Newest Developments

I called the doctor's office today to let them know that my symptoms have remained unchanged despite the newest antibiotic round. I know that they are probably getting sick of me at this point, but I really just want some answers. I am prepared for anything at this point, so I will take whatever comes, but I just want to know what I am dealing with. The first time the nurse called me I was just about to hop in the shower so I quickly listened to what she told me and got off of the phone. The idea was that the doctor wanted to refer me to an ENT. While in the shower I started thinking about it and wondered what the heck an ENT was going to do for me? My thoughts went to wondering what it could be if it wasn't a virus or bacteria. The idea came to concentrate on what would make my body temperature be so weird. So I decided to look up information on what controls body temperature. I resolved to call the nurse back after I looked up the information to ask about the reason for the ENT referral and to ask for a copy of the real lab report so I could see exactly what they tested me for and the numbers they got rather than just the word normal.

So apparently the body temperature is regulated by the hypothalamus in the brain. It has some other functions such as hormones, taste and smell, and giving the feeling of hunger. The interesting thing I found out is that if you had a tumor on the hypothalamus, it would not have originated there. It would have to have come from some other source first. Well the information just didn't really fit, but it was good to learn something new.

So I revisited the list of possibles that I got from WebMD. The one that the doctor wouldn't consider 5 weeks ago was lymphoma. He said that most doctors would not consider it until the pain and/or swelling had been in the lymph node for at least 4-6 weeks. Well here it is 5 weeks later and just about everything else on the list has been explored. I went back to the information I found on lymphomas and started reading it again. Maybe it is time to consider the possibility.

I called the doctor's office back and talked to the nurse again. She said she would send me a copy of the actual report from the bloodwork in the mail, so hopefully I will have that soon. When I asked her about the ENT referral she told me that with the cold symptoms I was showing that the doctor thought it might be good for me to see the ENT. First of all, I already see an allergist for that sort of stuff because I do in fact have allergies. I offered to go see her instead of having to go through the hassle of doing a referral and all of that. However, I argued with her that I did not in fact have cold symptoms...no sneezing, stuffiness, coughing, runny nose, etc. I only have the elevated temperature, the headaches, and the pain in the lymph node. I asked her about autoimmune diseases and she said they checked for those. I suggested that perhaps we needed to revisit the lymphoma idea again. She said that she would talk to the doctor and get back to me. I really don't like being a pest, but I would rather be pesty than to go to a doctor unnecessarily and waste everyone's time and money.

The nurse did finally call back after 5:30...which was pretty late for a doctor's office. Apparently, my doctor wants to send me on a surgery consult to do a biopsy of the lymph node. Holy crap! That involves a very large needle and me being awake. I was really not expecting that to be the answer even though I knew it was a possibility. Hooray. This summer just keeps getting better and better. So now I am in wait to hear mode. Not worried about the results, no matter what I will handle it. Granny had lymphoma twice and beat it twice. The prognosis for someone my age is very good if it is caught early. Mostly, I am worried about the biopsy. Go figure.