Blood Work Update!

Today, I found out the exact number of viles that were taken to try to determine the cause of my hearing loss. I told several people I thought the number of viles were between 10 and 15. That was an educated guess. I was wrong. it was more than 15! Are you ready for the number of viles taken from my veins in probably less than 5 minutes? The magic number is 19 viles of blood.

Dr. Steven Vincent, Neurologist, 2nd Appointment

Monday, April 20, 2009 I went to Dr. Vincent for a follow-up appointment because all my blood work had finally come back. Out of all the blood work that have come back there were only two concerns. One test showed I am deficient in B-12, which I was ordered to make sure I am taking a multivitamin each day, something I had been neglecting for the past several months. I had the multivitamin, but I always forgot to take it because it was hidden in the cupboard, not out in the open where I would see it. I have solved that problem by putting both the multivitamin and the B-12 supplement on my desk so I will see them. The B-12 is apparently to help keep my brain from shrinking anymore than it has, or something like that. Dr. Vincent has put me on a gluten-free diet for a month to see if that takes care of the problem of my hearing loss. He thinks I may be in the beginning stages of Celiac's Disease. I am not sure how he is coming up with this diagnosis, but I guess I will try it out of a month and then go back for a blood test to see if that can point us in an direction. I have also scheduled an appointment for about two months from now to see Dr. Vincent have a blood test run for my B-12 deficiency.

These appointments for those who want to know are on:

May 28 at 1:15 MST for a blood test for Celiac's Disease
June 22 at 1:45 MST for a blood test for my B-12 deficiency

So I will sit tight until then and see if this gluten-free diet does anything to increase my hearing.

Dr. Steven Vincent, Neurologist, 1st Appointment

Today is April 9th, 2009. I had my appointment with Dr. Vincent a Neurologist in Idaho Falls. Dr. Vincent has been practicing Neurology for over 20 years and was very nice to me. Kari, who came with me helped out a lot with being there and supporting me. What an angel she is. I was asked a lot of questions about many different things. Dr. Vincent looked the MRI, of the hundreds of pictures of my brain. He showed me some of the pictures that may be of concern and some of interest. He told me that I probably had a not only a stroke when I was born but, Dr. Vincent thinks that I may have had a small stroke at some point in my younger years.

After we talked for awhile, Dr. Vincent wrote up a battery of blood work that he felt needed to be done to come up with what the problem is that is causing my hearing loss.

Kari and I went over to EIRMC (Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center) to have the blood work done. I did not realize how much blood was going to be taken until I was sitting in the chair and the nurse was taking out many vile's getting them ready for the blood to be drawn. I kid you not, there must have been between 10-15 vile's that were being set up to have my blood put into them. You should have seen the list of test the nurse had in her hand of tests that needed to be done! it was a long "shopping list". The nurse said the worst past for me was to have to give up my blood and the worst part for her is that she had to write information on labels to stick to all those vile's. Before Kari and I left, the nurse was sitting at the check-in window and filling out all the labels with the vile full of blood on the counter. Kari was amazed at amount of vile's sitting on the desk.

So, again, we just will wait to see what comes of these blood tests. It may be a few days for some tests and a few weeks for other tests. Dr. Vincent will call me and set up another appointment when he has a better idea of what may be going on.

The journey continues.

Referral to Dr. Steven Vincent, Neurologist

Today, being April 6, 2009, I called the nurse at Dr. McMaster's office (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist) and was told that Dr. McMaster had looked at the MRI and read the Radiologist report. Apparently whatever is wrong is out of Dr. McMasters scope of things to take care of. I have now been refereed to Dr. Steven Vincent, a Neurologist in Idaho Falls. I have an appointment with him on April 9, 2009 at 9:15am.

Here is a part of an email that I sent to Dad concerning the matter:

I guess I get to go see another doctor next week. I supposed this will be the last step because what doctor can you send me to after you send me to a neurologist. I went into get the paperwork I needed to take with me to the Neurologist. I did not get any of the information I needed! They only photocopied the paper work I had brought with me from the Audiologist. So, I will be going back tomorrow to get the stuff I need. I have a copy of the brain MRI on a CD, but have no clue what they are looking at besides my brain. I guess that is why I am not a doctor. So, just to clarify I don't have Acoustic Neuroma. I have congenital something or other. I have the report, but am unable to make any sense of it.

Kari is going to go with me to my appointment on the 14th, so that helps me out a little bit. I am a little scared because I have not really got an answer yet as to what is going on. I can tell you that whatever it is, is not what was expected and I am wondering how this will relate to my hearing loss. This is a test of my faith for sure. It is a test I can take obviously, because I will not be given anything I can't handle. I may not think I can handle it, but the Lord knows I can, and that is what I am hanging onto.

I hate being up in the air with this medical thing because, I am not sure if there is something that will need to be done right away that will keep me out of school for the semester or if I will be able to wait to have something done if necessary. I know I should not worry about it quite yet, because I have no clue what is going on. But it is nerve racking at times. I keep praying and reading my scriptures.