Friday, September 11, 2009

Nothing to Worry About

Yesterday when I saw Dr Reidel, I asked about the other medical conditions that were "noted" in the preliminary report from the CT Scan. I had googled each one, and to me they sound awful. I admit that I have kept these other things to myself all week because I wanted us all to bask in the golden glow of Significant Shrinkage. Didn't want anything to tarnish that joyous news.


I'll tall you right up front that Dr Reidel says that I have nothing to worry about for any of these medical conditions. I'm just posting them here for full disclosure ;^)


Here are the other medical conditions noted in the preliminary report:


  • Small pericardial effusion (a very little bit of fluid collecting around the heart)


  • Diffuse hepatic steatosis (fatty liver)


  • Postoperative changes of ventral hernia repair (what's up with my incisional hernia repair?)

But the doctor said those are "nothing to worry about." Basically, when they review the scan, they have to note everything they see but do not include any kind of value judgement or attempt to put it into context (like, "This is expected during chemo" or "Whoa Nelly what the heck is that doing there?!") I'm cool with that. [Patsy, are you cool with that?]


Plus I have had hip pain in my right hip for like two weeks. (I had hip pain in my left hip for months and did not even think to mention it and lo it was a tumor in my psoas muscle! So now I mention everything that hurts or twinges.) But when Dr Reidel checked the final report from the CT Scan, there is nothing happening there. He suggested that it might be "referred pain" from the arthritic changes in my back. The hot tub does make the right hip pain go away.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm cool with that!!! Dr. R. knows what to worry about so I don't have to help him.

Unknown said...

Kren - I have the fatty liver thing - it is a leftover from my young and risk-taking years....
all this stuff can be scary, can't it...some of it is just from growing older too - stuff wears out and changes over the years....
guess when we think of it in terms of what shape a house or car would be in when used daily for X number of years, it kinda make sense...?

Jule said...

Karen.....We have been keeping up with your progress monthly, but I wanted to let you know that I am always keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. The "significant shrinkage" phrase is the one that I'm holding onto.

Things are running along with the reins in my very unorganized hands, but they are running well despite that. I am told that my imitation of you at our meeting is pretty good. Come and see for yourself!
Peace, Love, Laughter......Jule