A few months back, I had a bone and CT scan performed to check for
cancer. During the CT scan, I got this really weird warming sensation
in my right upper thigh right after the doc injected the contrast. I
mentioned it when it happened and she thought that was odd. Well that
little incident stuck out in my head. Shortly thereafter I experienced
these odd warming sensations in the same area at random times of the day
but not every single day. I'd be sitting at my desk and all the sudden
my right inner thigh would warm up. And a few seconds it would go
away. It felt like someone was rubbing my leg producing friction, hence
the warming sensation. My legs wouldn't go numb, nor would they feel
like they were falling asleep. Just that one area would get warm and
then go back to normal. It was so strange and annoying enough for me to take notice of it.
Odd, and a tad worried I went to the oncologist who referred me to a neurologist. A neurologist is a doctor who specializes in treating diseases of the nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord.
I knew the doctor had something to do with the nerves but not including
the brain and spinal cord which makes me realize how many doctors
specialize in so many parts of the human body and how lucky I am that I
live in a modern world. Anyway, when I called, the appointment was
scheduled 1 1/2 months out. I thought geez, had I known that, I would
have brought it to the attention of my oncologist sooner. So as time
went by, my leg started to settle down. I thought, "go figure that once
I actually get my appointment my leg will not longer be acting up and I
will have wasted my time and the doctors time. But low and behold, the
wait was over. She had a cancellation, calling me to see if I'd like to
bump my appointment up 3 weeks. Ummm.....yeah!
Lucky
or not so lucky, my leg started acting up again today. Good timing
leg. For the last few weeks the warming sensation had kind of gone away
and I thought, this doctor isn't going to believe me if I have no
current symptoms. But today it magically re-appeared. So I thought, is
this all in my head? Am I making this stuff up? No, I'm not. I know
I'm not crazy. When I sit at work and its super quiet in the office and
my leg starts to warm up for no reason, that's not crazy, that's real.
I
explained my condition to Dr. Stone. When it happened, what it felt
like and how long it's been going on. I even told her that the warming
sensation ended for a bit and then my right leg felt heavy. Not like a
dead weight but just heavy, like weights. But not while I walked, only
while I sat. Then I wondered as I was talking. Am I just sitting to
much during the day? Am I causing my own drama?
Remember
it was a pain in my ribs that started all this testing? I slouch at
work a lot and I shoveled a hell of a lot of snow this winter. Can I be
doing this to my body myself?
Dr. Stone did some
minor tests just to see my leg strength and how my body reacted to
things. Like the reflex test (which she said was good since I did have
chemo) and had me follow her finger with my eyes without moving my head,
pricking me with a sharp object to see if I had different sensations in
my legs. Nothing. Not a darn thing was different. In fact, after
answering all her questions and completing her random tests, she didn't
have a diagnosis for my leg. Of course I asked if there was a
possibility of a blood clot and she said no. Same as the oncologist
office. So that put me at ease, although without an official test, I
can't rule it out in my brain. Anyway, she said that I should monitor
my leg and see how this goes for 1 more month until I see Dr. Wilkinson
again. If I still have it, she will request that I get a scan done.
But for now she wants to see what it will do. She feels like the
injection of the dye might have escaped and irritated the leg in some
way, like an air bubble.
It's so hard to understand
doctor talk sometimes. And now that I have been a pin cushion to many
doctors, I wish I had gone in the medical field myself so I could
understand what is going on with me.
So...that's what I'm going to
do. I'm going to try to focus on my symptoms and document this so I can
go to the doctors with fact and patterns verses saying random and I
have no clue.
We'll see how this all pans out.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Holy smokes batman, my hair is blonde
After months of being super duper dark, to going lighter and lighter little by little, today I went to the salon and I thought I was kind of just getting a root touch up but WHOA! I came out blonde. My stylist Val was on maternity leave for 3 months. I had a hard time getting an appointment with her because she was on high demand. I finally got an appointment last weekend but I had to cancel it cause for some reason I was "on call" at work. So when I rescheduled, she had an opening on Friday which is today and I jumped on it. I use to work PT and Fridays were my days off. So I use to get my hair done all the time and spend some time with my mom in the process but since those assess brought me back full time, I don't get that luxury of having Friday's off so I have to take leave which I'm fine with. It was a "Jen" day. And I haven't had a "Jen" day in a really long time. Well, I probably do but I'll claim memory loss. :)
So I dropped Cody off at school and headed out. I should have left earlier so I could have done some hard core shopping before my appointment but for some reason I was so tired that I just didn't have the energy. By the time I got there I ate lunch and hit Kohl's. I've been a bad girl at Kohl's lately. They had a big winter clearance sale and I think I bought up the entire store. After freezing during this winter I stocked up on some sweaters and anything long sleeve that I could find. I really wanted to go to Ross but I ran out of time so I headed over to get my hair done.
