This holiday season I got sick. It started in December and lasted through the beginning of January. Oddly my only symptoms were muscle pain and fever. 3 200mg tablets of Ibuprofen and I felt completely fine. I went to the doctor and I heard the usual crap. It's a virus, here's some medicine, maybe you will feel better. I didn't. I still felt like crap 3 weeks later. Mostly my arms and legs hurt. I had no symptoms along with it. No, nausea, no sneezing, no cough or sore throat. So this was unusual to me.
My doctor called me back almost a week later to tell me my lab work had come back. I had an elevated muscle protein, my platelets were low, and I had elevated liver enzymes. I was beginning to feel a little better so we scheduled to recheck my labs that next week.
Plain and simple my diet sucked. When I worked on the ambulance I had little time to prepare anything to take with me for lunch (or "lunch's" depending on how many hours I ended up working that day) Ambulances aren't equipped with microwaves unfortunately and I worked in the city which meant I ran constantly and stopping for food wasn't easy. My diet consisted of whatever fast food was closest to either A.) the hospital. B.) the firehouse or C.) wherever the hell I was making a run last that we were fortunately to get cancelled on or get a refusal. Which meant McDonalds or any other disgusting fast food place I could get in and out fast.
I was an EMT for 5 years.
Fries, burgers, chips, soda's. Lots of soda. Lots of coffee. Lots of sugar. Lots of high fructose corn syrup.
Now back to my point. My 2nd round of labs were better, but a month and a half later I suppose it was expected to be back to normal. It was mostly. With the exception of one thing. My liver enzymes were still elevated.
I don't have a gallbladder. It was removed in 2008. When I went to my post op appointment my doctor asked about my diet. Shockingly it had not came up until now. I told her and she asked me how many soda's I drank. I was kind of surprised that was even something she could tell. It was of course. She said my liver was completely coated. Whatever the hell that meant. That fatty liver disease was caused by over eating fast food and garbage. That soda's were a big culprit. That their common denominator was high fructose corn syrup. Apparently they put that in everything now days.
Fast forward to today. After I had told this to my now doctor she seemed a little more concerned and wanted to do an ultrasound of my liver. Which is to be scheduled soon.
Nutrition is something I think we all take for granted and don't realize how much the things we eat affect our bodies.
But when you think about it would you put regular gas in a diesel truck? Or vice versa? Then why do we drink soda's when we know when you can pour coke on a battery to clean off the acid. Can you imagine what it is doing to our insides?
I've always been generally healthy. I quit smoking. I've since tried to start eating healthy. Something I probably should have done a very long time ago. I know I better start now while I do can be reversed.
I've mostly stopped drinking soda's. I've been eating more raw vegetables and less animal products. I'm doing this blog to follow my progress. As well as have a creative outlet in which to release my frustrations.
No comments:
Post a Comment