I mentioned to Jordan the other day that I've been thinking about the first time I was diagnosed with this issue 11 years ago. It was awful, I was miserable and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. However, we caught it, treated it, and it disappeared over a matter of weeks. This time around, I recognized the symptoms, brought it to my doctor and we started meds right away. I thought that was the right move since we got ahead of it and kept it from getting as bad as it was the first time. Now I realize that maybe I was wrong. Since I started the diuretic medication before the spinal tap, my spinal pressure wasn't extremely high (see the previous post for more details), so the doctors weren't concerned with taking any fluid out during the procedure, unlike my first spinal tap where they drained over 30 mL of CSF. I am convinced that's the reason my pseudo tumor went away so quickly the first time. And now because they didn't drain any fluid out during this tap, my current pseudo tumor is hanging out much longer. Here we are 8 months later and it doesn't seem like it has plans of leaving any time soon. Somedays I wish I hadn't caught it as soon and we hadn't started the medications as quickly as we did so I could have gotten a more therapeutic and effective spinal tap to make this issue go away faster, just like 11 years ago.
Nonetheless, I've been doing my best to take care of myself and lose weight like the doctor has ordered. I'm down almost 14 lbs since the last check up on September 24 and almost 30 lbs since the beginning of the year! I'm sure some people get annoyed by my posts or stories about my workouts, healthy eating and exercise programs on social media, but I won't apologize for that. At this point, all I can do to treat this frustrating health condition is continue to lose weight and work on my health so that's what I'm going to do. I also figure that if my journey can inspire others to make positive changes or just make healthier choices, then I might as well try to encourage friends and family to join me when they can. I enjoy using social media in a positive way to share those victories and celebrate the little accomplishments along the way! With a health problem that doesn't have an end-date, I have to find something productive and positive to focus on that uses milestones and goal dates and check-ins. It keeps me accountable and allows me to have some sort of control while dealing with a health issue that I don't understand and thus can't control. And that's why I share my journey with others.Meanwhile, life goes on. I turned 25 in October, highlighted my hair for the first time, suffered through a weird gastrointestinal issue for a few weeks, celebrated Halloween, and had an awesome Friendsgiving since I worked on actual Thanksgiving. Jord is about to finish up another semester of school at the U and we're both still working full-time at the same jobs. There might be a few changes in the near-ish future but we'll update those as they come. We'll be staying in Utah for Christmas this year, so even though I'm sad to be missing family this month (especially an adorable new niece), at least we have technology to communicate.
Merry Christmas everyone!
