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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Going Topless

Yep, today I was topless. I bet  I got your attention now! =0  Today I had my first mammogram. Not sure if I should celebrate or not. At least now it gives me something in common with other women. We can swap stories. I have two maternal aunts with BC so I had been thinking about it for a long time. I guess I spent the last 6 years worrying about my lower half and I finally got around to the top half.

I have heard horror stories for years about how much it hurts when they squeeze your bbs. Well today was the day to finally find out. I decided to be nice to myself and I took the whole day off from work. Why not? I thought who knows if the dr gets back up etc, I do not want to worry about getting back late.

I got there and discovered that this image place was just for mammograms.  Everyone was very nice. I got my gown on which opened in the front. I went in and the nurse knew it was my first time. I felt like I was getting initiated. She walked me through everything. Then she said that for some women it was the most excruciating pain ever and others don't blink.....OK well thanks for that warning.  She did not know my IF history. She has no idea how many times I had had my cervix messed with for procedures and that is a real nasty pain.

I was feeling shy. It was funny to me that I have had my lower bits exposed millions of times so I don't care, but the top half was different. She grabbed my boob and put it on the plate. Then she squeezed it in a vice.......YEP a vice. It did not really hurt like a pain, but it hurt like a giant pinch. Thankfully the pinch only lasted for a short time. She did four different poses. So she kept grabbing boobs and moving them around. It was not fun, but considering it might save my life it was not that bad at all. I have had way worse. When I got dressed I saw red marks all over my chest.

She showed me the photos. From what I can tell they looked fine, but who knows. The tech is not legally allowed to interpret the scans. She said I would get a call back for another scan or a letter stating it was fine in the mail. 

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Another Mystery Smell

There is really nothing else going on. I don't really want to write about the 3 day state math exam we had to give this week. So, yes, I am going to write about a mystery smell and hope that I  make someone laugh.

I started to smell something slightly funky downstairs. Of course DH did not smell a thing. I took out the garbage but it did not really have that smell. I lit candles and sprayed febreeze. It got a little better. I was hoping it was just the garbage lingering. The next day, I smelled it again. It started to get stronger. My downstairs is almost all open so the smell was everywhere. It was not really strong, but it was really gross.

I was getting to that point where I had no idea what it was and I was worried that something died. I kept lighting candles and spraying etc. Then I went on a mad cleaning spree to check for anything in my house that it could be. I found nothing.

The next day my dh opened the freezer and there it was.........OMG  It was weird bc things in the freezer do not usually smell rotten. I also clean out the fridge every week, so  I had no leftovers. I decided to take everything out and clean. I was in the fridge but I could not tell what it was. I started to take things out and then it hit me.......OMG

It was a small container of black beans that I had opened a few days ago. They were in a plastic container with a screw top. It was so gross, that I had to take it outside to open the container. I probably should have just thrown the whole thing out. EWWWWWWWWWW what a foul smell.

I checked online, I guess beans only last in the fridge for a few days. I thought they would be ok for a week.
WHO KNEW?????

I was trying to be healthy by  having  salad for lunch. I would open a can of beans on Sunday and put them in the container. I had several small containers of various items like celery, tomatoes, carrots, peppers etc.  Then I would put some of each item on my salad every day in the morning before work.

I am too grossed out to eat beans for awhile.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Surgery Number 7

So after taking a long break. I decided that I was well rested. I went back for surgery number 7. This one was the easiest so far bc it was just a simple hysteroscopy. Let's call it a spring cleaning.

I had my first hysteroscopy four years ago when they found uterine polyps. I had my second one last year and again they found micro polyps all over. This time they found about 6 larger polyps. I am not sure if this is better or worse than having tons of micro poylps.With the micro polyps you need to get scraped out which causes more pain and bleeding afterwards. This time with them being larger, he was able to cut them out, so I had minimal bleeding.

The procedure went really smooth. Being that it was number 7, I was well prepared. I got dressed in my rubber soled slippers, drawstring pajama pants and shirt, and a zip up sweatshirt.  We got there and everything went on schedule. I also made sure DH was prepared to sit around and wait. I had to pack him an activity bag with snacks, paper/pen, music, laptop etc. I wanted him to remain calm and not get grumpy.

I had to answer them same list of questions over and over from different people. For the first time when they asked me if I was allergic to anything, I had to say Dillaudid. Last year I got a mega rash from head to toe from it. I also mentioned that most times, something made me vomit despite them telling me they put something in my IV to prevent that. I got thinking about it, I asked them if I could go easier on the pain med. My GI system is very sensitive to narcotic pain meds, and I think that is what really makes me sick.

The anesthesiologist was really great. She listened to my concerns. She said she would go really light on the sleep meds, not use narcotics unless really needed. She said they would use a stronger local block.

When I woke up I was alert and pain free. I was still in the OR and my legs were still up which meant my bottom was out in the open. I was still groggy but BRRRR it was cold. I could not complain bc I requested that they go light with my meds.

After that it was great. I had the best transition ever. In recovery, they gave me a heated blanket. After a short while, I was able to just go back to my room, eat my crackers, drink my ginger ale, pee and go home. No pain, no nausea, no vomiting, no rash. It was great to be able to just wake up and get ready to go.

I got home and felt fine. I had taken the next day off just in case I was ill or in pain. So today is a bonus for me.

I am glad that I decided to do this. The Dr said that it was worth it. My DH calls them cave trolls and I am glad they are gone, at least for now. The dr said they will just grow back. I have had them out three times in six years. He said the quickest he saw them come back was 2 months. So my dh and I better get busy. Well after the two week  BD ban is  over from the Dr.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Not So Annual, Annual Exam


About two weeks ago I went to get my annual gyn check up. It had been awhile so I thought it would be good to get back into the habit. When I got there the Dr told me it had been four years............ The whole thing was pretty routine. You know the drill. I was hoping to just focus on my health and not have to bring up IF.

When the Dr came in, she asked me if I was SA. I started to laugh and said, well I am married so my DH hopes the answer is yes. She asked me if I was TTC, I reluctantly told her that I can't have children. Then she asked me about what I have tried...........UGH I should have made something crazy up....but I went over the list again. I know she was just trying to be helpful, but I was not there for advice, I made it clear on my form that I was only there for a health checkup. Next time, I will have to write, please don't ask me about TTC.

I started to tell her that one positive outcome of my IF was that I discovered I had multiple blood clotting disorders. She wanted to know their names and write them in my chart. I was not prepared for that. I told her that I have a huge binder at home full of my info, but it did not occur to me to bring it. She knew two of them. I could not remember the others.

She said if the test was bad, she would call me and if it was good they would mail it to me. It has been about two weeks, I have no idea how long it is supposed to take. ERGH

It had been about 6 months since I had an US at the clinic so I did not ask for one at the gyn visit. Personally, I think they should scan everyone at least every few years to check for fibroids etc. I had a huge one pressing on my bladder and had no idea until I went for my first US when I was having issues TTC 6 years ago.  In the future I will ask for one to make sure nothing grew back.

I did ask her for a mammogram script. Being that I am 36 and have two Aunts with BC, I thought I should start. She gave me the script and I have to call to make the apt.