Tests and More Tests

Yesterday I had my oncologist appointment plus a series of tests, that as far as tests go - seemed pretty punk. Here's the whole day in a nutshell:

1pm: chest x-ray

1:30: internal organ ultrasound (probably not the correct name for this)

2pm: appointment with Dr Young

2:30: grand tour of chemotherapy room

3:00: EKG

3:30: chest echo thingy (probably not the correct name for this)

Everything happened right on time! Seriously. I wasn't only NOT late for each appointment, but I was early. What a great hospital.

Or so I thought. (You'll find out what I mean with tomorrow's story.)

And, of course, those days of hearing "Everything on your tests look great, Sheri." are soo over! I miss those days.

No problems with the x-ray. Whew!

Then that stupid sonogram organ test thing happened. It's just like a normal sonogram, except they inspect each and every organ to see if there are any pesky tumors growing on them. For whatever reason, they do not allow you to eat or drink anything 8 hours prior to this test. My test was scheduled for 1:30pm. Do the math. I tried to sleep as late as I could so I wouldn't have to think about coffee or breakfast. Then I had to not knock the coffee out of Tom's hand while we drove to the hospital that morning. (At some point Tom did have the sense to ask me if his drinking coffee right there in front of me was bothering me...perceptive guy, he is.)

Anyway, the sonogram test was going along smoothly until he got to a specific spot and said "hmmm." Noooooooo! No, "hmmm"! I'm sick of the "hmmms!" I asked slick haired sonogram dude what was up and he told me to hang on. He said he wanted to try something and it might be uncomfortable, but he needed to see if he could get it to move. (I had an instant flashback to my mammogram when they were trying to make my original tumor disappear.) Sonogram dude starts poking me in the belly with his little sonogram stick rapidly. He stops. Looks back up at the screen and announces that I have gallstones.

Are you freakin' kidding me?

If you could just kindly go out back, build a barn, take me behind it and just shoot me now... that would be great! He said it was probably something I didn't want to worry about right now. YA THINK? (The picture above is of gallstones that have been removed from people. Neat, huh?)

Time to get dressed and shuffled out the door to Dr Young's office. I like Dr Young. She was so nice. We talked again about my options and she was very cool when I made my decision. I'm still not sure what's up with her shoes though. 5 inch black patent leather pointy toe shoes? Really? Maybe I've been a stay-at-home mom too long, but I just didn't see the point (no pun intended) She went over all my questions about diet and what to expect. She said my hair is going to be gone in about 2 weeks. I'll be on 4 different types of anti-nausea medications. And I start steroids Thursday. I might get moody.

The biggest thing we talked about though was sickness. Not how the chemo meds were going to make me sick, but how important it is that I don't get sick. I can't be around anyone with the sniffles or a cough. At all. I can't be near anyone who even says what they have is just allergies, cause sometimes those people are wrong. My children must wash their hands often and stay away from me if they do become ill. I shouldn't eat off salad bars. Sooo, if you think you are sick and you want to come see me. Don't. Thanks.

Part 2 tomorrow...