I have always had cats in my life.  They are my joy and at times the bane of my existence.  When Ken and I married 13 years ago, he gave to me as a wedding gift 2 purebred brown and white tabby Maine Coon kittens.  A brother (Thumper) and his sister (Ballou).  We would take them with us when we traveled on the road to trips to Minnesota.  We would have to dope them during the day so they would stay calm in our mini-van.  The night we would stay in a motel (usually in Indiana on the way to Minnesota and Ohio on the way back home to New Jersey) were always a wild ride.  The kids were awake!  I remember one night in a Comfort Inn they were running rampant and the next morning as we were leaving there was a police officer sitting on a chair outside the room across the hall from us.  Turns out a couple had a major fight and all hell broke loose.  No one killed, but a lot of damage in the room.  We didn't hear a thing thanks to our kittens.  Another time we couldn't get a room in the Super 8 we usually stayed in on the way back in Wauseon, Ohio due to a Thresher Convention.  A Thresher Convention for Pete's sake!  So we ended up at a Knight's Inn close to Toledo.  The room was called a "Suite" because it had a jacuzzi next to the bed with mirrors on the wall and ceiling.  The cats went ape shit.  Sliding into the Jacuzzi and meowing at their reflections the whole night.  Another time and another Knight's Inn in South Bend, Indiana.  God help us that night.  Notre Dame sporting event was going on and there were these old men (in there 80's at least) trying to scalp tickets.  Cats were stressed and tired and so were we.  The Knight's Inn we stayed at we kept our clothes on because the floor was spongy and the bed didn't look great.  Party going on all night long.  During that visit we had Identity Theft occur.  Got a call when we got home from our credit card company wanting to know if I had ordered clothes from JC Penney to be shipped to Hungary.  WTF?!? Fortunately we got things resolved fairly quickly.  But, Hungary?  Really?

Ballou who is pictured on top and Thumper below have been a joy.  Sadly we lost Ballou to a mass that infiltrated her organs.  It is believed to have been caused by her shots.  Our vet wanted to remove the mass and do radiation therapy. We were told though that the chances of her living beyond 6 months after the surgery were rare since these type of masses almost always grow back immediately.  The surgery and radiation would have cost us 6,000.00 to 7,000 dollars.  We couldn't justify putting her through such pain only to lose her in several months.  As it turned out she was very needy of me and wanted to be by me all the time.  She didn't seem ill otherwise, but you knew something was going on.  Plus the mass was growing larger.  In April I didn't see her the whole day and when my husband came home I asked him to look for her.  He found her in the basement in the corner.  I went downstairs and she looked at me with those amazing eyes and mewed.  I lost it.  I told Ken to immediately call the vet just down the road from us.  While we waited to get her in, Ken brought her upstairs and I tried to hold her, but she was so uncomfortable.  So I put her on the floor and stroked her softly and told her what a wonderful, beautiful, loving baby she was and that she was the most amazing kitty I have ever had.  It was true. I said goodbye, because I could see it in her eyes that she was no longer really with us.  Ken took her to the vet (I couldn't go.  I just couldn't) and Ken came home and he was very distraught.  The cancer had spread and the vet was amazed that she did so well until the end.  Ken had to go outside after it was over at the vet's office.  He was heartbroken.  Thumper became very upset with her gone.

We talked and decided that for Thumper and for ourselves that we should get another kitten.  So on my 50th birthday in May we went over to a Pennsylvania cat rescue shelter and we pick out a black and white Tuxedo female we named Tula (who btw is in heat at the moment and it is a love/hate relationship going on.  She is yowling, piddling everywhere and torturing poor Thumper who is sexually frustrated since he can't do anything about it.  She is the Whore Of Babylon of cats right now.  She is going in to be fixed this Friday.  Thank goodness!).  And, just before July 4th we got a baby purebred silver Maine Coon girl we named Willow who is a doll.  Tula is an equal opportunity cat.  She loves up Ken and I both.  Thumper is definitely Ken's cat and Willow is mine (like Ballou was my baby).  It is a zoo in the household.  Thumper is mostly much happier now.  At first he was a little un-nerved by these new kitties in his world, but they all play and sleep together.  And there is running in the house.  Lots and lots and lots of running.   Amazing how these little creatures can create so much noise. It is nice to hear.

