Following Up With My ‘Ists; My Poor Eyebrow, My Sad Toe, I Don’t Appreciate ‘Shoes In The House’ Rules.

On April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz33 Comments

A few weeks ago I called to make an appointment to see my Dermatologist, whom I love. Sadly, she was super busy, but I didn’t want to wait until mid May because melanoma doesn’t care if she’s busy. So I made the appointment with her PA for this past Thursday.

*Years ago I noticed a weird little bump/lump area on the top portion of my left eyebrow; I scratched it and the darn thing flaked right off; RIGHT OFF! It left a tiny indent, and then I never thought about it again. UNTIL a few weeks ago, at that same exact spot I woke up with a flesh colored mole there. OVERNIGHT. Like, what did I do yesterday to deserve this? Did I forget to recycle something?

Within another few days, the darn thing was larger and I was kinda freaking out on the inside, but on the outside I was only slightly freaking out.

I win the prize for the quickest Doctors visit ever.

I arrived for my 4pm appointment at 3:58, checked in at the front desk and before my tush could hit the waiting room chair, a young lady came for me.

Me: I can’t believe you made me wait this long.

She took me into an exam room, asked a few questions, departed and came back with the PA. I showed her my cancer spot and she played it down, saying it was more of a sunspot. (but used really big words to begin with, you know, to throw me off)

She said she would need to freeze it off and whipped out a GIANT bottle of liquid nitrogen. I was thinking: The spot isn’t that BIG! The freezing part was weirdly cold. I mean, I should have known since she did use the term FREEZE.

It took all of 1.5 minutes for the freeze/burn, then I showed her a spot on my thigh that was worrying as well, and she said It too, was nothing to be concerned with.

Hell. This woman is not dramatic enough for me…so I departed.

I was finished and at the checkout desk at 4:05. Fo’rizzle, my dizzle.

I know what you’re thinking. The most important part of this story has not been discussed.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR TATTOOED MICRO-BLADED EYBROW SUZ?

I’m glad to know you cared enough to ask, but my left brow is probably ruined. Surely, I had this coming; probably gave side eye too many times. Right now it’s kind of blistered up, but who knows what it will look like in a few weeks. Please send thoughts and prayers.

My Poor Toe, My OK Arches!

On Friday (the fun never ends!) I saw my podiatrist to have her end the suffering of my left big toe. I’d been having ingrown issues and I was tired of farting around with it and asked for the more permanent solution of Chemical matrixectomy. I’d had this done on my right big toe many years ago with good results and I knew it was the only answer to my poor, innocent left big toe. By the time I actually got to my appointment, the issue had been taken care of by my sweet pedicurist, but I knew it was only a matter of time that the issue came back. It’s not a terrible procedure, especially if you edit out the part of the numbing needle that might be as big as one of Coach’s fishing rods. KIDDING. It’s quite uncomfortable for about 28 seconds, but after that though, nothing is felt.

Anyhoo…I’ll skip over the details of that and let you know that my Podiatrist and I had an in-depth discussion about Wearing Shoes In The House VS No Shoes In the House. This convo was brought on because she told me I have good arches, which is strange since I thought I’d had fallen arches, and then I thought I had high arches, turns out, according to her, My arches are just fine.

Kelly, Don, Suz and Coach at Arches National Park in 2015. 🤓

No mater what state my arches are in, I can not for the life of me go barefoot and I spend copious amounts of money on quality shoes with arch support. She totally supports Wearing Shoes Inside because it helps to alleviate all sorts of feet issues, like pain and plantar fasciitis. I’m never thrilled attending someones home if they have a no-shoe policy. It literally pains me.

I can *somewhat* see why people might have this rule. Outside is dirty. Inside is clean. Right? But, who reading this eats off the floor? Not this girl because even though Inside is Clean, the Floors are not always, and I’m ok with that because I choose to avoid pain; our floors are 90% hard tile.

I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion, and I’m ok with that. When you come to my house, you can leave your shoes at the door OR wear them in because I want you, my friends to be comfortable. ~~even if my disgusting floors will cause you to catch every disease imaginable~~

Who will lose sleep over my eyebrow?

Are you Shoes On or Shoes Off? If so, would you still visit me if I’m wearing shoes?

XOXO

Signed, your friend Suz with the weird eyebrow and sad feet.

She’s Still Kicking, Just Not As High.

On March 21, 2023March 21, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz37 Comments

Thank you all for your encouragement and well wishes on my post-op post. (say that three times fast) I had my catheter removed and HOLY MACKEREL, it’s awesome to pee unassisted.

Who knew?

Well, you probably all knew.

