#my lymph nodes were enlarged for 7 months

[myglassesareinkansas]

My dad is a doctor and did his residency during the 80s, before there were better laws that are now in place (not good or great, just better). My siblings are also doctors. He called them soft for years during their own residencies because they were doing 90 hr weeks while he did 120-ish when he was a resident. And I'm over here like …your tone is braggy but your words are real sad.

[queenquarantine-blog]

Day 7.

Location: Houston, Tx

Current health status: coming off of a flu and rolling over onto severe seasonal allergies-pretty much a snotty mess

Confirmed cases in my area: 62 positive as of yesterday.

3 in Brazos

4 in Brazoria

12 in Fort Bend

4 in Galveston

1 in Grimes

18 in Harris

10 in Houston

2 cases 1 death in Matagorda

7 in Montgomery

My younger sisters have been home from school for 7 days now. They were to start a week long vacation from school for spring break but it has been extended until April 10 to lessen the chances of covid-19 spreading. All schools are closed and colleges are trying to move work online.

They are absolutely going stir crazy and driving everyone up the walls. It's hard being preteens in general and now they are expected to deal with being constantly stuck inside for the unforeseeable future.

I was really excited hear that free-of-charge testing will take place at United Memorial Medical Center, located at 510 West Tidwell, on the following days and times:

Thursday, March 19: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Friday, March 20: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Monday, March 23 - Friday, March 27: 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

https://abc13.com/6026270/?ex_cid=SND_KTRK_FB&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd

You'd think theyd have a continuous testing area set up but I'm not sure why they are only offering it for these few days.

Current mental status: worried and stressed. My mother is flitting about happily because she hasn't had a day off in a long time so shes thrift store shopping and whatnot. I personally feel like she isnt taking the whole situation seriously. Considering she lives with 3 people out of an 8 person household who are severely immunocompromised, I think that's kinda rude.

My grandma on my stepdad side is staying with us and shes an older lady with multiple health issues. My baby sister has an enlarged ectopic kidney which is just fancy talk for her only having one kidney that never ascended in fetal development. Then there is me. Your trusty Queen Quarantine.

I suffer from agoraphobia which was brought on by my lymphedema and pcos. Lymphedema is swelling in an arm or leg caused by a lymphatic system blockage. A few years ago I took a tumble in the shower and hit my right hip area near my groin on the built in soap dispenser. That severely damaged some lymph nodes in that area and caused me to develop major swelling that's accompanied by discomfort and it is really unsightly. If I get any type of bite or cut.on my lower legs I can get cellulitis and it will turn septic and I can die.

So yeah,I dont think I have left my room in about 2 months now. Before that it was a good 6 months. I live with family and my loving husband and our 2 small dogs.

He got called into his jobs (maintenance man) office yesterday and they sat him down to talk about the steps they are taking to help keep residents and workers safe.

They are asking residents to not make in person visits to the leasing office and to only call in requests. All work orders inside occupied units will be postponed until april. If they actually have to go into the apartments due to an emergency, they are requesting residents to physically move to another room until the work is complete and that they will disinfect the area before they leave.

He is already wearing a N100 respirator I bought for him and latex gloves. The public bus is his normal transportation but because everyone is working from home now he will always have a ride to and from. He changes his shoes before coming inside and goes straight into the shower afterwich he puts his work clothes aside from everything and then hand sanitizes.

Restaurants closed all their in dining rooms and are strictly drive through or delivery only. The grocery store are a mad house. My mom and sisters showed up to Sam's club at 8 and the lines were insane!

They've already began to limit how much items can be taken and their store hours to allow for time to properly restock because within an hour or so of opening the shelves are BARE BONES.

There has been talk of a corona relief check where adults get $1000 each and $500 per child. The first wave of checks may be issued starting april 6th with the second in mid may. I dont know how truthful that is.

Tempers have been running high here and it is only the beginning...

[sunnivalissy-blog]

Day 1

Hi! I've never really thought blogging would be something for me, but my friend started off a blog with a Q&A for 30 days, and as usual I decided to copy her.

