Well, Well, We Finally Have An Answer

Or, no I'm not a hypochondriac after all.

After months and months and months and months (we're talking a good year or two) of having major digestive issues and problems, I finally got an answer today.

Gallbladder.

It hates me and wants out.

Never mind that last May I went to the doctor for "Upper Right Quadrant Pain" and he immediately sent me across the street to the hospital for a CT Scan of my gallbladder. Never mind that I had the same symptoms way back then now only worse in the last couple of months. Never mind that when the results were negative he never suggested an ultrasound or HIDA scan of my gallbladder. Never mind that when I tried to get into my doctor's a couple of weeks ago on a Friday they had no openings and then finally said they'd try to get me in the following Wednesday but first they'd ask my internist if she'd work me in that day and NO ONE EVER CALLED ME.

So when I finally pursued it again, this time with yet another doctor at the practice who said she'd see me last Wednesday, she said right off the bat, sure sounds like gall bladder to me and this time had a game plan. She had a course of action to get to the bottom of it all. She was on the ball and I was and am impressed. She informed me that I'd first have to do an Ultrasound of my gallbladder and usually, especially with women, they are negative. SO, if it was indeed negative, THEN we'd do a HIDA scan which is the test that gives them pretty much the final answer. I asked why not do that one first then and she said they want the Ultrasound done first. Which is exactly what the tech said today stating that if they do the HIDA and you have gallstones it can be extremely painful. So, there is a valid reason.

It was negative and the HIDA was scheduled for today. They injected me with two substances and the girl happened to mention that the report would probably be written up today and I could get it from their medical records dept before it got over to my doctor's office. So, I called them tonight thinking I'd be going tomorrow and it was ready and they were open until 7pm.

So, off I trotted to the hospital, getting up from the bed where I was laying feeling nauseous and reading a book.

And, I got an answer. Finally.

I was told that a normal ejection fraction rate is 30% or better.

Here's what my report states: "A gallbladder ejection fraction of 6% in addition to the reproduction of symptoms upon CCK stimulation suggests gallbladder dysfunction.

Sounds like it's hardly functioning at all. Therefore, explaining my symptoms and why I've basically felt like crap and have been nauseous when I eat, smell food, think about food, shop for food, etc, along with several other symptoms that I won't bore you with.

Waiting now to talk to my internist when she gets the report and a little scared to boot.

But at least now I KNOW and NOT KNOWING drives me crazy!

Do You Have Dry Skin?

Do you have persistantly dry skin? Unsightly eczema? Have you made repeated trips to your dermatologist? Have you tried every hand lotion on the shelf and multiple prescription treatments?

Well, let me highly recommend this product to you! In just one day, my dry hands are 90% better. I can't say enough about this miracle product. I have tried everything and finally succumbed to first aid cream and Vaseline out of complete desperation to do something for my dry hands! So bad this winter that they were cracking and hurting terribly.

A visit to my internist yesterday prompted me to ask her opinion, informing her that nothing the dermatologist gave me works for any length of time, if at all. First, she informed me that she has the same condition on her hands and when I professed that I never USED to have it, she said I was getting older. (um, okay, thanks for mentioning that, I hadn't noticed!) BUT, she highly recommended Aquaphor and stated that it could be found at any pharmacy in the lotion aisle.

A trip to Wal Mart and I had it in my cart. As I was pulling it off the shelf, another customer noticed and praised it, showing me her hands and telling me more than I needed to know about her dry scalp. But, she raved about it and said the very next day after using it for the first time, she could tell a big difference.

For $14.97 I was willing to invest if this was the magic potion I'd been looking for all this time.

I couldn't help but apply it several times from about 5pm till 11pm yesterday and the difference in my hands today is unbelievable. Oh, and my feet too!

I'm sold.

Go, now, buy yourself some. I recommend it. (They also make it for baby's skin too!)

So What Became of My Wood Infested Tire?

Well, I got up bright and earlier Tuesday morning (along with the snow) and was at Firestone at 8:15am buying a brand new tire 6 months after just buying four in July. When I got bored with my book, I wandered around the waiting area noticing the framed newpapers advertising Firestone tires, 4 for $99 back in the late 60s. I wanted one for that price but figured it was pointless to even ask.

They did give me a "deal", ha. I paid $99 for each tire in July and due to tire price increases they were now up to $109 per tire. The guy said they'd sell it to me at the $99 price. Wasn't that sweet of him? Wow, saved $10. That paid for half the repair job last Friday.

I Just Had To Steal This Quote

"Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat." ~Author Unknown

So Didn't We Just Do This, Again?

Okay, it really does come in three's but now we are up to four! AND we are getting our money's worth from our AAA Good Basic Member membership!

In the continuing saga of our weird, fluke car problems, here's what happened today...

Tim's van is still in the shop so he took my car to work again. This was fine as I didn't need to go anywhere today.

