Take Two of These and Call Me in the Morning..

It's no secret that over the years, medically speaking, I have had the worst luck. In 2005, I started getting migraines. Not just one here and there. Constantly. They were horrible excruciating. They affected my ability to get up out of bed and do everyday things while making me extremely dizzy and brought nausea and vomiting with them. At that time, I not only had Zoe, but two other children to look after. It was not a fun time in my life. It is now 7 years later, and I am still dealing with them. Granted, I don't experience them as often as I did, but they are still plaguing me years later.

In 2007, I came down with Bells Palsy. If you're unfamiliar with that, it is basically a condition that affects the nerves in your face. The entire side of my face... eyes, nose, mouth, etc, completely went numb and it looked like I had a stroke. I went immediately to the emergency room, where they diagnosed me, and started me on my treatment of antibiotics.. and steroids. It persisted about three weeks, and I'm about 90% recovered. If you pay SUPER close attention, you'll notice that one side of my smile droops just ever so slightly.

I get bronchitis. A lot. Before you go wagging your finger at me, telling me that smoking is causing my lung problems, know that I've had these issues since I was 8. Even though I've been smoking for over half my life (except pregnancies), smoking is not the cause. It doesn't help... but it's not the reason. Later in 2007, I came down with a really bad case of bronchitis that turned into walking pneumonia. I was given a breathing machine to take home, antibiotics, cough syrup, and more steroids.

For many years, I had experienced pain while eating. I would feel a lump in the bottom of my jaw, under my tongue. It made it hurt to chew. I decided to go to the doctor for it. After an MRI, they found that I had stones in my salivary gland. Yes, stones... like the kind people get in their kidneys? Believe it or not, you can get them in your salivary gland. The doctor tried a few things to remove them, including massaging, medication, and sheer force. Nothing worked, so in 2008, I was booked for surgery to remove them. During surgery, they were unable to remove the stones, so they made a decision to remove the entire salivary gland. Recovery was painful, and the next day, I knew something was wrong. The drainage tube they had placed in my jaw was removed by the doctor (but evidently needed to stay in longer). My face swelled up and I went to the doctor. He drained 5 syringe fulls of fluid and assured me that I was fine and that it was completely normal. Even with all the drainage, I was still extremely swollen. The next day, I was still in a lot of pain and feeling like crap, so I went to the emergency room. They promptly admitted me to the hospital, where I stayed for a couple of days on IV medications, and... you guessed it. Steroids. The swelling finally started to go down, and I was released. It took me about a month to recover from my botched surgery/recovery. Here is a picture of my face from when I got home from the hospital (the swelling was almost gone in this picture. it was MUCH worse):

Late 2008, after all that, I got walking pneumonia again. It was treated with more antibiotics, steroids, and cough syrup.

Through all of this, I was still experiencing my migraines, and was seeing a pain management doctor. In early 2009 they finally decided to try a procedure where they put a small incision in the back of my neck, clipped the nerve endings, and injected the area with steroids. I had this done twice... One on each side of my neck. Also in 2009, I was given trigger point injections of steroids in my head and neck. I received a total of 12 per visit, twice a month... This went on for about 6 months.

Needless to say, I think I was given all the steroids on the planet. All of them. I sometimes wonder if there was enough left for anyone else. The biggest side effect of steroids, is weight gain. Boy did I gain. Over the course of three years, I gained a total of 82 pounds. Every time I started to get control of my weight and start losing, I would start another round of them for one reason or another. In 2010, I had just started making some progress, when I got pregnant and then weighed 30 pounds more than I ever have in my life. Today, one year after Olivia was born, I am 20 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnant weight, and 62 pounds lighter than the day I came home after she was born. I'm on my way to regaining some sort of healthy body. I have 40 pounds to go until I reach a weight that I am okay with. To go from this:

To what I become after all my steroid treatments.... Is awful for me. I became completely unhealthy, and there was nothing I could do about it. Not only do steroids make you pack on the weight no matter what, but losing it is even harder. 

This madness brings me to my next issue. My back. This is all new to me... I've never experienced back pain before. Three weeks ago, it started, and it's only gotten worse as the time has progressed. I can't walk, bend over, or sit in a chair without pain. I am on medication, but I am terrified that the doctor is going to try to prescribe me steroids to deal with the issue. I am so on the fence about this. While they may aid in helping me feel like my old self again, I don't know if I can deal with the weight gain that comes with it.

I guess I'll keep everyone updated and let you know what the next step is. I really hope it doesn't come to that, and I really hope that this is the end of the line for my medical problems. I don't know how much more I can take!