Tachatna's Journal, 09 Mar 18

The last year and a half have been really stressful for me. Hubby had two knee replacements (first one and then 3 months later the other). I came down with the RSV virus (dangerous for babies, older folks and those with lung problems) and spent a week in the hospital on oxygen. Came home needing oxygen for another couple of weeks. I developed cellulitis (staph infection) on my belly that was evidentally from insulin injection points while I was hospitalized. Six weeks of antibiotics finally healed that, but it was very painful and scary. I got another cold. I got the stomach flu. I had to go to ER for a kidney stone in October....always fun..NOT! The kidney stone decided to take up residence in my bladder wall rather than exit my body like previous ones have done. Last Thursday, I had surgery to remove the stone. I went through a couple of days of extreme pain and dry heaves (from anesthetic). I finally got to the place where I thought I was on an even keel only to start having horrible chest pains and yet another ambulance ride to the ER. Life in the fast lane!

They ran a lot of test at the hospital including a CT to rule out a pulmonary embolism (which was negative and that's a good thing!). The scan showed that the small lung nodule I have had for a couple of years has changed. I woke up yesterday to a call from my diabetic nurse telling me that I needed to have a PET scan to determine if the nodule decided to become malignant. It threw me for a loop, to say the least. There is no PET scanner where we live. We have to fly to Anchorage to have the scan done. It's scheduled for Tuesday. Am I scared? Yes.

It has been one thing after another for nearly two years and I am really tired...physically and emotionally. Sometimes I wonder if I can handle anything more. My head tells me that I am stronger than I think, but my feelings disagree.

I guess everything is in limbo until I get the results of this scan the end of next week.