Mom had a sudden change of plans today so I decided to pursue a doctor's appt since no one would see me last week at my internist's. So, they could see me at a different doctor's today at 3:00pm since they weren't celebrating MLK Day. Mom came on over and I took her car to Georgetown, IN.

While still in the waiting room, Tim called from way across Louisville where he was doing another video shoot for this freelance project he's been working on. Guess what, my car has a flat again, same tire!!!!!!!!!!!

SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was absolutely nothing I could do where I was and nothing mom could do who was now stranded at our house (never mind our used car lot....the Miata has a broken windshield, the Chevy Impala classic is tucked away in the garage for the winter, the Honda is begging to be hauled off and the husband keeps promising he is going to sell it, and can't drive his mom's car (not sure why exactly, but something about salt on the roads, being covered up for the winter and seeing if it will start. So, mom's basically stranded at our house as I have her car.

Told him he would have to call AAA and see about getting the tire fixed. At this point he wasn't sure if we just got a bad patch job or if it was another hole! (Turned out to be another hole, this time from a big chunk of wood...looking suspiciously like the wood they've been using at the station along with those drywall screws...)

So, AAA came and changed the tire and fortunately the spare was okay. He came back to town and ran by our car repair place (who are frantically trying to get the van fixed before they closed because I've now called them 2 times begging for it so I don't have to walk to work in the snow tomorrow or beg a ride from a neighbor) with the flat. They say they'll check it out and try to repair it tomorrow.

Tim comes home dead tired as now he's been going strong since 2:30am and has worked two jobs. I'm on my way home from Georgetown after 2 1/2 hours there!

Meanwhile the car repair place has called and informed Tim that we'll need a new tire, as this hole is too big to repair. Nice. This is my new tire that I just bought along with the other three for $99 each in July.

I see no Road Hazard anything on the receipt so chances are tomorrow when I get up early and take it back to Firestone before work, I'll just be getting a new tire for another $99.

So, do I bill the tv station or the husband?

WAH!!!!!!!

Scrapbook Layouts

Did these two last night...I worked hard all day putting ornaments and trees away in the attic and finally sat down to scrapbook about 4:40pm. It was right at that time we decided to order pizza and I remembered it's literally half the price to just do carryout at Papa John's so off I trotted in the cold temps! (Woke up to 5 degrees yesterday and it only climbed into the very low 20s if that!)

So, after yummy pizza I tried again and completed these two before heading to bed.

I accomplished two goals. One, to finally use a pack of the My Mind's Eye Magnolia line that is essentially a kit in itself although I added more embellies...and two, to scrapbook the quilts from the state fair over a year ago! That was 14 pictures on one page....cut down of course but I was thrilled! AND I used an old piece of Flair Designs pp that looked like old feed sack material! Woo hoo!

So, Didn't We Just Do This?

It's apparently "car be towed" month at our house! Tim had problems with the van this morning as he was leaving for work, so after loading all of his equipment into it for a freelance shoot this afternoon, he had to switch vehicles and take my car, unloading everything and reloading to mine!

Not too big of a deal as my plan for the day was to still work on undecorating trees! A quick run to the pharmacy to get Garden Kitty's magic medicine was on the agenda, however, but mom came to the rescue on that one!

So, Tim said although the battery light indicator was coming on and staying on, I could get it to start and drive it to the car repair place. So, I went to do just that and could hardly get the brakes to work! In fact, while in reverse with my foot on the brake the car was rolling backwards and I could hardly get it to stop! I pushed with all my might and it finally did! Weird! Tried one more time, same issue.

Back into the house I went to call AAA, for the second time this month! (Remember, Happy New Year!) This time, though, I had the shower out of the way! The same tow truck driver showed up and said it seemed to be a loose belt and that made the power steering and brakes not work!

Okay, so then Tim calls me from the parking lot at work and said he was there with my car which now had a completely flat tire! No way! Someone had a pump so they got enough air in it for him to get to a repair place a block away. They couldn't get to it all day though so he headed back home to Firestone where we normally go with tire issues. Meanwhile, I had called mom and had her return back to my house which she had just left after dropping of GK's medicine so Tim could take her car to the freelance job!

We headed up to Firestone to meet him and he had to unload all his equipment yet again, now into mom's car! We trotted off in 20 degree weather to eat lunch downtown and when we came back the tire was fixed and we had working wheels again!

Verdict on my car: Drywall screw (most likely picked up from the station where Tim works as they have been doing drywall work all week, hmmmm) Total Cost: $20

Verdict on his van: Alternator Support Bar snapped in two thereby causing the Serpentine Belt to come off which in turn caused the alternator, power steering, water pump, and brakes not to work right. They have to find one Monday and they think it will run somewhere around $40-50 and maybe 2 hours of labor. Total Estimated Cost: at least $160.00

WAH!