My first blog....

Well here I am....joining the blog world. I feel like I don't have much to blog about since most of the blogs I read are full of babies, but then again I can usually fill any silence so it shouldn't come too hard for me! Speaking of babies, I have finally convinced Matt that there will never be a "perfect time" to begin our family.....sinceI don't see an end to my student career any time soon. So we will start "trying" around August/September and hopefully it will happen quickly so we can add the little addition right after I graduate from nursing school in May and (hopefully) begin the Pedi ICU internship in September.

And another reason I am starting this blog right now is to keep everybody informed about my current health "concerns." Lately, it seems like my life has been inundated with doctors appointments and trips to the lab to have bloodwork done. So here's a run down of everything:

I went to the dermatologist back in Nov. for an array of minor things (my vitiligo, eczema, etc) and asked her why my chest is covered with tiny red spots caused by broken capillaries. Once we ruled out hormones being the cause (not currently pregnant and have been off birth control for a year and a half), she ordered some labs. So at my f/u appt. in Dec., the results showed my ANA was abnormal, "which usually means Lupus." Lupus? Not me...I wasn't even sure I really knew what it was, but knew it must be wrong. So she ordered another, more detailed, set of labs and Matt and I headed over to the lab. She referred me to a specialist, a Rheumatologist. Rheumatologist? First thing that popped into my mind was Rheumatologist=Rheumatoid Arthritis=older people=disfigured joints=NOT ME! Lupus is an autoimmune, chronic inflammatory disease that can attack any and every body system. Long story short....I went to the rheumy this week and he's not convinced it is or isn't Lupus. I do present with several of the criteria/symptoms required to make the diagnosis, but not all. So I went and had more blood drawn and am currently waiting to hear back. But this has been put on the back-burner for now.....

I found a lump in my left breast a couple of weeks ago that didn't feel like the lump I found 8 yrs ago, which turned out to just be a fibroadenoma after an ultrasound was done (which ended up going away on it's own). So my mom of course insisted I go and have it checked, and the next day I was back at the dr's office (but not the dermatologist!). She had difficulty "approximating the edges," so she ordered me to go have an ultrasound. But Scott & White won't do the u/s without a mammogram, so yesterday I had the pleasure of having my first mammogram! The 10 days btwn the dr appt. and yesterday...I can honestly say I really didn't give much thought to it being anything more than last time, just going thru the motions to verify there was nothing to worry about.
Initially I was told the radiologist would come in to talk to me after the mammo and u/s, so when the u/s tech told me that the nurse was coming in, my mom and I looked at each other with a sense of relief.....must mean nothing serious or else they'd send in the doc! But when she walked in with a scheduling book in her hands and a bunch of pamphlets, we again looked at each other and I'm pretty sure all the blood rushed from our faces. "The radiologist can't rule out something more serious at this point" (they never say the "c" word until it's 100% fo shizzle!) "AND found another mass in my right breast." Really...as if I don't have enough on my plate and didn't experience enough worry with the accident last year? We're only allowed to miss 24 hours this semester, and if I am absent more than that, I am kicked out of the program, yikes! So now I get to go have double biopsies on Feb 2 and go meet with the surgeon on Feb 10!

Above all I obviously praying that the biopsies come back normal, but also hoping the needles used for the biopsies don't puncture the implants...b/c both masses are "very very close to the implants." Of course I am trying to stay positive and not worry, but it's especially hard for me not to let what I see everyday working on the oncology floor (breast cancer, mastectomies, chemo, radiation) consume my thoughts and start to feel scared. But I will make lemonade out of these lemons I've been given and hope I can post good news next blog!

Well what a freakin long first blog...but I have been known to be a little on the long-winded side!