Doctors, surgeries, fibro and lawyers

Saw my family doctor today and I do have phlebitis (inflammation of the veins due to the meds being injected into my IV).  He said that unfortunately it happens and I am to continue with the antibiotics, aspirin and most importantly the warm compresses.

It is ironic that my neck where I was cut open and now have a 6 inch incision doesn't hurt, but my arm does a lot.

I have had in my 50 years 27 operations. Two tonsilectomies (they grew back as an adult. Think it was the New Jersey water that caused that), Four elbow operations for cartilage damage, ankle surgery to fix a broken bone that they didn't catch and a large piece of bone grew into my ligament, 8 knee surgeries (2 ACL repairs in the late 1970's, 4 arthroscopies, and 2 total knee replacements, gallbladder removal, an oophorectomy, 2 ablations, total hysterectomy, 2 thyroidectomies, 3 nose procedures (with one being a graft from my ear to fix cartilage in my left nostril due to too much being removed during nodules being removed) and 2 foot procedures to fix plantar fasciitis.  Making 27 surgeries.  This does not include the other injuries I have had from falling and getting stitches and breaking my nose twice (jumped off a garage roof and knee slammed into my face and jumping off a picnic table and hitting a clothes line across the bridge of my nose....all done as a kid).

Then there is the Fibromyalgia.  I had a car accident in 1995 when a car blew through a stop light and took the nose off my car.  I was extremely active.  Walked 3 times a day and did aerobics at least 4 times a week.  After the accident I started to get very tired and I hurt everywhere.  Also, developed insomnia.  Was getting maybe 2 hours a sleep a night for over a month.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  I worked in a medical center with 40 multi-specialty doctors.  They kept telling me it was stress and yes, I was in a stressful situation taking care of my dad who was ill, but I knew damn well that was not the case.  Finally, a specialist came up from the Twin Cities, tested me for multiple sclerosis, ran a bunch of other tests and diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia.  It won't kill you, but there are days you feel that it is going to.

Finally in 2005, I knew I couldn't work any longer and I applied for disability.  It was a depressing decision.  It felt like I was giving in to the disease.  In a way I was.  But, I still have hope that things will change some day soon for the better.  In the meantime I had to face reality and the reality was that I was no longer to work nor do much of what I used to do.  I applied myself to SSDI and filled out a ton of forms.  It was rejected.  My advice is to get a lawyer immediately. My lawyer said that it is standard to be denied, so get a lawyer and don't waste your time trying to do it on your own.  I had pages and pages and pages of documentation, which SSDI said that they could not find.  Funny.  I went on their website and I found it myself.  Asses.  It took over 2 years to get approved and let me say that that is fast.  My friend waited over 6 years.  I am lucky I live in South Jersey where there are many good lawyers.  My friend lives in the boondocks of northern Minnesota.

I am blessed that I am married to an amazing man that sticks through all the ups and downs.  Makes me laugh when I hurt and holds my hand just because he wants to.

Time to sign off and put warm compresses on my arm.  Life is odd.

Surgery 27 and nothing is ever simple

On October 7, 2011 I went through my 27th surgery.  It was to remove the remaining thyroid I had to make sure that I had no more cancer.

I had a near total thyroidectomy in July 2010 after being diagnosed with Grave's Disease (hyperthyroidism).  Before that diagnosis was made I was have rapid heart rate and taking a shower would have my heart pounding.  I saw my cardiologist and they were all set to do a procedure on me to slow my heart rate down.  It was by chance that I had a follow up due with my endocrinologist since the year before they had noticed that I had thyroid nodules and they were biopsied and no cancer was found.  My TSH, T3 and T4 were all normal.  She ran another test and this time it showed that I was not a little hyperthyroid, but had extreme hyperthyroidism. So surgery was decided to be the best move.  They usually leave a little thyroid behind when this surgery is performed.  Unfortunately, the pathology came back that I had cancer.  The surgeon was not happy that the cancer was not found before hand during the biopsy, otherwise a total thyroidectomy would have been performed.  I went through radiation iodine therapy.  This is where you take a radioactive pill and then are in isolation from 3 to 7 days depending on the strength of RAI.  I was in isolation in my bedroom for 4 days. Went through numerous full body scans to see if the cancer spread and it showed it had not spread.  Thyroid cancer is one of the more treatable cancers, but can spread usually to your lymph nodes, lungs and colon.