I showed Val my re-growth and she was impressed with the grow out. Of course the dark roots were terrible and driving me nuts every time I looked in the mirror. I was way overdue for a highlight. I just wish I took a before and after photo but I totally didn't think about it which is so odd for me. I told Val that I wanted to get rid of the nasty roots and to do it like last time. I think she thought I meant pre-chemo but I meant, last time as in December 2013, 3 months ago. So as I sat there processing, I was excited about getting out of the salon and getting back on the road. I gotta squeeze some more shopping in before I get home.
Years ago I loved going to the salon. It was definitely a "Jen's" day but now, I have other priorities and one of those are hanging out with my family and the other is SHOPPING!!! :) And I guess you could say, getting your hair done is "shopping" since I'm buying a service but this service with my dark hair is always short term and "shopping" to me should be long term gratification like an outfit or shoes.
So, Val rinsed my hair and sat me in front of the mirror. She took off the towel and holy smokes I could see blonde highlights all throughout my hair. Uh-oh? I was a bit nervous. I kind of gotten use to the more earthy tones in my hair but now I see a lot of blonde. And it's only March. Is it to early for blonde hair here in Virginia? Everywhere I look I see brunettes. Am I going to stand out to much? She blew dryed my entire hair and yup, it was official, I have a lot of blonde hair on this head of mine. It's going to take me some time to get use to it. I'll post a photo in the next few days.
So I dropped Cody off at school and headed out. I should have left earlier so I could have done some hard core shopping before my appointment but for some reason I was so tired that I just didn't have the energy. By the time I got there I ate lunch and hit Kohl's. I've been a bad girl at Kohl's lately. They had a big winter clearance sale and I think I bought up the entire store. After freezing during this winter I stocked up on some sweaters and anything long sleeve that I could find. I really wanted to go to Ross but I ran out of time so I headed over to get my hair done.
I showed Val my re-growth and she was impressed with the grow out. Of course the dark roots were terrible and driving me nuts every time I looked in the mirror. I was way overdue for a highlight. I just wish I took a before and after photo but I totally didn't think about it which is so odd for me. I told Val that I wanted to get rid of the nasty roots and to do it like last time. I think she thought I meant pre-chemo but I meant, last time as in December 2013, 3 months ago. So as I sat there processing, I was excited about getting out of the salon and getting back on the road. I gotta squeeze some more shopping in before I get home.
Years ago I loved going to the salon. It was definitely a "Jen's" day but now, I have other priorities and one of those are hanging out with my family and the other is SHOPPING!!! :) And I guess you could say, getting your hair done is "shopping" since I'm buying a service but this service with my dark hair is always short term and "shopping" to me should be long term gratification like an outfit or shoes.
So, Val rinsed my hair and sat me in front of the mirror. She took off the towel and holy smokes I could see blonde highlights all throughout my hair. Uh-oh? I was a bit nervous. I kind of gotten use to the more earthy tones in my hair but now I see a lot of blonde. And it's only March. Is it to early for blonde hair here in Virginia? Everywhere I look I see brunettes. Am I going to stand out to much? She blew dryed my entire hair and yup, it was official, I have a lot of blonde hair on this head of mine. It's going to take me some time to get use to it. I'll post a photo in the next few days.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Bad accidents
Yesterday I was driving home from work on my normal route when it was suddenly backed up. UGHHH! I got out of work on time and great I get stuck in some unknown traffic tie up. So I switch lanes, turned into a parking lot, and went through the light. I pulled over and put the navigation on since I have no idea where I was going. Anywhere is better than sitting in the unknown traffic jam or was it?
So that's the fun part about Virginia. They build office buildings in the middle of housing developments so during peak commuting hours you can't make turns on side streets otherwise you will get a ticket. I know this from experience. One day I was driving, didn't see a sign, made a left turn during a time that was apparently not allowed and the cop gave me a ticket. No warning at all, just a sweet old ticket. Now, let me say, I'm not a rule breaker, I haven't gotten a ticket in over 10 years. But my mind was on my cancer and somehow I made a left turn one street early and whoa la! You are stuck with no turning left signs everywhere. Where do you think my office was? To the left? How can I get to it? By making a left. I could have walked to the office from where I was but again, I didn't see the sign and wham bam thank you ma'am here's your $98 ticket.
