Patty's epic adventure

  1/31/23 Today’s Tuesday. I had physical therapy yesterday for my lymphedema and I also had an appointment at the ENT place. He did all kinds of weird tests on me, and came to the conclusion that I was getting over my ear infection, however my eustachian tube isn’t working right. I always had trouble with that ear when I was scuba diving. I couldn’t equalize. Now I know why. That one is kind of messed up. I’m supposed to be on an antihistamine to help open it up, and use the nose spray I have been using. However, I’m supposed to double that thing up. The crystal in my right ear isn’t where it’s supposed to be, so they’re going to give me some exercises to do to try and get it back where it belongs. That’s why I’m getting off-balance/dizzy all the time. The white stuff at the back of my throat is gone, so that’s good. I have the day off today. No appointments. Hooray! I got up last night to go to the bathroom and stepped on a dog squeaky toy because it was dark. It scared the hoo-d...

  1/29/23 Today is Sunday and I was a sloth all day.  Just tired.  I exercised and did some cross stitch and made a yummy dinner for David, but nothing else was noteworthy.  Oh, and I showered.  That's because I have an 8 a.m. appt. with the ENT guy tomorrow morning.  The audiologist says I have lost about 10% of my hearing in my left ear and 30% in my right.  I don't think it's changed much in the past 15 years or so.  I blew out my right eardrum in a scuba diving accident back then and it was lost forever, so the news last week was pretty good, if you ask me.  However, I still have an earache.  I'm working on week 3 now and it's truly becoming annoying.   I have a tiny new lump/bump/thingy under my left armpit that wasn't there the last time I showered.  David looked at it, but couldn't figure it out.  I'll watch it. I have a new splint for my right foot that I wear at night.  I don't know if I told you this or...

  1/26/23 Today is Thursday.  I called my ENT office for 6 days and no one returned my calls.  Is that idiotic, or what?  Anyway, after physical therapy yesterday, I drove to the office to make an appointment.  They have all my records and it would take forever to get in to see a new guy, so I'm really trying here.  The Urgent Care dude said I needed to see my ENT guy, so I walked in the door.  It was lunch time, so no one was there to here me gripe, but I got an appointment for this afternoon at 3:30 to see the audiologist and then the doctor on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m.  So, I have to go another weekend with hurt.  Sigh.  I'm going to speak to the office manager this afternoon, you can bet your booty on that.  My ear is no better.  At all.   I have to have another MRI.  I heard back from MD Anderson and they said the one I had up here doesn't show enough.  Figures.  I should have learned my lesson 2...

  1/22/23 It's Sunday. I don't have anything good to report and almost didn't post anything at all, but a friend nagged me into updating it.  The yeast infection on my abdomen is spreading.  It's annoying, to say the least.  I'll call the doctor again tomorrow.  I've had an ear ache for the last 2 weeks.  I ignored it, hoping it would go away.  Of course, it did not.  I called my ENT office at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning and got a machine that said they check their calls on a regular basis.  I called back at 3:00 p.m. and left another message that said something akin to "do you check the messages every 6 hours, at least?"  That didn't work.  No one called me back.  Great system they've got.  I should put it on my house phone.  At 4:00 p.m., I gave up and went to an Urgent Care in Bullard.  I didn't want to hurt all weekend.  No one ever called me back at the ENT office, but the doctor at the Urgent Care has ...

  1/18/23 It's Wednesday.  I had physical therapy this morning and then a transfusion at the cancer center this afternoon.  It's just an injection.  I'm not sure why they call it a transfusion.  What do I know?  Thanks to the Diabetic Supply Company, I wasn't late for my appointment.  They called at 7:00 a.m. to see if I needed any of their products.  After a short, one-sided conversation by me, I told them never to call me again.  Apparently, the staff didn't get the memo and they called again at 8:00 a.m.  After another short conversation, in which they didn't get a word in edgewise, I hung up on them.  Again.  David was home all day.  He got 7 calls from them.  7.  You read that right.  I think they must be wearing their turbans too tight. MD Anderson sent me a memo saying the staff had my images and reports and they will be studied over the next couple of days by their team.  I should know something...

  1/14/23 It is Saturday and I’m in Houston.  I was able to pick up both my MRI and ultrasound cd’s and I delivered them to MD Anderson yesterday while I was there for my appointment with the sarcoma specialist. That was a good visit. No sarcoma. None. Zip. Nada. The doctors here will look over my images and give me their opinion on whether I need to undergo another biopsy, or not. I’m not going to have it done at home. David and Courtney ran in the Houston 5K this morning. It’s kind of a warm-up for the marathon tomorrow. David is not running tomorrow, but both Courtney and Ryan are. Courtney ran her personal best and David did astonishingly well. I’m feeling pretty tired, and it feels like I cannot get enough sleep, even though I’m getting plenty. Maybe it was just the anxiety of seeing the doctor yesterday. Maybe now I can rest. I saw my podiatrist Thursday morning, right before we drove down here. He’s going to send me back to physical therapy and then we are going to hope...

  1/10/23 It's Tuesday.  My blog is screwed up this evening and I can't see past entries, to I can't refer to them to see what I've already said.  Oh, well.  The worst case scenario is that you'll read it twice. My company left this morning and I was SO very sad to see them go.  We had a good time and I enjoyed their company very, very much.  This afternoon, I went to physical therapy and then to my ultrasound.  It didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.  He says I need a biopsy, but he won't do it until I get cleared by my pulmonologist because I'm on blood thinners.  MD Anderson did a punch biopsy last month without permission and everything went just fine.  I don't get it.  So, it can't be done until next week sometime.  I'm not sure I want him to do it.  I don't care for him too much and have written to my surgeon in Houston to ask her opinion about the whole ordeal.  My new tumor is approx. 1.5 cm in length and kin...

  1/4/23 It's Wednesday.  Poopy day.  Went to PT this morning and she wrapped me up like a mummy and I have to stay this way till Friday.  Fingernails to armpit.  Can barely move my arm.  Swelling is icky.  Lymphedema sucks.  No shower, no bath, no getting it wet.  I got my MRI results and they suck, too.  Abnormal this, abnormal that.  Possible new cancer in nearby lymph nodes.  New 1.5 centimeter tumor discovered, also.  The list goes on with numerous big words.  Disconcerting, to say the least.  The good news is: my hips feel a bit better today!  Tomorrow is a new day and my company is arriving.  I'm excited to see them and have something else on my mind besides cancer.

  1/3/23 Holy Cow.  It's 2023.  When I was a kid, this was science fiction.  Now I'm here.  And old.  It's Tuesday and this was a full day for me.  I had a lovely Christmas with my family and then on the 27th, we went camping.  Five of us and a border collie.  The third night, we got a storm.  A whopper.  Lotsa rain.  It did not dampen our spirits, though the RV was at capacity, +1,  for sleeping.  The tent we took was a soggy mess that night, so everyone moved inside.  I'll sum it up by saying "I would do it all again." Today I had a breast MRI in the morning and then steroid shots in both hips in the afternoon.  They were overdue and I'm hoping I can walk a bit better in a couple of days.  Tomorrow is physical therapy with my pressure suit, gloves, arm compressions garments, and all my wrappings.  They are going to try and see if I was fitting correctly and attempt to get more of my swelling down...