The Tale Goes On and On...
Hi Trevor here, with our monthly tale. When we last left off, Brenda was on a summer medical tour. Well, that finally ended this week, but we wanted to share with you, some updates.
The dermatologist was next and Brenda had to have 3 skin shave biopsies. They numb the areas first, but it's pretty much taking a blade and shaving off the skin, so not the most pleasant. In this case, it was 3 moles. One they had been watching and it seemed to be changing, so it was best to just have it removed. The other 2 were newer and the dermatologist decided, it was just better to take those off as well.
Brenda only had to wait a week for the results. One was normal. They other two were atypical or in that they were changing, so they needed to be removed as well. Under the microscope, it looks like everything was taken, according to the cells. Brenda knows that more of these kind of moles could develop. She was told that it could be because of her living with an autoimmune disease. It always seems to come back to that. The fact that she takes a biologic, which could also weaken her immune system. She did after all, have another bout with shingles back in June.
Her stress fracture in her left distal fibula, is continuing to heal. She received good news in that her podiatrist released her last Wednesday, from having to see him every two weeks, as she had been for over a nine week period. She still has to be careful and wear the lace-up shoe, but not as much. She can start by not wearing it around the apartment. Brenda still needs to elevate and ice it, to make sure the swelling goes down. She can now finally take Ibuprofen for pain, as her wounds from her biopsies are finally starting to close up. She could only take Tylenol before, because there was still a risk of bleeding involved. Brenda was not willing to take that risk. Brenda possesses a high pain threshold. You have to when you live with a chronic illness. You also do not go to the doctor for every little ache and pain, or even the big ones sometimes.
Brenda has the moving type of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). That is how it was described by one of her doctors back in the beginning of her journey. It basically moves from joint to joint, so it's frustrating to try and keep track at times. Her fatigue has been off the charts.
In the course of all of this, she managed to crack her filling. Not sure, it probably was loose to begin with. She was able to get into her dentist within a week of this happening. What you don't know is that her tongue would slide into the place where it was chipped and caused a big sore, like a blister to form. It was difficult to eat or even swallow. It was that bad! Brenda doesn't talk or share a lot about these things. You will probably only read about them here. I feel you need to see all sides of living with a chronic illness, such as RA. It doesn't just involve her joints.
Next was a surprise visit to an ophthalmologist. Something did not seem right to Brenda. She was experiencing eye pain and the right one was bloodshot. The left one looked like it could possibly have a retinal tear. She wasn't sure, but that is nothing to mess around with. She called the number she was given after hours, because she knew this could happen at any time. She was able to get into see an ophthalmologist the next morning. Brenda has been watched for retinal tears, potential glaucoma down the line and also her cataracts. She had just had her yearly exam and the left eye is a grade 2 and right grade 1 with the cataracts. Everything else checked out good, so this was a surprise. Her IOPs were 11 in each eye, so it was definitely not glaucoma. GOOD! On to getting them dilated again, so they could see anything else that was possibly going on. Before that, she had some tests done on her optic nerve and retina. No damage there. GREAT! Next was to see the ophthalmologist, where he would look with a slit lamp exam. Brenda used to work for eye specialists, so this is nothing new to her as far as the terminology.
Living with RA, she also knew that this could have been so much worse. It could have turned out to be iritis, but her iris was fine. GOOD! Her eye did become suddenly red and painful, so what would you think? Uveitis also was of concern. It turned out that her right eye had what is called an extremely dry vitreous. The left eye was found to have no evidence of a retinal tear. GREAT! Brenda has to use artificial tears more frequently now. She stocked up on them, so she can have them handy, wherever she goes, such as in her handbag. It's really important to keep her eyes lubricated, so that no further damage is done. Chronic dry eye can be serious. They discussed about medications and he didn't feel it has come to that yet. Besides, they would burn, so why bring on more pain?
So you see, it has been quite the summer of medical trials for Brenda. She has referred to this, as the summer from *HELL* She didn't even get to take a vacation. She missed several days of work, because of her ankle and the podiatrist was fine with that. He said, if she needs to rest it more, she should. He also said, it could take up to a year, before it is completely healed. Here is the kicker folks. It could happen again. Brenda has to constantly be on her guard for anything unusual. You think that's not stressful?
