So I had my MRI. And they found out I had...drum roll please...a swollen optic nerve. Which they already knew going in. The good news is there was nothing else there for me to worry about like a tumor or MS. But now there is other stuff to worry about like Lupus, Lymes' Disease, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I had to go last Saturday and give 7 more vials of blood to get more tests done. I also had a TB test.
So now I'm waiting to see what that blood work showed. If it's something that can be treated here I'm good. If not, I am being sent to a neuro-ophalmologist at Froedtert Hospital for even more tests. I can not express how over all of this I am. SO OVER IT!
Later in April, I am going to have a sleep study. I don't need one but they think I should have one so I will. Have I mentioned I AM OVER THIS?
There has to be a light at the end of this tunnel. I want off this health care ride now. It has already taken up the major portion of 2014 and I AM OVER IT!!
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
My week from hell...
In the continuing saga of my on-going health issues, this week has topped them all. Even more than last week and last week I had a colonoscopy!
On Saturday, I went in for a routine eye exam. I wear glasses so I go every other year. Everything was going well until the doc called me back after dilating my eyes and said "It looks like your optic nerve is swollen." Seriously? What the hell else could go wrong? I had to go back to him on the following Monday to take a field of vision test. Basically, it's a test where you look into this machine and click a clicker every time you see a flash in your peripheral vision. It takes about a half hour. Afterwards, the they printed my results and it turns out I have no peripheral vision in my right eye when I look to the left or down. Nothing. Missed every single flash. Who knew? So, this doc makes an immediate appointment for an ophthalmologist.
So, on Friday I go to see the new guy and he has me do the same test over again. Then he takes a picture of the backside of my eyes. He shows me my optic nerve. On the left eye, it's all round and nice looking and healthy. On the right, not so much. The outside line is all distorted and mangled. He tells me that it could be fluid or a small tumor or there could be some other underlying reason like Lyme Disease or MS but that he can't tell anything until I have an MRI which, he says, I have to do right away.
So, on Tuesday, I am off to Kenosha Radiology to get an MRI. Now I've had an MRI before and one thing I learned is that I have to have what's called an "open" MRI. A regular MRI closes you in a tiny small space and when they tried to do that to me the first time I completely freaked out. So this time I made sure it was open. Open means you are in something that looks more like a donut rather than a tube and you can see the room and daylight when you need to. The technician strapped my head into this basket type thing and that was strapped down to the table. I was not allowed to move at all. My feet were elevated and my arms placed on pillows to get me as comfortable as possible. I was given a call button in case I needed her to stop at any time. So it began. I was given ear plugs and there's a reason for that. MRI's are very, very loud. The machine makes an incessant pounding noise that goes on for some time. The first part of the test took about an hour with a few stops in between. Then she injected me with some dye and we did it all over again. This is called "with contrast". Contrast is the orange dye that goes through your veins and gives the doc a different view of what might be going on. Two hours later, I was done.
Today, I get to go see yet another new doc. This time for a consult for a possible sleep study. I might have sleep apnea. Might not. Just another silly test my primary doc wants me to go through.
On Friday, I go back to the ophthalmologist to get the results of the MRI. Next week I have yet another new doc to see and then a follow up with my primary. This has been the most annoying carousel ride I have ever been on! I want to get off...NOW!
On Saturday, I went in for a routine eye exam. I wear glasses so I go every other year. Everything was going well until the doc called me back after dilating my eyes and said "It looks like your optic nerve is swollen." Seriously? What the hell else could go wrong? I had to go back to him on the following Monday to take a field of vision test. Basically, it's a test where you look into this machine and click a clicker every time you see a flash in your peripheral vision. It takes about a half hour. Afterwards, the they printed my results and it turns out I have no peripheral vision in my right eye when I look to the left or down. Nothing. Missed every single flash. Who knew? So, this doc makes an immediate appointment for an ophthalmologist.
So, on Friday I go to see the new guy and he has me do the same test over again. Then he takes a picture of the backside of my eyes. He shows me my optic nerve. On the left eye, it's all round and nice looking and healthy. On the right, not so much. The outside line is all distorted and mangled. He tells me that it could be fluid or a small tumor or there could be some other underlying reason like Lyme Disease or MS but that he can't tell anything until I have an MRI which, he says, I have to do right away.
So, on Tuesday, I am off to Kenosha Radiology to get an MRI. Now I've had an MRI before and one thing I learned is that I have to have what's called an "open" MRI. A regular MRI closes you in a tiny small space and when they tried to do that to me the first time I completely freaked out. So this time I made sure it was open. Open means you are in something that looks more like a donut rather than a tube and you can see the room and daylight when you need to. The technician strapped my head into this basket type thing and that was strapped down to the table. I was not allowed to move at all. My feet were elevated and my arms placed on pillows to get me as comfortable as possible. I was given a call button in case I needed her to stop at any time. So it began. I was given ear plugs and there's a reason for that. MRI's are very, very loud. The machine makes an incessant pounding noise that goes on for some time. The first part of the test took about an hour with a few stops in between. Then she injected me with some dye and we did it all over again. This is called "with contrast". Contrast is the orange dye that goes through your veins and gives the doc a different view of what might be going on. Two hours later, I was done.
