.....next time I have surgery......I'm sending the kids, the bf and the cat to my Mom's for the week so I can get some rest!!! LOL! Either they're hungry, they can't find something or they need me to come look at something. LOL, Why is it when your not well, kids try and see how many times they can get you out of bed?? Last night I finally threatened them with sentences...Yes, I make my kids write for punishment!! Then this morning I decided they were going to go and do manual labor instead!! :) My neighbor now has a nicely mowed yard, free of charge!! But, it's ok....Tomorrow is Monday and they'll all be in school, so I'll have a day of peace and quiet......maybe......still have that cat of mine to deal with:) You know Otis has been trying to sleep on my chest all week! LOL, 20lbs of fur ball does not feel pleasant sitting on your fresh incisions!! Especially at 4am in the morning!!

So, I'm feeling ok. The incision is starting to itch and I was finally able to take my bra off today. I know....you really needed to know that, huh. But, for real, I HATE BRAS!! I'd never wear one again if I could get away with it.....but I can't......Wouldn't want to embarrass the kids or anything, LOL!! But Seriously~ It was so nice to finally take it off and let my babies breathe! (In case you wondering, I've been wearing it 24-7 since I had surgery, per doctors orders!)

OK...That's about it for now.........Just wanted to vent about the kids and let ya know I'm much happier now that I'm 'free' LMAO!!!

:)

Dysautonomia, Body Temp and Surgery.

OK....So yesterday, when I had surgery, I was surprised to see that they have a new policy where they have to monitor your temperature during surgery. It's this little disk that has a sticky side that they put in your armpit, and it has a cord that attaches to their machine. I had no irritation with it, so that was nice. But here's the thing. I do remember waking up after surgery, still really 'high' and looking around the room. And I do believe I was reading the monitor that had the recordings from surgery.....and if I'm right, my temperature dropped to 91 degrees. I'm definitely going to have to see if I can't track those records down, cause I'm really interested in how a dysautonomia patient differs from a regular patient on the OR table. I know I have internal temperature issues.....and I've been told I sweat on the OR table. I also get the night sweats, and my under arms always seem wet.....and I've even tried prescription strength deodorants with no good results. I sweat if I'm too warm, and I sweat when I'm too cold. So, back to surgery........last night, I decided to do a little research on line to find out what happens with your temp when you have surgery, and I found that it does drop a degree or 2, but that's it. Anything under 95 was considered hypothermia~ feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

OK, so before I forget....the anesthesiologist knew what dysautonomia was!! I must say it was nice not to have to explain it.........


So here's my question......how do patients with dysautonomia differ from regular patients when they are on the OR table. Has anyone else ever experienced any of this? Have any doctors ever experienced other patients with dysautonomia doing that in the OR? I'm just curious to see how it works for other people.

On another note....I'm doing pretty good today. My breast doesn't hurt anymore than it did before surgery, so that's nice. And actually it probably hurts less now than it did before. Hence, that's why I went ahead with this, cause I'm tired of the pain it caused me. So hopefully, this is all signs of good news:)

Surgery went Fine!!

So, I'm home....and doing good. Surgery went well....the surgeon feels like she got it all....so we will see. Did you know today is 09-09-09.....And in the world of numerology...that means completion! So...hopefully this is the last time I have to mess with this issue......And I didn't lose to much of my Boob!! Woo-who!! And this surgeon is really clean......the scar I had from last year you could barley see this year....so hopefully this scar will do the same. For now though, my boob is covered in superglue~ no stitches that I can see, which also helps with scarring.....The doctors 'super-glued' it together, not me:) And well....other than the charge nurse recognizing me......LMAO~ People should not look familiar in the OR, LOL! So......I'm off to go eat some soup......and sleep

Talk to you soon!

Cleared for Surgery:)

Just wanted to say I got my cardiac clearance for Surgery on Wednesday. I knew I would...and actually the doctor told me he had already sent them a letter, but would send another. Tuesday morning I plan on calling the doctors office to make sure they have received it, and if not, I'm going to drive back out to the heart doc office and get a copy myself. Hopefully though, they already have it, and I can relax and mentally prepare for surgery.

So, the original reason I had this appointment was to discuss a new medicine. The last time I was there, he said he had some medical journals sitting on his desk that he wanted to read, and asked me if I could come back in a month. We were talking about switching medicine to see if it would help with my symptoms. So....when I went in the other day, he had read the materials and told me about what he found. This new medicine is a beta-blocker? that seems to be making a difference 'in people like me'......However You can't get it in the USA. I think he said it wasn't approved by the FDA yet......but encouraged me to find out what I could on it. I have not yet, but hope to soon. The medicine is called IVABRADINE....and this may be the generic name. Once I find out more, I will let you know. but if there is anyone who knows about this or anyone in the UK or Canada that can find out anything on this for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Ok, That's it for now. I'm sure I'll be back soon.
:)

Surgery has been rescheduled! UGG!!