Sorry went off track there for a minute.
So my navigation which I failed to select "FREEWAY OR HIGHWAY" took me on this winding back road. I had no idea where I was cause there's trees everywhere. Suddenly I cross over the highway but there's no way to get on the highway. Pet peeve #2 in Virginia. Don't build a highway and not put on and off ramps attached to them! UGHH! Suddenly I come to a red light and realize that if I make a left (my favorite turn) I'd get on RT 7 and now I finally I know where I am. Still shockingly 15 miles from the house but at least I'm moving in the right direction..... one slow stop light at a time. Now I know why I never go this way. Drive 200 feet, stop light. Wait forever. Drive 300 feet, stop light, wait forever. It never ends here.
Next thing I knew, traffic again comes to a dead stop. What in the world is going on now? All I want to do is go home, is that to much to ask for? I just can't believe this. There must be something that is keeping me from getting home tonight. Good thing Cody's T-ball practice was canceled due to wet fields, otherwise I would have never gotten him to practice in time. Pet peeve #3, RAIN. Anyway, time is ticking by. Finally I heard on the radio that there was an accident on Rt. 7. Wish I heard that 2 miles sooner I would have made a "LEFT" turn and headed toward the over priced toll road. Cause paying money has got to be better than sitting in traffic.
So turns out it was a terrible accident and on the east bound lanes of Rt. 7. Pet peeve #4. Why does the state of Virginia only want to build 2 lane roads with tons of lights and no freeway system to get from point A to point B? The medevac helicopter landed on the east bound lanes of Rt. 7. As I drove by slowly, it looked like 3 cars were involved. So sad and I hope all individuals involved are all okay.
As I drove by I realized how lucky I am today. I'm safe and sound in my car on my way home to my family. Still approx 10 miles away but I was on my way home. It took me 1 1/2 hours to drive 19 miles today but if that's how it has to be then that's how it has to be.
Fast forward to approximately 13 hours later, I'm back on the road heading to work east bound and low and behold on the west bound lanes of Ryan road there was a 2 car accident. This time, it was super new. An individual was still in his/her car, air bags deployed and in a ditch. Cop cars were racing to the scene as well as an ambulance. Suddenly I was tense and wondering why there are so many accidents. Are people in that much of a hurry to not notice other cars on the road or are they texting or talking on the phone? I just don't get it.
I'm glad I had already dropped Cody off at school. All I wanted to do was drive back home and relax. But I was heading toward work and thought even though today is Thursday, today is my Friday and I'm looking forward to getting the day over with. I really need a break from the madness.
So that's the fun part about Virginia. They build office buildings in the middle of housing developments so during peak commuting hours you can't make turns on side streets otherwise you will get a ticket. I know this from experience. One day I was driving, didn't see a sign, made a left turn during a time that was apparently not allowed and the cop gave me a ticket. No warning at all, just a sweet old ticket. Now, let me say, I'm not a rule breaker, I haven't gotten a ticket in over 10 years. But my mind was on my cancer and somehow I made a left turn one street early and whoa la! You are stuck with no turning left signs everywhere. Where do you think my office was? To the left? How can I get to it? By making a left. I could have walked to the office from where I was but again, I didn't see the sign and wham bam thank you ma'am here's your $98 ticket.
Sorry went off track there for a minute.
So my navigation which I failed to select "FREEWAY OR HIGHWAY" took me on this winding back road. I had no idea where I was cause there's trees everywhere. Suddenly I cross over the highway but there's no way to get on the highway. Pet peeve #2 in Virginia. Don't build a highway and not put on and off ramps attached to them! UGHH! Suddenly I come to a red light and realize that if I make a left (my favorite turn) I'd get on RT 7 and now I finally I know where I am. Still shockingly 15 miles from the house but at least I'm moving in the right direction..... one slow stop light at a time. Now I know why I never go this way. Drive 200 feet, stop light. Wait forever. Drive 300 feet, stop light, wait forever. It never ends here.
Next thing I knew, traffic again comes to a dead stop. What in the world is going on now? All I want to do is go home, is that to much to ask for? I just can't believe this. There must be something that is keeping me from getting home tonight. Good thing Cody's T-ball practice was canceled due to wet fields, otherwise I would have never gotten him to practice in time. Pet peeve #3, RAIN. Anyway, time is ticking by. Finally I heard on the radio that there was an accident on Rt. 7. Wish I heard that 2 miles sooner I would have made a "LEFT" turn and headed toward the over priced toll road. Cause paying money has got to be better than sitting in traffic.