After researching blogging, I figured I don't really fit into the common reasons to blog. I don't want to improve my writing, nor do I want to become "famous". Furthermore, I don't have a particular topic that I'm dying to share with the world. I simply wanted to have a project and practice putting words to my thoughts.

Since I don't have a particular topic, I've found two lists with 30 questions/topics for 30 days where I'll choose one of the questions per day for a month.

Here we go!

List 20 random facts about yourself.

1. On the 5th of October in 1998, I was born blue. Apparently there were some complications and I was lacking oxygen during the birth. Thus I came into this world as a smurf. 2. I've never had a brain freeze in my life. It's quite a simple thing, but still everyone gets shocked when I tell them. I'm starting to wonder if the blood vessel that leads to my brain isn't as close to my throat as it's supposed to. 3. I recently donated 91 grams of my hair. I was researching how to help the society this summer, but most of the suggestions were either too time consuming or too expensive. I was left with donating blood or hair, and since I'm not allowed to donate blood, I decided to cut my hair. I've always had hair that reaches to my hips, but now it's right above my shoulders. 4. I can't lie. First of all, it's a very important principle for me to always be honest or just tell bits of the truth if that's what's needed to not hurt someone. However, I don't think I would be very convincing even if I tried to tell a lie. My honesty sometimes drives my friends mad, but overall I think they're happy about it. 5. I have red hair and blue eyes. I've read that it's the most rare combination of hair color and eye color. I don't know if it's true, but at least it's something that sets me apart from the crowd. 6. I've never gotten drunk. I've tasted alcohol, but I've never really seen the point in getting used to something that tastes bad and is unhealthy as well. This might change in the future, but I'll stay sober for now. 7. I have six siblings. No, I'm not a mormon and no, I'm not amish. We're simply a huge family in a country with an average of 1,73 children per woman. 8. I'm a quarter Swedish. The rest of me is Norwegian, although I'm sure a genetics test would tell me otherwise. 9. I've never been outside of Europe, but I've visited 13 different countries. However this will change during next year. If I keep going with this blog, I'll come back to this topic. 10. I didn't know my biological grandparents until last February. My dad and his twin brother were adopted as babies by my grandparents. Last Christmas he decided to find out who his biological parents were. As it turned out, his mother was still alive, but dying from cancer. Just a few days later we were on a plane to meet her before she left the world. It was an incredible journey and my dad now has 6 more siblings and I have 25 more cousins. Turns out having many children runs in the family... 11. Most of my dreams are absurd or psychedelic. I know that everyone has weird dreams, but I have the feeling that people get genuinely concerned about my mental health after listening to my dreams. However, I just find it interesting and can definitely recommend to write dream-diaries to others, as I did for a year myself. 12. English and PE have always been my weakest subjects in school. This makes it kind of ironic to write this blog in English, so please excuse me if my grammar is off. 13. The first time I moved in my life was last August. My parents built their house just three years before I was born and I've lived there my entire life. However, this fall I moved to a type of Norwegian boarding school called "folkehøgskole" where there are no tests, nor any grades, and you have a year to figure out what to do with your life while you have fun doing what you love the most. 14. I love cheese.  Cheese is definitely one of the most wonderful things on earth. Sadly Norway has very few good cheeses to offer in common grocery stores, so whenever I travel outside the country, you know what I'll be eating! 15. My MBTI personality is INFJ.  At least that was my result, although I can only dream to do as much good to the world as the people used as examples for this personality type. However, I do relate to a lot of the traits that characterize INFJs, for instance following my principles (as mentioned in fact 4), so I guess that's the correct personality type for me after all. 16. I was one of the last children in my class to stop playing. I don't know why, but the other girls in my class started wearing makeup, hanging out and just talk during recess from fifth grade. Meanwhile my friends and I kept playing in the sand and snow for another few years until it gradually faded away during middle school. 17. I had PFAPA from the age of 1 until right after I turned 13. It won't surprise me if you haven't heard about PFAPA before. In fact, it will surprise me if you have. The first two letters are short for periodic fever which is basically what it is. I had a fever for 4-5 days once per month. I also had a headache, stomachache and enlarged lymph nodes, which made my neck stuck slightly tilted to the left. 18. After that I was healthy for 4 years until I got CFS. How I miss those 4 years... When I was 17, I got a mycoplasma infection around this time of the year, but I only noticed getting a bit more tired. Therefore, I didn't go to the doctor for another month when it got really bad. After some time with antibiotics, I didn't get better and revisited the doctor's office. That was the start of my Post Infectious Fatigue which goes within the umbrella term Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). 19. I'm demiromantic. For the longest time I was convinced I was asexual. However, two things were wrong about this: 1. I didn't understand the difference between romantic and sexual attraction, and 2. As a demiromantic, I had never gotten close enough with any guy to experience that kind of attraction. That changed when I was 17, and I had to revisit the labels I had put on myself.  I'm pretty sure my labels will have changed again in ten years time. 20. I absolutely love dogs. My dog is the best creature in the universe, in a completely objective way. ;) My daily life today is mostly about her, because the school I chose (as mentioned in fact 13) is about dogs and dog sports. I don't think I could have chosen anything better, and I love her and all the other dogs here so much. I'll probably talk more about dogs here sometime.

