Sunday, January 15, 2006

So, I haven't been here for a while, huh?

Oh, I've thought about writing, but then I'll get distracted with something else, and I just never quite got around to it.

So, I guess I should share what's been going on in Sheryl land, huh?

Well, first of all, it doesn't feel like January. There should never be a day where the temperature hits 80 in January. Never, under any circumstances. Just my opinion. Though some of the leaves down here did actually change color this year, so I suppose that's something.

So, the health stuff I've been hinting at. Well, my doctor did prescribe an antidepressant, and it is helping. I'd like to be on it no longer than a year, personally. Anyway, she did a whole bunch of tests and discovered that although my blood count, blood sugar, cholesterol, and insulin levels were normal (that last was a bit of a surprise, though), my thyroid levels were low. So I'm also taking medicine for that. She also found when she did a physical that my thyroid was significantly enlarged. That's where the fun begins.

So because of the enlarged thyroid, she ordered an ultrasound. Well, the ultrasound showed several nodules, but it also showed some lymph nodes that shouldn't have been there. So she ordered a CT scan. Unfortunately, after making me wait forever for the results of the scan, the scan wasn't readable due to an "artefact" on the films right in the area they were concerned with. Basically, that means that either I moved or something was screwy with their machine.

My doctor decided that rather than have the CT scan done again right away, she wants me to see an ENT to have my neck evaluated. She said that most likely it's all due to my thyroid, but it could very well be something else as well. I see him next week.

It just makes me nervous to think about. I mean, I see all kinds of little things that add up into a scary big picture. I'm having tons of skin problems all of a sudden (including an apparent allergy to adhesive tape). I've been having trouble swallowing for over a year now, but I had just chalked it up to my imagination. I realize now that it very well may not be. And last weekend I developed another abscess/staph infection, which meant more draining and packing, and this time the packing really hurt.

My manager, who is an RN, is concerned that there may be some kind of immune thing going on. But that doesn't make any sense considering that I haven't been sick (except for the staph infection and an ear infection) all year. Everyone else in the office has had strep at least once. She said that she would be thinking diabetes if the test results hadn't been completely normal, or HIV infection if there was any chance I had ever been infected (which there isn't). I just don't know what to think.

Regardless, the fact remains that I am scared.

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I was going to write more on another topic, but I'm tired now. I'll try to write more tomorrow.

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