Invisible Illness Alberta

11/19/2025

11/18/2025

♥️
If you know someone who’s struggling this Christmas — or if your own family could use a little help — you can submit a story now through our website under Giving. ❤️

Let’s come together and make some real Christmas magic again this year.

11/17/2025

Nephrology referral in the works, I guess the calcifications they found spread throughout my kidneys (on my CT) need further investigation.
ER doctor found them, family doctor chatted with my internist and another colleague and they all decided it’s time to add a nephrologist to the team. Welcome to the s**t show doc! 😊

11/15/2025

The Brickhouse Window is officially open. ♥️
If someone you know is struggling… or if your own family could use a little support this Christmas… you’re not alone.

Please share the story through the form on our website https://www.brickhousesmokery.com/giving/brickhouse-window/ On Dec 1, our community will come together to choose a story, shop with intention, wrap with love, and return gifts for delivery on Dec 12.

It’s simple, quiet kindness — the kind that makes Christmas feel like Christmas. ❤️

Let’s lift each other up again this year, Spruce Grove.

Fine Print:
• Spruce Grove & Stony Plain
• Confidential
• Not all stories can be fulfilled
• Submissions close Nov 24
• Stories posted Dec 1
• Gifts back by Dec 10
• New items only

11/14/2025

Decluttered my medical carts. I had one for my port and infusion supplies, and one for my g-tube & feeds and now it all fits on one cart!

11/13/2025

So needed an MRI for her jaw (she was referred to a surgeon because her dental X-rays showed one side was dislocated! TWO YEAR WAIT!!!! For an MRI to confirm what we already know but the surgeon needed the MRI before agreeing to do surgery because she has a connective tissue disorder. We caved after a year and paid $850!!!! for a private MRI that was booked within 24 hours of calling! Like how? Why? Sure enough one side is stuck dislocated but now she has to wait for the surgery waitlist and we don’t even have a date yet. It’s only getting worse and causing more damage to her jaw anatomy so I have to keep calling the surgeon to beg to be bumped up.
This is Alberta Healthcare.
🙄 vs .irwin .ab

11/04/2025

One more potassium infusion to go then I’m free. The internal medicine, endocrinology & pharmacy team worked hard to get everything set up at home so I don’t need to be admitted. ♥️
They just need to stabilize my electrolytes then I’m in the clear.

11/04/2025

Trending in the wrong direction 😔

11/04/2025

Still here, still can’t eat or drink. My back hurts a lot less so that’s good. Still a lot of nausea, vomiting & weakness.
The doctor, your CT abdomen is fine because you don’t have appendicitis but the partial lung collapse and cyst on the right lobe of your lung that barely fit into the image is totally normal too because I’m going to ignore it. Thanks doc.

The ER doctor wants to send me home but my endocrinologist has some pretty specific instructions. Unfortunately, she’s not here and all I have is this letter.
I have a UTI so that’s throwing things off and thankfully my kidneys look fine this time.
Are we just ignoring partially collapsed lungs now? Do doctors fight with each other leaving the patient in the middle like a divorced family? Do we let nurses do a procedure they are most definitely not qualified to do and do nothing about it when they are caught?
I’m so tired, sore, exhausted, mentally tapped out & now I need to reschedule the second portion of my nerve ablation. 😔

11/03/2025

What a few days it’s been.

Had to be taken by ambulance to the U of A this morning.

Severe back pain where it is usually but also around my kidneys and was throwing up all night. Extreme muscle weakness and can’t even sit up. The pain is so bad they had to give me fentanyl and even after 4 doses it only took my pain from a 9 to a 5. Worse than back labour. Seriously.
I have to stay until my nausea gets under control because I have one life saving med that needs to be by IV until I can keep things down again.

It started getting bad again on Halloween and just got worse & worse.
Thankfully tomorrow is my second trial for spinal injections before my nerve ablation so hopefully as long as my bloodwork and kidneys are ok, I won’t get admitted. (I developed some kidney problems about a month or two ago)

My temp is a bit low too (which normally happens when I get sick but something everyone worries about) & my blood pressure is a bit whacky. They are getting all different kinds of readings but I’m sure once I get warmed up and get some more fluids in, it’ll stable out. 🤞

Got in right away and the nurse practitioner saw me within 5 minutes of arriving, already got me fluids, meds, bloodwork, etc.

Sitting or standing causes so much pain and the muscle weakness is unreal.
Any one thing on its own is manageable at home usually but all of it plus kidney problems and the risk of adrenal crisis is tricky.