Friday, February 18, 2005
Going to California.....
Didn't plan on being away for so long. My phone line croaked yesterday, which is a major hassle when you have dialup. Got it repaired just this afternoon.
So it is my lymph node going to California, not the rest of me. I have this mental image of my lymph node on a plane somewhere, wearing a tiny seat belt. Apparently there are tests they can do in Irvine that they can't do where I live.
The pathology report says I definitely do not have cancer, which is great. But I do not have healthy lymph nodes. They do not know exactly what is wrong, which is why they are sending the biopsy sample to California for more tests.
I am fortunate to have a very thorough ENT who uses the latest technology available. It's possible I won't get an answer even after the additional tests. But at least someone is trying to get to the bottom of this.
The odds are that whatever they find is not going to be something I can treat. The good part of this is that now I can just focus on the stuff I do have answers for and try to regain some health so I can return to work next month. Right now I am nowhere near healthy enough to work.
They did take the steri-strips off my neck yesterday...luckily, no skin came off with the adhesive, but they were concerned about how irritated it looked. Even though I had stitches that would absorb, they didn't want to risk further irritation and took the stitches out, which did hurt because the skin was kind of raw. They cleaned everything really well, which stung, and then they put paper tape on, which is something I know I can tolerate.
They said since I seem to be healing a bit slowly to go one more week without working out. I thought this was crazy until I turned my head to change lanes while driving last night and had a thunderbolt of pain shoot from my jaw to my collar bone! And then it went numb for a few hours last night.....I think I'll have Dan drive me for another week.
So now my main goals will be to develop a diabetes treatment plan and try to get this periodic limb movement under control. I made an appointment with a nutritionist, but it's not until March 4, so I think I will keep a diary of what I eat until then to give me a head start. I also have raised my dose of Neurontin per the sleep specialist's instruction....so far, it doesn't seem to help at all with the nightly muscle spasms.
Sooooo tired after yesterday. But I don't expect I'll have to do any more tests for a very long time once they finish up studying the biopsy sample. Hope my lymph node likes California.
Pain level: 7
Fatigue: 9
So it is my lymph node going to California, not the rest of me. I have this mental image of my lymph node on a plane somewhere, wearing a tiny seat belt. Apparently there are tests they can do in Irvine that they can't do where I live.
The pathology report says I definitely do not have cancer, which is great. But I do not have healthy lymph nodes. They do not know exactly what is wrong, which is why they are sending the biopsy sample to California for more tests.
I am fortunate to have a very thorough ENT who uses the latest technology available. It's possible I won't get an answer even after the additional tests. But at least someone is trying to get to the bottom of this.
The odds are that whatever they find is not going to be something I can treat. The good part of this is that now I can just focus on the stuff I do have answers for and try to regain some health so I can return to work next month. Right now I am nowhere near healthy enough to work.
They did take the steri-strips off my neck yesterday...luckily, no skin came off with the adhesive, but they were concerned about how irritated it looked. Even though I had stitches that would absorb, they didn't want to risk further irritation and took the stitches out, which did hurt because the skin was kind of raw. They cleaned everything really well, which stung, and then they put paper tape on, which is something I know I can tolerate.
They said since I seem to be healing a bit slowly to go one more week without working out. I thought this was crazy until I turned my head to change lanes while driving last night and had a thunderbolt of pain shoot from my jaw to my collar bone! And then it went numb for a few hours last night.....I think I'll have Dan drive me for another week.
So now my main goals will be to develop a diabetes treatment plan and try to get this periodic limb movement under control. I made an appointment with a nutritionist, but it's not until March 4, so I think I will keep a diary of what I eat until then to give me a head start. I also have raised my dose of Neurontin per the sleep specialist's instruction....so far, it doesn't seem to help at all with the nightly muscle spasms.
Sooooo tired after yesterday. But I don't expect I'll have to do any more tests for a very long time once they finish up studying the biopsy sample. Hope my lymph node likes California.
Pain level: 7
Fatigue: 9
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