16 CT Scans and 2 many Specialist Doctor's

Eight years people Eight years of getting CT scans twice a year, I have watched the contrast go from crappy chalky looking disgusting mixed with cola, to a clear contrast in lemonade or can be mix with whatever you bring.  Huh??  That is what I said apparently I can bring whatever I want to drink to mix with my contrast…ugh News to me but apparently that has been an option for a while.   I think I may be the only Stage IV Breast Cancer patient that started treatment in the old Cancer Hospital that is now a walkway.  My jacked up Immune System and Cancer Requires, like Six Specialist doctor's all with clinic's in different locals around Chapel Hill and really none of them work on the same day. In the end only 1 gets the finally say on all treatments that would be my Oncologist.  

Scans are still NED, I actually read the result this time, and learned that I have:

Lungs:  Tiny subpleural right middle lobe nodule (4:37) is unchanged. No airspace consolidation or pleural effusion.

BONES:

Stable rounded sclerotic focus in the left glenoid, likely bone island, since the earliest available CT of December 2012.

What in the Hell is a bone island?  I guess I will have to do some googling.

More doctor’s appointments in the next two months, the month of December will bring forth the eye doctor.  My eyes are the most troubling and quickly becoming as expensive as the damage done and continued to the teeth.   I have yet to pinpoint what cause the eyes to flare, but it isn’t funny, headache, dizziness and a trip or two to the porcelain god from the nausea.  I have a feeling I have yet another infection or scratches on my cornea, not really looking forward to the trip.  After the other day I am going to have to find some good blackout curtains that match my decor, cause me and the sunrise are not good friend and it likes to disturb me by shining right on my freaking bed.

The month of January will bring forth two more appointments Dermatology and Rheumatology.   

My oncologist is concerned about some the damage my skin is getting from the prednisone and antibiotics I have to take to deal with the swelling and inflammation.  My skin I believe has become over sensitive, I literally got contact dermatitis from the tubing that delivered the contrast thru my port for my CT scan.  My oncologist thinks I may be coming allergic to the contrast as well since my left side was flushed after the scan.  I think some of the issues was the fact the Nurse that accessed my Port didn’t follow proper protocol,  normally after being accessed it is flushed with 2 saline syringes, and then the yellow syringe, and should have been flushed with 2 saline since I was getting blood drawn afterwards.  I told the male nurse when I got to the blood lab, he told me to call the nurse out next time and to tell them to follow protocol.  

Oh well, then I will be off to Rheumatology.   I am making a whole list for this appointment and hopefully I will remember to bring said list with me.  I definitely having serious issues with my feet crappy Raynaud’s and arthritis from Hades.   

Apparently from notes from my first bone scan I have degenerative arthritis in my left knee and both feet.  The cold weather is not helping the situation, the more I try to walk the more the foot acts up.  Funny thing is the pain and stiffness was originally when I would get up in the middle of the night.  Both feet are about the same but the right is little worse OK may be a lot since it hurts when you flex aka walking heal to toe.  I am pretty sure its is the arthritis and considering I had 2 surgeries on my right foot as a child may be why that foot is worse.   I have found that my flat sole wool lined boots are the most comfortable for the foot while also keeping them cozy and warm.  I need to get some fuzzy cool slippers for the house along with some fuzzy socks.

Oh and sleep where art thou?  Hopefully I will get my sleep back right now it is only a couple of hours which isn’t good.  Lack of sleep means a painfully day or days on the horizon.  Need my sleep so I can have some energy to finish organizing the workshop so I can open an ebay and etsy hop to make some extra cash.  

Frustration...Can't have one with the other

So many medications that can have adverse effects and a cocktail that hasn't been used before.  After negotiation at the end of last year I was able to get a month Predisone out of the doctor, and Predisone eye drops in an attempt to get the inflammation under control.   It got body wide inflammation under contol, gave me a little more energy but didn't help the light sensitivity in the eyes.  It wasn't till the eye doctor decided to think outside the box and put me on Monocycline, and BAM I could go outside, turn the lights on without pain it also cleared up the eczema and dermatitis.  This allowed me to be able to walk around the woods in the shade since my skin is light sensitivity due to the disease as well as the medication.

But the Monocycline doesn't help with the inflammation, itching, extreme fatigue and the neck glands swelling.  A week ago I started to have another bad flare up, my cat was sticking close by, glands started to swell, intense fatigue, waking up like I went 12 rounds with Mayweather, and itching like I rolled around in the poison Ivy.   Luckily I was able to get in touch with my doctors and get some Predisone, which meant that I can't my Monocycline which means...........ugh my eyes are starting to hurt.

