It took 8 years to finally find out...

I've been gradually letting people know what's going on in the pain department. Congratulations, you are one of the lucky few.

If you've known me for any length of time, you know I suffer from random bouts of pain in my abdomen. Just so you are certain, this is not agonizing pain. Its more inconvenient than anything. But when you experience it off and on for just short of a decade, it starts to get on your nerves.

The quest started my senior year of high school. One surgery, one very invasive test, several vials of blood, and the banishment of my modesty later and still no one is certain what is causing this. It could be endometriosis but we got rid of it. It could be IBS but probably not. It could be ovarian cysts (which was the most prevalent theory).

Well I gave up my senior year and just dealt with it. It eventually went away. It would come back every once in a while but not last long. I did some more test in college when it hung around a little longer than I liked. Still nothing. Other than finding out I had an inverted appendix... not that it matters.

Alas, we are to the last few months. The pain was back and I was almost certain it was a cyst. But then it never went away. Two months and still this pain is here. So I made another appointment. He thinks its probably and infection. Its not. Maybe its a cyst? Nope. So he asked me to come back later in the day so we could rule out a tumor, mass, or anuerism.

This is not my first rodeo at this. The most frustrating thing was not knowing what that test held for me but more so the fear that once again, I'm not going to know. I was almost to the point that bad news was better than no news. This has gone on long enough.

Well... good news is that nothing is harming my health. No mass, no tumor, no anuerism, no flesh eating virus, no infection. I have a nerve that's difficult basically.

The way he explained it was a part of a nerve that runs down my abdomen gets irritated every once in a while and causes this pain. Sometimes is sharp and stabbing because there is a trigger point that is being irritated. My body will heal it on its own eventually and then later down the road it may come back. It is probably a recurring problem. There is nothing you can do for it unless you go to an anesthesiologist and get the nerve deadened, which has no guarantees of permanent results.

He gave this to me as an option but I passed. I realize that the reality of it all is that nothing is causing this other than my nerve is irritable. I don't personally feel right just deadening pain without eliminating the cause. Since there is no cause other than bad luck, I've just chosen to live with it.

There's the update for you. I chose to share because some of you have been right there through some of these bouts and I thought you'd want to know the final verdict. Its good news. I'm realizing that more and more.

The Day the Preacher's Head Exploded

Alright, so the title is misleading... At no point in my life have I witnessed a preacher's head exploding... scratch that... At no point in my life have I witnessed a head exploding.

But... I did drive a preacher to go off on my husband... and so the story unfolds...

Justin and I were in Dallas, TX shooting the beautiful Christine's wedding (pay attention to that... its important later). Upon arriving at the church, Justin and I ask the wedding coordinator what the rules are regarding photography during the ceremony. She says, "You can have one person on the stage that is stationary. No flash during the ceremony. That's about it."

The way this church is set up, the fact that one of us could be on stage was good news. It was a beautiful church, but not set up to get close shots while staying out of the way. So I sat... SAT... in a pew on the stage where I was not visible to about 90% of the audience.

I got some amazing shots. I was excited while shooting because the angle I had and the lighting was amazing. After the ceremony, I went to switch cameras with Justin so I could take some shots outside of the wedding party while they were waiting for the church to clear. I came back in to give Justin his camera back and he leans down and whispers, "Stay away from the preacher. He's cranky."

Well that's all I need to know. If you know me well you know that there are some days where I'm the most patient person ever. Then there are days where I have no patience and am difficult to censor. This was a day of the latter. So I stayed away from him.

Here's the story of what happened...

The preacher came up to Justin after the ceremony and said, "Who was that woman taking pictures on the stage?"

Justin: "That was my wife."

Preacher: "Well I didn't appreciate how loud the camera was. The mic was picking up the sound."

Justin: "Well I'm sorry sir. We spoke with the wedding coordinator before the wedding and she said it was okay for us to be up there."

Preacher: "Well normally it is. But you know you can turn the sound off on those digital cameras."

(PAUSE) No you cannot. That is ridiculous. We aren't shooting with a point and shoot here sir.

Justin: "Actually, sir, you can't. That is a mechanical function of the camera."

Preacher: "Well if you are going to be using an old mechanical camera then she doesn't need to take pictures every two seconds."

At this point, the wonderful Christine interrupts and Justin no longer speaks to preacher.

Here's the best part and the good reason I was not near when this happened...

During the ceremony, my camera may have been loud. Maybe. But what I am certain was picked up on the microphone was the preacher calling the bride "Allison" three times during the ceremony. Her name is Christine.

For the rest of the day I referred to him as "Preacher Poopy Pants".