Still no word....

 Anxiously waiting not only for contact from my doctor but for the results of the election. I have chewed or peeled all my nails down in my nervous situation. The weather has cooled considerably, which makes it wonderful for walking except.... my right knee blew out.

I have no idea what I did other than possibly was tweaking it when doing my arm 'weight' lifting at night. I tended to lock my knees and I think that did it in. It started two weeks ago and then this last Friday/Saturday it was horrendously swollen and could hardly bend it. I did the whole ice and elevate and stayed off it as much as possible. It was a bit better Sunday and Monday and I bought a knee brace for it which is helping. It needs to be much much better in 15 days to survive walking around Disneyland.

The picture is from a week ago, after it had rained so a lovely partly cloudy day with the sun glancing off the clouds.

I have been doing some cooking, we still had a few meats left over from the previous month which makes the budget stretch a bit more. Still need to go pick up a few things but at least I still have food money left instead of blowing it completely in one shot. Chicken thighs were still .99/lb so that helped immensely. Soda's were off sale unfortunately but found them at a reasonable price somewhere else.

Baked bbq chicken with pan fried herb potatoes. It was delicious as usual. The other picture is pork roast I think cooked in the crock pot with Mexican seasoning and Rotel over white rice. I never think these are incredibly fantastic recipes since most of the time I'm doing it off the top of my head with a recipe only for guidance. Jon raves about most of it, anything that he doesn't get seconds or says it's tasty I know was not good. These two were at the end of last month before we got food money so serviceable and tasty meals.

Oh yes and I baked more cookies last night, we had chicken fingers day before yesterday so food is being had and oh yes a pot of chili that is lasting me a while. I still have hot dogs so I took about a cup of the chili with beans, put it in the blender for a bit and voila! Hot dog chili!

I got 'meat chunks for stew' at the store so I'm tossing that in the crock pot tomorrow with whatever I can think of to toss in with them. I am not a fan of standard stew with carrots onions and potatoes. Will figure out what to do that will be tasty over rice most likely. Maybe just season it and do bbq beef, or beef taco style. Lots of options. 

Oh and got new shoes and pants. This was an accidental photo from the garden and oddly enough it's a picture of my new shoes. They're a bit stiff but they're slip ons! No laces to tie, which is a bonus since my last pair the laces were extra long and annoying. Can't wait for them to stretch out a bit as they're slightly snug with thin socks on. Jon got new shoes and pants also so we're set for clothing for now but I still need new bras and some thin socks that are higher than my ankles.

Going to take a short walk today and not invite any disaster with the knee but need to try and keep moving.

Okay, so that wasn't so bad as things go

 Got there fifteen minutes earlier than the early time they had listed. It's the same facility that I had been to many times before my breast surgery. It's where the mammogram was done and the CT scan was done so I knew the layout at least. Parking was relatively simple and didn't cost anything, which is one of the reasons that determined where I would go. Never did to to the pharmacy for the mucus thinner. Oh and I had a really bad bout of vertigo Saturday night after trying to lay back on the bed flat. Bad enough it was making me feel nauseous and off kilter all day Sunday. Less so now to negligible and I think it's my cataract causing it now.

Weather started changing last night and weather app says might get some rain tonight. It was drizzly enough this morning that it made my car look terrible. So cloudy and cool thankfully for the next few days.

Meanwhile, back to what I did today. They ushered me in right away, asked if I wanted a warm blanket while I waited for maybe a minute after getting the gown on. Another minute or two and they were ready for me. No vertigo when I laid down thankfully, I told the nurse about it and she said they would make sure not to do anything that would cause that.

A shot of lidocaine in the area and I think a second one. Then what I thought was more lidocaine but the needle was wiggling, four times of that and then .... something about getting the right labels for the samples, and then a bandaid on my neck and they were done. Luckily my post nasal drip is mostly dried up because I have been drinking more water and less soda the past few days. Didn't have to swallow or cough the entire procedure. I do wish they would have announced they were done a little more emphatically. The doctor left the room and the nurse said 'I'll leave the curtain open because the room is really small if you want to get your other shirt on. 

