I was 36 weeks pregnant with my 4th child. I'd had a headache all day, but that is pretty usual for me. After spending the day running errands, I was talking to my husband in the garage and noticed that I had a big black spot in my vision on my right side. Thinking I was just tired, I went home with the in-laws so I could lay down. While I was laying down, watching tv, the names of the actors were flashing across the screen and, although I could read it just fine, none of the words made sense to me. Laying there a bit longer, my entire right side went numb, including my face and mouth. It was the most strange sensation I'd ever felt. Still thinking I was overly tired I went home to bed.
After I told the husband about my weird symptoms he mentioned thinking it sounded like a stroke. Laughing it off saying he's crazy, I hopped on Google to check out my symptoms. Sure enough, I had all the symptoms of a mini-stroke and every website said contact a doctor immediately. My mom-in-law drove me to the labor and delivery section of my hospital so they could keep an eye on my baby while figuring out what was going on with me. For almost two days straight they ran every test on my that involves heart and brain. The final conclusion: frequent seizures in the left of my brain. Diagnosis: epilepsy and a new prescription that was safe during pregnancy but that I would probably be on the rest of my life.
Fast forward a year and I have new symptoms. Not sure if the seizures were breaking through the meds or if this was something else, we started testing again. Let me just say, MRIs are NOT fun! It seems that these symptoms are hinting at multiple sclerosis but there still hasn't been an official diagnosis yet while we work on ruling out other possibilities. In addition to those major problems I've also had tonsil stones leading to a tonsillectomy, torn shoulder labrum, bone spurs and bursitis leading to shoulder surgery, depression, anxiety, sciatica, sacroiliac joint dysfunction and migraines. Many of these have required more medication. Some worked, some didn't and some just had really bad side effect. So far the worst side effect has been weight gain. Trying a new prescription at the end of January, I gained 30 pounds very quickly. With the pain issues plaguing me, it has been very hard to lose that weight. Here is where the change of my life comes in.
I've had a MyFitnessPal account for a few years but never used it faithfully. Deciding that the horrible weight gain has been the root of some of my health problems I knew I needed to work harder. I got a WiFi scale for Christmas that automatically adds my weight to MFP. I also had a Nike+ Fuelband that was letting me know how many calories I was burning each day. I've splurged and purchased WeightWatchers meals for every meal, plus a dessert. This entire week has been amazing, staying under my calorie goal, a small weight loss every day and several inches lost of my body! I plan to use this blog to document my journey as I become a better, healthier person.
