Chapter 13

Good Morning,

Goodness, what a mess we live in!!!  Started spring cleaning (yes, I know I’m a little late, tee hee).  We threw a lot of stuff away, and the living room looks a little bigger.  It’s a little easier to get around in.  Next week, I hope to start in the kitchen.  When you combine 2 households there’s a lot of repetitive kitchen utensils and appliances.  We have 4 rice cookers, and in eight and a half years, we’ve used 2 of them about 10 times.  We have used one for steamed veggies, but we really don’t use them.  Let’s not even mention crock pots—haha.  Time to get rid of some of this clutter.

Some good news.  The dermatologist called and the lab declared that the cancer on my upper right arm has been taken care of.  Come back in 6 months.  Dr. Dimmick is a great provider.  I couldn’t ask for better care.

I was truly amazed, it only took 1 request and 15 minutes to get the copies of all my MRIs, ultrasounds, cat scans and the reports to take with me to my appointment with the St. Louis docs. 

If I’ve already explained the S.t Louis docs, please be patient with me since I don’t remember.  You make an appointment with the liver clinic.  When you get there, you sign in and they call you to put you in a room to see the next available doctor.  So, you really never know which doctor you’ll see.  I’ve seen 3 different doctors up there, but this one really doesn’t have any bedside manners.  He’s a take no prisoners kind of guy. 

Dr. Ng (my new liver specialist in Springfield) definitely wanted the St. Louis docs to pay close attention to a 1.6 cm lesion on the backside of my liver.  It wasn’t there 6 months ago, and it’s so tiny, the Springfield bunch can’t do a biopsy.  Well, at least that is what I think they told me, which makes sense, but I don’t remember just exactly what was said.  Dr. Congeniality in St. Louis read about it in the reports, and he went on to explain that he wants me back in 2-3 months, with the results from another MRI, to see if it has grown to 2.0 cm.  If it has, they will run a line in my leg up to the lesion  and zap it with chemo.  That was the last thing I remember.  I checked out and just stared at the wall.  If he moved into my line of sight, I stared through him.  My sister goes with me for 2 reasons, I can’t ( or won’t) drive in  St. Louis, and one side effect of cirrhosis is mental fogginess that causes forgetfulness, inattention to details.  So, Leslie has her work cut out for her.  The next day I asked her about the visit and she was able to explain in terms that my poor befuddled brain could understand.

It’s getting late, so I’d better start getting ready for a nap.  Naps are so wonderful.  Why did we fight against taking one when we were kids????    

CYA,

Arlynda