It’s Me, I’m The Problem

I know I was so excited and started doing housework (pure insanity!) when I first arrived home; in hindsight, I should have been beaten with a wet noodle.

Ahem….Not so surprising, a few days later in the week, I could hardly remove myself from the couch and I totally blame the housework so I’m vetoing all housework for whatever is left of my life.

The no housework statement, sadly is a big fat lie.

I’m taking it easy from here on out. The bare necessities and sadly, one of those is making dinner. Lord, don’t I deserve to be hand fed each day? Would it kill someone to peel my grapes?

Peanut and I have spent a lot of time outside since the weather has been so lovely, thanks to a cold front. Sure, you’re cold as heck but I’m living my best outside life.

I’ve not even had the gumption to read any blogs and I’m sorry about that.

I’ve been so low key, that my smart watch sent me a text stating that my activity level and caloric burn is down compared to normal times. YA THINK? Generally I strength train three days a week and do a HIIT class twice a week. Now, I’m not hitting anything but that proverbial wall.

Funny though, I’ve not been moving as much, eating the same amount, yet I’m losing LBS. Do you think my body is burning calories by internally healing? Or were my organs that heavy? These are the questions I need to ask my Dr. at my follow up appointment.

What does a busy body do when she is forced to rest?

HGTV. Bravo. Apple TV. Netflix, minus the chilling part.

PUZZLE: This was a Christmas gift from my youngest amazing child and I’m almost finished with it.

I GAVE BIRTH TO SHE-MEN.

I had some honey-do’s that were piling up, but my actually Honey has been the Busiest Bee. What I’ve been wanting done are swapping out the areas rugs in our bedroom, dining room and sitting area. I’d ordered them months ago; they’ve been living in my garage. (Callie ruined one of them, Lillie another)

Ya’ll it looked like I had a Rug Store in my garage. You Get A Rug! You Get A Rug!

Lolo wanted to come and visit since I’ve not seen her in a while and I figured her sister would love to come and visit too, while they did the heavy lifting/labor for me since I labored for them all those years ago. (I also fed them dinner, no peeled grapes.)

I honestly thought I’d need to hire a few men to move the heavy furniture, remove the old rugs (9×12 foot, wool, heavy rugs!) and replace with new and put the furniture back…but I gave birth to strong women, so that is what they did along with some help from their Dad.

Coach had the lovely job of taking apart our seventeen year old bed (headboard, side rails, foot board) as a new one will be arriving this coming week. Trying to remove the rug under our bed and replace it was a delicate and hefty movement by the three of them, while I, who can’t currently pick up anything just watched.

Not one complaint from my people, and they said it was actually a fun time. Are they ANGELS Or WHAT?

Anyone think resting was going to be easy? Who’s been forced to do it and did you find it underwhelming?

She’s Back And With Less Baggage. Or More Baggage? Well, At Least A New Purse.

On March 13, 2023March 12, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz47 Comments

I survived, and quite well if I might brag a little. I believe I’m very fortunate that my full hysterectomy went *mostly* smooth, with one little blip.

Our day started really early with an arrival time of 7:30 am and surgery slated for 9:30. The nurses and staff couldn’t have been lovelier; nurses are ANGELS. I’m sure you already knew that, but I had to say it.

My Dr. was wonderful. Did I tell you the Dr. doing my surgery isn’t my regular GYN, as my regular doesn’t do outside-of-the office stuff? So I chose another well known Dr. in the practice who just so happens to be the daughter of my Dentist, who took care of my teeth for close to 20 years. (he’s retired now) IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL.

I had two IV’s because the robot required it. I had a billion questions asked of me by eleventy thousand people. Ok, maybe it was 5 people, but it was early.

There was much debate on whether I needed a pregnancy test before it was taken. I told the nurse that if I were pregnant, I’m naming the baby Jesus and handing it off to one of my girls. She then told me about a 55 year old woman who was in for a procedure, swore she couldn’t be pregnant and the test(s) came back positive. Talk about a nightmare!

I was roofied just before they wheeled me into the operating room, so I don’t remember anything after 9:30. Man, that stuff is GOOD.

If you care to know of some of the stuff that I found weird and unusual:

For this laparoscopic surgery, they put four holes in my belly and fill it with CO2; my Dr. said my belly was as big as if I were 9 months pregnant. (If I have stretch marks, I’m gonna be pissed!) They actually put a light in there so they can see what is happening. I’m starting to picture it all and I don’t like it!

So, one of the biggest pains I’ve had is the gas that they put in me and it’s not in my belly, it’s spread out over my body and I felt most of the pain in my right shoulder and right rib cage. Super weird and uncomfortable. But it started to go away the next day. Occasionally, I’ll feel it creep in for a minute then hide away again.

