I managed to get quite a bit of stuff done around the house before DH came home on the first. The kids have been terrific, with today being the first day we've had any kind of a spat -- I think DS2 has had too much vacation, and too little sleep. Just a few more days, and then it's back to the grind. This has been a lovely interlude, even including the occasional child's freakout.
Tomorrow I'm seeing Dr. G, my gastroenterologist, about all those tests he ordered. I haven't taken the Questran in a few weeks now, and haven't needed it; we'll see how I do once I'm not taking the post-op Cipro that I completed today. I'm holding out hope that whatever the problems were, they were caused by the medications, even though I know I had a real problem (acid reflux) which is what started the whole thing going anyway. I will admit to being quite nervous about this appointment, because something is going on with my weight, I'm eating ridiculously and holding steady at about 136 pounds. I like this weight, but I wonder what would happen if I stopped eating all the junk I've been indulging in. Usually after a stomach virus, your weight bounces right back up, but mine hasn't, and that is making me somewhat agitated even though it is a small weight loss (about 7 pounds).
Next week I see both Dr. O, my ENT, and Dr. R, my endocrinologist. The ENT appointment is my last follow-up on the septoplasty and turbinate reduction, which has gone very well, I'd say. My front teeth are still killing me from time to time (not enough for me to want to medicate even with ibuprofen), but at least I can breathe through my nose, all the time. It's a miracle! But we will also discuss what is to be done about the results of the video stroboscopy, which showed deformities of my cricoid and arytenoid cartilage in my esophagus. I have no idea what caused that (reflux? compensating for the nerve damage from my surgery?) and no idea what can be done to correct it. I will probably end up in voice therapy for a few weeks because apparently I have a horrible posture (!) and am doing bad things, voice-wise; who knew? Well, physical therapy has always helped me and this should, too, since my throat gets very sore by the end of the day. It will be nice to know what's going on in there.
The endo appointment, I have no idea what's going to happen. She's rather intractable about an important issue, namely, releasing copies of lab and other test results by mail or over the phone. She insists that everyone come in to get them, which is ridiculous for routine follow-ups requiring no further treatment or intervention. I have the feeling I may be booted from her practice because I keep bringing this up. It would really be too bad, but I frankly don't want to have to deal with driving 45-60 minutes and spending $50 just to sit there for a half an hour until I can get a photocopy of my perfectly fine lab results. It's stupid. I'm curious to see what my thyroid panel looks like, though, since my skin is ridiculously dry but I'm not having any other hypo symptoms. It's weird, and possibly related to my recent experiment with discontinuing my supplements and then adding them back in over time to see how they affect me. So far, the effects on my digestion have been excellent -- no Prilosec, no need for Questran! -- but my RA is flaring slightly, everything feels a bit stiff, and as I said, my skin is incredibly dry in spite of a real effort to stay more hydrated and ridiculous quantities of lotions, balms, etc applied in effort to keep me from cracking and peeling into oblivion.
The dry skin is annoying, but I'm dealing with it, just as I'll deal with whatever the g/e doc says tomorrow. I dread him saying that the tests are inconclusive, just as I dread him saying it's something serious -- how serious could it be, after all? I'm not sick!
There's no point in this kind of anxiety-building speculation, but I always do it anyway. I don't even have any guesses this time. I was hoping for H. pylori, which has a relatively easy treatment, but I think if it was that, I would've been treated for it already. (If it turns out to be H. pylori, I will definitely scold him for waiting so long to tell me.) I have to remind myself, it's not always bad news. Really, it's not.
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