The Calm Before the Stormfeatured

It all started in Moscow. It was September 2017 and I was packing for my three week business trip….but was struggling with extreme fatigue and a pain in my belly just above the bikini line.  I felt as though I might be getting a urinary tract infection…something I have NEVER had. I was worried I was going to have to cancel my flight.

This was serious.

It just so happens that I was having my monthly phone consultation that day with my Functional Medicine doctor from Michigan (DBC Natural Holistic Health Center in Grand Rapids), and they suggested I get some cranberry pills to see if that would help.

I quickly ran to Walgreens and picked up a box of the brand CranRx, and gulped down two pills…..which miraculously made me feel quite a bit better to let me finish packing.

So off I went to Moscow.  During my entire three week stay…..I felt awful. I struggled with constant fatigue, blood during my bowel movements, non-stop urges to pee, periodic chills, occasional nausea, and that pesky pain in my lower abdomen.  Oh yeah, plus I could NOT go #2 the whole time. I mentioned it to a colleague of mine, and he (like me) thought it sounded a lot like kidney stones.

I booked an appointment with a urologist when I got back, and was sent in for a CT Scan (without contrast) to check for stones. The results came back negative. I was surprised. But what we did see for sure is that I was SERIOUSLY constipated…. literally full of shit! Yet my doctor did not seem to wonder why this was. He just told me to take Mirilax (a brand of stool softener) to help me “go”.

BUT, I noticed that there was an interesting statement in the radiology report on the last page near the end (of course): “Wall Thickening noted in the lower rectum. Can’t rule out malignancy. Follow-up recommended”.

When I asked my Urologist about this, he said not to worry about it. I was probably straining from the constipation while trying to go to the bathroom and its swollen.

Well, thank God I totally ignored his remarks and at the encouragement of my Functional Medicine doctor, I booked an appointment with a Gastroenterologist soon after.

Turns out, this was a VERY smart move.

This is my CT scan…..The light grey matter everywhere is waste. Clearly, something isn’t right!