The reason.........
I've been meaning to put this together for quite some time, but it's just now come to my attention just how important this stuff is going to be. Both for my doctors and for my family to be aware of what is going on with me.
We're really just getting back in to tracking this whole process again, but I should start with why I am where I am this week first and foremost.
I wasn't feeling to well on about the 20th of July and knew that I had to get in to see a doctor soon. I had been putting it off for quite some time now with all the stress of work and just making sure that I didn't let this sickness get in the way of my livelihood and day to day goings on.
But I was just planning on a nice relaxing weekend and ended being asked to come in to discuss a few projects with the boss on that Saturday. I woke up and my neck was really swollen right on the center near my adams apple. No tumor or anything, just inflammation or an infection. My shoulders were a bit sore and my neck was very tight. I took a hot shower, relaxed a bit, went in to work for a few hours, came home and took another nap. I just relaxed the rest of the weekend, knowing that my appointment was for that Monday. By Sunday I was still a bit sore, but I was able to manage and still be able to get thru it for one more day.
Honestly though, by Monday I was really hurting.
Tiffany went with me and was great for filling in all of the blanks that I had forgotten to fill in during the exam. Well, what had turned out to a 'general checkup' had now turned in to "This is pretty serious Aaron, we need to start some tests right away."
** Sidebar ** This has become pretty relavent with all of my doctors. When I get to a new one, I never have all the info that they need at the time. So the first time they see it the first reaction is 'It's lymphoma'!! Well, after they see the test results, they are usually satisfied.
Problem with this is that over the years, no one has really been able to explain what was going on with me.
OK, so I am in the doctors on Monday and my blood pressure is elevated and my pulse is as well. I hadn't eaten well the whole weekend so they wanted me to fast and have some blood work! Good thing for me, I had been fasting for over 48 hours with just fluids in my system. I went right down and had the chest x-ray and the blood work done. My resisdent doctor was concerned but wanted me to just go home rest on some of the medications she had me on for both stress and for an antibiotic and she would call me back with the results.
Well, it took a bit of time to get home but by the time I had fill my prescriptions (10 total) and get home, she had called 7 times to talk to me. Well, her office was closed, but took my number and called me around 8pm that night to tell me that they wanted me in immediately for a CT scan the next morning, for my lungs. Done deal, tests were taken and again, shows what they already think, lymphoma. But no cancer markers in my blood at all.
The disease is called pulmonary sarcoidosis (click the name to go read more on it) And I pretty much show all the signs, minus just a few of them.
So I went back in yesterday and they wanted to take a CT scan of my neck as well, they wanted to see if it had spread. This is where it does become interesting. I had never had my neck really looked at, but my lymph nodes were always swollen lately in my arm pits and my neck. Well, it looks like that 'possibly' they have attached (the sarcoidosis) from my right lung to the lymph node on my left neck side.
So I'm on a heavy dosage of prednizone for now until they can get all the doctors notes and x-rays and ct scans so they can compare them. So, it's a wait and see game.
One things for sure, this steroid (prednisone - press the name to learn more about it as well) is making me have the munchies like crazy! I haven't eaten like this in years!!
The dosages are way crazy for me, but I guess I'm going to have to start learning. I'm at 6 pills a day for 5 days, then its 5 pills for 5 days, so on and so forth! Gonna be a wild ride!!
Again, this isn't really anything more than a personal diary for me to start keeping track daily of how I have felt.
We're really just getting back in to tracking this whole process again, but I should start with why I am where I am this week first and foremost.
I wasn't feeling to well on about the 20th of July and knew that I had to get in to see a doctor soon. I had been putting it off for quite some time now with all the stress of work and just making sure that I didn't let this sickness get in the way of my livelihood and day to day goings on.
But I was just planning on a nice relaxing weekend and ended being asked to come in to discuss a few projects with the boss on that Saturday. I woke up and my neck was really swollen right on the center near my adams apple. No tumor or anything, just inflammation or an infection. My shoulders were a bit sore and my neck was very tight. I took a hot shower, relaxed a bit, went in to work for a few hours, came home and took another nap. I just relaxed the rest of the weekend, knowing that my appointment was for that Monday. By Sunday I was still a bit sore, but I was able to manage and still be able to get thru it for one more day.
Honestly though, by Monday I was really hurting.
Tiffany went with me and was great for filling in all of the blanks that I had forgotten to fill in during the exam. Well, what had turned out to a 'general checkup' had now turned in to "This is pretty serious Aaron, we need to start some tests right away."
** Sidebar ** This has become pretty relavent with all of my doctors. When I get to a new one, I never have all the info that they need at the time. So the first time they see it the first reaction is 'It's lymphoma'!! Well, after they see the test results, they are usually satisfied.
Problem with this is that over the years, no one has really been able to explain what was going on with me.
OK, so I am in the doctors on Monday and my blood pressure is elevated and my pulse is as well. I hadn't eaten well the whole weekend so they wanted me to fast and have some blood work! Good thing for me, I had been fasting for over 48 hours with just fluids in my system. I went right down and had the chest x-ray and the blood work done. My resisdent doctor was concerned but wanted me to just go home rest on some of the medications she had me on for both stress and for an antibiotic and she would call me back with the results.
Well, it took a bit of time to get home but by the time I had fill my prescriptions (10 total) and get home, she had called 7 times to talk to me. Well, her office was closed, but took my number and called me around 8pm that night to tell me that they wanted me in immediately for a CT scan the next morning, for my lungs. Done deal, tests were taken and again, shows what they already think, lymphoma. But no cancer markers in my blood at all.
The disease is called pulmonary sarcoidosis (click the name to go read more on it) And I pretty much show all the signs, minus just a few of them.
So I went back in yesterday and they wanted to take a CT scan of my neck as well, they wanted to see if it had spread. This is where it does become interesting. I had never had my neck really looked at, but my lymph nodes were always swollen lately in my arm pits and my neck. Well, it looks like that 'possibly' they have attached (the sarcoidosis) from my right lung to the lymph node on my left neck side.
So I'm on a heavy dosage of prednizone for now until they can get all the doctors notes and x-rays and ct scans so they can compare them. So, it's a wait and see game.
One things for sure, this steroid (prednisone - press the name to learn more about it as well) is making me have the munchies like crazy! I haven't eaten like this in years!!
The dosages are way crazy for me, but I guess I'm going to have to start learning. I'm at 6 pills a day for 5 days, then its 5 pills for 5 days, so on and so forth! Gonna be a wild ride!!
Again, this isn't really anything more than a personal diary for me to start keeping track daily of how I have felt.
posted by Aaron at
6:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home