Friday, April 27, 2007

Good News/ Bad News

Good news: Ben's brain MRI looked normal.
Bad news: Ben's brain MRI looked normal.
The neurologist said everything looked normal to him. There is still a cyst on his right sinus cavity. But as we have been told before, this isn't likely the cause of the headache. Based on our other recent experiences, we are still going to find a ear, nose & throat specialist to get a 2nd opinion & confirm that one. At this point we are back to square one though...
(We go to the vascular specialist on Wed & hopefully there will be good news about Ben's wrist. And, hey, maybe they can figure the headaches out too.)



Bad news: I have to get braces
Good news: I get to fix the little imperfections I don't like about my smile
I saw a new dentist to get a cleaning. I was very impressed with him & the office. The dentist spent about 1/2 hour looking at my teeth. He explained the reason I have problems with my back teeth & constantly need fillings. The issue is that my bite is off so much it is putting too much pressure & stress on the back teeth & wearing them down too quickly. When I was a child, my orthodontist told my parents I had an overbite, but that it was only cosmetic & we didn't need to do anything to fix it. Fast forward 20 years and my overbite has now caused dental problems. So now I get to go see an orthodontist & spend thousands of dollars on braces and then spend thousands of dollars to repair the damage to the actual teeth. Sounds like fun, right!?!


Good news: I'm pretty much healthy.
Bad news: It took a trip to the ER & $75 to determine that
Saturday night I had a very sudden onset, severe pain in my abdomen. It was on the level of the pain I experienced when I had my gallbladder removed. So I decided it would be prudent to go to the ER. 4 hours & $75 later, I am released & told I probably have a mild virus. That there was nothing wrong with me... Which was reconfirmed by my doctor yesterday.

That's the good news & bad news of the past week. Hope everyone else had a better week than I did.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

My wierd husband

So my husband is officially weird. A specialist has confirmed it. Remember when I was complaining about how he wasn't normal? Turns out he is not.

We found out on Tuesday that the bump on his wrist is not a ganglion cyst. The MRI report showed it was most likely a malignant tumor. Yes, as in a cancerous growth. The hand specialist could not give us any more of a diagnosis since this is out of his area of expertise.

Let me tell you that was a hard 36 hours. Trying to not think about the fact he could have cancer & what that would mean. Luckily his friend, Christie Ann, took us out to dinner on Tuesday & bought us champagne & whatever we wanted off of the Fresh Fish Company menu. So I got lots of very yummy crab. And yesterday we just tried to stay busy & think positive thoughts.

The hand specialist referred us to a limb specialist who would be able to give us a more clear diagnosis. We met with him today. He told us it is either a cyst with an artery running through it or some kind of tumor or an arteriovenous malformation, which is basically abnormal growth of the artery.

He thinks most likely it is the arteriovenous malformation. And he thinks the chances of it being a cancerous tumor are low. Which is good news. The other good news is that the nerves, tendons, muscles & bone marrow are not affected. And the blood flow to his hand is good.

We went & got a doppler ultrasound after visiting with the doctor. The doppler ultrasound shows where the blood is flowing & also showed if the bump was solid or liquid. We should know later today or tomorrow morning what the doctor thinks of the ultrasound reports & what the next step is. He was going into surgery right after he saw us, otherwise he would have gone over the report with us while we were there.

He also thinks this could be linked to the headache. Which, oh yeah, I have been asking the doctors since the beginning, if these headaches could be connected to something else in his body. They always think I am weird for bringing up any new family history or any new symptoms. But I don't know that much about headaches & I do not want to leave anything out that might help them diagnose what is wrong with my husband. Maybe I was right for asking all this time.

We had already gotten his neurologist to agree to a MRI of the brain (with & without contrast). Which he has not had one of since the headache started. I know, we have been asking for one, but since the head CT came back fine, all of the doctors felt it was not necessary. Luckily we got his new doctor to agree to it.

Even though it sounds scary if this what is causing the headache, at least we would know what is wrong & what we need to do to get rid of the headache (and the wrist bump). His brain MRI will be next week some time & we should know more tomorrow about the wrist. I will post more as I know.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Asia

So it looks like I will be going to Asia 3 times between now & July 15. Yes, I said 3 times. That is one trip a month for 3 months. Really I don't mind it too much other than the close proximity of each trip. But the June trip may not happen so it's not so bad.

The trips will be short, like 7-10 days max. And they are actually going to be productive. No more sending samples back to the office to be reviewed some more. For the first trip, I even have someone going with me from the office here. And the 2nd one, if I go, there will be someone going with me too. And it looks like I may only have to go into Hong Kong, which is good too. No visas, etc.

And it means I would have enough miles to get 2 free tickets. Of course, we can't use the miles for Cade's tickets because United charges outrageous fees for unaccompanied minors. It's almost cheaper to fly him on Southwest than it is to pay the fee.

Hmm, east coast or west coast for vacation? Guess it would depend on when we were able to actually go... Seattle & new baby or New Jersey & family. It's a tough decision that really is non-existent at this time. A few things have to happen first :)

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

My mom

Today was the day 16 years ago that my mom died. Normally I know that it is coming up so I am prepared for it. I end up being melancholy for a few days & get through it. But this year, it blindsided me. I hadn't even thought about it until now even though I knew what day it was.

