Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wednesday

Things have been going okay, but not the very best.  Each day is different, but I am becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of strength.  It is an issue that may just be how it is and I may need to find contentment in that.  However, I did finally call the doctor last week about it.  He felt that a switch of a medication would be warranted.

This hopefully will be a good thing, but the transition could be rough.  I have to go down, 10 mg at a time from 50 mg to 10 mg.  When I get down to the 10's, I will start the new drug at a low dose at the same time and work up week by week until I am doing better.  They would like me to go back out there after the transition to evaluate.  Not quite sure how all of that will work yet.

The hope is that the current medication does slow the body down.  I take it at night and sleep heavily and perhaps it is hindering the strengthening progress.  The new drug will be taken in the morning and has the opposite effect.  So the hope is that this medication, which has the affect of speeding the body up, will aid in improving my ability to regain strength.

The transition could be a little rough.  I've been on the 40's since last Friday night and I am beginning to feel the difference in not so great ways.  My ears are ringing loudly again and my head is feeling a little more painful.  If it helps it will be worth it.  If it doesn't and I need to go back to the old medication, it could be a trying ordeal.  After all of this being said, I am still in much better condition, headwise, than I have have been for several years.  So I know that this is something that, with the Lord's help, we will all get through.

"Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid nor dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with you, withersoever that goest."  Joshua 1:9

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Saturday evening

I have a great deal to be thankful for!  I had another ultrasound and heard from the oncologist office at JH on Friday.  He feels that the cyst that has been troublesome is collapsing!  That is wonderful news!  So that leaves me with the hydro-salpinx.  He feels that it is a lower risk so I am down to an ultra-sound every 6 months now!  Woohoo!  I was ready this time to just tell him that I am just ready to get rid of both of them but they saved me from an unnecessary surgery.  Actually the Lord divinely ordained this sequence of events and I am very thankful!

I can't remember if I mentioned in the last post, but I haven't been feeling as well.  Perhaps I am overdoing it.  The hours at the office have been longer than I probably can handle and add to that the stress there and home and perhaps that is the culprit.  I don't know.  Overall, I am still doing well.  But I am dragging and don't feel as well as I had been. 

Last night was disappointing to me.  The drill team, which Kylie is part of, performed last night at the football game.  I had gone to that town at 4:00 for Riley & Tara's eye appointments and after let them play in a park while I rested in the van.  Then we met Kyle and Kylie for the tailgate party, but by the time it was done, I was too.  I get so physically tired that I felt almost sick so I headed home and had to miss the performance.  It just was too much to wait for it to start.  I was sad, but that is just the way it is sometimes.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Thursday

Well, exhaustion continues to rule the day.  I am becoming concerned about not picking up a little more.  A full day of activity, even light activity, can put me into quite a tailspin.

I had my ultrasound on Tuesday with the gynecologist.  Unfortunately, the cyst didn't get smaller and the hydro-salpinx is still hanging out.  I haven't heard from Johns Hopkins yet although they did get the cd of the ultrasound this afternoon.  The gynecologist here walked in the door after the ultrasound and her first question in greeting was, "remind me why you haven't had these surgically removed yet?"  I reminded her of the multiple abdominal surgeries resulting in many adhesions.  She responded that they must have determined the risk of waiting must be less for me than another abdominal surgery.  In normal circumstances both would have been removed some time ago.  They will both need to be continually watched because both are a risk for cancer.  So another ultrasound is scheduled for six weeks.  She said that I would be a "serial ultra-sounder" meaning that there won't be an end in sight since both have to be watched because they both pose a risk.  I will ask more of the gynecologic oncologist but I am ready to just ask for them to remove them both so I can move on.  Another surgery would stink, but I just want to get it behind me.  So I will wait to see what he says, and I suspect my desire won't be weighed as heavily as his reasoning about the risks both ways.  So I will need to be content with the decision either way.

I am thinking about perhaps visiting a doctor to see if there is an explanation for my exhaustion.  The reality of my life is that I just don't have the time to rest the necessary amount to do okay.  With four kids and a business to run, being short of help there, etc., it is a big job for a healthy person.  I'm just not sure what to do to get myself going a little better.  Please pray for strength for me!  It has helped in a certain respect having the kids in school, but the other side of that is now all of their activities start and they each need to be at different places at different times.  So my previous thought that I would pick up when the kids started school just hasn't become a reality.