today was my 3rd annual MRI. they have a new tech, her name is rose. she seems nice enough. actually she did do something today that while some might find mundane, i know others will really appreciate. but i get ahead of myself.
i was a little worried about hydration. i have actually spent the past 6 days out flat with the stomach flu. man it was brutal. 'nuff said there! so i was drinking water and gatorade all morning, and it was really only about an hour before M-Time when my tummy did it's first little dance of nerves. i'd say that was pretty good. usually i start to stress at least the day before. we get there and checked in on time, ok maybe 5 minutes late. but considering they're usually later, we were still early. happily we didn't wait to long until denise came to get us.
as in the post about welk's visit, it was pretty routine by this time for us. no new anythings, matt's not wearing a pacemaker or anything? no? ok, please sign the release form etc.
then we met rose. i don't remember exactly what was said by whom to prompt me to say 'denise is going to be your vein holder while you stick me?' when she giggled an answer i knew she didn't realize i was serious and said so 'she doesn't believe me, does she?' we went through all her paperwork (same stuff each year again for me). after we're done she asked about the veins. i tell her they usually heat up and wrap a towel and then still sometimes someone holds while another sticks. denise was there a couple years ago when i mentioned that gladys had held while magaram had come over to stick and they just did the same last year. rose waited for a minute before confirming i was definitely a patient of crossland, there at overlake. 'you know, i don't see why we can't have the onco nurses stick you. i don't do it all day every day and they do.' so we hoof back over to the medical tower and while rose runs over to onco we pop into the breast center for me to use the toilet.
when we get over to onco they're all ready. they had no problem doing the stick, and rose got to observe. so there you have it. that's what she did that impressed me. maybe she 'chickened out' of doing it, but to me, she recognized that she's not an expert and my veins aren't the easiest, so why put someone (me) in any pain when there's someone right across the street who is an expert. cheers from me!
i thought initially we were going over to the lab but no, they had said the onco nurses. so i got to visit the oncology room for the 1st time. it was both scary and peaceful. there were maybe 20 chairs about 5 feet apart lining the 3 windowed walls. it was bright and airy, there were coffee and brownies, and no, we didn't try them to see if they were, ahem, home-made. it was a bit loud as there was no carpet or drapes, no curtain dividers in sight, and a slight antiseptic smell. some people had chemo caps on, i think i saw 1 afghan. there were some people on their own and some had family &/or friends. that was really all i was able to absorb in the minute i had before sitting down and becoming absorbed into my own little bubble of activity. the nurse had wrapped my arm in a great little thing. about the size of a formal dinner napkin, it's one of those hot/cold microwave/freezer things. it was really nice and hot! she wrapped my arm for a few minutes, then came back and within 3 minutes i had the butterfly in, she had injected a wee bit of saline to flush and very watered down heperin so i wouldn't clot at the end of the needle before rose needed to inject the gadolinium.
back over to the trailer we go, again. after kicking off the shoes and removing the glasses i'm up on the table. the rest is the same as last year. and the year before that. i'm face down, pushed into the machine, arms out above my head in a not-so-comfortable position, but at least with the needle a little further down my arm i can rotate it and bend it slightly where the last 2 years everyone was afraid if i moved my arm at all i'd pop the needle out or through the vein.
my apt was at 11, we were walking over to the car after at 1:45. i guess i kind of zone out while i'm there and lose track of time. matt had forgotten a book so he was stuck basically sleeping in the chair while holding my hand.
