A Tale of Brenda's Summer Medical Tour...
Hi, it's Trevor here, for our monthly tale. This time is going to be about Brenda's medical journey, which has been pretty active.
We are going to start out with the health scare that she experienced. Brenda was told on examination with her GYN Nurse Practitioner, while doing her breast exam, that she found a lump at the 4 o'clock position in her right breast. This was on June 1st. All Brenda heard was o'clock and not where it was located. That was confirmed when she went in to have her 3D Mammography and Breast Ultrasound on June 28th. Her mammogram was originally scheduled for September, but when this was found, the NP wanted to have it looked at sooner, to make sure there was nothing more serious. It was also noted that this could be scar tissue, from her breast reduction, that was performed 11 years ago.
So Brenda didn't share with anyone, except her medical team what was going on. Truth is, she didn't know much, as was mentioned above, she didn't even really hear where the lump was located. All she heard was breast lump. She didn't want anyone to worry needlessly. Brenda was just going to wait until the diagnostic tests were performed and results given, before she would share.
In the meantime, this was stressful for Brenda, not knowing the outcome. She was already dealing with a very sore left ankle, which had been going on for months. She was also going to wait until her yearly exam with the podiatrist, to deal with that issue.
Brenda's next appointment was with her Primary Care Physician on June 19th, where she presented with her 5th bout of shingles. She is pretty sure all of this stress and concern about the other health issue, could have brought them on. They started the night before her physical, so the silver lining here is, that they were caught early. Unfortunately, she had to take those horse pills again, three times a day. They really do a number on her stomach. She deals with enough nausea, as it is. Her Sed Rate was again high at 44, but has been higher. That tracks the activity of her disease. Her rheumy also wants this checked on a consistent basis. Thankfully, the test is not that expensive, if for some reason the insurance company would not want to cover it.
Her examination consisted of a student performing one first. He asked a lot of questions and wrote everything down. This is a little humorous, at least we had a chuckle about it. BOL. Brenda had been to Mayo Clinic back in 1988 and the rheumatologist there described her heart murmur, as nothing more significant, than brown eyes or freckles. Brenda mentioned this to the student physician and he wrote all of that down. Neither one, the student or her PCP could even hear the heart murmur, while they examined her. Brenda told them, that they probably wouldn't. It had been discovered by accident in the Emergency Room, many years before. To this day, Brenda has no idea how long it had been there or why? It remains many of her medical mysteries. BOL Her PCP entered everything that Brenda shared with the student physician into the computer or her electronic medical record or EMR for short.
Two days later, was her appointment with the podiatrist. Her orthotics seem to be working out fine, as she got new ones custom made last year. She was diagnosed with a stress fracture of her left distal fibula, after a series of x-rays. Brenda had to go back to wearing her boot air cast, that she wore 6 years ago, when she had a torn tendon in her right ankle. The nice thing is, this boot works for either foot, so she didn't have to worry about purchasing another one or running it through insurance. She was to also wear an ace bandage and ice the ankle at night. This was for 2 weeks, but she couldn't handle wearing the boot for quite that long, as it was causing her left shoulder and right knee to become inflamed. She was lopsided, as that boot weighs 3 lbs. Yes, Brenda did put it on the scale.
She had repeat x-rays and it is healing, but had to now wear a lace-up shoe, which she also had on hand, before getting fitted for her first pair of orthotics, 6 years ago. Brenda was to wear the lace-up shoe inside of her tennis shoe during the day, put the ace bandage on, when she gets home and continue to ice it in the evening. She also was to elevate it as much as possible. Brenda figured out a way to do it at work.
Brenda has not missed any work during all of this. Her right knee has been locking up on her at times and makes it very painful to walk. The pain is excruciating for Brenda, which causes tears, and then the nausea sets in from the pain. Brenda cannot handle most pain medications, so that is not an option. The podiatrist told her she could take Ibuprofen, but she has only done that once, as that also does a number on her stomach. She has to see him again this Thursday and probably have x-rays again, to see if it is continuing to heal. He said it would be at least 6 to 8 weeks total and could even be longer.