What? Took me a moment to realize they were done already. I looked at her 'oh you're done?' she said yeah it only took like five minutes'. Well then. 

Got my shirt on, she double checked my information told me not to strain my neck too much for the next twenty four hours and might not hear back from my doctor until next Monday. Thanked her and she ushered me out and we went home.

Almost surreal experience. BTW I hate lidocaine injections. they are never comfortable. I had to think about why it would take so long for the results and then realized, they take the samples and have to culture them and examine for any sign of growth and then pass that on to the doctor.

Alrighty then. 

In other news, I made the equivalent of breaded chicken parmesan but chicken fingers. 

Made marinara for dipping and garlic parmesan spaghetti. It was fantastic! I'm all out of bread crumbs now though and low on several other things. I think I will attempt real chicken parmesan next month, but only if I can find a meat mallet to pound the chicken thin enough.

I really love being able to grab stuff out of the cupboard and fridge and whip up a meal. I can only imagine what it would be like to have more room to do things like baking and this where I have counter space galore. A hotel room with a kitchenette has more counter space than I do.

Anyway...

Kind of tired, fixing some beef chuck in the dutch oven, have no idea what to call it but it involved broth, spices and a can of petite diced tomatoes and will be poured over rice.

Another update when I have news.

 

 

The anxiety is building

 I decided to find out what exactly might happen and tried to look up what to expect with the biopsy and what exactly the procedure was like. Less than helpful and more worrying.

Here's a picture of Rocky laying on Jon's jeans while he's in the shower. He does this every time and it's absolutely adorable. 

Anyway, the only description was what they actually do, not whether there is any local anaesthetic involved or anything else. I know what a biopsy is, I didn't get any explanation other than that. So, the worrying thing is, if I had waited any longer it would be an automatic, go to surgery, do not pass go, thyroid is typically removed with lymph nodes around it if the nodule is 3 cm or bigger. So, hence the doctor needing a biopsy to determine whether it's benign or not. Typically after removal there's a very, very low (aka: zero) chance of anything like chemo or radiation.

Typically once they remove the thyroid and lymph nodes in the area you are on hormone replacement forever. That's essentially Amber right now, she had hyperthyroid 'Grave's Disease' (thyroid was enlarged) and it wasn't responding to medication so they irradiated her and killed her thyroid to get her system back in balance so she's on thyroid meds every day. Simple pill actually but it's another thing I need to look into to see how much (if any) it will cost me for that. I'm pretty sure it would be negligible, Tier 1 generic is $2 and Tier 2 is $8. There's also the chance of getting Medicaid to cover that so ::deep breath::.

It's the 'Outpatient' biopsy that I'm concerned about the cost. Less than useful information in my packet from Sharp. It may be 0-$100, it's technically not surgery that I could tell, it might fall under diagnostic services which is 15% coinsurance. It's in the ultrasound department so it could be as high as $75. I just had an ultrasound appointment and there's nothing showing up in billing for that. I had to pay $10 for the bone density scan but zero for the mammography

So yeah, biggest concerns right now is the cost of having all this done and what happens afterward. If they have to do surgery, in hospital stay is $225 /day up to 7 days, after that it's zero.  From what I've read, it's typically an outpatient situation that takes no more than a few hours. It's still surgery. 

BUT  This is all my going down the rabbit hole of worst case scenario because we know what happened last time. I like to know what's going to happen and what it entails to get mentally prepared for that.

 My prep right now is making sure my post nasal drip is minimal by Monday. Going to the pharmacy tomorrow (Sunday) and get some mucus medicine, will gargle with salt water the night before and the morning off, and hope for the best. Willing my body to stop with the serious stuff right now.

And results are in.

