The stress from not being diagnosed and sick is the worst kind of stress of all. Yet it still happens. People having undiagnosed pain is not a new phenomena, it has been going on for hundreds of years. Sometimes certain things cannot be detected on x-rays. People suffer in silence, because nobody–not even their doctors–believe them. Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are two such conditions. At least I was able to get my diabetes diagnosed, and that was a good start for me.
My story:
They say that everything happens for a reason. How many times have we heard this expression throughout our lives? Although used to explain the unexplainable, rarely was there ever a solid explanation given as to what the reason might be.
I do not have a fatalistic mindset so I never gave much credence to this expression until recently.
Returning to school as a single mother at the age of 37 was a difficult task, fraught with many sacrifices. Seven years later I successfully completed a BA in psychology, one year of a Master’s Degree in Family Life Education, and a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. But as fate would have it, I was not on the road to success.
I had been living for much too long on a minuscule income; I was at the point of bankruptcy. The irony of the situation was that I could not declare bankruptcy because I did not have the funds to apply for it. The major debt I owed was my student loan. In Canada you can add just about anything you want to your bankruptcy claim except for a student loan!
I did not have the luxury of waiting for the perfect dream job to appear. I could not afford to go on endless interviews only to have my hopes shattered. I had to get a job, fast. I had to be able to put food on my table.
I started to work in the telemarketing business. Frankly, it is the only booming business in Montreal. Four months after I landed my first telemarketing job, I contracted bronchitis and subsequently lost my job over it. Though I did not think much of it at the time (in 2000), each year the bronchitis comes back between the months of January and March. In 2002, I contracted both laryngitis and bronchitis and of course lost another job over it as well.
My mother and friends continually tried to reassure me by reminding me about the dreaded expression, "Everything happens for a reason," and "You will find a better job because of it." I did find a better job last May. I found the job that I am presently working at (author’s note: this is an older article, I am no longer working at that job). But I still take calls on the phones all day long as a customer service representative. Depending upon the program that I am working on, I can take anywhere from 10 to 110 calls a day.
I did not have bronchitis that winter. I thought that I had finally escaped the dreaded cyclic nuisance that had been interfering with my ability to work. But instead, other things happened to me. I had always had bad knees; it runs in the family. The diagnosis was softening of the kneecaps. I was told that eventually I would not be able to walk. (My mother was given the same diagnosis, yet she is still walking at close to 70 years of age.) The pain in my knees flares up with the changes in the weather and is most prominent in the winter. It was always manageable until that year.
As luck would have it, our winter was extremely harsh, and I suffered terribly with what I thought was arthritis in every joint in my body. It got to the point that I could hardly walk. There were a few days that I missed work because of the pain. I had so many symptoms ranging from irritable bowel syndrome to extreme lethargy that I was now beginning to believe that I had Fibromyalgia; a condition that doctors do not like to diagnose.
Furthermore, all my life I have suffered from headaches and that year was no exception. Besides the aches and pains all over my body, my feet were swelling every single day. The swelling was so bad and the pain so intense that when I say I could hardly walk, I am not exaggerating. As a result, I stopped going out. Even standing on my feet for the shortest period of time was very uncomfortable.
I knew I was not well. I suspected Fibromyalgia was the cause. My friends urged me to go to the doctor but in my weakened state I did not have the energy to do so.
I thought that I had escaped the virus for 2003. But in June the ugly head of bronchitis reappeared. Contrary to the past, I decided to have it checked out early. Normally I would wait until three weeks into the cough, then go to the doctor; I would be prescribed antibiotics, which would never work, then a prescription-strength cough syrup which still would not work. So by going as soon as it occurred, I thought that I would perhaps nip the bronchitis in the bud and save my throat for my job. It was a wonderful idea in theory, but didn’t change a thing in practice. I went to the doctor. He gave me the antibiotics and cough medicine, which as always was useless. I told him that this bronchitis had been recurring since 2000.
In the past the doctors suggested that I take time off work to help my throat heal. I always refused because I could not afford the time off. This year I accepted, as I was determined to beat this virus despite the fact that I would be financially strapped yet again.
I took a two-week leave of absence from work. I was so hopeful that when I got back, my throat would be healed. But it was not so. I worked for one week and realized that I could not continue working under these conditions. I noticed that due to the call volume as the days rolled by, my throat worsened. I could not take a call without coughing. Yet, I did not want to go on a leave of absence again. Even with the company insurance plan, I would only be paid for 23 hours out of a 70-hour pay period.
I was desperate. I asked for my two-week vacation. At least I would be paid my full salary, though I would be literally wasting my vacation. I returned to work after being out of work for close to a month. Much to my chagrin, the bronchitis was no better. I suffered through the first week back, coughing all the time. I was very uncomfortable working on the phones with this incessant cough.
I went back to the doctor after he returned from his vacation. When I had gone the first time, I had mentioned that I thought that I had Fibromyalgia and showed him the swelling in my ankles. He said the swelling was a symptom of something else and he would have to take tests to find out. So when I went back to him this time, the test results were back: my lungs were clear and my back X-ray was normal regardless of the extreme hip pain. However, the blood tests were a different matter. I have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. The swelling is a symptom of the diabetes.
The doctor told me to cut out all sugar. He told me that in the past people who had the combination I have were told to go on a diet but studies showed that many of these people suffered heart attacks and strokes before they ever lost the excess weight. Now they treat the disease aggressively with medication.
On another note–the one I’d come in for–the doctor was referring me to an ear, nose, and throat specialist to see why I had this recurring bronchitis. Hopefully I would get that issue resolved once and for all.
As far as the diabetes is concerned, I was a heart attack waiting to happen. Unfortunately it took several months for me to adjust to the medication and I went on another leave of absence. I had either pounding headaches, feelings of light-headedness or nausea, coupled with a feeling of wanting to cry.
Imagine working on the telephone under the above scenario and add coughing like a mad fool to the mix. Would you want to be me? But there was some good news. During the last two hours of my shift one Friday, I actually started to feel better, though still coughing.
I also noticed that the swelling was going down in my ankles. I was walking better and was walking for longer periods of time. I felt much lighter on my feet. My stomach, which was as big as that of a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy, was also going down. My clothes are looser around the stomach. I had been sick now for over a year without being diagnosed, and I really did not know how sick I was.
It took the recurring bronchitis to diagnose something that has far greater impact upon my life. If I continued on this route, I would surely die. The diabetes diagnosis truly was a wake-up call. I am beginning to believe that "everything happens for a reason." Having bronchitis may very well have saved my life.
