Sunday, January 21, 2018

Not a great start to the year...

Happy 2018!


2017 was pretty good to the Birks...no major illnesses, a cruise to the Bahamas, a new dog! I hope you all have plenty to be thankful for from 2017 as well.


The kids are all happy and healthy. We have thankfully avoided most of the yucky bugs that have been spreading around. LOL School is...well, school. Jackson keeps asking when summer break starts and with all this cold lately I can't say I haven't thought the same! Pinewood Derby is this week and his uncle Shane just "helped" him build a pretty cool car. Fingers crossed! Audrey is in the full swing of dance choreography. She is loving her dances and loves her new studio more and more! Shelby is WORKING. My baby is old enough to have a job! She is at Jimmy Johns and I think spends more money there than she actually makes! She orders it delivered to the house when she's not working. Haha! She still hasn't decided to drive. I'd rather her wait until she is ready so no rush. Max is good too. Ha! We really lucked out with this dog and couldn't ask for a better rescue.


So here's my story. Our cruise was the middle of December. Since then I have had severe abdominal pain about 4 times. Each time it would last about 12 hours and then go away. Well, last time it didn't go away, so about 24 hours in I took myself to the ER. They did a CT and said they thought they saw something called in intussusception which could require a surgical procedure to fix. It basically means the colon telescopes in on itself thus causing pain. If it gets stuck like that it can be more serious but they wanted to perform another test the next day for verification. I was admitted overnight. The next morning they took me down for the test, but were unable to perform the test because I still had contrast in my system from the CT the day before. I asked to go home since I wasn't having anymore pain and I was HANGRY. LOL I was discharged with instructions to follow up with surgery as needed, see my general practitioner, and return to the ER with any more pain. (In this hospital visit I saw 3 doctors. Keep that in mind.)


I made an appointment with my doctor for the following Thursday. I called my oncologist because they told me one reason for a possible intussusception was a colon mass or polyp. She and I discussed this and her recommendation was to see Dr. Bhutto (general doctor) and still have the test performed that they weren't able to do Friday. (Doctor number 4.)


I saw Dr. Bhutto last Thursday. He said he saw three issues.
1.Kidney Stones (duh.) He thinks I should have them removed because they are starting to possibly affect my kidneys.
2.Narrowing of the colon. He thinks this is what has been causing my pain and the telescoping. He recommended seeing my GI, Dr. Walden to see about opening up that narrowing. With this statement he concludes that maybe Dr. Walden could also look at the spot on my LIVER.
3.1.9cm spot on liver. WHAT? Poor guy didn't expect the tears that started to flow at this point. I informed him that this was exactly what Dr. Kosuri would expect for my cancer if we were to have a recurrence.
(Doctor number 5.)


Needless to say I called Dr. Kosuri as soon as I left the office. She was gone for the day so I spoke with the nurse. She looked over the CT and said "Oh, I see here it says follow up with MRI (I don't remember this part) for METASTASIS OF DISEASE. How is it that I have talked with 4 doctors without this knowledge AND sat in the hospital for 24 hours without this test being performed!?! Dr. Kosuri called me back Friday morning and profusely apologized. She says that since I only called her about the intussusception she didn't look at the rest of the results but that yes, we needed to do an MRI. The test is ordered. I called immediately to schedule, hoping to get in that day. No such luck. Due to my work schedule this week I am not able to get in until Thursday. I may have a "hook up" lol that can get me in Monday so I have made myself NPO as of midnight tonight hoping that this will pan out.


Everyone thinks its dumb, but I am already at peace with it. If it is a spread of my cancer, so be it. Let's deal with it and move on. Unfortunately I have only built up 3 weeks of sick time since my last FMLA but we will make it work. I feel like if I don't think the worst, I will be more devastated if I am hit with the news. Tell me it's not and lets have a freaking party! We have already told Shelby and Audrey and they are rightfully worried. It's hard to see their momma sick.


Wear your shirts this week and I will update you when I know more. Think positive! Love you all!


Reva

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