Tuesday's adventures ...

Image Source: WeHeartIt
Because I know better than
to try and take pictures on a foggy
mountain road.

   The clouds were low in the mountains between here and Lewisburg where the hospital was for the CT scans yesterday.  I took a road that would wind through them, rather than the freeway that would deposit me in the middle of downtown Lewisburg and morning traffic (yes!  traffic!  Apparently, there are a lot of commuters in White Sulphur Springs).

  I had to drink a full 20oz of "berry-flavored" contrast before my scans, and honestly, the berry flavoring did nothing to improve the taste, however, the ice did as it got colder.  Unfortunately, by the time the ice had made a difference, it was pretty much gone.

  There were two scans being done, one with the contrast I drank, and the other with an injected contrast.  Therein lay the first hiccup of the day.  As soon as the injection was started, my vein blew out, leaking blood and contrast all over the bedding and causing me incredible pain in my arm and hand.  My hand cramped up into a claw.  The pain eventually subsided and there was enough contrast in for a good scan before they had to stop it because of the pain.  My arm is sore this morning and a little swollen, but not bruised yet.

  So remember where I said clouds were low?  Of course, I left my headlights on when I went into the hospital at 8a.  When I tried to leave almost three hours later, my battery was dead.  I waited about 15 minutes (all while a man was sitting in his truck right next to me with windows open and could clearly hear my alternator clicking ~ so much for WV chivalry) before finally calling for roadside assistance.  When they finally said they would be 90 minutes before getting to me, I tried one last time, and thankfully, my truck fired up.  I canceled the assistance and headed out.

  My next appointment was 2p so I had a few hours to kill before I needed to be anywhere.  I found a florist shop that had some live houseplants and picked up two English Ivy plants for my birdcages before heading to the appointment a little early.  Pictures to follow this weekend of the plants in the cages after I get one of them repotted.

  More blood was drawn ~ this time intentionally ~ at the follow-up appointment to see if I'm still anemic, and if the one marker for cancer or an autoimmune disorder has gone up or down.  The hope is that it has dropped and that I'm no longer anemic.  Otherwise, my doctor was very pleased that the prayers, good wishes, virtual hugs, and positive juju seem to have been working to turn things around for me.

  Results of the CT scans and new bloodwork should be back by the end of this week, so I will post an update as soon as I know.