Now to share what Brenda found out from her radiologist. The 3D Mammography and Breast Ultrasound, appeared to be normal on examination. The radiologist could not feel the lump and neither did Brenda. The conclusion was that it was in all likelihood scar tissue, from the breast reduction, but would have to wait for the final result. Anyway on examination, the radiologist pointed out to Brenda that the lymph nodes under her arm pits are fairly pronounced. That's of course, from the RA or rheumatic disease. They discussed at length about Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and Brenda explained that she had had a meningioma removed almost 9 years ago. The radiologist liked to use that word benign, but Brenda was not having it. She went on to say that she knew of someone. who had a so-called benign meningioma and had to learn to walk again. She went on to say, that they find them so incidentally. Again, not treating them with the respect that Brenda thinks they deserve. What is the big deal about using the term, nonmalignant? They ended the visit by telling Brenda to make an appointment for her 3D Mammography in a year. She got her results back last week and everything was fine. In fact, she called her PCP's nurse and was instructed to go back to scheduling her yearly mammograms. She was put in touch with the nurse navigator and they have her on the books for next year. They are booking that far out.
Brenda will admit that there were times, that her mind went to dark places. That's perfectly normal. She just kept telling herself, that it couldn't possibly be everything. Shingles, dealing with the RA, which had been more active, because she was unable to take her biologic for two weeks, while recovering from the shingles. Dealing with her stress fracture, that she knows, should have been taken care of months before. You tend to neglect things, when you are already dealing with so much.
Brenda's tour continues throughout the summer and into the fall, with more appointments. Next is the dermatologist for her yearly full body skin check. The ophthalmologist is next to check how her cataracts are doing along with checking for retinal tears and possible glaucoma, down the pike. So far the cataracts are at a grade 2, so it will be years before they have to be extracted.
When you live with a rheumatic disease, it encompasses more than just seeing a rheumatologist. You have a whole medical team to consult with. In Brenda's case, it continues to grow, but it is a good one. We are grateful to the NP who was concerned enough, and cared enough about Brenda's welfare, that she had further tests scheduled to rule out anything more serious.
So this has been what Brenda's summer has been like. Not what she pictured at all. She is a fighter and will endure! She's been through worse.
This is Trevor, reminding you, to never take your health for granted!
We are going to start out with the health scare that she experienced. Brenda was told on examination with her GYN Nurse Practitioner, while doing her breast exam, that she found a lump at the 4 o'clock position in her right breast. This was on June 1st. All Brenda heard was o'clock and not where it was located. That was confirmed when she went in to have her 3D Mammography and Breast Ultrasound on June 28th. Her mammogram was originally scheduled for September, but when this was found, the NP wanted to have it looked at sooner, to make sure there was nothing more serious. It was also noted that this could be scar tissue, from her breast reduction, that was performed 11 years ago.
So Brenda didn't share with anyone, except her medical team what was going on. Truth is, she didn't know much, as was mentioned above, she didn't even really hear where the lump was located. All she heard was breast lump. She didn't want anyone to worry needlessly. Brenda was just going to wait until the diagnostic tests were performed and results given, before she would share.
In the meantime, this was stressful for Brenda, not knowing the outcome. She was already dealing with a very sore left ankle, which had been going on for months. She was also going to wait until her yearly exam with the podiatrist, to deal with that issue.
Brenda's next appointment was with her Primary Care Physician on June 19th, where she presented with her 5th bout of shingles. She is pretty sure all of this stress and concern about the other health issue, could have brought them on. They started the night before her physical, so the silver lining here is, that they were caught early. Unfortunately, she had to take those horse pills again, three times a day. They really do a number on her stomach. She deals with enough nausea, as it is. Her Sed Rate was again high at 44, but has been higher. That tracks the activity of her disease. Her rheumy also wants this checked on a consistent basis. Thankfully, the test is not that expensive, if for some reason the insurance company would not want to cover it.
Her examination consisted of a student performing one first. He asked a lot of questions and wrote everything down. This is a little humorous, at least we had a chuckle about it. BOL. Brenda had been to Mayo Clinic back in 1988 and the rheumatologist there described her heart murmur, as nothing more significant, than brown eyes or freckles. Brenda mentioned this to the student physician and he wrote all of that down. Neither one, the student or her PCP could even hear the heart murmur, while they examined her. Brenda told them, that they probably wouldn't. It had been discovered by accident in the Emergency Room, many years before. To this day, Brenda has no idea how long it had been there or why? It remains many of her medical mysteries. BOL Her PCP entered everything that Brenda shared with the student physician into the computer or her electronic medical record or EMR for short.
