What does a ‘perfect day’ look like?

I am grateful the political season is behind us.

 

Election years are generally good for the newspaper, but not my health.

 

Many advertisements, election notices, questionnaires, all require lots of time, energy and attention to detail. I’m glad it’s done. 

 

I told Editor Deb this week that I don’t really feel comfortable putting very many health updates into the paper. Folks ask me when they see me how I am doing. And honestly it’s just up and down, up and down. It feels disappointing and confusing to communicate that there’s some form of pain and discomfort every day, and some days are worse while others are less bad. 

 

Lately I have been seeing a GI (gut) specialist at the Mayo Clinic and she has ordered loads of tests. I was diagnosed with a bacterial overgrowth in my small intestines. Antibiotics helped but didn’t clear it out. After my appointment this past week, the doctor told me we need to figure out what was causing it to persist. She prescribed a stronger antibiotic, ordered more blood tests and more…let’s just call them stomach tests. I left the office feeling pretty hopeless.

 

Another appointment wasn’t available until February. But it will take a couple months for the tests she ordered, regardless. 

 

The latest thing to be optimistic about, however, are the results from my most recent blood test. I have a really high iron count in my blood–roughly twice what is considered normal. This could either be a result of my GI issues or their cause. The Artificial Intelligence gods tell me it is highly likely I have faulty genes that cause my body to hang onto way too much iron. A simple blood test is needed to confirm. If that is the case, it is likely that is what has caused the overgrowth in my insides because bacteria thrive on iron. 

 

I have written explanations for what is wrong with me before and am generally wrong as are the doctors who keep guessing right along with me. 

 

On the bright side, I get to make a really funny joke about this.

 

What might you consider the most archaic medieval medical practice that no practitioner would consider using in a modern medical facility, but which might work on my condition? 

 

If you guess leeches or bleeding, you would be right. To treat excess iron, “blood-letting” is the treatment. Removing blood removes a couple hundred milliliters of iron at the same time. Treatments are typically spaced one or two weeks apart and continue until numbers are normal, followed by treatments every couple months. 

 

When I was talking to Editor Deb about this she asked me, “I suppose you can’t just donate blood?”

 

Yes! 

 

That is actually the typical treatment. 

 

Reading about the side effects of excess iron, I experience all of them, minus some of the longer term ones. Oftentimes excess iron is identified in autopsies because of the damage caused to various organs. When the body has excess iron, it stores it in major organs, which is damaging over time.

 

So I guess I need to be leeched? 

 

Who would have thought?

 

I don’t know if this is actually the answer as the long list of symptoms I have fall under a few categories of possible factors. 

 

Honestly, I just hope my body will feel normal again at some point in my life, before I die. 

 

My back is healing, albeit slowly. I can move around and walk and am exercising again. 

 

In the middle of September I was so low, my back in so much pain, I prayed simply asking for the ability to go on one more walk on a nice day. At nine months of injury time, with it not getting any better, really only worse, I was pretty miserable. 

 

I am grateful that prayer was answered. And I do have faith my stomach/gut issues will be resolved. 

 

The other difficult part of this is being fully reliant on those around me to help with so many parts of my professional life (and honestly personal life at various points). I am incredibly grateful for everyone I employ and everyone in my life. The newspaper staff is truly great. 

 

This past week Dad was out sick and unable to do his job, so I had to fill in on sports. I still cannot take pictures at sporting events because standing that long is incredibly painful. 

 

After sleeping for 15 hours from Friday into Saturday (extreme fatigue is a side effect of all of my issues), I watched both NRHEG and Waseca play football games and proceeded to work until roughly 2 a.m. Sunday morning. 

 

I still get out of my house to see folks. I love people too much to stay inside, no matter how tired I am. But for anyone wondering how I spend my time, oftentimes it is devoted to steps meant to avoid pain. 

 

I believe in trying to have “perfect” days. No, it isn’t actually possible, but I try to make the most of every single day. 

 

My “perfect” days include: faith, family, purpose and physical activity. 

 

Every day I spend time with my father.

 

Every day I speak with people I care about. 

 

Every day I work. 

 

Every day I move my body. 

 

Every day I do little things that bring me joy.

 

I try to be intentional. There are so many people I love and care about. When I think of them, and I am not too tired, and sometimes even when I am, I reach out via text message or phone call. 

 

This week I called Dave Zika. I sometimes joke that people speak telepathically. I called him about an hour after he stopped at the office. (I had no idea he had stopped.)

 

We chatted for 30 minutes or so. The conversation, the connection, made me forget about every single one of my pains for that entire time. Those are types of relationships I try to cultivate. When I can connect with a person, I work to make them a part of my life. I feel really fortunate that I am blessed to be surrounded by such great people. 

 

Finally, I really do look at things on the bright side. For one thing, these stomach issues have caused me to eat a much fresher, healthier diet, rather than choosing what happens to be handy or convenient, which is typically not healthy. 

 

If it were not for these terrible pains, I do not know if I would have ever delegated work the way I have. Of course I had the plan to do so, but it was my nature to do things myself because that was less anxiety provoking than asking others or employing others to do the tasks. 

 

To recap my past few weeks; they have been filled with election coverage, meetings, good conversation, so many doctor appointments and quite a bit of rest. 

 

Cribbage

Dad and I played cribbage in person on his birthday, otherwise all games have been online, which I do not keep score of, however he does. Notably, I double skunked him last month. Unlike, in person, where Dad skunks me almost 2-1, in the online game, I have skunked him almost three times as frequently. Growing up he always said his dad’s cribbage board was lucky. It seems to hold true. 

 

Before I put scores below, I must tell a story.

 

Buddy, Terry Bortle, family friend, came down to visit when I was around the age of 12. We played cribbage that evening and I must have won nine of 10 games. Every hand, it seemed, was a dozen points. It still makes me smile thinking back to that night. The board’s luck seems to be a family thing. 

 

Our updated scores for the year follow: 

Eli 181 wins, 17 skunks, Dad 152 wins, 27 skunks.

 

Lifetime

Dad 565, 88 skunks, Eli 518 wins, 56 skunks, 1 double skunk.