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<p>Ah. No, I was actually talking about the non-CC person referenced by DonnaL in post 22.</p>
<p>Still rooting for you and sending positive vibes, Donna. I think your son would be very glad to hear what’s going on rather than have you keep it a secret, and he might even be able to help distract you and temper your fears somewhat, too.</p>
<p>I have always told my kids, but then that is just me and our relationship. But you do sound close to your son and it sounds like he’d pick up on it anyway. And while you want to protect him, I sense he would really want to know and be supportive of you so maybe this good if you share- he will help, and I’m sure he can cope from the sounds of it. It will be a short lived stress and hey going through such things kind of builds some resilience/coping to other such temporary worries. </p>
<p>Thinking of you Donna and I hope you find out soon and can rest. I imagine if its been there awhile it is great you are able to now address it.</p>
<p>Thank you all very much. I guess I’ll say something to J. Although I won’t spring it on him while I’m driving him home from the airport on Sunday; it can wait until later! (I’ll be so happy to see him for the first time in three months – the longest time he’s ever been away, I think – that the last thing I’ll want to do is detract from the moment in any way.)</p>
<p>Atacom, I first noticed it months ago; I really don’t remember exactly how many. I <em>thought</em> it went away, but I can’t say that I paid close enough attention to it to be able to be sure it disappeared completely as opposed to being less noticeable for a while. It isn’t as if I poked around under the surface. Maybe I should have, but I didn’t. The last few weeks, though, it’s been impossible to miss. (When I said early on that it’s painful, that’s kind of misleading; it only hurts if I do poke it. Which I did a lot for a while, but have stopped doing because there doesn’t seem to be much point to it.)</p>
<p>I have been extremely fatigued lately, so much so that I’ve had to sleep for an hour or more almost every single day at work for the last few weeks, usually in the early evening but today before noon. (I just close the door and lean back in my desk chair, ready to spring to life if someone knocks!) On Friday, the day after driving to Long Island and back for Thanksgiving – not such a huge drive, just over the Queens-Nassau line, but it took 2 1/2 hours to get there, including getting a flat tire on the LIE and having to deal with it, with my 90-year old father and his wife in the back! – I was so exhausted that I had to take a six-hour nap within a few hours of getting up in the morning, even though I did get more than eight hours of sleep. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I often get very tired. This certainly isn’t any worse than I felt for several months last fall after returning to work following my surgery last summer, although I was feeling more like myself for a while earlier this year. So who knows. I’m not necessarily the most robust person in the world under the best of circumstances. </p>
<p>Anyway, a very nice doctor covering for my doctor called me a little while ago and agreed to start the process of getting me a referral to a general surgeon, so I can hopefully be given a name by the end of the week, and maybe be able to make an appointment for sometime next week. By which time the mammogram results should be in. And if my doctor would really prefer me to see somebody else, she can let me know after she gets back a week from today, and I can switch.</p>
<p>I was a little apprehensive that the doctor who called me might think I was being too impatient, or overreacting, and should just wait until my doctor gets back, and/or wait to do anything at all until the mammogram results come in. But she wasn’t like that, and reassured me that there’s nothing unusual about my being concerned and wanting to find out what the story is as soon as possible. After all, even if the mammogram shows nothing, I’ll still probably have to consult a general surgeon for some kind of biopsy anyway, unless I were willing to sit around for another few months and see if it goes away by itself. Which it shows no signs of doing so far. (Besides, the only person who’s usually concerned that I’m overreacting to something medical is me!)</p>
<p>I’m hoping this is all resolved soon, and turns out to be nothing at all, and I get to worry unnecessarily that I’ve been wasting your time!</p>
<p>Donna- hugs, it is so difficult to discern when you feel worse than the “usual lousy” if you have dealt with chronic issues. I had surgery this summer and was amazed how much better I felt after, I had become so accustomed to dealing with chronic issues, I just accepted them.</p>
<p>Better to over-react than to under-react! Good luck to you!</p>
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<p>Not to dismiss what you’re going through, but it could be very possible that you’ve got two different things going on. For as long as I can remember, as the days start getting even shorter toward the end of October and into November, I notice I am always more lethargic. Some people talk about seasonal depression, but I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m depressed… just feel like I could crawl into bed at any time of the day and sleep. So it could just be coincidence that you’re feeling exhausted at the same time that your body is trying to cope with something, however minor it could be. I’ve heard wonderful things about the OttLite full spectrum lighting; you might try purchasing one and keeping it in your office, if the ‘furniture’ committee allows it. ::eek::</p>
<p>Glad you and your medical team are being pro-active on this rather than waiting and worrying. No matter what happens, please don’t think you’ve “wasted” anyone’s time or energy. Health IS an important issue for all of us & those who frequent CC do so to share and support one another. We know you are here for us & we are here for you!</p>
<p>Sounds like you’ve come to a good resolution about broaching this with your S as well. I’m sure he’ll be very supportive as always and help you face whatever comes next–including a nice celebration just to have answers!</p>
<p>Sounds like a good plan, Donna. Please don’t worry about wasting anyone’s time! As HImom says, health is of primary importance. We are all here to help one another. </p>
<p>The last two threads I started were about DVD players and golf clubs - maybe I should be the one worrying about wasting people’s time?</p>
<p>Donna this is what they are in business for, No people with concerns no money. It is their business to take care of you !</p>
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<p>Trust me, if we’re all on here constantly reading and posting in Parent Cafe, we’re probably collectively pretty unconcerned with anybody wasting our time… We can do that all on our own! ;)</p>
<p>This reminds me that I am grateful that my health insurance allows me to see a specialist without any referral.</p>