We hope this summer tour will quickly come to an end. Brenda needs to have some fun, before our snow comes. BOL
This is Trevor reminding you, to get your checkups regularly.
The dermatologist was next and Brenda had to have 3 skin shave biopsies. They numb the areas first, but it's pretty much taking a blade and shaving off the skin, so not the most pleasant. In this case, it was 3 moles. One they had been watching and it seemed to be changing, so it was best to just have it removed. The other 2 were newer and the dermatologist decided, it was just better to take those off as well.
Brenda only had to wait a week for the results. One was normal. They other two were atypical or in that they were changing, so they needed to be removed as well. Under the microscope, it looks like everything was taken, according to the cells. Brenda knows that more of these kind of moles could develop. She was told that it could be because of her living with an autoimmune disease. It always seems to come back to that. The fact that she takes a biologic, which could also weaken her immune system. She did after all, have another bout with shingles back in June.
Her stress fracture in her left distal fibula, is continuing to heal. She received good news in that her podiatrist released her last Wednesday, from having to see him every two weeks, as she had been for over a nine week period. She still has to be careful and wear the lace-up shoe, but not as much. She can start by not wearing it around the apartment. Brenda still needs to elevate and ice it, to make sure the swelling goes down. She can now finally take Ibuprofen for pain, as her wounds from her biopsies are finally starting to close up. She could only take Tylenol before, because there was still a risk of bleeding involved. Brenda was not willing to take that risk. Brenda possesses a high pain threshold. You have to when you live with a chronic illness. You also do not go to the doctor for every little ache and pain, or even the big ones sometimes.
Brenda has the moving type of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). That is how it was described by one of her doctors back in the beginning of her journey. It basically moves from joint to joint, so it's frustrating to try and keep track at times. Her fatigue has been off the charts.
In the course of all of this, she managed to crack her filling. Not sure, it probably was loose to begin with. She was able to get into her dentist within a week of this happening. What you don't know is that her tongue would slide into the place where it was chipped and caused a big sore, like a blister to form. It was difficult to eat or even swallow. It was that bad! Brenda doesn't talk or share a lot about these things. You will probably only read about them here. I feel you need to see all sides of living with a chronic illness, such as RA. It doesn't just involve her joints.
Next was a surprise visit to an ophthalmologist. Something did not seem right to Brenda. She was experiencing eye pain and the right one was bloodshot. The left one looked like it could possibly have a retinal tear. She wasn't sure, but that is nothing to mess around with. She called the number she was given after hours, because she knew this could happen at any time. She was able to get into see an ophthalmologist the next morning. Brenda has been watched for retinal tears, potential glaucoma down the line and also her cataracts. She had just had her yearly exam and the left eye is a grade 2 and right grade 1 with the cataracts. Everything else checked out good, so this was a surprise. Her IOPs were 11 in each eye, so it was definitely not glaucoma. GOOD! On to getting them dilated again, so they could see anything else that was possibly going on. Before that, she had some tests done on her optic nerve and retina. No damage there. GREAT! Next was to see the ophthalmologist, where he would look with a slit lamp exam. Brenda used to work for eye specialists, so this is nothing new to her as far as the terminology.
Living with RA, she also knew that this could have been so much worse. It could have turned out to be iritis, but her iris was fine. GOOD! Her eye did become suddenly red and painful, so what would you think? Uveitis also was of concern. It turned out that her right eye had what is called an extremely dry vitreous. The left eye was found to have no evidence of a retinal tear. GREAT! Brenda has to use artificial tears more frequently now. She stocked up on them, so she can have them handy, wherever she goes, such as in her handbag. It's really important to keep her eyes lubricated, so that no further damage is done. Chronic dry eye can be serious. They discussed about medications and he didn't feel it has come to that yet. Besides, they would burn, so why bring on more pain?
So you see, it has been quite the summer of medical trials for Brenda. She has referred to this, as the summer from *HELL* She didn't even get to take a vacation. She missed several days of work, because of her ankle and the podiatrist was fine with that. He said, if she needs to rest it more, she should. He also said, it could take up to a year, before it is completely healed. Here is the kicker folks. It could happen again. Brenda has to constantly be on her guard for anything unusual. You think that's not stressful?
We hope this summer tour will quickly come to an end. Brenda needs to have some fun, before our snow comes. BOL
This is Trevor reminding you, to get your checkups regularly.
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