#ElvesAreAllergicToThat

[elfpuddle]

It’s been a hot minute since I shared, so I’ll take a moment now to do it. I don’t know how to do the “read under the cut”, so I apologize for the huge block of text appearing on your dash. For those of you who are new, a little context: Instead of dealing with a pandemic, hording, and whatever else was going on last year, I was busily going from doctor to doctor trying to learn why my body suddenly had such severe edema that my feet were actually ovals (as one example...the edema was full body), why I suddenly had such intense foot pain that I could not stand without feeling like I was being tortured, and more. From April to July, I was bed ridden, trying to keep my feet above my heart. I left the bed to walk six feet back and forth to the bathroom, a trip that took 30 minutes because of the pain, and to go to doctor appointments. We discovered that I have hyperparathyroidism, causing hypercalcemia, causing gout-like pain in my feet. I have a full team of doctors working on me, and had scheduled surgery twice last November and December. Both were canceled--the second because my parathyroid and calcium levels were too good; the surgical team had no measure to judge when to stop the surgery.

Since then, I’ve added another doctor, a podiatrist, to the team, because the foot pain simply wasn’t getting better the way my blood levels said it should, and the feet/calf edema was still persistent.

My podiatrist had given me a prescription for a topical arthritis ointment for my feet. It took a few days, but I developed a really "lovely" coating of hives. Yes, I stopped using it and added another drug to my list of allergies. My doctors and I decided that coping with the anxiety and depression caused by the hyperparathyroidism wasn't good enough any more. I'm now taking Prozac, and am much the better for it. I've slept better in since then than I have in over a year, and am much more my normal self. (My dreams are really super odd and vivid, but I'm getting used to my sleeping brain on drugs. I don't actually recommend that part, but I'll deal with it since the rest is so much better.) The xrays of my feet showed that some of my bones to be nearly transparent. Not in the ghost-like way of all xrays...actually not enough bone where bones should be. There was enough calcium in my veins that some of them showed up in the xray. This really disturbed the podiatrist, who ordered a bone density scan and an MRI. Also concerning was the way my left calf, ankle, and heel bones were jammed so tightly together that they overlapped.

My bone density scan technician, for reasons I cannot quite comprehend, didn't scan my feet, which are the area of prime concern. In good news, the rest of me is normal, so my parathyroid isn't extracting calcium from everywhere, nor do I have osteoporosis (yet?). My MRI was much more informative. I have a page and a half of information that, in a nutshell, means that my talus and calcaneus (ankle bones) have bruises and microfractures. I have plantar fasciitis with no tear, two heel spurs, mild/moderate arthritis in my feet, and most likely sinus tarsi syndrome shown by the complete loss of fat cushion in the tarsal sinus (hollow of ankle bones). In sum, for those of you like me that are not experts in the area, my parathyroid has been eating the calcium out of my feet and ankle bones. This, combined with arthritis in the feet and the swelling of the band of tissue that runs along the bottom of my feet, helping connect toes to heel, caused itty bitty fractures in the heel. In addition, it caused the tissues that are supposed to cushion the bones from scraping against each other to compress, deteriorate, and otherwise go away. All the feet and ankle swelling I've had hasn't been fluid building up, but a combination of feet tissues being pushed out of where they should be and swelling from the things that are broken and hurting (much like a jammed or broken finger will swell up until it heals). The cushion rearranging is why I've been so unsteady on uneven ground and steps; my ankle doesn't quite have the ability to deal with anything other than a perfectly flat surface. Usually, one would increase their vitamin d and calcium to help the body fix itself and get the nutrients that have left. But my hyperparathyroidism is causing hypercalcemia, both making too much calcium and depleting my body of it at the same time. Adding more isn't going to help as much as it should. I’m adding a bit more vitamin D to my drug schedule, and some vitamin C. My rheumatologist would add even more of both if it were possible, as the two of them will help rebuild collagen, which is the major ingredient in my missing tissues. I’m also continuing to wear compression socks, but increasing the pressure, to support feet and ankles and make sure that the swelling is minimized. (Like wrapping that jammed finger.) I’ve got a new pair of shoes that have a “rocker bottom” (be careful googling that) like a walking cast, so that my feet and ankle bones stop jamming together when I walk. The shoes have the most arch support I’ve ever seen. I've also got a list of exercises to do for the plantar fascitis to strengthen those tissues and keep them from getting too stiff from the swelling. While the parathyroid is causing havoc, there isn't a lot else to do other than monitor the situation. Unless I show symptoms of getting worse instead of holding steady or getting better, I next have my parathyroid and calcium levels checked in early July. There's three ways it could go: 1) Everything gets better and my body heals. That's not likely, but I do believe in miracles. 2) Everything stays the same...levels slightly elevated, but so close to "normal" that I'm not a candidate for surgery. 3) Levels get high enough, and I get sick enough, that surgery is necessary. I've been bouncing back and forth among the three for a year, so that's not really news. In good news, HubbyTMC and I both got the second doses of our Pfizer Covid vaccines. He was tired and achy in that "I'm coming down with something but don't really have a fever or anything specific" sort of way for a few days. I was hit by a nap rather suddenly a few hours after my shot. That exhaustion lasted for less than 24 hours, and otherwise I had no reaction whatsoever. Huzzah! I have my spiffy new rockerbottomarchsupportarthritisandeverythingelsegoingonsupport shoes. I wear them everywhere and they are helping. They also make me feel even taller than normal, since I'm wearing shoes while HubbyTMC isn't. And without them, I’m a hair under 6′, so this is a fun development. Yesterday, for the first time in a year, I got to go to Mass. I hugged my village of friends. I hung out at their house, just like I did every Sunday before my body went to hell. My village (the two of us, and three other married couples and their ten living children, as well as all the members of the Church Triumphant who hang with us, including our miscarried children) got to go to lunch after Mass and be together as the family we are. GoddaughterHufflePunk took solicitous care of me. She’s Six-and-A-Half, so I got to sit at the border of the adult side of the table, and the children’s side of the table, which is where I belong. My spiritual and emotional health is on the path to healing. Thank God for vaccines and all the people who got them to me. This has been a hard year for a lot of you, too, in ways different than my problems, but just as soul crushing. Know that I'm praying for all of you, and hoping that you are finding light at the end of your tunnels.  Thank you for your continued prayers. I know that they are helping.