The heads are back!!!

I'm so excited not only to just see the heads, but there's also a new one!  Thanks, Sara!  I still can't see the heads on my laptop, but when I checked from my desktop from work, they were right there!  So something screwy must be going on with my computer.

Here's the first blog that I wrote for tonight:

Well, it's the same old story. A bunch of tests, a bunch of negatives. No diagnosis, no nothin'.  If it weren't for the fact that the tests have also been ruling out a whole lot of bad stuff, I'd be so depressed that I'd gouge my eyes out with a fork.  Yes, folks, it's THAT disappointing.

They compared last week's MRI and MRA of my brain with ones done in 2008. The left middle cerebral artery is slightly irregular. That can indicate anything from a major stroke to tiny TIAs. Having a few tiny TIAs and not realizing it would be no surprise. However, the emphasis is on the word "slightly". So slight that it's not going to be a even a blip on my worry list.

There were also some white matter changes. This can indicate things like Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, ALS, Parkinson's' disease, and my personal favorite, Alzheimer's disease. But 9.999999999999999 times out of 10 in someone my age, they're just age related changes. They're not on the worry list either.

The bone scan was good. At least that's in my favor. I am living proof that taking Vitamin D and Calcium supplements really help because I get very little Calcium in my diet. I don't drink milk. I don't like yogurt and cottage cheese and things of that nature. So take those supplements, ladies!

Anywho, Dr. OhMyAchyBody is going to confer with Dr. YesIAmTheClevelandClinic to decide whether I should now have my parotid glands biopsied. I also start on the Topamax tonight to see if it will help the pain without messing me up some other way.  There's also the TB test this afternoon, which I have no doubt will also come back negative.

In the meantime, I will be holed up in my room tonight, rocking back and forth, feeling sorry for myself, and singing "Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me" under my breath between slugs of Diet Pepsi and massive mouthfuls of chocolate. Then tomorrow, I'll get up, put my big girl pants on and start the battle again because there's one thing I know for sure.  It could be a lot worse.

The second blog I wrote was really doom and gloom, so I decided to go with the first one.  But I must say that I'm not as down about it all as I thought I'd be.  Ginger and I had a fabulous dinner at Through the Garden in Blue Ash.  She listened and just let me talk and get a lot off my chest.  Then she said all the right things, bless her.  So as I sit here now, I'm doing pretty well, just feeling a little disappointment.  And like I said, I know it could be a whole lot worse.

So, I got the TB test at 4:30 this afternoon.  Within 2 minutes of the test, I got the tingles and the itchies from head to toe.  I think I had a tiny allergic reaction to the serum or maybe that's what normally happens.  Either way, it was over quickly.  I go back Thursday at 4:30 again for the results.  When this test comes back negative, I'll celebrate it.  I'll be very happy not to have TB!  The test was interesting.  The last time I was checked for TB, the nurse used a thing that resembled a gun and shot the stuff into my arm.  That was many years ago.  This time, it's just a normal syringe and she inserted about an inch of the needle just under the skin.  Didn't hurt at all, which I really appreciated.  I haven't developed a fear of needles yet and I don't want to now.

I actually felt like doing my laundry tonight, so I must leave now and move the loads along.  Have a great evening!  Always remember and never forget. . . . .oh, never mind.  I forgot what I was going to say. :-)

Well, that just sucks eggs!

Do you know what happens when you go 3 months without blogging?  All of your Followers' little heads disappear!  That blows!  My blogger dashboard still says that I have my fabulous 4 followers, but all their heads are gone.  Bummer.  Take a little break while your body falls apart and the next thing you know, the Followers list is blank.  But maybe now that I'm posting something again, they'll miraculously reappear.  I tell you, you just can't trust technology.  If it can't feed me or bathe me in chocolate, I don't trust it.

I see we're all still here after the Rapture didn't happen on Saturday.  I was just starting to feel a little bit smug about that this morning when I heard about the tornado damage and lives lost in Joplin, Missouri on Sunday.  Took the bite right out of me.  Then, I got all paranoid wondering if maybe the date was wrong by just one day.

So we're up to 69 tubes of blood now and I've filled the little cup two more times.  Tomorrow afternoon, I'm getting a TB test, and sometime tomorrow I'll get the results of last week's tests.  I spent the day at Christ Hospital last Tuesday getting lit up with nuclear medicine, then having a full body bone scan, and finally having an MRI and then an MRA of my brain.  It was a busy day, you know?  I just stayed at the hospital all day since I had to report there at 11:00, 2:00, and 5:30.  I had lunch there and took a book to read.  I also had a half hour nap.

Nope, I don't know what all they're looking for.  Evidently, no brain tumors or anything cancerous looking showed up, or they would have notified me long before now.  So that's something to be mighty thankful for.  But I do hope something shows up that gives us a diagnosis.  I've been at this for 13 months now and all I get is more pain and more tired.  I'm ready to get off this train.

On the Happy Front, though, the better half and I are headed to New York City next week for a few days of fun and no doctors.  I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that.

I've been trying to come up with something funny to say, but my humorous bone doesn't seem to be working. :-)  I haven't been posting much because I'm just too tired, so it may be another 3 months before I'm back again.  (Except I will get on here tomorrow night and post the test results.)

Thank you all for hanging in there with me!