Another discomfort I’ve had is my neck. It feels like I strained my neck muscles, so I’m guessing that had something to do with the breathing tube they ~~shoved~~ put down my throat.

Of course, my belly was bloated for the first few days; when I normally could pass for 6-8 wks pregnant, I was looking like someone should start planning the shower.

WHOOPSIE & Look How Easy Going I’ve Become.

So, the blip that we had is my Uterus and my bladder became really good friends and they were so attached to each other that my Dr. had to make a small cut into my bladder.

I knew this was something that happened after all my preliminary research and after signing my waivers. When I woke up and Coach told me, I honestly wasn’t surprised or upset. Also, I was on drugs, so look at me all Mello Yellow.

When I had my pre-op with My Dentist’s daughter, she said occasionally other things can get cut while I’m IN there, but whatever it is, I can fix it. I had confidence in her; she stitched up my bladder easily.

She said all my parts looked great. I said: You mean aside from the fibroids and cysts? I suppose she meant NO CANCER.

Instead of getting home around 1 pm as we’d thought we would, we got home at 8pm. Lindsay came by for a few hours to visit and lucky her: she was able to dress her mom from head to toe and walk me around to make sure I had my bearings before checking out of the hospital; practice for my golden years.

I do have to wear a catheter until my bladder heals and I get that out on Tuesday morning. It’s not attractive or comfortable, but it’s doable and I’m rolling with my Little Pee Bag (surely, there’s a real name for it) all over the house and yard.

*I’m actually doing it while typing this, so hows that for efficiency?*

NOT TRYING TO BE A HERO

It’s Saturday as I write this, my surgery was on Thursday. I’m feeling pretty darn good. My Dr. told me to listen to my body and rest when I should. This morning, my body said: Vacuum up all the dog hair in the living/kitchen/dining room. So I did. I woke up at 5:15 today, so I imagine after my shower that I’ll put myself down for a nap.

*Updated to add on Sunday afternoon, I never did take a nap yesterday and I’m still not overly tired. I have a feeling it will come at some point though.

How about a pic of dogs instead of my Urine Purse? Still not right…

*Peanut and my MIL’s dog Kelsie; they’ve been a’ playing.*

Just wanted everyone to know I’m alive and well. Thank you all for your well wishes, prayers, positive vibes and good mojo; your care and concern means more to me than you can imagine.

XOXO

Removing Essentials, Preparing To Be Uncomfortable.

On March 7, 2023March 6, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz60 Comments

On Thursday I had a lovely visit to the hospital and then to my Dr’s office for my pre-op appointments for my oh-so-exciting full hysterectomy set for 3/9.

The RN at the hospital was surprised that I wasn’t on medication. None? None. It makes me wonder, are most women at 55 on meds? When she asked about vitamins and supplements, well, this is where she realized I wasn’t quite so ‘well’. As I listed what I was taking, she was confused on some because she wanted to make sure I wasn’t taking anything that could be considered a Blood Thinner.

They want my blood THICK. Much like my thighs.

I love saying that!

Anyhoo, we couldn’t decipher between thick and thin, so I’m taking NO vitamins and NO supplements and I feel like this is where it will all end for me.

The nurse, as nice as she was, well, she was quite invasive with the questions. I mean, you’re gonna be all UP in my business next week, why so many questions about my personal health and life, Carol. I don’t care to discuss my bowel habits with you; I must draw the line somewhere.

When she asked me if I’d had anything removed before, I was a little confused. Like a baby? Or a body part? She was asking about parts, not humans. Carol, clarify next time.

Anyhoo. I made it through and realized that I’ve lived in this town for 26 years and this is going to be my first ‘stay’ at a hospital. I’ve only been in this hospital once before and it was the emergency room, for someone else. I’ve been skating by, but now it’s all catching up to me.

My surgery will be 3 hours long and my Dr. will be assisted by a Robot. Or the Robot will be assisted by my Dr? Not sure exactly, but it’s a Robotic Laparoscopic Surgery.

I hope the Robot takes my insurance.

I prefer to be comfortable, not uncomfortable.

My Dr explained the RX’s that she called in for me; three of them, and all for pain.

Me: You mean this is going to hurt?

They should send me home the same day, unless there is an issue.

No vigorous workouts or Indoor Sports for six weeks and no driving for 10 days. WHAT IS THERE LEFT TO DO?

I wish I could fast forward a few weeks and skip all the uncomfortableness. The Coach will be here taking care of me along with my sweet MIL, Sue who will come stay for a few days and help with Peanut.

Anyhoo. Nothing else fun or exciting to share with you today.

This photo doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but it’s one of my current crotch orchid bloomers.