A Brief Medical History

11:37 AM by TWoP Fan
Well, since I said that part of this blog would be devoted to my medical stuff, I figure a brief medical history is important.  Plus, I watch 7 episodes of House last night, so I know the importance of a proper medical history.

At age three I was diagnosed with Jugular Lymphatic Obstruction Sequence. It's a birth defect.  They knew next to nothing about it and my mom was told that I would A) never live past puberty B) have an IQ of about 80 C) if I did live to be a teen I'd never have puberty happen D) be super short.

So far I'm 28, developed a nice rack, had a kid, and have declared myself a genius on several occasions.  I win.

There were a few effects of my birth defect.  I have extra skin on my neck (a webbed neck) and I was super self-conscious about it for a long time.  I even looked into surgery for it, but the cosmetic surgeon said that they could do very little for a lot of money.  So I'm pretty much over it.  It's me and it's not gonna change.  I also have edema in my feet (swelling) and weird toenails.  Oh, and I got sick a lot as a kid because my lymph nodes didn't work the way they were supposed to (see the Lymphatic part of the diagnosis), but having my adenoids out really helped.  

In high school I was told I had a chemical imbalance that was causing my depression.  I cycled through different meds until college, where I was given another diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and I met my new friend Cymbalta.  I've been on the Cymbalta for 5 years now and it is awesome.  It just puts me to a point where I can manage the emotions I am having, rather than being overwhelmed by them. Nothing else ever did that for me.  I occasionally take Xanax for extreme anxiety, but it's pretty rare anymore.  

In November of 2009 I went to my doctor (technically a PA) Shannon (Hi!) for lethargy and no sex drive.  She ran some thyroid tests and discovered that my body makes very little testosterone, which is the basis of the sex drive.  After many, many more tests and much of my blood in little tubes, it turns out my body doesn't like my thyroid and wants to eat it.  My body = dumb.  So Shannon gave me some hormone cream in December (I'm now 60) and the actual Dr. (Dr. A) had me start some magnesium powder supplements.  Apparently most people have a magnesium deficiency and it can be the reason for extra stress and low energy levels.  Normally I would be super-skeptical, but my doctor is a big believer in quantifiable data and western medicine, so if he says he takes a supplement, I'm inclined to believe it may have value.   

And now, we're waiting to see what happens.  (As of Jan. 3, 2010, zip.)

Bored yet?
Labels: , , , , , 3 comments
3 Responses
  1. Unknown Says:
    January 7, 2010 at 10:24 AM

    Well between the two of us we would be balanced! My body makes too much testosterone! Good luck with all the tests. I know how difficult it can be to go through the tests, get the dignosis and still not see results. Thanks for entering in my raffle and becoming a fan! I am looking forward to reading your blog and talking to you oustside of Twitter!


  2. TWoP Fan Says:
    January 10, 2010 at 3:08 PM

    Awesome, it's so cool to have a follower!


  3. Unknown Says:
    January 10, 2010 at 4:14 PM

    :) I feel priviledged to be your first one!


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