radioactive (wo)man!

i had my PET/CT scan yesterday. it was quite the experience. i wasn't allowed to eat that morning or drink anything besides water. after i arrived at the doctor's office and filled out a questionnaire, they hooked me up with a saline IV. the tech warned me i would be injected with radioactive material in order to produce a better picture for the PET scan.

so, the tech left to go get the radioactive material, and when he returned, he was all hazmat-ed up (not quite THAT bad), and was carrying a little lead box that looked like a lunch box. he unlocked the lead box and i peered inside. the lead walls of the box were at least two inches thick. inside the box was a large syringe encased in lead. needless to say, i was a little nervous. all this lead protection exists to protect the carrier of the radioactive material, and they want to inject this inside me??

after i was injected, i was left to sit for an hour. then, the tech returned and took me into the scan room. the PET scan basically involved me laying very still for about 30 minutes while in a small, narrow, enclosed tube (read: lindsay has a slight case of claustrophobia).

it should take a few days for the doctor to get back to me about whether the tumor on my lung has changed shape or size. until then, i get to do my favorite thing: WAIT.

out.

- L

setbacks

i had a setback last week. i'm not exactly sure why, but i woke up one morning vomiting. it continued for about the next three hours, consistently. i threw up at least 30 times that day. i was unable to eat anything or drink much, so i ended up going almost 40 hours with no food or water.

since then, i have been very weak and tired again, almost as bad as it was 6 months ago. i've had the bad pains in my legs again, and a constant feeling of lightheadedness. i basically drive only to and from work, for fear of becoming too lightheaded while driving. i'm not sure if i should just give it time to get better, or make an appointment. given the amount of $ i already owe in health care bills, i'm leaning towards the former :)

out.
- L

good news and bad news

i received the results of my blood test from the pulmonary specialist. the tests were for any traces of a viral, bacterial or fungal infection that would have caused the tumor on my lung. the doctor was expecting that i had valley fever in the past, as it is commonly found in people who live in desert climates (read: my hometown of phoenix, az) and has been known to leave abnormalities on the lungs of the infected. my test results were negative.

good news: tests came back negative, meaning i've never had valley fever or any of the other infections we were testing for.

bad news: that still doesn't explain what the hell this is. i'm due for a pet scan in about a month, so hopefully that will provide more answers.

i also received the results of the blood test my PCP ordered. we did a comprehensive blood panel plus iron and vitamin d.

good news: rbcs are normal, so i'm not anemic. vitamin d is normal again. iron made a huge jump from last time, so i'm not deficient. originally my iron was 3 (extremely low), now its 47.
normal iron for a woman my age is somewhere between 15-250. so, i'm actually normal now. well, at least in terms of iron. ;)

bad news: i still don't feel normal. so, whatever symptoms i'm experiencing that i thought were being caused by iron deficiency anemia, must be the result of something else. i still don't know what.

as a result of having very limited activity over the last 8 months, my muscles are actually starting to atrophy. i am actually physically incapable of doing much these days. i've been trying to increase my physical activity by walking, but even that is too much some days.

out.
- L

mementos

this is me:

as i've told you before, and you can plainly see, my lungs are HUGE.

i was also able to get a copy of my ct scan, where you can see the tumor much better.

those two large black circles are my lungs. the view here is if you had cut off the top of my torso and were looking down at my lungs. the white penny-sized dot on the left black circle is the tumor on my lung. it is at the very top of my left lung, where my collar bone meets my ribs.

kinda cool, huh? except for the whole tumor part.

out.
- L

my, what large LUNGS you have!

had my first appointment with the pulmonary doctor on friday. her first comment to me, after reviewing my xray and CT scan, were how beautiful my lungs are. apparently mine are just HUGE.

the doctor talked to me for a while about what may have caused the tumor on my lung. she asked about my smoking history and family history. she said it could have been caused by an infection that i didn't even know i had, like valley fever. so, to test if that is the cause, she ran some blood tests.

in three months i will have another scan to see if the tumor grew. if it did, my doctor will order a biopsy. that's where they take a needle and stab me in the chest with it to cut out a piece of the tumor. as you might expect, i'm really hoping that is not necessary.

i did get to see the results of my scan on screen. the tumor is on the upper part of my left lung, almost at the tip. it's about the size of a penny.

out.

