Where In The World Is Sum1?

Quite The Journey

Locale: Bloomington, Illinois

Last Half Of March, & The Month  of: April, 2021

         Well, I've been busy teaching most weeks, but have had health issues off and on.  This entry is more about my journey of discovery to what I believe is the root of my health issues.  No doctor has said it's the root, but to someone who has spent almost 50 years troubleshooting Electrical & Electronic equipment, it is the root cause of it all.

         As some of you know, this all started in December with that cough I had last year .  It started up in November, and continued until just recently.  This year, my general practitioner sent me to an ENT doctor.  I saw one last  year, but to say he was about useless would be an understatement.  This new doctor looked me over, saw recent blood work, and felt I should see an Allergist, as well as mentioning possible Sinus surgery.

         When I saw the Allergist, she thought that additional blood work was needed, and ordered it.  When she saw the results, she ordered more, and told me I might have an Auto-Immune disease.  After the second blood sample came back though, she decided to send me to a Hematologist.  This was when I knew something serious was probably going on inside me.  Of course he ordered his own blood samples, and told me I might (probably) have Multiple Myelosis.  I looked that up on Google when I got home, and wasn't too surprised really.  It's a form of Blood Cancer, ,but is not very aggressive.  He told me he could have me 'all fixed up and normal' by the end of the year.  Yeah, the check's in the mail.  All this time, I was teaching from home thanks to a manager with foresight.  This gave me the chance to schedule any doctor's appointment needed while not interfering with class delivery.

         I did spend two days being observed in the hospital in both February and April.  I was admitted because I couldn't maintain blood oxygen level about 90%.  When this happens to you, they consider you to be suffering from Hypoxia.  This only happened to me when that cough hit me violently, causing my lungs to start working like a bellows to get enough oxygen in me.  The doctors referred to it as allergy induced Asthma too.

         The cough....  So bad that one night I sat up in bed  while coughing.  I ended up passing out, and went to the floor.  I cut the bridge of my nose (which bled quite profusely) on a small table.  At one point I stopped driving.  I'd started coughing while turning a corner, and passed out, putting my van over a curb.  No damage really, other than a flat tire, and about 3 pieces of metal being replaced because my alignment was way off.  Yeah, an expensive little thing there, but what could I do, other than stop driving?  While in the hospital the first time, I passed out on at least 3 occasions, but no one noticed because my heartrate and other vital signs never changed.

         ROOT CAUSE Identified!  This Myeloma (or Immune System Deficiency) is causing my immune system to function less than it should.  My sinuses are blocked for some reason, and slightly infected.  Since my immune system was not functioning properly, it couldn't kill off this infection.  This resulted in post-nasal drip, causing the cough.  Since my immune system wasn't functioning properly, the cough got out-of-control.

         Today I'm back to my ornery old self.  We are waiting on the results of a bone marrow test that was done last week.  I will know Monday what the next step is.  My cough is essentially gone right now, and I'm pretty sure my sinuses are no longer blocked.  So will I have the sinus surgery?  It all depends on these test results.

         Everything is alright, I will not allow my spirits to be beaten down by this, I will not allow myself to wonder "Why me?"  I already have an answer to that.  It's life.  It's what happens to some people.  We are all living our lives, the last thing anyone needs is to have me moan and complain about things.  I could have it much worse, and know that I am better off than many others.

In Closing

         I have been home since the second week of January, and will be home the rest of April, all of May, and half of June.  I might get to travel again in mid-June, to Washington DC for a class.  It all depends on test results, and what the doctors need me to do.  I teach the Bell Canada Friday, and Monday/Tuesday next week, then the RCMP the following week.  After that,  I have a resident class to teach from home before taking a week of vacation.  Oh, I also will fit in time to cross-train workers on the courses that I'm the lone instructor on.  Someone's gonna have to do them most likely, we should have been cross-training them these past few years.  But that's out of my control.  Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!