 "Thyroid ultrasound shows multiple nodules, right side with 2. 5 cm nodular lesion, biopsy indicated.  Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration order placed for further evaluation."

For anyone that knows metric measurements, 2. 5 cm is pretty big almost 3/4 of an inch. Which explains why I've felt like something was in that region on my throat for the past few months. I just scheduled the biopsy for next Monday which was rather fast and it will be in Mira Mesa. I had the choice of there or Downtown and I have been to both locations but feel more comfortable in Mira Mesa. Hopefully it won't be too traumatic but I know I'll be wiped out from anxiety since it's going to take about an hour.

Scary stuff, but at the most extreme situation they would remove my thyroids if it's cancer and then likely have radiation or chemo if the other nodules are suspect as well. That is worst case scenario. Given my track record of making plans (Disneyland) and then something happens that impacts it.....I'm expecting the worst.

It amazes me that my doctor noticed something as soon as she looked at my neck and asked if I had any issues with my thyroid. 

That's all I've got for now, will update in a week or so when the results come in from the biopsy. In the meanwhile, here's a picture of Rocky who tucked himself under the covers on his own.

Another break in the weather

 Three days in a row it was overcast and almost long pants weather. I muddled through with my carpenter shorts and here it is again sunny days, breezy and mild temperatures. It's Fall y'all! Part 2 of birthday happened, thanks to a gift card to Olive Garden (never been there) and we split the 'Taste of  Italy' entree that had three different dishes and had a salad and breadsticks of course. More than enough on the card to do that, dessert and a nice tip for the waitress. Dessert was Tiramasu for Jon and 'Chocolate Lasagna' for me. His was comped as birthday dessert so it was a great meal over all. Going to be looking for the salad dressing in the store next time, that was a hit!

I have all my doctor visits (so far) taken care of. Got my throat ultrasound yesterday and she focused on my thyroid, which is one of the questions the doctor asked me if I had any issues with my thyroid in the past and I said not that I know of.  Since that was just yesterday it may not be until Monday before my doctor actually studies the dozens of pictures the tech took. She did more on my right side than my left for some reason, and that's a bit concerning. 

I had sonograms done when I was pregnant and usually the tech will point out different parts and bits but when I could see the screen this time it was.... 'oh look clouds'. No clue what a healthy thyroid is supposed to look like. I do know for the past month or so it's felt like my throat was a bit swollen or at least 'thick(?)' feeling when I swallowed or when I was laying in bed. No problems breathing just swallowing. 

I baked more cookies!

That's the first batch out of the oven and baked a total of maybe 40 or 42 Oatmeal Scotcchies. These were cookes that I remember having at my grandmas and never knew what they were. Didn't discover it  until I was an adult and am still a fan. I might add more cinnamon and allspice to them next time but for now I have two bags of chocolate chips chilling in the fridge for the next cookie batch.

Remember the trees that were cut down? It's baaaack! Just as I figured it would be. Another two years and that will be close to something birds can perch in again. They were cut down beginning of June and here it is October and it's already visible above the fence. Pepper trees are not to be trifled with, they are persistent and tenacious.

The other saplings that were cut back are also above the fence again. The eucalyptus sadly, may never return, I think they dug that one out because it was pushing on the fence.

Oh yeah! 

 This will be happening next month! I locked in two tickets unfortunately after they raised the prices by $10 but still more than enough to get there and have some fun. Nov 20, which is a Wednesday and will let Amber know I won't be picking up the boys that day. I hope we can stay long enough to see the castle lit up again. We're going to have to pace ourselves so we can last that long and honestly, need to get new glasses so I feel better about driving at night. If we don't, I at least have that photo to remember.

It would be nice to spend the night in a hotel but that's asking a bit much this time around. Not knowing what's going to be happening in the next week or even Nov 5, going to make the best of this trip.

Time to get going,  updates as they happen.

It's my birthday! Got an eye check up!

 'Execute Birthday 66'. 

