The Demon Rears Its Ugly Head....Again!

Here is my past few months in a nutshell.  Once I get some health stuff settled, I may do another blog about some of these adventures.

February - I went on my 2nd solo trip. For those not in the know, my first solo trip was a few years ago.  I did a short road trip to North Dakota for a few days and found the trip kind of boring without someone to share it with.  After this, I had some hesitation about going to Mexico alone but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip - in fact, I didn't want to go home after my week was up!  I loved it so much that I bought a small 5 yr timeshare package.  I am now in the process of booking my next trip there.

May - My oldest sister passed away unexpectedly at the young age of 67.  Needless to say, this was a sad period for me.  Her memorial service was done in Edmonton on July 28.  It is sad that the only time I seem to get in touch with my cousins is at funerals.  I got to see my cousins Gary and Bruce for supper when we arrived before and then at Jaye's service the next day.  Colleen did a nice presentation of her mom's life at the service.

July - ME and I helped Bonna move to Moose Jaw.  There were a few bumps along the way, but ME managed to find her a small apartment and I helped arrange her moving van and flight for her and her kitties.  She is now waiting for her furniture to arrive.

Present - Kayla has a house guest.  ME's Jack Russell, Bentley (AKA Tripod) is visiting despite Majik's disapproval.  Tripod will likely stay until ME gets back from Denmark in a couple months. The adventures of this visit may be fodder for another blog post.

Now for the elephant in the room and the reason for the blog post - my health.

Since my last post there have been a few developments.  I finally got to see the Respirologist and, although he didn't know the cause of my lung scarring, he said it wasn't IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis).   He said IPF scarring goes from the bottom of the lung to the top and mine is going in the opposite direction.This took a huge load off my mind. He had me go for some more tests - walk tests, bronchoscopy, echo cardiogram.  After these tests it was determined that I need O2 therapy when exerting myself (i.e. walking or doing mundane tasks like housework).  I am still waiting to hear from the O2 supplier. The bronchoscopy didn't answer the question of what my diagnosis is so I now have to go for a biopsy of my lungs.

That brought me to a visit this week to the surgeon who will be doing the biopsy.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I thought this would be a day surgery thing like the bronchoscopy was.  Nope! I will get to enjoy a mini vacation courtesy of the Sask healthcare system.  OK, I'm thinking - I can handle a short hospital stay no problem.  Then the surgeon awakens a monster that I had thought had been slain - he brought up the dreaded IPF as a possibility.

When I had been concerned (OK, maybe concerned isn't the right term - more like shitting bricks!) last autumn, it had only been because I had found some scary information on the internet.  Everyone knows you have to take Googled information with a grain (or a ton) of salt as any Tom, Dick or Jane can profess to knowing much more than they actually do.  But now the monster has been raised as an option by a face to face meeting with a qualified surgeon! As you can imagine, I am now right back into the emotional turmoil I was in last fall plus.

I decided to write about it here as a way to maybe release some the the turmoil presently running wild in my mind.  There is something about putting your concerns into words to help you focus.  Even though I am not yet finished writing this post, I already feel a bit calmer and will focus more on what the Respirologist said about the path that IPF takes and that this is not the case for me.  I will have to keep reminding myself of this whenever I start to get scared.

I will NOT allow this to keep me from doing the things I love to do. As I previously mentioned, I am in the process of arranging for a 2 week trip to Mexico to bask in the sun and enjoy the healing ocean breezes.  For some reason, I feel like I can breathe much easier when near the ocean.  I had to cancel my plans for a summer road trip this year due to waiting for appointments with Drs. and for tests, but am already thinking of where I can go next summer (Texas sounds appealing for some reason).  I will just have to find ways to accommodate O2 in my travels!

Thanks for listening to my spiel. I expect to have my surgery in about 4 weeks so will keep you posted.