Hope you get some answers,
@bsmcneil.
Well a bummer and a
, Kim. Hope upcoming appointment goes well.
Thank you. Still nothing, really. I feel so stymied in trying to get the attention of any medical providers - for instance, if I've gone in - I'll mention a number of symptoms, including edema. I've had very bad edema. Providers will look at my ankle and say, "Well, you're fine now." I offer to show them pictures because when it happens, it's significant. There's no interest. And I think so much of that is based on seeing me as a 40 year old and likely fine. At the same time, I have now lost all leg hair around my ankles (in 3 months). Dry, scaly skin that all seems to point to peripheral artery issues (especially given all of the other symptoms) - but people just seem to gloss right over these things. Tonight I noticed I seem to be developing cyanosis in my thumbnail beds.
Yesterday (the 12th) marks the 6 month mark of when this stuff started. I've been coughing up significant amounts of blood/having blood in my sputum daily since September. I'm sleeping like 12 hours, awake between 2-4 hours, and then another 12 hours of sleep (by exhaustion - sleeping on the couch with lights on, etc because my body has just given out). And the frustrating thing is that after 6 months of this stuff, people lose interest/compassion - whether it's friends or work and I'm just trying to keep going but I think people think I'm largely making it up since there's no diagnosis, etc.
Sorry, just had to write that out. It's been a rough 48 hours (lots of arm/shoulder pain on Sunday though I resisted going to the ER since I'm normally just sent home - I think that it is/was likely severe dehydration but I had a fever, cramping, light-headedness, even vomiting). Of course, I'm wondering why I'd be so severely dehydrated - nothing has changed in terms of fluids, exposure to sun, etc ... but it's that sort of "second level" wondering that gets stopped every time I seek care.