<p>So, I had the mammogram earlier today (ouch for when they had to twist my arm inside out to try get the swelling under the machine!), and have an appointment with a general surgeon for Thursday morning for some sort of biopsy. During the daytime I manage not to think about it too much, but I’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping at night. It was especially unpleasant around 3 o’clock this morning, when I became absolutely consumed with anxiety, and convinced that I’m going to end up with bad news, and wondering how much worse the ordinary prognosis, whatever it might be, would be for someone with my medical history and my continuing health issues. Ugh. The sooner I find out what’s going on, the better. Even though at this point, I’m finding it very difficult to believe that it’s going to turn out to be nothing.</p>
<p>At the same time, of course, I’m completely pleased and excited at the prospect of picking J. up at the airport tomorrow afternoon, and seeing him for the first time in three months. We just got off the phone, since he gave me a call from Vienna before going to sleep, and he seems so very happy right now. It’s quite infectious. It’s amazing to me how much German he seems to have picked up in just a few months on top of all of his other studies (he conveyed to me some of the wonderful compliments he’s gotten from the program supervisors), and how independent he’s become the last few years, and how comfortable he is traveling all over the place, either completely on his own or with a friend or two. In addition to Vienna, he spent time this fall in Graz, Salzburg, Budapest, Prague, and Bratislava (the last for just a few hours, earlier today). Not to mention his previous trips to London and Rome with me, as well as to Montreal a couple of times. He’s done a lot more foreign travel in his 20 years than I’d accomplished by that age (I think I’d been only to Zurich and Freiburg, both with my parents). In fact, I still haven’t been to that many foreign cities! I think he knows how lucky he is to have had this opportunity; he certainly doesn’t take it for granted. </p>
<p>In any event, I’m definitely capable of being tremendously happy and tremendously anxious, all at once!</p>
<p>I had a health scare 4 years ago - a large growth that appeared to be an ovarian cyst, except that it wasn’t showing up as clear fluid - while my mom was battling ovarian cancer. I called my primary dr and told her my brain was going faster and faster like a hamster on a wheel and I couldn’t stop it. She prescribed a low dose of Ativan. It took the edge off and allowed me to function. I only had to take it for a month, once the cyst began to shrink and eventually disappeared I knew I was ok. </p>
<p>If you need something to help you sleep until you find out what this is, don’t be afraid to ask! You will function a lot better if you can sleep.</p>
<p>So, my doctor just called me to let me know that she got the results of the mammogram from the radiology place, and that they want me to come back for further imaging (I think she mentioned an ultrasound?) because they detected swelling in my right axillary area (duh, like I didn’t already know that!) and also something in my right breast itself. Odd that they didn’t call me; maybe there’ll be something in the mail when I get home tonight.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I’m seeing the general surgeon tomorrow morning, supposedly for a biopsy of the swollen lymph node in my armpit. I guess it’ll be up to her as to whether to go ahead with it right away, or wait for whatever further imaging has to be done. If I get a vote, it would be to go ahead with a biopsy without waiting. The anxiety of not knowing what’s wrong is really, really intensely stressful, and putting it off for another week or more would not make me happy. I’ve been using klonipin to help me sleep at night, but it’s not something I can take during the day. </p>
<p>On top of all that, I was at the office until 4:30 am last night, finishing a draft somebody wanted by first thing this morning. </p>
<p>Oy vay ist meer.</p>
<p>Go home early and go to bed by 9:00 PM. You deserve it.</p>
<p>And good luck tomorrow morning. let us know what’s up.</p>
<p>Yikes, Donna! Get some rest. If I were you, I’d tell the surgeon to just get it done. I’m sure your mammography followup will be an ultrasound exam. My clinic does send a form letter asking to call them, so chances are you will get an envelope with your clinic logo in the mailbox. It is a good thing your doctor called you - I much prefer to talk to a real person than stare at a piece of paper with cryptic messages. Keep us posted. Good luck.</p>
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<p>It doesn’t work that way. An ultrasound may be needed to know if the axillary mass is cystic or solid before someone sticks a needle in it to send cells/fluid/tissue off to pathology. And now she has “something” in her right breast. So the surgeon needs to evaluate the situation and come up with a plan.</p>
<p>Hugs to you Donna and get some rest.</p>
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<p>Actually, that is standard. Typically, the radiologist who reads the mammogram never even meets or examines the patient. Just a radiology tech. So the radiologist as a consulting physician who has never even met or examined the patient passes the findings off to the primary care physician or general surgeon, depending on who ordered the imaging study and is taking responsibilty for follow up.</p>
<p>It is then up to the physician taking responsibility for the follow up to do just that - follow up.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement. You’re all very sweet.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I’m still at work, it’s already after 10 pm, and I’ll be here for a while yet. And, not to sound like Ms. Job, but in the last three days I’ve also developed, quite suddenly, what is most certainly the most excruciatingly painful toothache I’ve had in the last 10 or 15 years, in the back of my teeth on the bottom right, coincidentally on the same side as everything else. I’ve been practically drinking from one of those little glass bottles of Anbesol. </p>
<p>I guess it’s a good thing I’m left-handed, because my right side is definitely not behaving lately!</p>
<p>Reading this thread, as someone who was treated for locally advanced breast cancer several years ago, has taken me back vividly to that period of not-knowing before the diagnosis becomes clear. Those were the worst days for me. Once my doctor and I received the pathology report, and the course ahead of me was laid out, I was much relieved although, in a sense, I’d received terrible news. I underwent an extremely aggressive course of treatment, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined in advance that it would be. Moreover, it seems to have worked.</p>
<p>So, DonnaL, take heart, worry right now only about the step immediately in front of you, and keep us posted! You have my very best wishes and hopes for your health.</p>