Congrats for reading all the way through! And if you just scrolled to the bottom, that's okay too. Hopefully you got to know me a little bit better and found some of it interesting.

[readdailylive]

Health Update - September 23, 2021

History of Present Illness

Pat is a very pleasant 61-year-old gentleman with medical history as above. At my interview today he does admit to weight loss of 15 pounds over the last 4 to 6 weeks. This is because eating food worsens his symptoms of abdominal pain. The abdominal pain is epigastric. Somewhat diffuse may be more midline. He denies reflux symptoms. He has been taking acid reduction for a decade or more. He denies nausea or vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. The pain can be as severe as 8-9 out of 10 but not quite 10. He takes a regular regimen of ibuprofen and Tylenol every 6 hours keeping the pain below 2 4 out of 10. He did have an episode of double vision lasted 3 days. He saw Dr. Brockbank and the note is in the chart. This resolved and has not returned. He denies motor or sensory change. He denies jaundice, pruritus, fever, drenching sweats.

Plan

1. EGD with indication of abdominal pain, history of reflux on proton pump inhibitor and carcinoma.

2. PET CT scan. Indication presently is unknown primary. It would still be indicated even if this was an upper GI malignancy.

3. Continue with Dr. Staley with management of diabetes and other health problems.

4. With regards to pain control fortunately kidney function liver function look appropriate. He continues with his current regimen and if worsening would favor something such as tramadol or oxycodone. Pending diagnosis may consider palliative care as well.

5. Follow-up pending blood work and inform of results.

6. A lot of these things and communication may need to be done by phone in order to take the next most timely step. We will however have short-term follow-up once we have the results and definitive treatment plan.

7. He knows to call us in interim with worsening pain, symptoms or any other question or concern.

Oncologic history:

1998 developed abdominal cramping and discomfort improved with Tylenol and ibuprofen and a significant history of gastroesophageal reflux. He had progressive weakness and found to be anemic with hematocrit of 28%. EGD performed was negative but colonoscopy revealed cancer of the ascending colon.

March 3, 1999 underwent resection of the terminal ileum and right colon. Pathology showed moderate to poorly differentiated carcinoma with mucin production invading through the muscularis to the adventitial fat. 32 lymph nodes sampled none with metastatic disease. The circumferential distal margins and proximal margins were clear. He was seen by Dr. Brian tutor and assessed to have high risk stage II disease and was treated with 5-fluorouracil daily for 5 days every 4 weeks for a total duration of 6 months. This was complicated with a delay secondary to cholecystitis and ileus.. He was followed regularly by Dr. Tutors team until June 2009.