So frustrating cause I Can't have one with the other....Later this month I get to meet with someone that specializes in Fibromyalgia, lets see what there opinion on the situation.  More than likely it will be some other medication, cause every freaking specialist recommends a different med Digestive, Neurology, Rhematualogy, ENT, Dermatology....problem is most of the drugs they suggest can't not be mixed...ugh

It is frustrating since we are having to do a balance act on a high wire with no new over the Grand Canyon.  Sjogren's is a royal pain the rear and is exasperated/complicated by the lasting side effects and changes caused by the Aggressive Treatment from countless surgeries, chemo and radiation.  Don't judge a book comes to mind, the jacket cover may be new (young) but the pages are old and frail.   Chemo ages the body internal and is more than likely what triggered the Sjogren's which is usually diagnosed in woman AFTER menopause.  When you are subjected to Chemo it puts you into menopause that may or may not be permanent.  For my case it wasn't permanent, but the damage had been done my immune system began systematical attacking my body.

Though looking back thru my childhood, school, college, and summer camp there were signs of the Sjogren's, I have surmised I am allergic to city life.  Moving back to Small Town USA to our family land which way back in the day was a farm surrounded by trees fixed my sinus.  I thought it was Pollen but all the sinus draining and pressure disappeared the farther away from the capital I went.  What is even crazier is it instantly returns once I get close to the Triangle, hmmm wonder if the Triangle is like the Bermuda Triangle shit goes hay wire once you get in it...lol...

Still have to figure out to pay for much needed dental work, since I currently don't have dental insurance like it really does any good the bill is going to be astronomical since I have to get a specialist.  Also got to find some discounts for my prescriptions so I can get all of the them instead of picking and choosing especially the items for my skin and eyes which is expensive.

Eye Anatomy and Disorders: An in-depth look at to my latest Dx

Eye Anatomy and Disorders:  An in-depth look at to my latest Dx

Since Carolina seems to like to give degrees out (sorry I had too), I should be a Doctor by now, with free parking and a salary.

As many now I have been battling one thing after another since 12/2007 when I stepped on the UNC Hospital Grounds.  I never really liked science I even figured out how to get out of High School Chemistry and still managed to get accepted to State, UNC-Wilmington, Charlotte and UNC, by taking Marine Biology instead and believe or not it was harder to get into State which was the last school I got into cause dummy me picked the School of Design as my first choice luckily they had started a new program 1^st year college that had space.   Well back to the topic, Medical Terminology and learning the diseases, treatments, and reading medical journals and studies.

Both my cancer Triple Negative Breast Cancer and autoimmune disease Sjogren ’s syndrome are newer discovered disease’s which doctors are still studying and learning.   From what I have learned from fellow patients and recent studies there may be a correlation between Breast Cancer and Autoimmune Disorders.   My case seems to be one that other now has other doctor’s pouring over my file according to my oncologist. 

I have had a few questions about terminology and why cauterization.  So today’s lesson is an overview of eye structure and definition of my dx

First let’s take a look at the Structure of the Eye:

  http://www.patient.co.uk/health/dry-eyes-leaflet

Dx. 1 Posterior blepharitis- this issue involves the Meiomian gland as noted in Figure 2 at the bottom, according to dry-eyes-leaflet, the gland is responsible for making an olly liquid called Lipid which covers the outer layer of the tear film.  This layer of the eye is supposed to reduce evaporation of the watery tears and keep the tear surface smooth.

Sjogren’s is an autoimmune disorder that loves to cause inflammation and destroy glands within the body.  As we learned early in science water plays a vital role within the human body, according to the USCG “Up to 60% of the human adult body is water.”  

http://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html

In laymen terms my immune system is attacking (inflaming) the Melomian Gland that is responsible for lubricating my eye

Cells of the conjunctiva at the front of the eye and inner part of the eyelids also make a small amount of mucus-like fluid. This allows the watery tears to spread evenly over the surface of the eye.

The tears then drain down small channels (canaliculi) on the inner side of the eye into a tear sac. From here they flow down a channel called the tear duct (also called the nasolacrimal duct) into the nose.”  http://www.patient.co.uk/health/dry-eyes-leaflet

Part 2: Coming soon: Steps that lead to Cauterization and how it is done preview