as far as all 4 of these i've had to date, today was the most enjoyable (!) and least stressful of them all. i'm not so sure that's really a good thing, if you get my meaning. but i guess it could be worse. friday we see crossland. i'm a little nervous about the 'rash' thing around my left nipple, but after otto, clarfeld, hackett and welk haven't said anything, we'll see what the MRI says. so there's a little bit of nerves, but basically i'm not so tense. i'll go on my own, but have plans to try and meet up with another survivor friend who's doing a CTScan rotation in her medical training. if anything's wrong i'll be able to cry to her, then get home and call matt. if things are really bad he'll come home. but i'm borrowing trouble. there's probably less than 20% chance it's anything bad. Hhhmm, where have we heard that before?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
1/14/2010
i had my yearly follow-up with welk today. matt and i decided i could probably handle this one on my own. i got there right on time and i think for the 1st time ever i pulled into the car park and straight into a parking place! anyway, i get up to his office and the place is packed. there were 2 seats available but people had put coats on them or bags or something. maybe someone was coming back to them, i don't know. what i do know is that no one was in the ladies room so they weren't waiting for anyone to return from there!
susan was on the phone, no idea where michelle was. the other few gals who've done desk work there i think work for other doctors and have never paid attention to me, which is fine, i don't care. kathy was also with people, but while i was standing what was going to have to suffice as a decent distance for susan and client's privacy, kathy's people left. she saw me, greeted me with that wonderful smile and asked how i was and all. she asked if i had checked in and i let her know susan had been on the phone so i hadn't had a chance to do so yet. she got me a chair from another office and brought it out for me. that was so nice! i had thought about saying something politely to a few people, like "is this your coat? would you mind hanging it up so people can sit down?" but then thought they might not see the humor in it so i held my tongue. as she started back she let me know she'd tell mary (? gee, i just threw a huge ? i think that's her name, welk's nurse) i was here.
i didn't wait too long before she's there asking me to come on back. here's the gown, blah blah, same old same old. she did ask how i was doing.
welk came in after only a couple minutes. he looked at them, pushed a little, poked a little, said wrap up let's go get pics. after the series of 3 it's back to the 1st room. he confirms my email to send them to me (gee does this entry sound rote? that's pretty bad, eh? i mean we're talking about breast cancer reconstruction here, and there's really no emotion, it's totally factual, action after action etc. sad. sigh.)
basically unless something happens like a car wreck where i want to get them checked out, i'm done until time to replace. he says the saline i should never have to replace unless it springs the odd leak. yes, it does happen on occasion, but not often. the others he said should be replaced before it actually needs to be replaced. so if it has a 15 yr lifespan we should replace around 12.5-13 yrs. makes sense. there are people who've never replaced their silicone implants. me? to be honest i haven't thought that far into the future. so he said it was nice knowing you, see you in 10 years.
as i'm walking out i poke my head into kathy's office to let her know and she gets up to give me a hug. that was so nice! we talked again very briefly, and she asked me to keep sending her orch concert info. maybe 1 day i'll see her there. i let susan know as well and we laughed about her being a 'lifer' in that office. i would be surprised if she's still there. i can only hope that welk is still there when the time comes to swap devices.
as i left the office i realized i had a huge smile on my face. 1 more chapter almost (and it gets this only because of the 10yr maintenance surgeries) closed.
susan was on the phone, no idea where michelle was. the other few gals who've done desk work there i think work for other doctors and have never paid attention to me, which is fine, i don't care. kathy was also with people, but while i was standing what was going to have to suffice as a decent distance for susan and client's privacy, kathy's people left. she saw me, greeted me with that wonderful smile and asked how i was and all. she asked if i had checked in and i let her know susan had been on the phone so i hadn't had a chance to do so yet. she got me a chair from another office and brought it out for me. that was so nice! i had thought about saying something politely to a few people, like "is this your coat? would you mind hanging it up so people can sit down?" but then thought they might not see the humor in it so i held my tongue. as she started back she let me know she'd tell mary (? gee, i just threw a huge ? i think that's her name, welk's nurse) i was here.
i didn't wait too long before she's there asking me to come on back. here's the gown, blah blah, same old same old. she did ask how i was doing.
welk came in after only a couple minutes. he looked at them, pushed a little, poked a little, said wrap up let's go get pics. after the series of 3 it's back to the 1st room. he confirms my email to send them to me (gee does this entry sound rote? that's pretty bad, eh? i mean we're talking about breast cancer reconstruction here, and there's really no emotion, it's totally factual, action after action etc. sad. sigh.)