December 13, 2009 CT abdomen and pelvis showed changes of extensive pancreatitis with extensive retroperitoneal fluid similar to exam prior that same day. Possible developing pseudocyst in the anterior body of the pancreas near the pancreatic head, fatty liver and diverticulosis. He suffered with peritonitis requiring surgery and hospitalization and recovery until 2010.

April 6, 2010 CT scan of abdomen and pelvis showed significant interval decrease in size and the previously noted pseudocyst/fluid collections. Minimal fluid adjacent to the tail of the pancreas anterior to the body of the pancreas and inferior to the duodenum. Fat stranding adjacent to the tail of the pancreas and possible fluid in the left paracolic gutter noted.

April 11, 2019 nuclear medicine parathyroid scan with SPECT showed no abnormal sestamibi uptake within the inferior aspect of the right lobe of the liver which corresponded to the lesion on the previous ultrasound.

September 9, 2021 CT scan abdomen and pelvis because of abdominal pain in the left lower quadrant. * Retroperitoneal and portacaval lymphadenopathy with surrounding fat stranding. An soft tissue deposit versus additional enlarged lymph node is seen within the central mesentery near the greater curvature of the stomach, with multiple tiny satellite lesions. These findings are suggestive of metastasis given known history of colon cancer. * Postoperative change of the right hemicolon. No definite nodular enhancement at the resection site. No appreciable liver mass.

September 10, 2021 saw his primary care provider with persistent abdominal pain and biopsy was ordered.

Check out this episode!

[heartofpassion2004]

Our guest blogger, Grant, was a guest at RCD Atlanta 2017, and he is raising awareness for testicular cancer. We love having him in the HoP family. I’m Grant Moseley, I moved to TN from GA in July 2016, I was looking forward to my junior year in high school, and getting my driver’s license. In November 2016 I noticed pain and swelling in my right testicle. I could hardly walk, and knew I had to tell my mom. I ended up in Urgent Care the next afternoon. They simply prescribed antibiotics, and said to follow up if things did not improve. Right before Christmas break I spoke with my mom again, and told her things were still not better. I ended up in a doctor’s office the next day. My life changed in an instant. An ultrasound showed a solid mass, I was sent for bloodwork, then scheduled to have my right testicle removed the next day. Several week later it turned out that the cancer had spread, and with one of the Tumor Markers being very high, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Testicular Cancer. I had to begin Chemo on January 27, 2017. Since the chemo really does a number on your immune system, I was placed on Homebound Services. I did not attend classes at school January-mid April, I also had to stop attending church, Boy Scouts, and youth group due to flu, cold, and other illnesses around Knoxville, TN. At the end of treatment I had another CT Scan to see if my enlarged nodes had responded to the chemo. Imagine my shock when I found out they had NOT. My Oncologist even had me wait a few weeks and sent me for an additional CT Scan to make certain, and it was obvious I needed further surgery to remove the enlarged nodes. I was able to return to school for a couple of weeks in April 2017. Just in time to take the ACT exam. The lymph node removal surgery was scheduled for May 8th, first I was able attend my HS Prom on May 6th. My surgery lasted almost 7 hours. I stayed in the hospital 3 nights. I recovered quickly from the surgery, and even went to Boy Scout Camp 4 weeks later. My recovery from Chemotherapy has been more difficult even after almost 13 months later. Testicular Cancer is not talked about often. I hope to change that and raise awareness about this terrible disease. It is the most common in men fifteen to thirty years of age. But it can strike men at any age. This disease is highly curable if detected early. My hope is that raising awareness will make more boys and men do monthly self- exams.