So turns out it was a terrible accident and on the east bound lanes of Rt. 7. Pet peeve #4. Why does the state of Virginia only want to build 2 lane roads with tons of lights and no freeway system to get from point A to point B? The medevac helicopter landed on the east bound lanes of Rt. 7. As I drove by slowly, it looked like 3 cars were involved. So sad and I hope all individuals involved are all okay.
As I drove by I realized how lucky I am today. I'm safe and sound in my car on my way home to my family. Still approx 10 miles away but I was on my way home. It took me 1 1/2 hours to drive 19 miles today but if that's how it has to be then that's how it has to be.
Fast forward to approximately 13 hours later, I'm back on the road heading to work east bound and low and behold on the west bound lanes of Ryan road there was a 2 car accident. This time, it was super new. An individual was still in his/her car, air bags deployed and in a ditch. Cop cars were racing to the scene as well as an ambulance. Suddenly I was tense and wondering why there are so many accidents. Are people in that much of a hurry to not notice other cars on the road or are they texting or talking on the phone? I just don't get it.
I'm glad I had already dropped Cody off at school. All I wanted to do was drive back home and relax. But I was heading toward work and thought even though today is Thursday, today is my Friday and I'm looking forward to getting the day over with. I really need a break from the madness.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Okay SNOW...take a HIKE!
Yes, you guessed it. SNOW. I've so over it now, especially since it didn't give me a day off from work. I could really use that free day off today. I'm sooooo tired. But instead I get to hang out at work wondering all day what the weather is doing. Wondering you say? Yes wondering because I have no windows in my office and the breakroom down the hall doesn't have any windows so unless I walk outside, I have no idea what's going on.
So all day I sat there wondering. Until I got off my fat butt an took a look outside. Grass is covered but sidewalks and roads are completely clear. So I won't be getting out of work early today. I'll just hope for a smooth drive home.
I left on time and headed home. The snow wasn't really falling that hard till I got about 5 miles from my house then the visibility was getting a little more challenging. Not difficult, just a little challenging. With the gray skies and the snow, it was starting to get hard to see where the road was. So I took the $6 toll and went straight home. Of course after picking up the Codester.
I took a few photos which I will post soon and headed inside. Like I said, Okay SNOW....take a HIKE!!! I'm so over it now.
So all day I sat there wondering. Until I got off my fat butt an took a look outside. Grass is covered but sidewalks and roads are completely clear. So I won't be getting out of work early today. I'll just hope for a smooth drive home.
I left on time and headed home. The snow wasn't really falling that hard till I got about 5 miles from my house then the visibility was getting a little more challenging. Not difficult, just a little challenging. With the gray skies and the snow, it was starting to get hard to see where the road was. So I took the $6 toll and went straight home. Of course after picking up the Codester.
I took a few photos which I will post soon and headed inside. Like I said, Okay SNOW....take a HIKE!!! I'm so over it now.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
Here we go.......
Going through the same thing...
Here we go again....
Going through the same thing....
One of my old school favorites by the group "Portrait". But instead of singing about a relationship I'm singing about the "SNOW" yes, that's right. It's March 17th and the forecaster's who you all know that I love and adore are calling for some sort of rain/snow mix. Starting with rain tonight and ending up with snow tomorrow.
Yesterday our area hit 70 degrees (so they say). With the wind, I didn't think it felt like 70 at all but whatever! Since the temps were somewhere in the warmer spectrum, the forecasters are claiming that this weather mess will start off as rain and over night when the temps drop to the 30's it will convert to snow.
So now the question is.....what time frame is it going to actually show up, will it be rain or snow and how much are we going to get and what exact areas is it going to affect. I do like seeing the snow come down but I'm really tired of shoveling it.
My version of the song
Here we go again...
Going through the same thing...
Here we go again....
Going through the same thing.
Well it's suppose to be spring time...
But the snow won't let it go...
I'm tired of being cold and wearing winter clothes..
I'm ready for the sun and all the funnnnn.....
Ready for the shorts, flip flops and tank tops
Here we go....
Going through the same thing...
Here we go again...
Here we go...
Going through the same thing....
Going through the same thing...
Here we go again....
Going through the same thing....
One of my old school favorites by the group "Portrait". But instead of singing about a relationship I'm singing about the "SNOW" yes, that's right. It's March 17th and the forecaster's who you all know that I love and adore are calling for some sort of rain/snow mix. Starting with rain tonight and ending up with snow tomorrow.
