Health Sucks!

Another day, another doctor appointment. This crap is getting old real fast. Maybe, just maybe, they'll find out what's the continued cause of all my issues. Wait, I just realized, you have no idea what I'm talking about? Allow me to fill you in - I'll try to keep it quick.

It started in July '08. I had a respiratory infection that turned out to be a Pleural Effusion (sp?). Basically, I had fluid in between the two layers of tissues in my left lung. Took Avelox for a week. Didn't work. Then I was given Levaquin and Predinisone. FUCKED ME UP! I couldn't sleep for a week. I had the craziest heart palpitations (always starting at exactly 11pm - weird, right?). Thoughts of suicide. I was just a friggin' wreck. As soon as I was off of that stuff, I started to feel better. However, within a couple weeks it happened again. Not the lung part, but the heart issues. Scared the hell out of me, as can be expected. I went to a Cardiologist and he found no problems whatsoever, so that was a HUGE weight off my shoulders. Well, it didn't last long. Had another episode not long after.

I then started seeing a Gastroenterologist (I'll just refer to him as Gas-Man from here on out) because I had also developed really bad GERD (acid reflux disease). He put me on Nexium (WONDERDRRUUGG!!!!) and scheduled an Upper Endoscopy. Let me just say that it was the first time I was ever put under for anything and it was wonderful!

He didn't spot anything, thankfully. Again, another weight off my shoulders. So now it was like, what the hell could be wrong? I still had some episodes every now and again, but nothing major. Fast forward to April '09 and I had a really bad episode. Went to the hospital and had an ultrasound on my abdomen. They found polyps on my Gall Bladder which could be causing some pain, but not the other issues. So, once again, what the fuck is going on???

A couple days after, my sister, who works for a pharmaceutical company, told me about a conversation she had with a doctor. She told him what I was going through and he mentioned he had the same thing happen to him recently. He found out it was a reaction to MSG because he NEVER eats anything with it and had a dish at a restaurant he hadn't had before and, well, he got more than he wanted. But MSG!?! The wonderful flavor additive in Chinese food - my favorite cuisine after Portuguese food!?! No way! I love that stuff! Well, folks, I happened to have been eating Chinese food that weekend in April that I hadn't had in some time, and when I looked back at all the other episodes I had... yeah you know where this is going. Not only had I been eating a ton of Chinese food, but also the other foods I was eating had plenty of MSG in them. So, I started cutting it out and from April '09 until October '09 I was problem-free!

However, that isn't to say I haven't had issues. I still have very minor episodes, but it turns out that it can be either MSG or bad gas. I've adjusted my diet accordingly and it's helped quite a bit. Unfortunately, there are still other issues I gotta take care of, but things are looking up. One by one, House-style, we're getting things in order and patching me up.

Update:

The latest results from recent CT Scans show that I'm still here and still awesome!