I was checking a tracking number to see when a factory recieved a package & saw the date & it hit me what today was. I would love to say that every year it gets easier but it doesn't. It's just a different type of feeling every year. Some years are better than others. Last year was hard since I was getting married in a few months. This year not as bad obviously since I didn't think about it until today.

I always wonder what she would think of me today. Would she be happy with the person I am? Would she be proud of me for my accomplishments? Or would she be dissapointed because of the mistakes I've made? Would she like my husband? Would she like what I am doing with my life?

Of course I will never know the answers. I think that is the hardest part. Since I was so young, I will never know what she thought of how I turned out. And she never got a chance to see.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Scatterbrained

I am such a scatter brain lately and it is driving me crazy!

I mailed a package to my stepson last week & forgot to put in the picture of him with Santa & a new light up thing for his jacket. They've only been sitting around my house since, oh I don't know, Christmas. An yet I keep forgetting to put them in the packages I send out.

Today, I mailed a package to my sister-in-law which included her month belated birthday present (sorry Ellen!) but still managed to forget the picture for her husband's Christmas present. Yes, his Christmas present. I forgot the picture when I sent out their xmas presents. Was going to send it with the Christmas card. Of course forgot that. And it got stuck in a pile & forgotten about until recently when I vowed I would remember to add it to this package. But of course managed to forget about it until I was already at work today.

I've tried lists but forget to look at them. Take yesterday for example, I had a list of all the ingredients I needed for the poached pear salad I was making. We almost left the grocery store without the pears! All because I forgot to look at the list!

I just wish I could get it together & stop being so forgetful!

Friday, April 6, 2007

Normal Husband

Why can't I have a normal husband? This is a question I ask often since he has had a headache for 1 1/2 years that they can't diagnose. Well I got to wonder again yesterday why he can't be normal & have normal, easy to diagnose things wrong with his body.

He has a bump on his wrist that has been there for 5 or 6 years. His doctor in Delaware told him it was a ganglion cyst. Other doctors have told him the same thing. Eventually they can start to cause discomfort & they can do surgery to remove it. Well, it has been bothering him more lately & I noticed earlier this week that it looked bruised.

So we scheduled an appointment with a hand specialist to look at it. We went in yesterday. They took an x-ray of his hand. The the doctor examined the bump. He explained that it is probably a ganglion cyst but is not where they typically are. Normally they come out the joint & are on the top of your hand. His is on the outside of his wrist & it's below the joint. And they typically do not get discolored like his is.

After looking at the xray, the doctor can not tell conclusively if it is a ganglion cyst. So now we have to go get an MRI of his wrist so that they can determine if it is a ganglion cyst or not.

Luckily the surgery is pretty simple if it is a ganglion cyst. They numb you up in the office & remove it. No hospital stay or anything.

So we will know more in a couple of weeks after the MRI & another visit to the specialist. And that it is a simple easy procedure. But since my husband can't be normal, who knows how this is going to turn out....

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Freaky Lady

I would have posted this yesterday, but our work internet was down when I thought about it. (Seems to be a theme in my life.)

We were driving to Ben's office the night before last & saw this crazy lady. And it really disturbed me.

We were stopped at a light in the left lane, she was in the middle lane, and there was a guy in a pickup in the right lane. Lily was in the back seat with her head out the window. All of a sudden we hear this shrieking sound. No words, just shrieking. The woman was yelling & hitting her dog. Then she would look at us & shriek. Then look at the guy in the pickup & shriek. She was raging mad about something. This continued the entire time we were at the light. At which point she peeled out of the intersection as soon as the light turned green. I just sat there to let her get in front of me.

The only thing that we could think was her dog saw Lily & did something she did not like. And that she just lost it. Bu Lily never barked or anything so who knows.

What do you do in a situation like that? She pulled out of the intersection so fast you couldn't clearly make out her licence plate & I certainly wasn't going to follow her to try & get it. Do you call the police & tell them there was a crazy lady in a blue older model sedan who was hitting her dog & shrieking at us? Technically she didn't do anything to me except creep me out.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Happy News

So I would have posted on Saturday but thanks to Qwest, our internet has been down. They can see our modem, but there is no signal going to it. Hopefully it will be fixed today though. (Of course that is what we were told yesterday too!)

The happy news is that Ben got his 1st contract on one of the properties he has listed. It was only on the market for 58 days! And it is a condo which normally takes a long time to sell. The average for condos is like 150 days! He rocks :)

He was very excited & nervous since it was his first deal. He was the agent when we bought our house, so he's been through it all before. But it is different I think when it's not for yourself.

Let's hope whatever mojo he had will help us sell our condo. One of the girls we are renting to has moved to Arizona. She was the responsible one so we decided that we will not renew the lease with the other girl. We are going to list it tonight (if we have internet access) and can hopefully sell it before the lease is up May 31. If not we will have to decide whether or not to keep it listed or get new renters.

Ah, the joys of being multiple property owners.