Today, I get to go see yet another new doc. This time for a consult for a possible sleep study. I might have sleep apnea. Might not. Just another silly test my primary doc wants me to go through.
On Friday, I go back to the ophthalmologist to get the results of the MRI. Next week I have yet another new doc to see and then a follow up with my primary. This has been the most annoying carousel ride I have ever been on! I want to get off...NOW!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
My brief brush with my own mortality...
Last Wednesday I had a mammogram.
I have been a slacker when it comes to getting a regular mammogram and I know it. It had been a few years since my last one and being a woman of a certain age (and one who's sister is undergoing treatment for breast cancer right now) I should know better! So I scolded myself and off I went.
Getting a mammo is not the most pleasant experience in the world. I mean, I know, as far as other tests women have to go through (the PAP smear comes to mind), a mammo is far less invasive yet still invasive enough to be uncomfortable. The Breast Imaging Center, here in Kenosha, WI, does a very good job at trying to make it as comfortable as possible. They have a separate waiting room from the rest of the radiology department so you don't have to sit there with a lot of people. They warm the robes they make you wear in a nice warming container. And the robes are ROBES and not skimpy hospital gowns. The waiting room is comfortable with over sized arm chairs and soft music. The lights are kept low. It's almost foreplay for what's to come!
When my name is called I follow the nice lady into another room where, lights still low, she quietly and pleasantly tells me how this will proceed. Then I step up to the machine and drop one shoulder out of the robe. This is the invasive part. This nice but complete stranger then maneuvers my boob onto a metal slab as I stand in front of the machine. She then says, "This might pinch!" as she lowers a clear plastic plate over my breast. Then she cranks that sucker until it has squished my booby to within an inch of it's life. She does a side view like this too and then we move on to the left boob. FUN!
After that she tells me they will call me if there is any problem but "there probably won't be so if you don't get a call, everything is fine!" And I leave.
ON Thursday I was working at my desk and the phone rang. It was the Breast Imaging Center. The radiologist who looked at my mammo thinks he saw something but can't be sure so could I please come in as soon as possible to have a "diagnostic mammo" and possibly an ultrasound.
WHAT??? My mind started spinning. Surely, if there was nothing to worry about I would not be getting something called a "diagnostic" or an ultrasound, for that matter. This could not be good. I spent a very sleepless night.
The next day I went in and had the diagnostic done. This time, it was the same machine but the clear plastic plate was much smaller and they only did one small section of my left boob. The tech was pleasant and did her best to assure me that it might be nothing at all. Just a precaution. But she showed me my last mammo pics and the area of concern. She said, "Doctor, sees this cluster of unusual cells here so he wants to be sure." Unusual cells, I think. I have "unusual" cells in my breast. That can't be good either. She then takes the latest mammo pics off to the doc. I'll get instant results, she tells me, so I won't worry all weekend. How kind.
I'm left in this room with the low lights and the big mammo machine for the longest time. Too long. It was so long that I was sure something horrible was about to come my way. This should not be taking this long, I thought. Again, cannot be good!! Finally, she returned. "Well," she says, "he's fairly sure it's nothing but would like you to have the ultrasound to confirm it. "
At this point, I stopped believing her. "Fairly sure it's nothing..." Seriously? You're either sure or you're not sure so which is it.
I'm rerobed and sent back to the waiting area. After a few minutes another tech comes to get me and we go to another room. This time there is a bed next to which is an ultrasound machine. I've had an ultrasound before on two occasions. One on my knee when I was having horrible pain in the back of my knee. They used this type of machine with a little egg shaped deelybobber that took pictures. The other time was a pelvic ultrasound where they used the same machine but instead of an egg they used what looked like a small baseball bat which they lathered with gel and asked me to "insert" inside myself....NOT fun! Anyway, this was the egg thing.
I laid on the bed and she unrobed the offending booby. She lathered the gel on and proceeded to rub it all over the boob while stopping to take pictures of different areas of interest. Even though it didn't hurt, none of the tests did, the idea of someone manipulating, moving, touching my boob and squishing it flat is just not pleasant. And it did pinch. Ah, but the ultrasound did not hurt though it was awkward.
So, then she leaves and says "Doctor, will see these right away!" and I'm left to sit there, in the dim light, all alone. Again, for what seemed like FOREVER! At this point I am convinced the doctor is gearing up to have "the talk" with me. The one where I hear that I have breast cancer and that I have options for treatment and here is a list of oncologists to try. I was readying myself for this when the door opened and the doc walked in.
He said...
"Well, I've got good news! You are perfectly normal! All we're seeing is normal breast tissue!"
Relief...and the knowledge that I knew this all along and my mind was just playing tricks on me.