So! Remember when I said, 'If all goes as planned'.......Yeah! I knew this was coming, but for a moment I thought that maybe something would go smoothly in my life. So the other day when the anesthesiologist nurse called to ask me the routine questions...we got into a bit of a disagreement. She was asking me questions, that I assume now, were meant to have Yes or No answers...and well...nothing is yes or no in my life! She asked me if I got out of breathe walking up 2 flights of stairs, and I said sometimes. Sometimes I do get out of breathe, it just depends on the kinda of day I'm having. She asked if I ever get chest pains...and again my answer was sometimes. Sometimes I do get wicked chest pain.....most days I do not. But I can't say simply Yes or No. LOL, She kept telling me they were not acceptable answers, and I asked her if she wanted me to lie to her or something?? So, then she told me that I might need Cardiac approval to have surgery. Now, I've never had surgery at this hospital, and that was weirding me out to begin with...but now the nurses are giving me crap over my heart. I have a healthy heart, it just has electrical problems. *Oh, and when I told her I had 3 ablations on my heart, and now it was going to fast, she told me that ablation were suppose to fix that problem. It really annoys me when people assume they know everything about the human body. There are a 'few' of us out there that have these dysfunctional bodies, and can Not be put in the same classification as other people. And I for one, do not have the energy to sit on the phone and re-educate these people. But part of me wants to have access to something that is printed that can be sent to these people to better understand what Dysautonomia is. Just wondering if anyone else who has this, ever runs into problems with people who think they know how it's suppose to be?!

So, When I didn't hear anything back from the hospital, I naturally assumed they had what they needed....well, until my doctor's office called me late yesterday evening to tell me that the hospital wouldn't do surgery until I had a letter in writing from my heart doc. Good Lord! Luckily I have an appointment Friday with my heart doc......and now my surgery has been pushed to next Wednesday...at a different hospital, btw, lol!!! If they don't feel 'confident' I don't feel confident! And I will go somewhere where they know me!

Number 18

Well....if all goes as planned.....Tuesday I will be having surgery to remove this 'mass' in my breast. I spoke with the surgeon yesterday, and told her I want it gone! I'm done messing with it!! It's just one more thing that drives me batty! However, It does suck that I'll be losing another chunk out of my boob! Not really trying to get emotional over it at the moment.....actually trying really hard to not think about it.


So......I once had a doctor tell me sometimes 'You have to pick your poison!' And at the time I really took offense to it. But now....I think I understand. Sometimes....neither option sounds good, and you have to choose the lesser of the 2 evils. I fell like I am making the right decision......Time will tell, huh!


You know.......2 weeks ago.....My Grandfather had surgery on his shoulder......This past week......My Grandmother had bowel surgery. (Both are doing good btw!!) Grandpa's been getting into lots of trouble cause he's Not suppose to be driving....and he's been the one taking Grandma to the hospital....Until the 'family' found out that is, lol. And we won't talk about a certain someone in the UK who's got me thinking about her upcoming heart surgery! .......I'm used to having surgeries....But I'm not use to every one else having them. I worry too much....but Hey....at least I'm not thinking of what I have to do in a couple of days!!

Now What?!

WOW! Has this been a loooong week! And from the looks of things, next week will be the same:(

OK...I'll start at the beginning for you. April of 08, I had a lump removed from my left breast. At first they thought it was a cyst, but after removing it, I found out it was a benign tumor......and soon after the surgery, I realized, I still had the 'cyst'. So the doctor did some follow up tests, and everything looked ok......And they told me to follow up in a year. Well, a few weeks ago......After an exam done by another doctor, I was told I 'Needed to have this thing removed!' And I laughed and said, Yeah! We tried that once!'

So....Tuesday, I met with the breast surgeon again and Wednesday morning I had my ultrasound. The head tech came down to talk to me....and take a look at things.....she wants me to have another biopsy done, and hopefully this time, they can get it out. It's tricky though...and confuses the doctors....some days it's there and sometimes it isn't. Makes me wonder if there is in fact a cyst in there, under this 'dense tissue' I feel? At it's worst, I can feel a grape size lump.....and it hurts!

Then to top it all off........I had my 2nd internal ultrasound done Thursday. Last week I had the first, and it all happened so quickly, I left confused and hoping that what I had heard was wrong. I have a cyst on my left ovary that is hemorrhaging. And last week it looked really bad. I do remember the doctor telling me he didn't want to rush into anything....and told me to come back for a follow-up ultrasound. That was what I went to yesterday. And it looked a lot better!! I'm still hemorrhaging, but nothing like I was last week. I can't say the pain has gone away though, cause it hasn't.......instead it has almost plateaued. I feel a tugging in my side.....cramping through my abdomen....and I feel like I was whacked in the middle of the back with a Crockett bat. It's not crazy, I'm dying pain....but it's enough to make ya Mad! And it's not constant awful pain.....but it has it's moments and I can always feel it. Now you see this is the only female organ I have left. I had the other ovary removed a looooong time ago, then the uterus and the cervix went.......so I kinda need this ovary. I know I'm asking a lot out of it, but for real for real....Can't we all just get along here??? *sigh

So, Yea! I'm starting to get a little frustrated here. If it's not one thing it's another......and then when I think I have it all in order, something else decides to act up. That's how it is though.......that's the part that's hard to work with. I never know what to expect. Nor do I know how my body is going to handle it. LOL....Or my mind for that matter. I'm not even trying to catch up with my thoughts right now. They're going in a million different directions at the speed of a freight train. I have so many questions, and I don't want to wait for answers! I'm tired of waiting!!! I want to know what it is, how we can fix it...and then I want to be able to move on. But NO! LMAO.....I get to do it, over and over again! Um Hello! I don't need anymore t-shirts!!! Hahaha........
So with that being said, I'm done with my pity party now.
Until Next Time.