After the thyroidectomy in 2010 I went from being extremely hyperthyroid to being extremely hypothyroid.  I gained 30 lbs. in just over 3 weeks.  I have worked in the medical field as a medical transriptionist, secretary and main job as a hospital biller and coder.  I knew about people gaining weight from hypothyroidism, but I never dreamed that I could gain weight like that in such a short period of time.  I was shocked and depressed.  Normal TSH runs approximately from .5 to 4.5.  My TSH was 44!  I was put on the thyroid hormone Levothyroxine.  Started at a fairly high dose, but my TSH was taking forever to drop.  Just before this last surgery my dosage was 237.5 MCG, which is pretty damn high.  My TSH finally dropped to 9, so it still was not normal.  

To ensure that there wasn't any cancer left and in the hopes that removing the remaining thyroid, I would be able to get my thyroid levels under control.  In April of this year I started to feel bad.  Diabetes runs in my family and working in the medical field I know the signs.  I bought a diabetic meter and my blood sugar was 339.  Turns out that being hypothyroid can trigger or cause diabetes.  Many people don't understand that having a thyroid disorder means that you have an immune system disorder.  It wreaks havoc on all your body's systems.  So I was put on Metformin to control my blood sugar and I haven't had anything sweet since April.  That sucks, but I take it damn seriously.  I lost my father to diabetes and CHF, my uncle, and I have cousins who have had diabetes since they were teenagers.  I also lost one of my dearest friends who was diagnosed when she was 16 and by the time she was in her mid 30's she needed a kidney transplant.  I flew out to Montana in May of 1995 to visit her and it was wonderful.  In October that year she got the word that a kidney was available and she flew to Seattle, WA for the procedure.  All seemed well and I sent her a birthday card for her 37th birthday on December 12, 1995.  On December 15th I was heading out for the Christmas party at our medical center when I got a phone call from her sister saying that 2 weeks before Lori had a seizure and started to reject the kidney.  She slipped into a coma and died 3 days after her birthday.  It was heartbreaking.

So, this last surgery.  I was more nervous about this surgery then any of the previous 26 (which range from minor to major-last two were total knee replacements), I think because the big C (cancer) was the result from the last surgery.  All seemed to go fine and I was scheduled to stay overnight at the hospital.  They had a very tough time finding my veins to put in the IV lines.  Ended up putting one in the inside of my wrist (after failing in both my hands) and the other in the crook of my arm.  Was given Heparin shots to dissolve blood clots if they occur, the pain killer Dilaudid, and injected antibiotics into my IV.  I had a reaction to the Dilaudid.  When they put it into my IV line my ears immediately filled with pressure and I itched all over my body.  I told them this and they gave me liquid Benadryl.  Even after that they gave it to me again!  I asked for more Benadryl, but I couldn't have any more until 6 hours had passed.....ironically, I could have the pain med every 4 hours.  How crazy is that?!?

One week after the surgery I have developed pain on the inside of my elbow and up the inside of my arm. Very, very sore.  Not warm to the touch. Not hard.  But, my veins are very prominent.  I was bruised from the IV sites, but ironically I don't hurt in those areas.  So, I called my surgeons office, and was told to take aspiring and use warm compresses.  I was still concerned and on Saturday I went to see the doctor on call at my family physician's office.  Dr. Land told me that I have an infection and he put me on high dose of Amoxicillin 875mg twice a day and to continue the aspirin and warm compresses.  It is still sore and I will see my regular family doctor tomorrow.  I know that veins can be damaged and phlebitis can occur.  Sometimes ultrasounds are ordered to see if there are blood clots.  Needless to say that I am not happy.  

So wish me luck, send me some prayers or any good vibes that you might have my way that there is nothing serious with the arm pain and that my pathology report when it comes back that there is no cancer.  I would appreciate it very much.

Nothing is ever simple in life. Sometimes you are along for the ride, but you fight.  I have learned that whenever I am in doubt about something it is better to just make sure and cover my bases.  You do what you have to do for yourself and your loved ones.