More medical drama

It’s been a while again since my last post. I will start off not with me, but with my son.

Buddy has been feeling ill, lately. Over the past week or so, he complained about a sore throat. Eventually, this sent him to the doctor. During the appointment, they diagnosed him with strep throat, and gave him a prescription for penicillin. This worried me, immediately. You see, my mom is allergic to penicillin, and my grandmother was, as well, so we have a clear family history. (I, myself, am allergic to 2 different antibiotics, as well…but not penicillin.) Since Buddy has never taken it before, I worried that he’d have a reaction. As predicted, within an hour he completely broke out in hives all over his face, chest, and back. A few hours after that, his throat started swelling. Since I am too weak to spend hours at the ER, my mom took him. They confirmed it was a penicillin allergy, and dosed him up with Benadryl and a new (safer) antibiotic. (Thankfully, he is not having problems with the new one, or the steroid.) They did some bloodwork while he was there, namely a mono test, because the sore throat might be something worse than strep. That test would take longer, though, so they sent him home. Practically as soon as he walked in the door, the hospital was calling…and he DID test positive for mono! Buddy is resting right now, and we are waiting on word about when, realistically, he can return to work. He thinks later this week *smh* but I remember a girl who was out of school like a full year due to mono!

As for me, it is not 13 weeks I have been sick. 3 months is a long time to be stuck in bed. One of the reasons I told Buddy’s story first, was because it partly ties in to my own medical issues. Due to Buddy being diagnosed with mono, the doctor has very real concerns that maybe it is what has been plaguing me all along! (Or at least part of the reason I am so sick. The oncologist is still pretty sure the cancer is returning.) So, I went for a whole rundown of bloodwork yesterday, including the mono test. For all we know, I had it first, and am the one who passed it to Buddy! And, it would explain some of the issues I am experiencing.

While I was there, I was switched to yet another sleep medication: Lunesta. It is pretty expensive, co-payment-wise.  And, so far, the first night, it did not work at putting me to sleep. I did however spend the night with horrible itching and having every mouthful of water taste like battery acid. While awake, I spent time looking at side effects, and found itching and bad taste in your mouth are pretty common on the list. *sigh* I am hoping this medication is like others I take, in that it takes at least a few days of taking it for it to start working. The doctor tried to start me on something a bit…cheaper…first. But they had to screen me first to see if I had a prolonged QT, because with that, you cannot take the medication. But, surprise surprise, I DID have this condition, and was told taking the other medication could cause my heart to stop. As I say all the time, it’s frustrating going to doctors when I go for one thing and they diagnose me with something else.

The trip to the plastic surgeon went really really well! He cut out the granulation tissue that was holding the one wound back from healing. It worked like a charm, and all three wound areas are completely closed up! If it didn’t work, the plastic surgeon told me to come back to have the whole wound area cut out and closed up, but it doesn’t look like it’s necessary. I’m sure my oncologist will be pleased. 🙂

The CT scan showed fluid in my abdomen. The surgeon does not want to touch it (yet) because he’s worried about more infection. If there are any tumors they are too small to see. I think I really need that PET scan, so it will just illuminate where they’re hiding.

I am just so tired or being too weak to get out of bed. I am missing so much, between kids’ birthday parties and Relay meetings, and lot of other stuff.  (I am especially upset about missing Kenzie’s Halloween parade at school today!) I hope to see and end to all this soon!

(For previous posts on this subject, see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.)