Healing process

Hello everybody,
I had a few minor bumps this last week. My wrist is still  bothering me. I can wiggle my fingers but sometimes when I reach for something I feel the shooting pain. It is getting better but the nerves are not healed yet.

Last Saturday July 3, 2010 in the afternoon I started to get a pain on my right side. We were at a party, so when I got home I took some GAS-X medicine thinking it was gas left over from my surgery. It didn't help. The pain was sharp and was on and off. I had the pain all day Sunday and Monday. The pain gets worse when I sit too long. The pain is above my hip across to my belly button area, where one of my incision were located. On Tuesday July 6 I called my OBGYN and I went to see her. She did an internal exam as well as feeling my stomach from the outside. She felt a soft area and thought its a pulled muscle. It wasn't a blood clot which she was concerned. She mentioned maybe I've been putting more pressure on my right side. She confirmed that I have and continue to go to the bathroom. I was concerned that I pulled some stitches internally but my organs were burned off so I have no stiches. She did mentioned that I will feel scar tissue that will eventually die off but felt it was early for that stage. She said to put ice on the area and take Motrin when needed but not to over take the Motrin. She will be on vacation for two weeks but if it gets worse, I need to see someone else in the practice. If I get a fever, to call the doctor right away. She mentioned she did see my appendix during the surgery and looked okay. She feels it should heal with some time. If the pain doesn't go away then I will have an ultra-sound to verify the area is good.

The pain was not really bothering me on Wednesday and Thursday. Today Friday July 9TH the pain is back and bothering  me alot. I think its trying to heal and maybe the scar tissue is interfering.
I go back to see my OBGYN at the end of July.

My allergies started bothering my Tuesday night. When I woke up Wednesday my voice was raspy and was hard to understand me. This continued until Friday. Today I feel much better and my voice is just about back to normal.

I guess those bumps are okay since its nothing major. There was also one more incident that led my husband, my son and myself to the ER room, same hospital I was at. Last Friday July 2, 2010 we had Chinese food for dinner. We had eaten at this restaurant for years. About a  half hour after we ate, AJ started to throw up. We thought the food didn't agree with him. We took his temperature and he was okay. His checks were red as well as his eyes. I thought he strained his blood vessels when he threw up. We didn't think too much of it. We had some friends over so we had him sit and relax since they were playing soccer. Over about 45 minutes later his nose got stuffy so I gave him his inhaler and some allergy medication as well as a nose spray. I thought his allergies were bothering him since he was outside all day and he is allergic to the trees and grass. I didn't realize stuffy nose was a sign of an allergy reaction and the bright red eyes. He felt hot to touch by this time and we took off his shirt and he had hives on his back, stomach and on his legs. We immediately gave him Benadryl and called the doctor. The doctor felt since he is allergic to peanuts and all nuts that his body is rejecting some kind of contact with nuts. The raction can act up to 4 hours. He was breathing okay but started to panic when he knew we were calling the doctor. The doctor asked us to inject the epi-pen and take him to the ER. He has never had the epi-pen. I gave Gene the Epi-pen walked up to AJ didn't want to give him too much time to think about the fear, told him to hold my hands and daddy is about to give your epi-pen to him. He screamed alittle and said it didn't hurt too bad. My friend, thank you again, stayed with Emily and we left for the hospital.

We have another friend whose a doctor and he called the ER ahead of time, thanks my friend and we were able to be seen right away. The staff said the inhaler helped open his passage. His oxygen was at a good level but his heart rate was up alittle. The epi-pen raises your heart beat and he was nervous. We were assigned to a room and we were seen by the doctor within 10 minutes which was great especially being Friday night on a holiday weekend. The doctor said he was okay but he needs to stay at the hospital for 3 hours to be monitored. Once you insert the epi-pen the patient has to be watched for 4 hours but since it was already about a hour we had to stay 3 more. You can have another reaction but the doctor didn't feel he was in any more danger. We watched Funny Videos with him and were going to go home at midnight. The doctor let us go home alittle bit early. AJ had to take a steroid medication for 5 days afterwards. We were lucky that this was a small reaction. He is doing great. His leg is sore from the injection and is asking several questions when we eat food. He is on high alert and concern. No more Chinese food for him even thou he ate it for years. The doctor was from India and he said not too eat India food or Chinese food because of the cross contamination.
Earlier in the day I put my brace back on my stomach because I felt like I was moving around alot. I am glad I did since we sat at the hospital for hours.

I hope we don't have to go through this again but we know the signs now. I will update when I have more medical news on myself. The blog turned out to be long again. I need to blog more often so the entries are shorter. Have a safe and relaxing summer. :> 

Oncologist appointment

Friday July 2, 2010 I had an appointment with my Oncologist to review my Endocrine treatment after my hysterectomy. He didn't know the results from my surgery so he was glad to hear that there was NO CANCER. I explained that I had endometriosis. He is 100% certain now that we know I don't have cancer that the endometriosis is why my blood test for CA-125 was increasing in my numbers. He explained to me that endometriosis can travel in the body behind my ribs, liver or other places within the body. We hope this doesn't happened but will continue to monitor me. He mentioned if I had blood work taken right now that my numbers for CA-125 would be high from the surgery. He has seen the results high in the 100's with people immediately after surgery. When the body produces estrogen is when endometriosis is seen. Since I will not be producing estrogen, I hope I will not have any more endometriosis.
He wants me to wait at least six weeks after my surgery before I have my blood withdrawn. He said if my number for CA-125 is low that is great and if its high we will monitor it and make sure it isn't cause by the endometriosis traveling. Endometriosis is caused by bleeding of the lining and said I would feel alot of pain if it does occur by my ribs and liver. I have been through enough surgeries. Let's pray I am all done with any more scares!
My blood work will check CA-125- marker for ovarian cancer or in my case endometriosis, CA-127 & CA-129 for breast cancer, we check this every time to verify no cancer cells remain, complete blood comprehension for my blood levels, vitamin D level, and going to get my cholesterol tested since this hasn't been done for a few years. I will have to fast-not eat before getting my blood work.

I will have a Dexa-bone scan performed to measure the density in my bones. A Dexa scan will help determine if you are at an increased risk of osteoporosis. He wants me to have this test done by the end of the summer. He already gave me the paperwork. The results should be good since I am still young. I will have this test performed every 2 years unless there is a problem. I will need to make sure I get my calcium.

We reviewed my medications. I will remain on Tamoxifen. I had no side effects and we would like for this to remain. This medication is nonsteroidal estrogen and does help my bones. The other medication for breast cancer is Arimidex and is for post partum women who had more aggressive cancer. He explained there was a study performed with 5,000 women who had breast cancer as well as their ovaries removed in which half of the women took Tamoxifen and the other half took Arimidex and there was no difference in the final outcome.
I will continue to take my multi-vitamin, vitamin C, vitamin D which I need to make sure I get 1000 IU a day, and I will need to increase my Calcium. I need to take 600-800 mg twice a day. The body can't absorb the Calcium all at once so that's why I have to take one in the morning and one at night. (I have to remember) He believes I will not have any more side effects and doesn't want  me to take Estrogen. I agree with him. He mentioned if I experience vaginal dryness that he can prescribe an estrogen cream. If I do have to use the cream, I will have to make sure I get my blood withdrawn a few weeks after I use it to verify I am not getting too much estrogen.

I will see my Oncologist every four months for the first two years then every six months for the next three years.

I will continue to post information in my blog. Take Care and stay cool :>