The Good and the Bad…

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Yesterday I had my follow-up appointment with Dr. Hand-man, and for now the Carpal Tunnel & DaQuarvein’s Syndrome surgery on my right hand only is a “go” for December 20th. The pain has improved some, but I’ve now learned that once you have Carpal Tunnel, it never really goes completely away. It might improve, your symptoms might subside, but it will come back easily. With writing, typing, and knitting – it isn’t going to go away. The CTS on my left hand is still mild though, so for now we are leaving that hand alone. It is just the right hand going under the knife. Well, scheduled to go under the knife.

Dr. Hand-man has already instructed me that he wants me to knit as much as I want after my surgery because it is very soothing and good for you. He is obviously a smart doctor. He has also cleared me to knit before the surgery, because it won’t do me any harm. He was amused when I told him that if it starts to bother me, I knit with the needle propped up on my splint. Amazing what you can do when you’re determined.

After my appointment yesterday I came home, talked with Mike & Jason, took pictures of the lizard I caught for Jason, and just unwound. When Jason went upstairs, I realized I needed to do my Algebra homework right away, because if I waited, I was going to crash. Boy, was I right. Within minutes of wrapping it up, I told Mike I simply had to go rest “for a few minutes” because I felt queazy and exhausted. I vaguely remember him trying to wake me up two or three times. I slept from 6:30 – 9:45. I felt so bad – I had him tell my Mom I would call her back right after I finished my homework, and instead I ended up calling her at almost 10:00. I missed helping Jason study more for his Algebra test. I woke up in a fog, confused about what time it was and it took awhile for the haze to go away.

I stayed up until close to midnight, but I was fighting off sleep the whole time so I went back to bed and was plagued instead by weird dreams. I hate it when that happens.

I should be wide awake and spunky after getting 10 hours of sleep last night, but I’m not. I finally discovered why around 11:30 this morning.

I had the echo scheduled for 8am this morning. I showed up a few minutes early, only to be informed by the receptionist that the tech that does them had to go out of town and they had called the house yesterday to let me know the appointment was cancelled. Mike was working from home yesterday, so I have no idea why we missed the call, but whatever. It worked out ok because I had already planned to drop in on the Mom’s group brunch afterwards, so this way I was able to make the first half at least. I didn’t eat though, because I was going to see Dr. Belly at 11:00 am, and if he wanted to do any tests that required fasting, I wanted to be able to do them today. I can’t really miss my classes in the next two weeks, because we only have 3 class sessions left in each class. (Wow, I can’t believe the semester is almost over!)

When I got to Dr. Belly’s office, his nurse checked my blood pressure (128/74! Wheee!) and then she checked my temperature. 100.9! No wonder I felt like crap! My normal temp is around 97.4 (I charted it a few months ago for a mini-experiment, so I know it is normally low), so a temp of close to 101 is really high for me. I never run a fever. When I do, I feel like I have been knocked on my butt for days. So studying for my upcoming tests & finals should be fun!

Dr. Belly examined, well, my belly. He agreed that the pain definitely indicated a gallbladder issue, and ordered some more tests. I now have more tests next Friday – I’ll start the day off with a fasting ultrasound of my gallbladder, followed by a Hida scan (both for Dr. Belly), followed by drinking some absolutely vile looking contrast stuff (mmmmm… berry flavor!) and then after an hour and a half, a CT scan of my kidneys and left ovary (for Dr. Has-a-Clue). Fortunately, the doctors are willing to share information – so no one wants more blood work drawn after my 17 tests on Wednesday. Dr. Has-a-Clue will share them with both Dr. Belly and Dr. Hand-man (so nothing else before the surgery other than clearance from Dr. Has-a-Clue.) Then on December 13th it is back to Dr. Belly to get the results. Of course, if he says I need surgery it will trump the hand surgery on the 20th. Sharp, piercing pains in my abdomen when I eat most foods is not fun anymore.

Hmm, I wonder if they can coordinate and do them both at the same time? I mean – one operating room, one Dr. Sleepy to knock me out, one round of pain meds – that would save money and resources, right? I’ll have to ask if it comes up. Never hurts to ask.

I realized today just how much the stress is getting to me. I came close to crying at least 3 times at the Mom’s brunch as I talked to people, and ended up losing it during the prayer circle. Of course, I never do well in those situations – I get all choked up, my voice cracks, and before I know it the tears are running. Today was especially moving for me. Then I lost it again later on as I talked to my Mom.

I just don’t want to deal with any of it.

But then I take a deep breath and look around me once again at all the people who are going through so much more. I’m grateful for having good insurance. I’m grateful for having access to good doctors. I’m grateful for having such a supportive network of family and friends. I’m grateful.

But for tonight, I’m also tired. I think that after I do a little more homework (I have a Chemistry quiz on Monday, Algebra test on Tuesday, and Chemistry test on Wednesday), and eat something mellow for dinner, I’ll curl up on the couch and finish up my current knitting project. I got to wrap up a few Christmas gifts earlier today over at Katy’s house, learning what I needed to complete one gift and getting help with another, so that is one more thing off my plate. Maybe we’ll get the Christmas tree out and ready so it can go up in the next day or two. I love looking at the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree.