Philadelphia Zoo

Wednesday

Today we headed in to Temple for around 11am to get my scans for the day done and out of the way. I was able to see a little bit of the screen and I could still see the radioactive stuff still in there. I just don't know how far along it is supposed to be then compared to how far along it actually is on me. Hopefully I will hear the results of some of my tests before I head home. I'm not so sure I will though, because I don't have any appointments actually scheduled with the actual doctor. My GI doctor at home wants me to get copies of all my tests results, or just really pay attention to what they say, haha!!!

After I was done with the scans for today, we decided to go to the Philadelphia Zoo. It was a nice sunny/hot day. I enjoyed taking pictures of all the animals, so I may be posting some pictures from the zoo in the days to come.

Not looking forward to the tests scheduled for the next two days. I will be posting more updates tomorrow.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Tuesday - August 16, 2011 - Temple Day 1

Today I started a 4 day emptying test around 8:00. It started out by having to eat an egg sandwich with 2 eggs and a glass of water. They had a radioactive substance in both the egg and the water. Then for the next 6hrs they watched to see how far it gets through with periodic scanning. At first they the scans every half hour and then they do it only once every hour. It makes for one long day, and it gets pretty boring. Fortunately you are able to walk around some in between the hour scans. Over the course of the next 3 days they just scan you once a day, for 8 minutes at a time and then you are done for the rest of the day.

I was able to get most of the sandwich down, but didn't feel very well after eating it for a couple of hours. So hopefully they are able to see what they want to see and maybe be able to learn a little more about what is going on with me.

I had to stop all stool softeners/laxative and any motility medications because it would interfere with what is actually going on in the GI system. The way my body works, I would think they should still be seeing it one the last day, because I probably won't have a BM with not being able to take any medication to help things move along. So it will probably be in there, somewhere!

After the 6 hours of scanning, my mom and I decided to go do a little shopping. It was fun, but by that time I was pretty tired so didn't get to really enjoy it as much as I would have like to.

Tomorrow, I just have to go in sometime after 11am and before 3:30pm to get my scans done for that day. We are thinking that since tomorrow will be the day with the least tests, we may try and go to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Beginning of a BIG Week!!!

This week has been a long time coming. I have been waiting and dealing with Temple since March to finally get tests/procedures scheduled. Now, the time has arrived and now I am quite nervous and almost wishing this week wasn't here.

Monday evening, after my mother gets off work, we will travel to a hotel we rented in New Jersey (which isn't too far away from Temple). Then we will leave bright and early for Temple on Tuesday where I/we (not sure what mom will do yet) will be at the hospital all day have testing. I think the first day is a test that takes 6hours. As of now, I'm not totally sure how the rest of the week will play out, probably just depends a lot on how things go. If things go well, my mom and I might be able to do a couple fun things like going shopping or maybe to the zoo. We'll see!!! I may be pretty miserable some of the days though. I will do my best to tough them out though because I want to have some fun too, and not be miserable the whole time.

Will be posting more about my tests later, but I am too embarrased to post about some of them right now. Maybe after they are done I won't be as embarrased to share, but for now I can't. Hopefully I will be able to laugh about it later.

Prayers would be appreciated this week. I want the Lord's will done, but I would like to get some answers and help if available.

Snippets and Snapshots - Memories For a Lifetime

I just added a page on Facebook where I will be posting my pictures from the shoots that I do. The page is called "Snippets and Snapshots - Memories For a Lifetime." Feel free to "like" this page on FB.

Snippets and Snapshots was a name I thought of because some of the pictures that turn out the best are actually snapshots and each picture is just a snippet in that persons life. Memories For a Lifetime came about when I lost someone really close to me and I could only find 1 picture of that person that I had taken. That is when my interest in photography slowly started. I regretted that I didn't have pictures of that person to carry with me for the rest of my life. So I started out taking pictures of my nephews and it kind of just went from there. Soon, I was enjoying taking pictures of scenery, landscapes, animals, and other children and family. People soon started asking me to take of their children and families after seeing the pictures that I had done of my nephews.

I really enjoy photography, but as of now it is only a hobby and am not too busy with it. I would like to be able to do more shoots and get more experience. I think it's kind of funny because I didn't know I was interested in photography while I was in school and before I started college. So I went to college and became a nurse, and then realized that I loved photography. So I am in the best of both worlds. I love nursing and I love photography and I really wouldn't want to give either of them up.

With everything that is going on physically, I would like to get more photography business and maybe eventually cut back on nursing maybe to part-time, and do photography part-time. Those are just dreams right now though. Especially since I am in school to further my education in the medical field.

Beautiful Evening!!!

Last night was my last night off before I leave for Temple. So, my boyfriend and I spent it together at a lake. I had been hoping for a beautiful sunset to take pictures of, and it just so happened that I got my wish!!! It turned out to be a beautiful, breathtaking evening....it's amazing how the sky kept changing. The first few photos were at the beginning of the sunset and the last were at the end.

Potassium Levels

I had blood work done today to check my electrolyte levels. I had been having to only get my blood drawn once a month, but my levels have been off a little lately so I have been having it drawn more frequently.
I received a message after getting my blood drawn letting me know that my potassium level is still low, but that I am already at the max dose they can add to my TPN. So they called in a prescription and want me to try to take some potassium pills also. So we will see how that goes, because potassium is hard on the stomach and causes nausea on a good day for normal people.

I haven't heard yet when they want my blood work drawn next.

A week from today I start my testing at Temple. I'm starting to get nervous about that already.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Colors of Summer!!!

