Calling in sick today
(Scroll down for Monday Update)
I am “calling in sick today – am not feeling well and will be bedridden probably for the rest of the day (am composing this on my laptop).
I’ll explain more when I can about what’s wrong – in the meantime, please consider this an open thread.
Sat. Update: I’m doing much better today – thanks for the well wishes 
I’ve got some things to do this morning that I’ve gotten behind on from being sick on and off the last few days but – assuming I’m still feeling ok – I’ll be back to blogging later this afternoon or evening.
Monday Update: I am experiencing more health issues today. I had wanted to explain to everyone what I’m going through over the weekend but I wanted to forget about it rather than talk about it at the time.
The short version is that back in March on my first ER visit that month I was diagnosed with a what is called gastritis. To find out more about it, click here and make sure to follow the various links like the one to “signs and symptoms.” I had two ER visits in March and none, thankfully, in April but I did have a couple of flare ups in late April after my prescription to Prevacid ran out. I was prescribed something for nausea and something else for pain and have had to utilize both drugs quite a bit in the last week. I’ve scheduled a Dr. appt early this week to get a more thorough diagnosis and discuss more treatment options (I really should have scheduled an appt. sooner, but I had the housewarming to prep for and I was really wrapped up in that and stupidly put my health issues on the back burner). The link I provided tells you in most cases that gastritis is not serious, but I fear mine is. The pain is so intense when you are going through it that the only way you feel halfway decent is to lay down – and sometimes not even then. Right now I’m going through the symptom of eating but still feeling like I’m hungry afterwards. It’s an awful feeling. The usual feeling, though, that I have from it, is feeling like I have a thick rubber band squeezing my midsection like a vice. Anyone who has gone through it will know what I mean. I have done good about avoiding foods I am not supposed to eat, but now I am getting sick off of foods I CAN eat. So now I hate to eat.
Because I’m having to change my diet completely, and because I’m afraid to eat, I’m not getting enough to eat, which is leaving me with less energy. It is all I can do to get out of bed sometimes.
I hate feeling abnormal and hate the fact that this is keeping me from being able to do things I love to do – and even simple, everyday things. Right now, walking the stairs to my house is a chore. Simple things like brushing my teeth, when I’m going through the pain, require effort. I live for the days that I don’t feel the pain. I am saying all this not to start a pity party, but because I want you to know that the reason I’m not blogging much lately is because I haven’t had the energy to blog like I normally do. I’ll be missing a few days from work this week and will be absent from blogposting and emails for at least the next couple of days (I’ll check in to release moderated messages, though, when I can) while I try to rest, get treatment from my doctor, and hopefully be able to plan a course of action for the future to recover from this.
So for the time being, please continue to use this thread as an open thread. Thank you for the words of encouragement already posted in this thread and in email. I miss blogging and chit chatting with all of you, and hope to be back to myself VERY soon.
(Originally posted 4/28/03 at 12:23 pm ET – Bumped Monday for update)