Why can't I just get healthy?

October -- less than two months from when I'm writing this -- will mark three years since the start of a cluster of frustrating health challenges. Every time I make progress, it feels as if something happens to cause a major backslide. 

FIRST: Please, no advice. I am working closely with my healthcare team to untangle a complex set of symptoms and circumstances.

SECOND: Anything I write is NOT medical advice. This is informational only about my personal health journey. Consult your own healthcare specialists before doing anything related to your own situation.

THIRD: I am writing this due to my own frustrations over my situation and a need to have a healthy outlet for those frustrations. 

Over the past three years, symptoms and issues I've had since birth suddenly have become worse--even severe, in some cases. Things that I thought I and my medical team had a good handle on started to unravel and become unstable. 

I've felt like a total mess and it's interfering with my ability to care for myself and to work, but not to a degree that I would qualify for any type of disability program. 

This morning, I have a cough, sinus congestion, chest congestion, and the last bits of a vertigo and migraine attack. The vertigo and migraine came on very suddenly as I was arriving to work and landed me in the emergency department yesterday. The cold-like symptoms have been dragging on for several weeks. I had a cold in mid-July and then went on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with a close friend, only to return with a worse respiratory infection. Throughout that trip, I also was tripping, falling, and having balance issues pretty much daily!

Of my multitude of issues, the only thing that seems somewhat improved right now, are my gastrointestinal issues which I can only attribute to having walked four to six miles per day, every day of my 12-day adventure, as well as to different food regulations in the UK than in the USA. I truly believe the UK and EU have better food regulations and just overall healthier foods--even their sodas are healthier than those in the USA (obviously, soda isn't healthy at all...). My chronic abdominal pain didn't pop up at all during my trip, though I did have an episode of such severe acid reflux that I woke up my friend with my coughing and gasping and spent much of the night in the bathroom wondering if I might actually vomit (I didn't end up throwing up...). Prior to the trip, I was having abdominal pain (two distinctly different areas of pain with distinctly different types of pain and distinctly different triggers) and severe reflux almost daily.

I had been going to vestibular physical therapy for a while as well, but then a chronic hip problem became suddenly worse and I needed start physical therapy for that as well. Then, I had a couple of falls and a standing up and twisting indicent that greatly exacerbated my hip issue. I had to pause physical therapy while figuring out the hip issues--ultimately, I'm facing hip surgery to repair or possibly remove cartilage in my right hip, as well as to remove a cyst in the hip joint.

I put a pause on all physical therapy, but it's become clear over the past few weeks that I need to at least due vestibular exercises that can be done either sitting or standing in place. 

I also need to do a better job of staying hydrated and getting a full range of nutrients in my diet. 

My gastroenterologist has set up a referral for endoscopy (I already had a colonoscopy last year that was extremely clean/clear). We also are trialing different medications. 

I've seen an ear doctor and eye doctor and both cleared me of having eye or ear issues. I called today about a neurology referral that my primary care doctor sent and was told it will take a couple of weeks for chart review and then they will call me to schedule an intake appointment. 

I'm also calling my hip surgeon's office to reschedule my hip surgery. Initially, it was scheduled for September 3rd, but with the respiratory infection that I can't seem to shake, I don't feel confident that I'll be well enough to do surgery that soon. 

So, today, I've already:

✅followed up on the neurology referral

✅called to setup a claim for intermittent leave related to vertigo/migraines/dizziness/vestibular issues

✅took a walk around the block with my dog

✅took my morning meds

✅logged my symptoms and my morning meds on the Guava app (a healthcare records aggregator, as well as an app to track your meds, symptoms, and a lot more; this is an affiliate link and I may get some free perks, at no cost to you, if you sign up)

Now, I need to:

💙call the hip surgeon to reschedule

💜drink water throughout the day

💚check my fridge/freezer for healthy options

💛possibly go to the grocery story

💙do seated vestibular exercises

💜pack and ship items I sold on Poshmark

💚take another walk around the block with my dog this evening

💛log my afternoon and evening meds on Guava as the day progresses

💜prep for work tomorrow and Saturday

💚be in bed by 10pm and lights and screens off by 11pm