I know I'm not the first woman to do through this nor with I be the last. I have since heard of other women who get called back again and again. Still, it's not easy to just "not know" for sure what's going on and even though they all were very kind and reassuring it is not a pleasant test to go through. But it is an important test to go through. So, I will. Every year - like clock work.
My doctor also wants me to get a colonoscopy. Yeah...I'm still thinking about that one!
I have been a slacker when it comes to getting a regular mammogram and I know it. It had been a few years since my last one and being a woman of a certain age (and one who's sister is undergoing treatment for breast cancer right now) I should know better! So I scolded myself and off I went.
Getting a mammo is not the most pleasant experience in the world. I mean, I know, as far as other tests women have to go through (the PAP smear comes to mind), a mammo is far less invasive yet still invasive enough to be uncomfortable. The Breast Imaging Center, here in Kenosha, WI, does a very good job at trying to make it as comfortable as possible. They have a separate waiting room from the rest of the radiology department so you don't have to sit there with a lot of people. They warm the robes they make you wear in a nice warming container. And the robes are ROBES and not skimpy hospital gowns. The waiting room is comfortable with over sized arm chairs and soft music. The lights are kept low. It's almost foreplay for what's to come!
When my name is called I follow the nice lady into another room where, lights still low, she quietly and pleasantly tells me how this will proceed. Then I step up to the machine and drop one shoulder out of the robe. This is the invasive part. This nice but complete stranger then maneuvers my boob onto a metal slab as I stand in front of the machine. She then says, "This might pinch!" as she lowers a clear plastic plate over my breast. Then she cranks that sucker until it has squished my booby to within an inch of it's life. She does a side view like this too and then we move on to the left boob. FUN!
After that she tells me they will call me if there is any problem but "there probably won't be so if you don't get a call, everything is fine!" And I leave.
ON Thursday I was working at my desk and the phone rang. It was the Breast Imaging Center. The radiologist who looked at my mammo thinks he saw something but can't be sure so could I please come in as soon as possible to have a "diagnostic mammo" and possibly an ultrasound.
WHAT??? My mind started spinning. Surely, if there was nothing to worry about I would not be getting something called a "diagnostic" or an ultrasound, for that matter. This could not be good. I spent a very sleepless night.
The next day I went in and had the diagnostic done. This time, it was the same machine but the clear plastic plate was much smaller and they only did one small section of my left boob. The tech was pleasant and did her best to assure me that it might be nothing at all. Just a precaution. But she showed me my last mammo pics and the area of concern. She said, "Doctor, sees this cluster of unusual cells here so he wants to be sure." Unusual cells, I think. I have "unusual" cells in my breast. That can't be good either. She then takes the latest mammo pics off to the doc. I'll get instant results, she tells me, so I won't worry all weekend. How kind.
I'm left in this room with the low lights and the big mammo machine for the longest time. Too long. It was so long that I was sure something horrible was about to come my way. This should not be taking this long, I thought. Again, cannot be good!! Finally, she returned. "Well," she says, "he's fairly sure it's nothing but would like you to have the ultrasound to confirm it. "
At this point, I stopped believing her. "Fairly sure it's nothing..." Seriously? You're either sure or you're not sure so which is it.
I'm rerobed and sent back to the waiting area. After a few minutes another tech comes to get me and we go to another room. This time there is a bed next to which is an ultrasound machine. I've had an ultrasound before on two occasions. One on my knee when I was having horrible pain in the back of my knee. They used this type of machine with a little egg shaped deelybobber that took pictures. The other time was a pelvic ultrasound where they used the same machine but instead of an egg they used what looked like a small baseball bat which they lathered with gel and asked me to "insert" inside myself....NOT fun! Anyway, this was the egg thing.
I laid on the bed and she unrobed the offending booby. She lathered the gel on and proceeded to rub it all over the boob while stopping to take pictures of different areas of interest. Even though it didn't hurt, none of the tests did, the idea of someone manipulating, moving, touching my boob and squishing it flat is just not pleasant. And it did pinch. Ah, but the ultrasound did not hurt though it was awkward.
So, then she leaves and says "Doctor, will see these right away!" and I'm left to sit there, in the dim light, all alone. Again, for what seemed like FOREVER! At this point I am convinced the doctor is gearing up to have "the talk" with me. The one where I hear that I have breast cancer and that I have options for treatment and here is a list of oncologists to try. I was readying myself for this when the door opened and the doc walked in.
He said...
"Well, I've got good news! You are perfectly normal! All we're seeing is normal breast tissue!"
Relief...and the knowledge that I knew this all along and my mind was just playing tricks on me.
I know I'm not the first woman to do through this nor with I be the last. I have since heard of other women who get called back again and again. Still, it's not easy to just "not know" for sure what's going on and even though they all were very kind and reassuring it is not a pleasant test to go through. But it is an important test to go through. So, I will. Every year - like clock work.
My doctor also wants me to get a colonoscopy. Yeah...I'm still thinking about that one!
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