- L

aren't you supposed to SLEEP during a sleep test??

i had my sleep test this past week. i didn't like it one bit.

i arrived at the sleep center at 9pm. 9pm is my usual bed time these days, so i showed up in my pajamas. there were a few other people there for a sleep test, and only one sleep tech, so it took her a while to get everyone wired up. since i arrived last, i was wired last. i read my book in my little room for about an hour before it was my turn. this was my room:

not much in my room except a bed, a nighstand, a few pictures hanging on the wall, and a mirror. oh, and this:

that's a camera, staring straight at the bed.

so, finally the sleep tech came in and got me all wired up for bed. the whole process took about 30 minutes. when she was done, i had 5 electrode pads on my face, another 6 on my head, 2 on my neck, 2 on my chest, 2 on my legs, 2 straps around my chest, wires in my nose, a breath sensor that sat on my lips, and a pulse reader on my right index finger.

that thing i'm holding in my left hand is the panel with all my wires. that panel was then plugged in near the bed, and i was unable to get out of bed without calling the tech to unhook me.

by the time the tech turned off the lights, it was about 11:30pm. there was no clock in the room, so the only light came from a circle of small red LED lights that surrounded the lens of that camera on the wall....a constant, eerie reminder that someone is always watching.

for the first few minutes i stared at that camera thinking how creepy it was that they were watching me lay in bed. i started to wonder if i was suddenly part of some secret government experiment. i started to imagine i was going to wake up and realize i had no idea where i had been or what had happened for the previous 12 hours.

however, then i started to remember i had electrode pads all over my head, and "they" could be reading my mind. i know you can't read minds through the electrode pads. but because i was extremely tired, in a weird room and wired to a bed, i decided it might be a good idea to think nice thoughts about aliens and government conspiracies, just in case they could read my thoughts.

i would start thinking about how creepy it was that a camera was staring at me while i had wires coming out of everywhere and was supposed to be sleeping. but then i would think, "uh oh. what if they heard me think that? i'm just kidding....it's not at all creepy that a camera is staring at me. and, i'm very comfortable with these wires on my head and in my nose. and, that sleep tech seemed like a wonderful lady. i'm not at all worried that she's going to torture me in my sleep."

eventually i must have fallen asleep, because i had some weird dreams, but i was awake for a good part of the night. finally i summoned the tech to unhook me to go to the bathroom at about 6am, and she took off the electrode pads. some of them had been taped pretty well to my face, so they took a little skin when ripped off.

i certainly hope i don't have to have another one of those soon. not very fun. i do want to mention, however, that the place i went was actually very nice and the people were very helpful. it's just a lame test that would be uncomfortable no matter where i went.

out.
- L

there's nothing disorderly about my sleep!

i had an appointment with the sleep doctor yesterday. my primary physician referred me to the sleep disorder clinic, i suspect, because he is running out of other ideas. i've always really enjoyed my beauty sleep and never had much trouble sleeping, so i was rather surprised. certainly Dog can attest to how great of a sleeper i am.



the doctor thinks my restless leg syndrome (RLS) is keeping me up at night. as i mentioned before, the low iron often causes RLS. my legs often have a tingly, almost painful feeling from the knee and below. the doctor suspects my legs continue to move throughout the night keeping me from getting the deep sleep i need.


so, we scheduled a sleep study test. that means i have to go spend the night at a clinic and get hooked up to machines. seems rather pointless - of course i won't sleep well when people are watching me sleep and monitoring my every move!

the dr. did indicate he thinks low ferritin is a part of the problem, more than my PCP has let on. it was comforting to hear that, since it's what i expected all along.

"if everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn't thinking." - Gen. Patton


- L