Third Times a Charm

I went to the doctor this morning and just like I said I am posting an update. Really I don't think I have much to say, but as usual I may end up rambling on about whatever random thought pops into my head while I type even if it has nothing to do with what I was talking about.

This doctors visit seemed shorter than normal. The doc definitely seemed busy today and I don't know why but I felt like my appointment was too short. I guess I was expecting things to be different since this would be last appointment before my chest port being put in. It was just a standard appointment. Now I am not sure how other Lymies' doctor appointments go, but mine involve very little physical examination. I get the typical weight, temp, blood pressure and O2 sat but that is usually about it. Most of the appointments involve me describing my current symptoms, if I feel better or worse, asking questions, reviewing labs if we did any last time, and doing more blood work. This appointment was the same. The labs I had done last time were different than other ones I had had done but they were all normal. I did ask if we did a CD-57 because I thought we did and he said my sample wasn't good enough for it or what ever. We were doing one this time plus all of the labs the hospital needs to put in the chest port. I think it is mostly liver and kidney values, etc...

You know how much I love needles right? Well if you haven't heard I hate them more than you will ever know. Blood-no problem. Needles-big problem. I will never get used to them no matter how much I get stuck. So I had to go through the routine of getting a bunch of vials drawn. I consider 5 a bunch. I used to have great veins in my arms. I was always an easy stick. As time has gone on and especially much more recently my veins aren't so good anymore. I am not such an easy stick. Even if they get the vein, a number of times they get nothing out or my blood stops flowing part way through the draw. As luck would have it, I got it all today. The nurse used a big needle, thank you very much, and at the beginning of the third or fourth vial the blood just stops. Nothing, no more. So she looks at my arms and decides to try another vein in the arm she just used. She used another big needle and I don't know enough about the gauges of needles and why you use big verses small but I can say big wasn't working today. She stuck me and nothing. Not a drop. I haven't looked up why this may be happening and I guess it doesn't really matter, I am just curious. I am wondering if my low body temperature makes my blood to thick and it just doesn't want to come out. Based on the fact that the nurse offered me some water and said sometimes that helps, my husband said I am dehydrated and not drinking enough water. Maybe we are both wrong. Anyways...she brings me a glass of water and says she will be right back. Then a nurse that has done my blood before comes in. She looks at both arms and chooses the other arm. She goes in with a tiny butterfly needle setup that has a long tube on it, and magic. The last two vials get done. So today the third stick was a charm! Now the bruises are showing up.

This is basically what the doctor said- We will do the necessary blood work. The results and request should be in to the hospital by Wednesday. They should call hopefully Wednesday and set up the port for Thursday or Friday of next week. Then the following Tuesday I will go back to the doctors office and see the IV/Infusion nurse. It sounds like she will put in a line or something into the port so I only have to get stuck once a week. I do the meds twice a day for four days and then I would take the line out. I would go into to see her once a week. Now I am not sure if we will get to the point where Ryan can put the line in so I don't have to go down to Pacific Beach once a week but Ryan can at least do my meds the rest of the week.

I did mention to the doctor that I was wondering if I might have a kidney stone because of my flank pain the other night. He didn't say much but noted all of my symptoms down. He did say that a fairly common side effect of the Rocephin (like 20 to 30% of people get this) is gall stones. Now doesn't that sound like fun? But I need to get rid of this Lyme Disease and I guess that just may be something I have to endure along the way. Can I just say that I am sooooooooo beyond ready to start feeling better. My husband and I had a nice talk (more like I got a short lecture) about positive thinking in 2011. He says I am negative. I guess he is right to a degree. I look at it more like being realistic. I do understand his point. So even though I feel like crap everyday I would chose to say something like "Today is better than yesterday" or whatever the case may be. This disease just wears you down and you can't help but wonder if you ever will feel better. When you have been feeling bad for so long that you almost can't remember feeling good...it is a little hard to imagine. I am praying the Rocephin does the trick. At least I knew when I was feeling bad recently that bugs were being killed. I don't want to say I want to feel worse but I know bugs are begin destroyed and that does make me hopeful that I am getting closer to the day when I will feel better.

I have a lot more I could talk about but I am getting tired and need to save something to say for another day. God only knows what would happen to me if I ran out of things to ramble on about. I might self destruct! :)