When I got back from Hawaii, it was time to start diving back into my life again. Which meant I needed to get a car, and a job. So I went back to the movie theater part time, and I got my other old job back and the bookstore, (formally Borders but in the middle of switching to Books-a-Million.).
As the bookstore was going through an ownership change it meant changing and remodeling everything on the inside. I was a morning shift of 8-5. My body had taken a small rest of about a week that it wasn't acting out. So I thought maybe my stomach pain and issues were just due to the stress of traveling and extreme diet change. However, once I started back at work it didn't take long for it to kick in. I was at work maybe a week, (the timeline is a bit fuzzy) when my stomach started acting out again. I was at work shelving books when it hit me like a mack truck. I had to rush to the bathroom every 5 minutes. I was in extreme pain and struggled to leave the restroom in order to get back to work. My stomach felt like I ate rocks all day, it was so swollen and bloated all the time. I couldn't nor did I want to eat, I tried drinking Powerade to replenish my electrolytes and have something in my system. I drank a ton of Rootbeer because it caused me to belch a ton, which helped relieve pressure in my stomach. The store was about to open and I was nervous about helping people all by myself because what if I had to rush to bathroom in the middle of checking some one out? Talk about horrible and awkward, what I couldn't get away in time and had an accident? What about driving to and from places? How do I deal with this scary unknown that is causing my body to shut down?
After about three weeks of this and realizing it wasn't going to go away we finally made a doctor appointment. I went in for an evaluation of my symptoms with nervousness that they weren't going to find out what was wrong. After talking about everything, I was required to take a stool test to see if there was any bacteria or bugs living in there that could be causing my issues. (you can imagine my excitement...) It took me three days to be able to go in a cup...shocking, I know. Considering other day I was having extreme potty issues, but I was not looking forward to this test so of course my body was like "nah we aren't going to potty right now." Besides the fact that I was practically living on Pepto-Bismol at this point. After attempting to test my stool, I went back in for my check up...they didn't find anything in the test, but instead gave me a heavy narcotic for my cramps and basically told me good luck. If that's not frustrating I don't know what is. I was crushed and didn't know what else to do at this point. If a doctor can't help me then what am I supposed to do? I didn't want to believe that I would have to live with this forever but when you aren't offered hope what are you supposed to think? After a few more days my stomach started to get worse. It was so bloated I thought I would pop. I just went home that night and laid on the couch because I was in extreme pain. I had tried peppermint pills which did mildly help with my stomach pains. My mom came home one night with a probiotic for me to try which is supposed to help with stomach issues. At this point I am not well versed in the importance of good bacteria in your gut. I was willing to try to see if it helped. Within half an hour I had significant relief in my stomach bloating. I was so excited and hopeful that that's all I needed. I wish my story ended here.....
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