Finally!!! Some Good News!

Maybe the GI does have a clue... I got my blood drawn yesterday and made my appointment this morning with my doctor and he came in with a small smile on his face! The highest out of range function is dropping and the two that were lesser out of range have dropped into high normal range. Yahoo!!!

The best part is I can go from 40 mgs. a day of the steroids to 30 mgs. a day for the next two weeks then drop back to 20 mgs. for 2 weeks until my next blood work and appointment. Thank you Lord... Those steroids wreak havoc with me, especially my rest and if I don't get my rest I'm a grumpy, growly lump that just wants to be left alone by all except my girls and sometimes even SueSue gets on my last nerve. Chloe is always sweet and wonderful and as content to lay around as long as mom wants to...

Reporting on the melatonin the shrink wanted me to try... I think it is helping me to rest better. I seem to be going to sleep easier and feeling more rested. I do seem to have more drowsiness to deal with when I do get up but once that passes I am feeling pretty good. I even started painting the kitchen. Will wonders never cease...

Anyway, let me say that I appreciate you all putting up with all this medical boring stuff simply to support my struggle with dealing with scary health things. More than I can say I am thankful for each and every one of you holding me up and being there when I needed to yell and vent and cry and know it's okay to let my guard down. More than words can say.

Good News, Bad News...

Today was the day I went to see the orthopedist for the results of my MRI. The good news is that there is NOT a tear in the cartilage like the nurse told me. I have a cyst. I was surprised by that and didn't think to ask how big the cyst was and was it in the cartilage. I have to assume that it was not at all big because he didn't say we need to get it out of there. He said we could try another injection or he could order an abdominal/pelvic cat scan to try to get a different look at the area to see if there was something else he wasn't seeing. I told him that they had done that test when they were first trying to figure out what caused the liver readings to go up. Since it was done at Norman Regional Hospital he said he could get those and go over them.

I told him that my GI had ordered a liver biopsy because, while two of the enzymes or whatever they are called had headed back down, the one the GI was concerned the most about had gone up some more. I told him that the GI had said this particular enzyme could be elevated by a problem in either the liver or bone and he said the name right off the bat. And naturally since I didn't write it down I can't remember what he called it but he is going to look at the lab results also. What we decided to do was inject me again because they obviously missed the hot spot the first time and I'm to call him after I get the liver biopsy results to remind him to pull those up and see if they might give him a clue as to whether or not it might be bone/hip related.

I told him that we needed to figure out something because I had to go buy me some granny panties because where my bikinis like I prefer to wear rode in the area of the hot spot and would often make the pain worse and I was too young to be having to wear granny panties. He and his PA that was in the room getting the shot drawn up both cracked up and she allowed as how she hadn't heard that term in a long time. You know me, when I'm fretting about something I have to pop a funny.

So not having a tear is good news but the bad news is I don't have a tear and don't know yet what is causing the pain so it is more hurry up and wait for the liver test results. So that is what we are gonna do. I told Carol that I've about had it with all this crap. I've been very cautious about how I walk, not carrying heavier stuff, not digging in the garden and I'm about to say screw it. If I'm hurting I might as well carry on with my life and do some of the things I haven't been doing but have been wanting to do. If I hurt, I hurt. If I hurt too bad I'll take pain drugs but I hate feeling useless and not making my keep around here.

So I'm putting all this on the back burner of my mind and all I'm going to worry about now is whether or not I'm gonna get my social security check next month. In fact I think, just for the hell of it, I'll blame all this crap on the politicians. After all they are the ones stressing me out now...

I'll keep you posted on it all.

Update And Update...

The first cucumber... and I didn't find it. Carol was out in the yard and she checked out the vines and found this fat little guy. Being the size queen that I am you know I have to put something in the photo for you to be able to get an idea of the size hence the cellphone. Carol is cutting it up for salad so I will be able to give you a report on it's tastiness. This came off the 'bad day' vine which is probably triple the size of the good day vines now. I tried to make sure they were both getting the same amount of water but the only thing I can figure is I misfigured on that facet of their growing. We had 21 consecutive days of 100 F. heat or higher, only getting broken yesterday when we, thank God, got about 2 inches of rain. It has been hard getting water to everything on a daily basis. I have felt so punk that Carol has had to do the major portion of the yard with the exception of the garden and I have managed to go out and set the sprinkler and move it periodically. I've done some of the weeding and grass pulling but Carol has done a whole lot more and from her wheelchair... makes me feel pretty useless some days.

My liver biopsy has been scheduled. I'll go in on the 19th for the biopsy. I don't know how long it will be before I get results but I don't imagine more than a day or two. It's amazing what the medical people are capable of doing nowadays and I So know my GI is as anxious as I am to get this resolved. I don't think it's because I asked him where my kiss was before my colonoscopy... He told his nurse that was her job. You should have seen the look on her face before I cracked up. I just told him when I was there for my blood test results that I was ready to find out what was going on and he said, "So am I", so I know he's concerned and wants to get to the bottom of this liver business.

So you all know as much as I know now and it's all just a matter of hurry up and wait... but that's okay because I know you all are supporting me and standing with me. I can't tell you how much that means to me, nor can I thank you enough.