basically unless something happens like a car wreck where i want to get them checked out, i'm done until time to replace. he says the saline i should never have to replace unless it springs the odd leak. yes, it does happen on occasion, but not often. the others he said should be replaced before it actually needs to be replaced. so if it has a 15 yr lifespan we should replace around 12.5-13 yrs. makes sense. there are people who've never replaced their silicone implants. me? to be honest i haven't thought that far into the future. so he said it was nice knowing you, see you in 10 years.
as i'm walking out i poke my head into kathy's office to let her know and she gets up to give me a hug. that was so nice! we talked again very briefly, and she asked me to keep sending her orch concert info. maybe 1 day i'll see her there. i let susan know as well and we laughed about her being a 'lifer' in that office. i would be surprised if she's still there. i can only hope that welk is still there when the time comes to swap devices.
as i left the office i realized i had a huge smile on my face. 1 more chapter almost (and it gets this only because of the 10yr maintenance surgeries) closed.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
7/15/09 STP 2009 wednesday
wed 11/15:
wednesday we drove around seattle a little bit - up to kerry park, through fremont to see the rocket, statue of lenin, visited the troll, then down to pike market and beechers, and dinner at pike brewery. we dropped them off at a hotel near the airport around dinnertime - they insisted because they had a super early flight out in the morning.
it was such a great time!
wednesday we drove around seattle a little bit - up to kerry park, through fremont to see the rocket, statue of lenin, visited the troll, then down to pike market and beechers, and dinner at pike brewery. we dropped them off at a hotel near the airport around dinnertime - they insisted because they had a super early flight out in the morning.
it was such a great time!
[above left and right: gary and dianne in front of the fremont troll]
[above left: lenin (head hiding behind the trees); right: ?? planetary sculpture??]
[above left: the rocket - put in a quarter and it blows smoke out it's bottom(!); right: seattle from kerry park]
[above left: from kerry park; right: mt. ranier]
[above left: not quite the 'most often snapped pic of the space needle; right: gary and dianne proving they actually were in seattle]
[above left: 1 of the hill climbs - 100+ steps; right: squid inside pike market]
[ablve left: look close you can see the flying fish top middle of pic; right: pike market]
[above left and right: scenes from pike market]
[above left: in pike market; right: the original starbucks]
[above left and right: scenes from seattle]
[above left: scenes from seattle; right: pike market]
[above left and right: beechers - the best mac and cheese ever]
[above left and right: pike brewery]
[above left: beer sampler; right: gary, dianne, matt and me waiting for lunch]
[above left and right: gary, dianne, matt and me]
[above: yes, we shared that dessert 4 ways]
[above left and right: inside pike brewery]
[above left and right: 2 of the sewer covers on seattle city streets]
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
7/14/09 STP 2009 tuesday
tues 11/14:
it's matt's birthday and we drove back home via the scenic route. we took 14 east to hwy 97 that took us up to hwy 2 and leavenworth. we had lunch in leavenworth. brautwurst and beer! then home. what a long day in the truck! but it was fun.
it's matt's birthday and we drove back home via the scenic route. we took 14 east to hwy 97 that took us up to hwy 2 and leavenworth. we had lunch in leavenworth. brautwurst and beer! then home. what a long day in the truck! but it was fun.
[above left: wind surfers on the columbia river; above right: mt hood]
[above left: hwy 14; above right: the columbia river]
[above left: mt st. helens; above right: yakima valley]
[above left: truckload of apples; above right: on the way to leavenworth]
[above left: leavenworth; above right: starbucks]
[above left: gary in front of the maypole; above right: typical building in leavenworth]
[above left: lunch!; above right: the courtyard]
[above left: the bar; above right: choice of mustard or mustard?]
[above left: gary piling on the 'kraut; above right: somewhere there's a braut' in there]
[above left: dianne and gary enjoying beer and braut'; above right: icicle creek road]
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