this week in health

Pumpkin plant in back yard with male flower...still waiting for female flowers to bloom!!

Thanks for your comments on the Burda rufflicious dress.  I wore it to work on Tuesday; the ruffle was a big hit.  It definitely needs bra strap holders, though.  The weight of the ruffle pulls the dress to the left, exposing the right bra strap.   

No sewing this weekend as I did chores yesterday and went to a 6 hour silent meditation retreat today.  The program I am doing is Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, though I'm taking the class in Princeton, not Massachusetts.  It's an 8 week program.   I have two more classes to go.  It's a great class and have found it helpful for dealing with my chronic pain, though today my back was screaming through the class.  Often the meditation reduces my back pain but not today!

So last Sunday night my left cheek started feeling numb, like I gone to the dentist and had novacaine.  Such a weird feeling, which lasted through early Wed morning.   Plus my arm was numb on and off, and my lightheadedness continued much of the week.   I called my PCP Monday morning who was able to get my appt with a neurologist moved up from Aug 16 to Wednesday afternoon.   The neurologist asked me how I was doing, and I said, "I'm a little freaked out" and he replied, "awwww...".  He also looks like a grandfatherly teddy bear with a white beard and white hair. He may be the most calm doctor I've ever been to, and his office was efficiently run.  My appt was for 12:30 and, get this, he actually came into the room at 12:30!!!

He did some of the same tests as my PCP and some new ones (Hold your hands out, palms up, eyes closed, and drew numbers on my hands, what were they?)   He ordered an MRI of my brain with contrast to rule out MS, bloodwork for things like vitamin E and lymes disease, and 3 evoked potential tests.  I had the blood drawn Friday (results??? but wow I was lightheaded for that test, and the phlebotomist had trouble drawing blood and now I'm bruised there--first time that's ever happened) and will have the evoked potential tests Tuesday afternoon.  I'm waiting to hear back from their office with the authorization code from my insurance company so that I can then schedule the MRI.    He said depending on the test results I might have to have other MRIs or a spinal tap.  Eek on the spinal tap.  Let's avoid that at all costs shall we??  I don't see him again til Aug 25, his first available, to discuss results. 

Yesterday I felt the best I have in two weeks!  No numbness nor lightheadedness.

As for my abdominal pain, I saw my gyno for the annual exam on Monday.  He says my pain is too high for it to be related to my reproductive organs but he could order a pelvic ultrasound if I wanted.  I said yes, so I'm to call on the first day of my period and get the u/s scheduled for about a week later.  He thinks my pain is either muscular or that I'm really sensitive to my pelvic kidney.

I never heard back from the surgeon about my CT results.  Well, she had said if the CT was clean to see my gyno for a pelvic u/s or go to a gastroenterologist for a scope.  I'm thinking of letting that go for awhile since my CT was clean as noted in this post (though the gyno noted that the CT scan results didn't mention the uterus or ovaries and that normally they do).  Anyway,  I haven't had bad ab pain since the day I wrote my frustration post.

So yesterday I slept in and took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  Subsequently I was wide awake at midnight, after watching, ahem, Say Yes to the Dress Bridesmaids edition and some other drivel.  I probably didn't fall asleep til 1am.  I'm trying not to lie down til bedtime tonight otherwise I will have a gigantic nap...

Princeton Farmer's Market flowers for this week, my happy, happy black and green eyed susans (with some flowers left over from the week before).



Be well and good night!