4am and a Headache

The headaches are so severe they wake me up at night. Tonight I can also feel the throbbing through my body. For some reason, tonight I am also feeling numbness in the majority of my body.  That's new.

Normally the numbness is only on the right side, where my liver is.

That's how it started.  I noticed a bruise in a strange spot, near the bottom of my ribcage. The next day I was swollen there and itchy! Like I had the driest skin in the country.  Yet, when I scratched, the skin felt numb. After a week, was still the same so I made a doctor appointment.

Things weren't too bad at that point.

I started feeling tired. Then suddenly really tired. I would get up then have to lay down a couple hours later. And if I didn't nap before work, I wouldn't make it through a 5 hour shift. This is silly. My friend convinced me to go to the walk in clinic, which I did and was dismissed. He said he could do nothing for me.

So I waited another week to see my doctor. At this time the swelling had gone down, but I was still tired. And my eyes had become so red and bloodshot, I looked like I was smoking some good stuff. Except I wasn't. She ordered blood tests.

The results of these tests showed that my liver is damaged. It's leaking... badly. A normal range is 0 to 36.  A little higher is alright. Mine is currently at 117. And this is about 6 months after my last blood tests, which it was only slightly elevated then.

I'm back next month for more blood work.  Yes, next month.  Why that long? The doctor's explanation is this (I'm not sure I agree.. but hey, I'm not a doctor I guess). It could be a number of things.  I do have some health issues and am also on some medication that can screw with my liver. However it could also be a cancer of some kind.  We are going to wait to check the levels again later. Because you know, if they are even higher in 3 weeks, then it's easier to pinpoint what we are dealing with.

I understand the logic. I've been to doctor's all my life. It will make it easier to know what is going on and if it's my medication or something more sinister.  But it's frustrating to have to keep going on feeling like this. 

So here I am... 4am because of a headache that is keeping me awake.. blogging for the first time in months!