Patty's epic adventure

  6/16/25 I’m back. By a show of hands, everyone that loves my charts, and patient portals, etc. raise those hands high! Hmmmm, I see none going up. I have sent messages on my patient portal on several occasions and heard nothing back. So, I call the office and leave a message, because you never get a real person the first time. No one calls me back. I think I might drive to the office tomorrow. ….. sigh. On a good note, my ctDNA test came back negative. Hooray! And I go back to MD Anderson in Houston in two months. I have an endoscopy in three weeks. I see my rheumatologist in two days. I need to get my dermatologist to take a look at my head. It’s been five weeks since she cut that open and it still has not healed. It’s still scabby and bloody. So, I still cannot get in the pool. And I have to stay out of the sun. It looks pretty icky on the top of my head, I’m sorry to say.  David and I celebrated my good news by going to Shreveport this past weekend. We had a good time. Th...

  6/8/25 Well, here I am again. I had the cancer removed from my head, and it turned out to be quite large. She had to stitch me up with an S shape. It was either that, or take a skin graft from somewhere else. I had about 20 stitches in it. I still have a scab on my head. The incision on my arm is healing up nicely, and the scabs are all gone. I saw my cardiologist again and he took me off the nitroglycerin. It wasn’t helping. He wants to wait for the endoscopy results before we move on. I cannot wear my CPAP mask because it sits directly on top of my incision on my head, which has not healed yet. I went to the pulmonologist, and he said just to wait until it heals, then start up again. I have a hole in my head that my finger fits in. Now, if someone asks me what’s wrong with me, and do you have a hole in your head? I can honestly say yes, yes I do! I went to my oncologist on Friday, and she was not pleased that I had two different kind of cancers removed. She was going to get the...

  5/12/2025 It’s been five months since I’ve written in my blog. Several people are upset with me for taking such a long break. However, my life just hasn’t been very exciting these past few months. I will appease the masses and update my blog today. David and I went on a seven day cruise in January and I continued with physical therapy twice a week for my back. David and I took a road trip in February and March. We drove thousands of miles and stopped in to see a lot of old friends along the way. We made it to Vegas and we got to see Garth Brooks in concert. That was a lot of fun. We kept going through Utah and Colorado and finally made our way back home. I cut almost 10 inches off of my hair in March. It was my first real haircut in years. I had another sleep study done and saw the pulmonologist several times. He wanted a special kind of sleep study so I went back for a third one. He ordered me another CPAP machine, but this one has a different mouthpiece and I sleep pretty well ...

1/10/25 It's Friday.  2025.  Holy cow.  When I was a kid, I thought in 2025 we'd be living in space or something and robots would be our maids.  Like Rosy, on the Jetsons.  This is gonna be a nutshell post: I had several doctor appoints since I last wrote. Had another sleep study for something my cardiologist ordered.  Long word, can't remember it.  I bought a new car.  Christmas was simply delightful with all the kids home.  ct/DNA test came back negative (woo-hoo!).  Went to Houston to MD Anderson this week for an MRI and my surgeon will call me this afternoon with the results.  However, I read in MyChart last night that my tumor had  grown only a tiny amount in the past 2 years, so I'm stopping the MRIs because it's probably benign. (woo-hoo!)  I'm still doing physical therapy twice a week in the pool to try and help my back.  We went to a New Year's Eve party and I did something a friend told me about.  I tol...

  12/16/24 It's Monday.  Today is my daughter Stacy's birthday.   I was supposed to get my glasses last Monday, then Wednesday, then Thursday - they finally came in.  I was chastised for calling in to get the status when I'd signed up for text messaging, however, I never got a text message.  Ever.  They lied to me 3 times about why they were late.  About why it took 25 friggin' days to get them, etc.  They think nothing about lying to customers at the optical department of Sam's Club.  I dislike them so much that I would be willing to unplug them from life support just so I could charge my cell phone. So, now I wea bi-focals.  I have not gotten used to them yet.  My close-up vision is much better, but my distance vision...... not so much.  David says I just need to get used to them.  Of course, this advice is coming from a man that sat down to eat breakfast and thought his toast was too cold.  Any reasonable pers...

  12/9/24 Well, it's another Monday under my belt and I still  have no glasses.  Now, they say they'll be here on Wednesday.  That will be 25 days.  I believe I will be speaking to the manager on Wednesday.  In person.  Ho. Ho. Ho. Did I mention my dishwasher broke?  I paid over $1000 for it just 4 years ago.  Had Best Buy deliver and install it.  Well, when we took it apart, we saw the installation job.  It was not pretty.  They installed it incorrectly and it ended up blowing the motor.  So much for Best Buy's installation crew.   David took me to the cancer center on Friday.  I had a large blood draw and an appointment.  My visit went well, and unless something pops up, I don't have to go back for another 6 months.  That's the longest stretch I've had in the past 4 years, so that was good news.  My white count is up in the normal range.  That's also the best in the last 4 years.  ...

  12/5/24  -  It's Thursday. I was supposed to get my new glasses last Friday - 7 days ago.  Do I have them?  Of course not.  Delay in shipping, they say.  They were then supposed to arrive last Monday.  No show.  Delay in shipping, they say.  Now, they're supposed to arrive next Monday - 10 days late.  Can't you put them in a box and ship them?  Shipping delay, my ass.  sigh. I called my physical therapist and asked if the pool was going to be open yesterday.  They were watching the weather because if it's lightning within 10 miles, they close the pool.  It's open.  I pack up and call as I'm pulling out of the garage, headed their way.  It's open, they say.  I drive out there and pull into the parking lot and my phone rings.  The pool is closed.  sigh. Now, I have to make up the day, so I'm going in the morning for my 11:00 a.m. appointment.  I will finish at noon and then have to d...