Lucky - August 2011

We were doing some corn from our garden and Lucky decided she wanted to try some. So I thought it would be a great time to grab the camera and take some pictures of her.

So Beautiful!!!!

This tastes so good!!!!

Finally After 5 Months of Waiting - Things are Getting Scheduled!!

After 5 months of waiting and dealing with Temple, things are finally on the move. After them letting me know that they had lost my chart, things miraculously starting moving forward. Funny, isn't it? They lose the chart and then things start happening.

I received 2 calls from the actual doctor himself (I think one was even from his cell phone!!!) The first call from him was just throwing ideas around of what he wanted to do and the second was that he had found my chart and had come up with a more definitive plan of what he wanted to do. So we agreed on what we would do and he said somebody would be calling the following week to schedule when I would come down.

I got a call the following week and I am now scheduled to go to Temple. I will be down there the week of the 15th for testing that whole week and then go back the following week on the 26th for a hopefully "simple" procedure with no complications and won't have to miss work anymore than necessary. I will be going into more detail briefly in future posts of some of the things that will be done while I am down there.

I just glad things are finally looking like we are going in the right direction. I will probably be posting more frequently now, since things maybe actually be starting to happen. I hadn't been posting because nothing new was going on, and it was just the same old thing.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Temple Update!!

I spoke with my doctors secretary last Friday and she told me that they had lost my chart and that was why nothing was being done. She said they were going to have to go through all of the doctors patient charts to see if they could fine mine, maybe it had gotten filed wrong or something. An hour later the doctor called and said which tests he wanted to do and that somebody would be calling me on Monday to schedule the appointment.

I wasn't going to hold my breath on waiting to hear from them yesterday and when 4:30 rolled around with no phone call I wasn't too surprised. Even though I was still hoping, I didn't really expect them to follow through since I've been dealing with them for the past 4 months.

Last evening around 9:00, I was on a date with my boyfriend and a call comes through with a number that I don't recognize. I let the call go to voicemail. When I listened to the message it was my doctor from Temple, so I called him right back. He said that they had found my chart and that he wanted me to come down to Temple for 4 days to have testing/procedures done. So now I am just waiting for a call to get that scheduled and hopefully I will soon be heading to Temple for a little while.

Will keep you updated.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

July 5th Bloodwork!

I had my blookwork drawn again on July 5th to recheck my levels since they adjusted my TPN this last time. My numbers still came back a little off, so they had to do some more adjusting and I go back on the 18th for some more bloodwork.

It had just dawned on me this week that I have now been on TPN for 5 months. The worse part about it is, that we are no closer now to getting things done to try and get me off of it. Such as running tests and trying procedures that work for some people.

Temple is still causing us frustrations. I have called 4 times now since finding out I was denied by my insurance for the one specific test they wanted. The test they wanted done first was denied, so I need to find out what the new plan is and what they want done next since we can't get that test done. I'm hoping they will say that we can just skip that test and do all the other things that Dr. Fisher wanted done.

I don't know what the deal is with them. They don't return my calls, and half of the time I have to leave a message because nobody answers the phone. I don't know if it's the staff or what the problem is. It seems like everyplace I go I somehow drop through the cracks and nothing happens. I will be calling them again this week plus probably sending some emails to see if we can get things moving in the right direction.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

July 4th Fireworks!!!

These are the results of trying to get some pictures of the fireworks. We went to a local town that was having some that night. This first one here is probably my favorite one. I don't think we had a good view of the firworks. In all the pictures there is a tree on the right side that blocked some of the view.

GI Nutrition Appointment - 6/30/2011

I had my GI Nutrition appointment last Thursday. I really like the doctor I see for my nutrition appointment. He was a fellow but as of July 1st he was going to be an attending. I requested to keep seeing him and he agreed so that was good. I will be going back in another month.

I got my first B12 shot that day. They are going to start doing them every 3 months. I haven't noticed a difference since getting the shot though. I was hoping it would give me more energy or something, but I can't tell that anything is different.

I did have more bloodwork done today to recheck things since they changed my TPN formula the other week because my labs were messed up. So we will see how they are this week. They had it done today so they can change the fomula for tomorrows delivery if they need to.

I will be having some other bloodwork done around the 18th that my family doctor wants done. Other than that I will see GI nutrition again at the end of the month.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Lucky!!!

Update Ramble!!!

Not too much new to report on lately. Temple is still not returning my phone calls. I will be putting in another call/email this week. I have a GI nutrition appointment on Thursday. My labs were off last week so they will be needing redrawn next week. They had to adjust my TPN so we will have to see how my labs look next week. Will keep you posted as/if anything happens!!

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Photo of the Day!!!

June Photos

6/17/2011

Still haven't heard back from Dr. Fisher, so I guess I will be calling back on Monday and seeing what is going on. I've noticed that Temple seems really bad with getting back to me after I've called them. I even spoke with a real person this last time and still haven't received my call back yet.

I also am having my blood work on Monday. I had them add a hepatic function panel to the labs because I've been noticing that my eyes are a little jaundiced. Liver failure can be an adverse effect of TPN, so I just want to make sure that everything is alright.

Other than that there is really nothing new happening. Just taking it one day at a time and trying to go with the flow!!!

Temple update!!!

I put a call in to Temple, specifically Dr. Fishers office, last week to see what I am to do now. He wanted that specific test done first that geisinger insurance will not cover. So I called him to see how he wants to proceed, so I am waiting to hear back from him. Will call again this week if I still haven't heard anything by Thursday or Friday.

Trying to take it one day at a time!!!