Tuesday, January 02, 2007

I'm Never Drinking Again

This is not a bad attempt at a New Years resolution, but an effort to save my own life. I woke up on Sunday with an intense aching in the mid-lower region of the left side of my back. Not aching in the sense that I had a tight muscle, because I just can't get away from the gym, but ache in the sense that an organ was on the verge of bursting.

At first I thought, " Okay, maybe I slept weird, or last night's alcohol is getting to me," and figured it would just go away in a couple hours. Ha! It's still here. Two days later. And although I'm not even sure where the liver is located, I'm certain that this "ache," (which has actually turned into more of a piercing), is a premature sign of Cirrhosis.

So, off I went to WebMD, to find out exactly what this disease is all about. To my surprise, Cirrhosis is the seventh leading cause of death by disease, and women who are "heavy" drinkers are at a higher risk.

Okay, I'm definitely a woman and definitely a drinker. But now I'm wondering what exactly they mean by "heavy." They go onto elaborate...alcohol abuse is considered more than two drinks a day. A drink being a 5 ounce glass of wine, a 12 ounce can of beer, or 1 1/2 ounces of hard liquor.

Two drinks a day? One, two? On an average day, I don't even have my socks off by the time I've got the second one down. I'm screwed. And scared. I figure I need about twenty years of abstinence from alcohol to make up for the last five.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey i definitely can emphasize with your situation. Im a 20 year old hypochondriac that also has happened to be a pretty hard drinker the past two or three years. Recently ive been getting liver discomfort that comes and goes, or it could be a muscle strain i guess but still the thought of cirhosis or hepatitis freaks me out. im on the verge of seeing a doctor.

Anonymous said...

I can sympathize as well! Sunday, Jan 21 2007, i woke up with a slight pain in my left side, about an inch up from my hip bone and literally on the side, not the front or back of my body...on the side.

the pain didn't actually hurt, it just felt a little weird and like it would hurt if it were stronger. Also, it wasnt constant, it would only last about 10 seconds and would only happen about every 5 to 10 minutes.

I ignored it the first day (Sunday) but Monday morning when it wasn't gone...full blown panic and anxiety all day. Google searches for "flank pain" led me to kidneys which led me to kidney failure, infections, stones, cancer.

It broke me down so much, that Monday that i was crying harder than ive cried in years. I just knew my kidney was failing and that i was destined for transplants, life in a hospital and then eventually death. Knew it.

Went to two doctors, both said EXACT same thing...that it sounds like a muscular pain and that my urine and blood work show that i need to eat and drink more (i stopped eating and drinking Monday because i was so scared).

I was mad because it sure doesnt FEEL muscular. it didnt go away with bending, stretching laying down or any of that. IT WAS INSIDE SOMEWHERE!

Its the following Friday right now and im still not completely over it. The pain is all but gone but im just waiting to get diarrhea, vomiting, fever, painful urination so that way i can prove to everyone that my worrying was not in vane and that now im going to die because everyone just thought i was over exaggerating.

LOVE.YOUR.BLOG.!!

Leila V. said...

Hey Ricky:
Glad you enjoy the blog.

That’s scary! I can totally relate. I had this relentless pain in the middle of my back for weeks on end; it would knock the breath out of me if I even thought about breathing deep. The doctor said the same thing! Muscular pain. What I found funny is that I’m the most inactive person you’ll ever meet.

In med school, they must teach those fuckers to attribute all pains in younger people to “muscular" issues. That’s bull, not to scare you or anything. ;)

I guess the good news is my pain did eventually go away. But like you, that doesn’t mean I’m not waiting for the sudden onset of vomiting etc.

Keep us updated!