sickly

**I'm going to pull a Jessie and give a TMI warning on this post. Feel free to stop here if you want. I'm going to keep things pretty general, but some of this you may not have wanted to know. Just so you know.**


It all started back in December when I felt ill for a couple of days over break. I had intense abdominal pain that I connected with my period. I'd never had cramps that bad, but I thought that it was a combination of regular cramps, horrible-yet-delicious sugary holiday diet, and having blood in my stomach from a particularly nasty bloody nose. In February, the pain came back. In April, it came back again.

And let me clarify--this pain is not just uncomfortable cramps. I'm resigned to huddling on the couch or bed painfully trying to find a position that minimizes the pain that never completely goes away. I sit with the heating pad on and occasionally throw up. I'm completely incapacitated for at least two days. This is a problem.

I went to the doctor for a physical and brought up my concerns. He said that sometimes stress brings on more intense cramps and to call if it happens again. Great. . . . So two weeks later I'm in again, and the doctor issues a prescription. He said that it often takes a couple months for the hormones to work on bad cramps.

Come June, I'm in Utah visiting a friend and find myself lying on his family's bathroom floor huddled in the fetal position two feet away from my own vomit making a hysterical phone call to my mom. Worst pain I've ever experienced. Ever. The next day I was more functional but still in pain, threw up five times that morning, and still moved as little as possible. And even though I was able to get around okay the next few days (I was able to fly home when scheduled), I still felt sick and weak through mid-week.

So I called the doctor again. A nurse called me back and said to come in for an ultrasound if it happens again. Awesome. Because I really want to go through that again. Thanks.

So, last Tuesday. It was the most mild episode yet, but still. I had to give up my ticket to the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie and spent the whole next day on the couch still in pain and feeling nauseous. This time Mom called the doctor, and he got me into a clinic for an ultrasound. It looks like I have an ovarian cyst, but he referred me to another doctor to confirm. At least I have a prescription for Vicodin at the ready in case I'm violently ill again.

And to top it all off, in Costco today, I started getting the migraine-y visual disturbance, aura thing, for which I downed two Excedrin. The funny wavy colored peripheral aura is gone, but I still feel funny.

What the hell.