 Thanks to birthday monies, I stopped at Costco on the way home because I know they have the best cakes. This was the only cake of in the entire case that had decoration on it. Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, yes please!

So eye appointment, as bad and not so bad as previous ones go. No sign of glaucoma, no sign of macular degeneration, cataract needs to be dealt with before it gets much worse. Very efficient visit, nurse did preliminary check for my sight compared to my glasses. Then another set of tests when I got to the room for near/far sighted then waited for the doctor. The surprising test was what they called an OCT

"Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) are non-invasive imaging tests. They use light waves to take cross-section pictures of your retina. With OCT, your ophthalmologist can see each of the retina's distinctive layers and the optic nerve fiber layer."

It involved a machine you look in like when they're checking with a strong light, it scans your eye very quickly (if anyone has had an x ray where they tell you to breathe then hold it, that sort of thing but with blink then keep eye open and don't move) So that was something new and different, then what was really surprising was the glaucoma test. Previous versions that I have had were everything from a pinpoint needle testing the pressure in your eye (I seem to recall it having a small twinge of pain) and then the air blast in your eye. I told the doctor/assistant about that and they said they don't do either of those anymore due to PTSD. Wow.

So what they did was put anaesthetic drops in my eyes, took all of maybe half a minute for them to take affect then... what looked like an oversized digital thermometer that she would press on my eye in different spots to get readings. I had to seriously take a deep breath and relax so she could do it without me blinking. She held my lashes and lid out of the way of course but it was really surprising, unfortunately due to the cataract they couldn't get a good reading on my left eye.

So, slightly better prescription for glasses was written, took that and the plastic eye cover in place and checked out at the desk after that for the cataract surgery consultation. Which I got a call from on the way home from dropping the boys off. The soonest consultation appointments are June/July of next year. Which actually works out since I was worried about juggling the pick up schedule this year and early next year and the eye appointment and/or surgery. Soooooooo...... yeah. Since I got the call while I was driving had to wait until I got home and when I called back, five rings and no answer. Will try again tomorrow morning.

Looks like I might get that new prescription for the glasses anyway since it's almost nine months away for the consultatiom. As far as I can tell, eyeglasses after cataract surgery are covered completely and will know after the consultation what they are considering for the replacement lens.

 Oh and ballot for election was mailed off yesterday and we got confirmation they have been accepted and counted. YAY!

 

Annnd, once again jumped the gun, and bills

 I need to learn how to listen more effectively. I got a call about my throat scan and now my eye appointment. The scheduler called me yesterday and said she saw my appointment for December about my eyes but since it was a referral, they have an earlier appointment.... Oct 9. Wow. I was not prepared for that so she changed the date for that appointment and will have that at 10:40 in the morning on a Wednesday which means I go from there to get the boys. Hope they don't dilate my eyes because that would suck trying to drive with the plastic sunglasses on.

Also, due to going $42 over budget on the food groceries I am now short for paying the remainder of the bills. Luckily I figured out why the SDGE bill is so low, this time of year they have an energy credit so it may well be half of what we paid last month thankfully. But I will still be short by about $70 for the rest of my bills. 

Rocky has food, we have food, rent is paid, internet is paid, amazon prime is paid (don't judge, it's only $7.50 and is part of our entertainment budget), storage is paid. I have $98 left and still have car insurance (Geico), SDGE and phone. Geico and phone combined is $108, SDGE is unknown right now but could be as  high as $80.

I'm running through the timing and budget just to get it straight in my head right now so bear with me:

Geico is $54 on the 11th then SDGE is on the 12th. I may take Geico off autopay and see if I can delay that, the phone isn't until the 15th.

98 - 54 = 44. Not enough for either SDGE or my phone. So take phone and geico off autopay and delay those and pay SDGE. 

Even if I had the extra $42 it wouldn't be enough. 

High finance for low income people.

And a mouse mummy just because it's so dang cute!