{Flowers and sweet wishes from Barbara in London}
I was considering not keeping up with this Blog and instead just sending out brief email updates but I've changed my mind (it's a woman's prerogative after all!) and will continue on with my journal here. I had cause to wonder if what I was writing here made me come across as though I was being overly dramatic and I allowed those ponderances to make me feel very poorly. After some reflection, a day with my beautiful husband escorting me to various doctors offices and some very in depth conversations with medical care givers... I think I'm doing completely fine with my expressions... and so I shall (as I usually do) go on :)
I had an additional appointment scheduled into my day yesterday due to the level of pain/swelling/and general 'thickness' still in my left breast as a result of the needle biopsies. I was told all of this should have passed within 24 hours of the procedure, and though I'm generally very quick to heal... this was still a problem. I was booked in to see a doctor at the Breast Clinic at Swedish first thing in the morning and it was a good thing I went. She told me that there may have been some bleeding internally after the biopsies (nothing to be concerned about) but that doing an MRI yesterday would be senseless as they wouldn't be able to see what they were looking for. I'm really glad this was discovered before I had the test done! Better than having someone tell me next week that the MRI was 'inconclusive'. They have suggested I have the MRI done in two weeks (around Oct/8th) with a follow up with the surgeon on the week of the 13th. And so I shall ...
The next stop on our day was with the Optomotrist/MD to have a look at these eyes of mine. Being 43, I'm at that place in my life where my eyesight is starting to get a little strained and this was making me worry about my field of vision loss from my brain surgery in 1980. My 'funny' for the day was when the technician asked during my field of vision test... 'Are the lights not flashing at all ... or can you just not see anything'? haha... After an hour of tests and another 30 minute consultation with the doctor he told me I have 'perfectly normal yet highly comprimised eyesight' :) He doesn't think there's any need to worry about my field of vision diminishing over time as my eyesight degenerates naturally, which is great news. Unless I have Glaucoma on the right or something down the road... my reply to him... with a big toothy grin... was 'Don't even go there' :p
We got to go to the new 'James Tower' at Swedish to visit Dr. Desai (Cardiologist)... it's a lovely building and David & I got to discuss fixtures and finishes in the 'posh' waiting room and thankfully the doctor was equally (or even more so) lovely than the surroundings! We went over my medical history and he started shaking his head and frowning at me around the Celiac Disease diagnosis :p When we got to the part where he asked 'Why are you here now investigating your heart murmur... what is the surgery they have scheduled for you'? I told him I had just been diagnosed with DCIS, he looked at me very kindly and said ... 'well, I'm not sure how you feel... but I'm glad I'm sitting down'. He said that he thinks the heart murmur may have been caused by an internal abscess I had several years ago, for which I had several surgeries? Somehow the infection may have caused this but he's really unsure. The good news is that he believes it is very minor and since it does not seem to affect my daily life that it shouldn't be an issue. I'm scheduled to go in on Monday for a Echocardiogram
and a 'heart stress test' and that should allow them to both rule this out as a problem and give the surgeon the green light to do her thing.
As an 'interesting aside' on the day. I had taken an application for a 'Disabled Permit' from Metro Transit to the Optometrist's office to have him fill out for me. Since I cannot drive due to my loss of vision, this makes me eligible for 'reduced fares' on public transit. I'm now a proud 'card carrying member' of the invisibly handicapped :) I should have done this years ago! What actually stopped me was not having the insurance to cover the eye exam... but now (and for the rest of my life in WA State) can ride the bus till my heart's content and beyond... for $9 a month :)
We topped the afternoon off by picking up some Gluten Free cookies at PCC then going over to Freshy's Coffee (just around the corner from our place... but we'd never been there) and reminding ourselves and each other of why people like to hang out in coffee shops. *Smiles* It's great to take the time and sit with a good friend and I realize my great fortune in having married mine. It was the perfect end to the otherwise regimented day, to giggle and talk about everything and nothing... having a cuppa joe :) Sometimes we lose ourselves in the everyday humdrum and or drama of life... but with us we always come back to center. When there is an occasion to rise to we always do it together and this will be no different...
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