Everything is pretty much the same

My brother is still drinking and refuses to go back to rehab.  We don't get much information from him these days.

Monday I'm going to have a bone density test.  Trying to make sure I get as many medical tests done as possible since I'm on a roll.  The next thing after that will be getting my other cataract removed.

I'm trying to stay on the low fat diet -- picking out low fat items to eat and then double checking to be sure they don't interact with the Warfarin.  I called a dietition yesterday to see if she could put a diet plan together for me but she said she doesn't do that.  So I'll figure it out myself.  One thing is for sure, I am highly motivated to do everything I'm supposed to and I will be losing a lot of weight which will be a nice side effect.

Some of my neighbors have those Ring Doorbells and their cameras captured a guy going from patio to patio at 5:30AM and checking them out, perhaps looking for packages?  I'm going to look into getting one for me.  I did a little research on them and a lot of the reviews were not good, but my neighbors love theirs.  If nothing else maybe it is a visible deterrent??

More updates

First of all, another school shooting.  That is so tragic.  My heart breaks for these families.

Second of all, my brother is still drinking.  That's all I know about that.

And third, the granulomas on my spleen that I was worried about are harmless and benign.  I got that from my primary care doctor.

I heard from my cardiologist's physician's assistant and he wasn't able to tell me what the doctor meant about the evaluation surgery but he did say they are going to arrange night time oxygen for me.

Today I saw my primary care doctor for a Medicare-requested annual physical and test for Hep-C.  I have to say this is the most thorough physical examination I've had in years.  You name it and she checked it out.  That was reassuring.

She looked up the recent bloodwork results and said that my cholesterol and triglycerides have come down drastically since the last test a year and a half ago, so that was nice.

And she got the results of yesterday's mammogram and it was normal!!  Some good news.

The Medicare exam guidelines required the she measure my height.  When I was young, I was 5'6".  A few years ago I was 5'5-1/2".  Today I was 5'3-1/2".

After I left the doctor, I picked Mia up and we went to Camp BowWow for their Valentine's Day Kissing Booth.  Look how cute...  I couldn't get her to kiss me because she was way too interested in the audience of other people waiting for their turn.

Update

No news on my brother.  Hope he's doing well.

I heard from my cardiologist today -- a message left on my online health portal -- and he says I will "likely need surgical evaluation" of the whole gallbladder/gallstones thing.  I don't like that at all.  Hopefully I will hear from him personally in the near future.

My primary care doctor says she thinks I can manage things with diet and exercise and my cardiologist talks about "surgical evaluation."  I can't wait to see who wins.  I know who I'm voting for.

The ultrasound also mentioned "splenic (spleen) granulomas."  I tried Googling that and I didn't like what I found.  But neither doctor even mentioned it, so I guess I won't dwell on that finding.

And he also has not told me the results of the sleep study.

That's it for today.

Test results

First, still no word from my brother, so not sure how he's doing.

I got my test results from the ultrasound:

• I have "gallbladder sludge" (what a pleasant name).  The doctor tells me that sludge is a thickening of the gallbladder contents that may turn into stones.  The doctor says that if I behave (no red meat, no alcohol, no caffeine, and exercise and a low fat diet) it is possible that the sludge will not turn to stones
• I also have a fatty liver which she says is not good and could lead to cirrhosis.  She scared me to death.

So we did followup blood work and I got those results today.  They are as follows:

Notify patient of labs: Her muscle and liver enzymes are normal, and her lipids have improved greatly from previous. LDLs are still a little on the high end, but much improved. We could consider a very low dose statin to try to get her LDL closer to 100 to decrease her risk for heart disease. Her HDLs are much lower than previous, this means she needs to increase her activity/exercise level. Her lipase is still normal, no need to follow-up on this. Recommend she adhere to the low-fat diet to help prevent further problems with her gallbladder. Carol Oakleaf, PA-C

That sounds very upbeat to me, so I feel better.  I go back to see her next week for one more visit and while I'm there she's going to do a test for Hep-C -- after all, I am a Baby Boomer.

However, I still haven't heard from my cardiologist and he's the one who ordered the ultrasound.  You'd think he would have called me by now.  I will be interested in hearing how he interprets these tests.  I sure do feel better, though, so the pancreas has settled down.

Oh, and by the way, the doctor told me that the cause of the pancreatitis is idiopathic.  She says that means they can't figure out what caused it.  But it was a very mild episode and she says if I behave it may not ever happen again.   There's that word "behave" again....

The cardiologist also needs to give me the results of the sleep study.  Wait-wait-wait.....

Sleep Study was awful

First, my brother did not get his surgery.  I haven't heard any more so I don't know what his status is right now.

The sleep study was nothing like I expected.  I got there at 9:30 and got ready for bed.  The room was like a hotel room with its own private bath and a television.   The television was only to be used if the patient needed to ease into sleepiness.

The technician attached many electrodes to me.  There were 5 on my face, 1 on my neck, 1 under my arm, several on my chest, several on my legs and 4 or 5 on my scalp.  They also put one of those Pulse/Ox things on my finger.  Then he told me to sleep on my back, which is not the way I sleep.  But I said I would give it a try, so I laid back on the pillow and realized that my head  was laying back on the electrodes on my scalp and it hurt.  I told the technician but he said to try to stay on my beck but I could roll over on my side if I had to.  As it turned out, I really needed to roll over on my side but it proved to be a monumental task with all the electrodes

There were wires everywhere and I felt like I was tied down.  I could barely move, a very claustrophobic feeling.  I didn't get any sleep and he got me up at 6AM, took off all my electrodes and I went home.  I don't see how they could possibly come up with any diagnosis of sleep apnea with the kind of night I had, but the technician said all they needed was a little bit here and there.  I can't wait to hear how this turns out.

I came home and went straight to bed and slept for 5 hours.

Now Monday morning is the ultrasound of the gallbladder and we'll see what that turns up.

Sleep Study

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARSHALL!!

I just got a call from the sleep study place and I am going to do my sleep study tomorrow night.  I check in at 9:30P and check out a 6:00A.  So I don't even need to get a pet sitter.

One down (sleep study), one to go (ultrasound).

The snow is coming down right now.  I hope it doesn't get ugly.

Today was the date for my brother's surgery - I'm waiting to hear if it was a "go" or not.  If he's in any condition to go, my sister was going to take him (it's 100 miles from his home), his wife decided not to go.  I don't blame her.  Living with an alcoholic must be pretty tough.