my symptoms were so severe. Turns out I only have a moderate case of it. When I found that out, I had said to my mom, If my case is moderate, I can't imagine what people with a severe case go through.

So all in all, even though I have to take MORE meds (because we all know I don't take enough already) I'm pretty lucky. As far as what I eat, it doesn't matter because the stones aren't caused by anything I eat. They're caused by having screwed up kidneys. So that is definitely a good thing especially since I have so many restrictions from the Crohn's.

Next up for me today, Physical Therapy. The first one of my last four.... at least I'm hoping.

Hope everyone is having a good day today! =)

Love,
amanda: jaclyn's twin sister

So I had my appointment with the urologist this morning. I had an x-ray and a pee test. Both were inconclusive. If the stone's too small they can't see it on the x-ray. So the next step is a cat scan. I also have to take Flomax which is usually used for men with enlarged prostates, so my insurance probably won't cover it. But the reason I'm taking it is because it also opens up the tube from your kidney to your bladder so it may open up enough to let the stone pass through. And apparently the pain I have is because the stone is blocking my urine from passing to the bladder from my kidney, which can cause damage to the kidney if it doesn't drain properly. So that's a little scary.

My scan is today at 1:00 pm. The doctor will call me by Thursday to discuss what the findings are. Afterwards, I have to make a decision on whether I want to wait it out or if I want surgery. Yup, you heard me. Surgery. At this point, I'm all for the surgery, but if the cat scan shows that the stone is down near my bladder, I'll take the pills and wait it out for a little bit. He'll also gave me a prescription for pain killers THANK GOD! I'm so happy because the Extra Strength Tylenol doesn't always cut it, even when I take two. But if the scan shows that the stone is half way down the tube or even closer to my kidney, I'm opting for the surgery. I've had enough with this pain already. I mean it started, like, the last day of February. It's been a long-ass time. I know I've gone a few weeks now without pain, but now it's been a week with pain anywhere from sore to excruciating. So basically on a scale from 1 - 10, anywhere from 1 - 15. lol. Yeah, it can be that bad.

It's a good thing my mom took the whole day off, because first we had the urologist, then she had to go see the condo association lady, then I have my scan at one, then at four I have my regularly scheduled therapy appointment. So basically we're flat out today. I'm exhausted just thinking about everything we have to do! Although, I may be able to catch a nap between the scan and Sheila's appointment. It's also a good thing that Mom made my appointment to have my broken tooth fixed for tomorrow or I wouldn't have been able to get my scan done. Which would have been bad since my doctor is going on vacation next week because it's April vacation for his kids. Mass and Maine get it this week, but of course, New Hampshire has it next week. I'm pretty sure when I went to school in Newport NH I had April vacation different than my friends here. It's like Merrimack County is different than the rest of New Hampshire. I don't know why, but whatever.

So listen to this. Yesterday my long-time friend said something kinda mean about Dog The Bounty Hunter. She called him a psycho with a mullet. So I replied to her comment on Facebook saying that Dog isn't psycho, he's a sweetheart. That his whole family is kind and caring. That their motto is Find 'em and Fix 'em. Today I got a txt message. She said, Hey mandy! My internet is down and wanted to apologize for my comment about Dog. It was insensitive and I will take it down ASAP. Love you!  I txt'd her back to say thanks for understanding and that Dog's life is very inspirational. I told her she should check out his first book. It's his autobiography and a good read. I can't wait to get his second book which is a continuation of the first. But I really just wanted to put this in a post because, srsly, how come she can be more mature and say sorry for hurting my feelings, yet someone else can't? I mean, if Jenn doesn't like watching Dog's show or even if she just doesn't care for him as a person, she should at least know who she's talking about. At least she can apologize for saying something about someone I look up to. And also, my best friend in the world hates Adam Lambert, she's a Gokey fan, but you know what? I don't really care. She thinks he's a jerk, but that's cool with me. And if he comes around here on his tour this summer, she'll probably end up going with me because he's touring with Allison Iraheta and we both love her. So you know what, I know how to have friends that don't like everything I like. I don't understand why some people freak out and can't. My real friends understand when I freak out and write a rant about them on my livejournal. Because it's a RANT and they understand I'm just getting my feelings off my chest instead of letting it bottle up until the point where I cut or do something worse. I haven't cut in, like, 4 or 5 years. I'd like to keep it that way.

So that's all I've got to say at the moment. Health-wise I'm doing okay, things are getting figured out. Although, every room I went in to at that place had a tube of lube in it and that was kind of weird. I kept thinking, what exactly do they do here? lol All my slash friends probably know where my mind was going with that. lol.

Keep your fingers crossed for my scan today, and for my tooth tomorrow. Talk to you later.

Love,
amanda: jaclyn's twin sister