Just when life seems to be going great, LIFE slaps you in the face and gives you a wake-up call.
Up until recently, everything was going fine. However the past couple of weeks I have been experiencing some symptoms associated with taking long term treatment. Nothing major though, so I thought. My blood sugars have been spiking for the past two weeks. So in talking to my Doctors, they discussed with other specialists and decided to take me off one of the drugs that tend to cause issues with blood sugars. Almost right away, my blood sugars went back to normal and I was feeling better. This was just this past week.
I got a call from my family doctor here in Clarenville on Friday saying that something troublesome showed up in my blood work and that she would like to see me as soon as she could. Her earliest appointment was this morning.
I just found out that my liver is in real bad shape. The anti-biotics which travel through your liver and then distributed throughout your body are having a harmful effect all of a sudden to my liver. My liver functions are four times the normal amount.
What does this mean?
It means that I now have to make some decisions. If I choose to stay on the anti-biotics I risk losing my liver and need a liver transplant. And even worse, if I go off the anti-biotics, because my body has not had enough time to rid itself of the nasty bug that’s growing inside of me, which usually takes 12-18 months to treat, I risk having all the symptoms come back that I had before and most likely will end up back in the hospital.
So right now, my team in St. John’s are trying to come up with a solution. One that may involve new drugs to see if they affect my liver the same way these do. One of the only good things I can tell you is that when they sent the sputum sample away to be tested to see what kind of drugs would kill the bug, fortunately a great number of drugs are available to treat this infection. I just have to hope and pray that they don’t affect my liver as much as these ones do. However, my family doctor did tell me that where my liver is already compromised and weak that it may.
So, I’m trying really hard not to worry. I mean, I am used to bad news, I have been given it my whole life. But it is hard to maintain a positive attitude ALL the time, especially when faced with news like this. So I am just going through the motions.
If there is one thing I am learning in life it’s to not count your eggs before they hatch. I cannot spend all my days now worrying about this, when I really don’t know for sure yet if there is anything to worry about. The reality of it all is, they could find new drugs that don’t affect my liver and I continue on them for another 9-12 months and everything is fine – that’s best case scenario. OR something worse happens. But I cannot let my mind go there as hard as it is because being positive is half the battle. AND I am stronger than I give myself credit for. I have gotten through so much that I just can’t see this, my gut is telling me, that this is not the end of it. Something will work out and I will continue to share this beautiful life with Perry and my friends and family whom I love so much.
Do me a favor?
Do something today to show appreciation for the good things you have in your life. I don’t care what it is. Just be grateful for the blessings you have for you never know when they may disappear. Even if the situation you are in now is not ideal, show appreciation somehow, maybe even to someone for the positive things you DO have. J
Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life. ~ Joel Osteen
Jamie Leigh Fransis
xo
