Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Two steps forward...finally!

I have gone back to work, and have slowly built my hours back up to a full day. I'm struggling a bit with the mornings, I just don't want to get moving very quickly. Even worse than I've been prior to this trial. 
Life seems to be getting back to normal and I don't have any surgical pain anymore! I can bend and breathe and wear jeans! If I could kick this annoying back pain, and the exhaustion that hits at random times, I would have no complaints. 

But, God is good and He has heard my cry.
 
I got the results of the genetic testing.  Aside from the immediate anxiety and turmoil of being diagnosed with cancer, I have worried constantly that there was the chance that I had some genetic component that I could have passed along to my boys.  I know that my mom has had the same fear, that she could have passed it to me. Well, fantastic news... all of the markers they tested me for are NEGATIVE! It was such a relief. Not only have I not passed anything along, but I won't be donating any more organs and parts from my body at the present time! (I was prepared to have a positive result and was planning to remove anything that could be removed to increase my chance of heading off trouble before it started...)

I was seen by the kidney specialist, Dr Solcher, last Wednesday.  Can I just say that I have an amazing care team? I really liked Dr Solcher, and appreciated that he kept it real with me. He pretty much told me that as long as I don't develop diabetes, high blood pressure, or any issue with kidney stones, that my right (and only) kidney doesn't really care what I put in my mouth. 😂 He wanted to run a few tests and check for protein in my urine.  My kidney function is perfect and little to no protein in my urine, so no need for meds and follow up in a year... a whole YEAR!! 
It's nice to see a slow down in my physician appointments. I feel like I've been checked out and seen more times in just the past 6 weeks than I have in the last 10 years. 
I've seen and talked to everyone ... even my "home base" Dr Gravino, who brought it to my attention that prior to this, I hadn't needed to be seen by his office since 2010.  Sure, he had seen me, but just with the boys.  Sigh...

So, now I just wait. I wait for May 8, which is scan day. Prayer warriors... pray for clear scans and no evidence of disease. In the meantime, I'll continue to pray and I'll try to stay busy to keep my scanxiety at bay. 

The struggle is real.