[sigyn2012]

2019, round 3,753,855....I think

To say I’ve had a really shitty year this year would be an understatement at the very least. January started the seemingly never ending amounts of people who I knew that have died this year. As I’m typing this, 21 people I’ve known have died this year(7 of them were in January and 3 of those deaths happened in one week). By mid-March, I was so miserable and wanted the calendar to jump to 2020 right away. When I went to my aunt and uncle’s house for Easter, I had no idea that this would be the last time I saw my uncle alive. On May 10th, my uncle was murdered in his house. It looked like a burglary gone bad at first, however, video surveillance showed that my cousin(his son) was the one who murdered him. The cousin who did this is a paranoid schizophrenic who refuses to take medication or get help in any way shape or form. I’m still trying to process what happened and I’m so sad and angry about what happened. As far as my cousin is considered, I have no desire to have form of contact or community with him because he destroyed the family and then some with his actions. Last month, I started having swallowing issues and because I have thyroid issues, I knew it was an immediate red flag and went to the doctor. I had an ultrasound done and what was found on the ultrasound led to them doing a CT scan on my neck and lungs. I saw an ENT yesterday and had an endoscopy done. I did find out a few results from the endoscopy and they’re fixable. I’ve been having acid reflux issues for some time and got put on two medications for it for 30 days to see if it’ll get the acid reflux issues under control. I also have enlarged adenoids which is the reason why I snore so much. They’ll be removed as soon as I find out a few things that are serious and possibly life threatening. The ultrasound found a mass near my thyroid. They also found some enlarged lymph nodes, which led to the CT scans. The CT scans found a lot more enlarged lymph nodes in my neck, lower jaw, back of my neck and armpits. I’m going to be doing a fine needle biopsy on the enlarged lymph nodes in the bottom of my neck as they’re very large and irregularly shaped. If they were to do biopsies on all the enlarged lymph nodes, I’d be in the hospital for several weeks just for recoup time and I wouldn’t be able to talk, eat, or drink anything for 1-3 months. The ENT told me that the likelihood of this being cancer is extremely high due to the amount of enlarged lymph nodes and evidence that the cancer has most likely spread to other areas. If it isn’t cancer, then I have to get a bunch of tests done to find out what autoimmune disease I have and that it’d be in late stages. I honestly feel like I should root for cancer because regardless of what stage it is, there’s treatment options whereas there are no treatment options for any autoimmune disease that is in late stages and all they can do is palliative care. If I’m told that I have cancer and that it is terminal, I will deal with and accept it because I’ll actually be doing a number of people a huge favor as I’m being used as the sole reason why at least 150 people in Minnesota can’t move out of their group homes, I cause shame and potential scandal for my family by constantly causing social faux-pas, and because my mere existence is enough to scare several boys that I got a bit clingy towards in school(it’s extremely difficult for me to understand social and nonverbal cues; especially when you give vague or mixed messages) and therefore it warrants my immediate death and/or kidnapping. My family will no longer have to worry about having to marry me off so that I’m taken care of when they die as even though I’ve been able to live independently, my diagnosis of autism automatically means that I’m incapable of being on my own and that I need to be chaperoned at all times(especially since I still have things that I’ve done when I was 3 years old used against me). Bryan will no longer have to live in fear of me even though I haven’t had any contact with him since 2004. Andrew will be able to move out of his group home and all of his rights will be fully restored. Several people I know in Redwood Falls, Mankato, Buffalo, St. Cloud, Willmar, and the Twin Cities metropolitan area will be able to move out of their group homes and all of their rights will be fully restored, and I will no longer cause shame, heartache, and despair for my family and friends because of the constant social faux-pas I create just for existing. If I were to name everyone, I’d be here until Christmas 2022; I just gave the main highlights on who would benefit from me getting a terminal diagnosis(especially if it results in a rather graphic and torturous death). If I get told it’s cancer and treatable, that will be at least somewhat uplifting. I’d still be the reason why so many people are in misery, yet I’d get to live and hopefully get married and have a family one day. If I’m told that I have an autoimmune disease and that it’s in late stages, a lot of people will be able to have happier lives; especially since late stage autoimmune diseases are nothing but horrifyingly agonizing deaths that can take years to happen. All I know is that no matter what happens, my life will be forever changed and I’m okay with that. 2019 has been such a horrific experience and I’ve been wanting it to be 2020 since the third week in January. The sooner 2020 comes around, the better off I’ll be.