Yesterday our area hit 70 degrees (so they say). With the wind, I didn't think it felt like 70 at all but whatever! Since the temps were somewhere in the warmer spectrum, the forecasters are claiming that this weather mess will start off as rain and over night when the temps drop to the 30's it will convert to snow.
So now the question is.....what time frame is it going to actually show up, will it be rain or snow and how much are we going to get and what exact areas is it going to affect. I do like seeing the snow come down but I'm really tired of shoveling it.
My version of the song
Here we go again...
Going through the same thing...
Here we go again....
Going through the same thing.
Well it's suppose to be spring time...
But the snow won't let it go...
I'm tired of being cold and wearing winter clothes..
I'm ready for the sun and all the funnnnn.....
Ready for the shorts, flip flops and tank tops
Here we go....
Going through the same thing...
Here we go again...
Here we go...
Going through the same thing....
Sunday, March 2, 2014
This better not be a tease
I'm so ready for summer....but I'll take spring but Winter is certainly wearing out it's welcome here. I was looking through some old photos from last year and I noticed that Ken and I started working on our garden in mid to late March. Now that it's March 2nd, I'm ready for the nice weather and I'm already thinking of what I'm going to plant this year in my garden. But no...... the weather man keeps talking about cold temperatures and a possible mix of something tomorrow and I tell you, I just have to roll my eyes in disgust. Last weekend we had an extrodinarly warm and wonderful weekend. Both days were in the low 60's, the sun was out and I was feeling so alive, so motivated, so active. But this weekend, the temps dropped to it's normal level of 40's and now they are talking about a wintery mess tomorrow.
BUT.......NOW.......THE.....FORECASTER.....IS.....SAYING........I would be very surprised if anyone is going to work or school tomorrow. What did he just say???
Okay, my attitude has just changed. I went from a "2" day weekend to a "3" day weekend and I can't help but be smiling at the moment. Although the thought of shoveling my driveway tomorrow doesn't thrill me, the fact that I get one more day to catch up on things makes me very happy. I've already got all my food supplies so I don't have to rush out today to fight the lines of people getting milk, bread and whatever else they need to get through a wintery mix. Ken and I made homemade chicken noodle soup last night which will be ready today and will be awesome leftovers after being outside shoveling snow. So I'm ready. Ready for whatever hits the DC metro area. But after this storm.......
I WANT SPRING!!!!
BUT.......NOW.......THE.....FORECASTER.....IS.....SAYING........I would be very surprised if anyone is going to work or school tomorrow. What did he just say???
Okay, my attitude has just changed. I went from a "2" day weekend to a "3" day weekend and I can't help but be smiling at the moment. Although the thought of shoveling my driveway tomorrow doesn't thrill me, the fact that I get one more day to catch up on things makes me very happy. I've already got all my food supplies so I don't have to rush out today to fight the lines of people getting milk, bread and whatever else they need to get through a wintery mix. Ken and I made homemade chicken noodle soup last night which will be ready today and will be awesome leftovers after being outside shoveling snow. So I'm ready. Ready for whatever hits the DC metro area. But after this storm.......
I WANT SPRING!!!!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Another year older
How does this keep happening? Time just rolls by and thank god I'm alive to enjoy it. Today is my 43rd Birthday and I'm proud to say it. I have a loving hubby and child who made my day special. We went out to dinner as a family to Famous Dave's BBQ which all of us enjoyed. Cody especially loves the corn muffins. I love them too but would gladly give up mine to see Cody smiling ear to ear. Ken brought the gift and cards and I opened them as we had an ice cream sundae for dessert.
When we left it was snowing. So mother nature had a present for me too. Several inches of snow will fall tonight. More than likely work and school will be canceled so if that is the case, that will be one of the best birthday presents.....a day with my family. Of course it would have been nice to have the day off today on my birthday but tomorrow is good enough.
Thank you to all my friends and family for the birthday wishes throughout the day today. It made my day even more special. And a big thanks to Inayah for decorating my desk. Just a great day all around. XOXO to everyone.
When we left it was snowing. So mother nature had a present for me too. Several inches of snow will fall tonight. More than likely work and school will be canceled so if that is the case, that will be one of the best birthday presents.....a day with my family. Of course it would have been nice to have the day off today on my birthday but tomorrow is good enough.
Thank you to all my friends and family for the birthday wishes throughout the day today. It made my day even more special. And a big thanks to Inayah for decorating my desk. Just a great day all around. XOXO to everyone.
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