Two days later, was her appointment with the podiatrist. Her orthotics seem to be working out fine, as she got new ones custom made last year. She was diagnosed with a stress fracture of her left distal fibula, after a series of x-rays. Brenda had to go back to wearing her boot air cast, that she wore 6 years ago, when she had a torn tendon in her right ankle. The nice thing is, this boot works for either foot, so she didn't have to worry about purchasing another one or running it through insurance. She was to also wear an ace bandage and ice the ankle at night. This was for 2 weeks, but she couldn't handle wearing the boot for quite that long, as it was causing her left shoulder and right knee to become inflamed. She was lopsided, as that boot weighs 3 lbs. Yes, Brenda did put it on the scale.
She had repeat x-rays and it is healing, but had to now wear a lace-up shoe, which she also had on hand, before getting fitted for her first pair of orthotics, 6 years ago. Brenda was to wear the lace-up shoe inside of her tennis shoe during the day, put the ace bandage on, when she gets home and continue to ice it in the evening. She also was to elevate it as much as possible. Brenda figured out a way to do it at work.
Brenda has not missed any work during all of this. Her right knee has been locking up on her at times and makes it very painful to walk. The pain is excruciating for Brenda, which causes tears, and then the nausea sets in from the pain. Brenda cannot handle most pain medications, so that is not an option. The podiatrist told her she could take Ibuprofen, but she has only done that once, as that also does a number on her stomach. She has to see him again this Thursday and probably have x-rays again, to see if it is continuing to heal. He said it would be at least 6 to 8 weeks total and could even be longer.
Now to share what Brenda found out from her radiologist. The 3D Mammography and Breast Ultrasound, appeared to be normal on examination. The radiologist could not feel the lump and neither did Brenda. The conclusion was that it was in all likelihood scar tissue, from the breast reduction, but would have to wait for the final result. Anyway on examination, the radiologist pointed out to Brenda that the lymph nodes under her arm pits are fairly pronounced. That's of course, from the RA or rheumatic disease. They discussed at length about Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and Brenda explained that she had had a meningioma removed almost 9 years ago. The radiologist liked to use that word benign, but Brenda was not having it. She went on to say that she knew of someone. who had a so-called benign meningioma and had to learn to walk again. She went on to say, that they find them so incidentally. Again, not treating them with the respect that Brenda thinks they deserve. What is the big deal about using the term, nonmalignant? They ended the visit by telling Brenda to make an appointment for her 3D Mammography in a year. She got her results back last week and everything was fine. In fact, she called her PCP's nurse and was instructed to go back to scheduling her yearly mammograms. She was put in touch with the nurse navigator and they have her on the books for next year. They are booking that far out.
Brenda will admit that there were times, that her mind went to dark places. That's perfectly normal. She just kept telling herself, that it couldn't possibly be everything. Shingles, dealing with the RA, which had been more active, because she was unable to take her biologic for two weeks, while recovering from the shingles. Dealing with her stress fracture, that she knows, should have been taken care of months before. You tend to neglect things, when you are already dealing with so much.
Brenda's tour continues throughout the summer and into the fall, with more appointments. Next is the dermatologist for her yearly full body skin check. The ophthalmologist is next to check how her cataracts are doing along with checking for retinal tears and possible glaucoma, down the pike. So far the cataracts are at a grade 2, so it will be years before they have to be extracted.
When you live with a rheumatic disease, it encompasses more than just seeing a rheumatologist. You have a whole medical team to consult with. In Brenda's case, it continues to grow, but it is a good one. We are grateful to the NP who was concerned enough, and cared enough about Brenda's welfare, that she had further tests scheduled to rule out anything more serious.
So this has been what Brenda's summer has been like. Not what she pictured at all. She is a fighter and will endure! She's been through worse.
This is Trevor, reminding you, to never take your health for granted!
Comments
Post a Comment