OF EEG’S AND EKG’S

Suckuary has passed in a blur of more doctor’s appointments and birthday celebrations. I’m grateful that Suckuary is almost over.

I had two doctor’s appointments a couple of weeks ago. My regular OB/GYN checkup and a followup with my primary care physician. Because I’ve had cancer, I had the royal uber workup from both.

My OB/GYN is great.  Everything in her office is new and cutting edge. She is a very nice woman who explains everything in detail, which is how I like my doctors. Her nurse/aid was very sweet and we both got a good laugh after she handed me a scrub shirt and a pair of scrub pants and saw the confusion on my face. 

“Pants…”

She smiled. “You’ll get the idea.”

She left the room and I collapsed in a heap of laughter as I put on my first pair of CROTCHLESS PANTS.  I have to admit that I felt more covered with those on than I ever did with a gown. The doctor said that when the rep who sold them the latest in OB/GYN patient wear showed them these pants they all laughed as hard as I did.

I had an ultrasound done, and the results from that were that everything looked good except there was a spot on my left ovary. I am going back in a couple of months to do that all over again to see if the spot has grown.

Since Tamoxifen can cause uterine cancer, I reiterated to my doctor that I wholeheartedly would agree to the removal of all these problem-generating organs but I can’t find a doctor who will do it for me yet. 

So I still have to hang on to my problem-generating organs.

I gave enough blood to test for everything they think I need tested for, which was significant. All of my bloodwork came back with good results, even the blood sugar and Vitamin D. My cholesterol was high, however.

I don’t eat fried food often, but the hamburger and onion rings from Southwell’s I had that weekend might have affected my results.  Still, I need to pay attention to that, and adjust accordingly.

Then I had my first EKG. The results were poor (but not alarming), so I have to go to a cardiologist on Friday.  What this means is I have another doctor to tell me I need to lose weight.

AND if that wasn’t enough, my doctor wanted me to have a sleep test. She’s trying to figure out why I’m not getting good rest. I told her I’ve had trouble sleeping all my life.  It’s difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. I wasn’t sure what this test would show, but I said I’d do it.

Friday night I went to the Sleep Clinic for my test. The technician hooked me up to dozens of electrodes, put tubes up my nose and an oxygen level monitor on my finger and told me I needed to try and go to sleep.

It was only 10:30 and I told her I wasn’t sleepy.  She blinked at me a couple of times. I asked if I could read a while and she said yes and went to hook up the other patient.

Every five minutes she came on the monitor and asked if I was ready to sleep yet. This was annoying, especially when I’d told her I wasn’t tired yet and she wouldn’t let me watch tv, put on music, or my white noise machine, anything I usually do to relax and let my mind unwind.

Finally, after the tone of her voice changed from camp counselor to dorm mother, I let her calibrate the machines and turn off the lights.

Because I am me and was annoyed, she would tell me to close my eyes and I would say they were closed but she could see me through the infrared camera and she would say, “I can see you they are not closed!”

“I can HEAR you and I’m not sleepy.”

Finally, I gave up taunting her and closed my eyes and she said goodnight.

I slept maybe two hours and was awakened about 1:18 AM from the person I shared the bathroom with getting up, slamming his door closed and turning on all the lights (that shone in from under the door).  He also locked me out of the bathroom…again.

I slept off and on from that point, but nothing deep. I tossed and turned as much as the wires would let me and explained in the morning that was a normal night’s sleep for me.

She had the audacity to wake me up at 6:30 in the morning…SATURDAY morning.

She couldn’t tell me anything about my test, but from the questions she avoided if I do have sleep apnea it’s so slight they likely wouldn’t try to treat it.

We’ll see what the results say in a few days.

That’s the update. I hope the cardiologist is the last new doctor I have but I have this feeling that if the sleep test doesn’t give my doctor the answers she wants, an allergist is probably next.

In a way, I’m thankful everyone is being so careful, gathering information that can help me and improve my health. I just hope I can spend less time with the doctors as time goes on!