Defective

Snuggle buddies yesterday in Migraine City.

As many of you know, I suffer from severe migraines. Yesterday I had one that had me down for the count. Light, sounds, smells... couldn't handle it. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and she prescribed me some preventative medication that should be kicking in over the next two weeks. I have my fingers crossed, I know a lot of people have to try multiple preventatives before they find the right one.

After I went to the doctor the other day, I was feeling a little down. I called my mom and told her I felt like I was genetically defective. I know that sounds dramatic, but as an almost 24 year old (next Thursday people, don't you forget it!) I have a list of ailments that most 50 year olds don't even have.

When I was six years old, my eyesight was found to be compromised during a routine school screening. My parents took me to an eye doctor, who promptly sent me to a specialist, and I spent the next few months undergoing rigorous testing because they could not find out what was wrong with me. They even suspected a brain tumor. It turns out that I have optical drusin (calcium deposits) on my optic nerves. One of these deposits broke off my left optic nerve and severed part of it, leaving a scar. Over the years the scar has shrunk, but I remain legally blind in that eye. When I close my right eye and look solely with my left, there's a big black spot in the middle, which is the scar. I go through testing every year to make sure that my vision is stable (it is) and to monitor my right eye closely, because if the same thing happened to my right eye, I would be blind.

Next up we have my gallbladder, or lack thereof. After 10 years of suffering and doctors telling me it was all in my head, I had my gallbladder out in January 2010. In the months prior to finally getting it out, I ate nothing because my stomach hurt so bad. Nothing red (too acidic), high in fat, high in calories, red meat (too hard to digest), no dairy, and nothing raw (also hard to digest). I was surviving on fish and mushy vegetables. I lost almost 20 pounds and was so sick. I finally demanded the whole battery of tests because I needed to know what was wrong with me. I had a test that shows gallbladder function. Normal is 35% or above. I was at 7%. My gallbladder came out the following Monday after that test. It's been hard to adjust to eating without a gallbladder. Rich food completely does me in, but sometimes it's worth the suffering to eat normally. I feel 1000% better now than I did before having it out though.

Finally, I have something called Raynaud's Disease in my toes. Pretty much, my toes look blue all the time because my  arteries in them narrow, restricting blood flow. It doesn't bother me too much usually, but a few times a year, the blood flow is so restricted that I develop little bumps on my toes that are painful to the touch. They go away eventually, but they're annoying when I have them. The disease is autoimmune, which doesn't surprise me as my mom has Rheumatoid Arthritis, my uncle has diabetes (also autoimmune), and my sister is starting to show signs of having Raynaud's in her toes as well. Yay genetics!

Sorry to be such a downer today, but I figure it's better to get it all out there, right? But, my head feels less like exploding today, I'm back at work, and I'm optimistic that things will get better from here.

Have a totally kick ass Thursday... it's almost the weekend!