Let's Play "HOUSE"...maybe
OK, here's the full story. As you may know, i haven't really felt good since Hibearnation back in November. Back then i had a fever plus the added bonus of vomiting for the first 24 hours. The CIPRO they put me on later that week caused some nasty diarrhea. Then i seemed to get a little better just in time to go back to work. And i kept it together, though i was never that great. i worked through xmas eve and by the Saturday after, i started coming down again. But it was just the fevers. No "flu symptoms", no nothing...just the fever. By Tuesday, after spiking to 103 plus, i finally got another round of CIPRO. So everything kinda tapered off, but i still had that creeping malaise and intermittent fevers. i thought that maybe it was my stupid wisdom teeth and some bug had gotten into those goofy glands. i saw the dentist and we agreed to pull the uppers on the first Friday of March (after LUEY). Still, the rest of that week and on into the next i still felt all wonky and just not right. Yeah, yeah, everyone says "that boy is just not right", but...you know. i finally got an appointment with Junior on the 14th which you all know about. He took a gallon of blood and just as much piss. Plus, since i saw him in November, i'd lost 12 pounds. TWELVE POUNDS!! Who the fuck loses 12 pounds...OVER THE HOLIDAYS??? Not me! *sigh* The older phlebotamist came in and while she's taking the blood says "Fever? Night sweats? Ooohh...that's...are you hetero?...No?...well, those are signs of what we don't want." Literally!!! i mean, she couldn't even say HIV! i mentioned this to Junior and he says that it didn't fit my symptoms, but yes, he was testing for that again too. Plus, with the addition of the "googly-eye" he wanted the MRI and set up a TB test. On Thursday morning, Matt calls and asked what the doctor's office wanted. i'd gotten a strange call while i was in my meeting and Matt said that they had called trying to get ahold of me. What? When the doctor's office tries to contact you early - i was supposed to stop by on Friday anyway to get the TB test read - it can't be good news. Once again, i freaked out. But all they wanted was a couple of questions for the MRI that they had forgotten to ask me. WHEW again. i swear, they gotta quit doing that! Friday i dropped by at the end of the day and they looked at the TB test and it was negative and with some trepidation i said, "...is that all?" "Yes, we'll talk to you after your MRI on Monday!" So Monday was the MRI and then they called yesterday and said, "well, your tests are all clear and your MRI was clean, but the doctor would still like to see you tomorrow." Of course, they never tell you anything over the phone. *self-induced panic* So i show up yesterday afternoon with a little bit of trepidation even though i was really feeling good and had really gotten my appetite back these past couple of days. So, we went over the list. HIV negative. Same for gonorrhea, syphilis, clamidia, diabetes, low blood pressure, white count good, red count good...hell, they even checked for auto-immune diseases like lupus! And with the MRI, they wanted to see the optic nerve since it goes straight into the brain stem, but it was fine and not sign of even a mini-stroke. When he was discussing my case with the senior doctor there, he got kinda excited. Here was a juicy case with a mystery disease. They were itching to play House and figure out what my problem was. Junior said that if i'd shown up with a fever or that creeping malaise that i was having, they probably would have hospitalized me. But instead, i was feeling good, i'd already put back on 4 pounds...i was just another perfectly healthy, overweight white male. How boring. There were a couple of markers that were really high that showed that i either have or had some kind of infection. So more blood. And ok, i'd been to Minnesota, Texas and California in the past year...how about the Northeast? Lyme disease? i'm just weird. But...you already knew that.
For all of you wonderful folks outside the US, "House" is a popular TV doctor who is a cantankerous asshole, but can solve all manner of medical mysteries. What all doctors aspire to, LOL.