It is March 18th 2013 and I may be at final chapter to this blog series. It has been 4 months since I last posted and here is what has happened since I last posted.
I have had another CAT scan in December and it showed that the abscess was still getting smaller (about the size of the first joint in my little finger); this was about 1/100th of the original volume of the abscess. In January, I had a check up/meeting with my regular doctor and he suggested that I see a liver specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.
In February, I went to see the liver specialist (Hepatologist). He checked me over, said I looked great (compared to what?) and he scheduled me for more blood tests and an MRI to look at the abscess and for possible causes. The blood tests showed that I had slightly high iron in my blood (part of my magnetic personality I guess) and he sent me to get a DNA test for Hemochromatosis. In the process of getting the MRI, I needed to get an orbit (eye) scan to look for metal particles. Some years back, I had gotten some steel wool in my eye and they needed to confirm that there was nothing left of the steel. I wasn't that concerned until they explained that if I did have even small metal particles in my eye still that my eye would either burst into flames or my eye would be torn from my skull during the MRI. So I got the orbit scan.
Before passing on the results of the various tests, I wanted to share a little about how I have been doing physically since the original infection. I have had some slight soreness/pain in the area of my liver. When I asked the liver specialist about this, he suggested that the scarring from the drain tube probably causes a little soreness from time to time. My energy level seems to be back to near normal if not normal at this point. I'm out working in the yard, re-stacking the firewood, cleaning the house and doing normal daily chores on top of my private music teaching and Westtown school duties. My regular doctor gave me the green light for a drink or two over the Christmas holidays and I conservatively obliged. My weight was down in the high 180s after getting out of the hospital and it has now leveled off at 193. My diet is back to normal (for me) which is to say low carb/clean protein and lots of greens and garlic. I am feeling pretty good these days and am ready and raring for Spring.
So now to the results. The blood work showed normal readings and the test for Hemochromatosis came back negative (yea!). The MRI came back normal with but showed a gall stone (not problematic at this point). Since the nurse called me with the results, I am unsure of the following, but she claims that there is no sign of the abscess anymore!
As for this major blip in my life's health cycle, I have a few final thoughts. Health services are not broken in this country, but they could use a good sprucing up. Hospitals are crowded with mostly senior citizens. We really need a better system for taking care of these folks where ever they live so that they do not end up in hospitals for problems that could have been taken care of when the problem was simple (better preventative care for senior adults). We need more support for the nursing staff in hospitals. I never saw a nurse that was not rushing from one patient to another. They do an admirable job, but such stress promotes mistakes and missed meds. Nurses need more support! And speaking of hospital staff, where are the folks who come to visit these seniors when they are bedridden for days/weeks at a time. Considering the high cost of daily hospital stays, it seems to me that it would be a good idea for there to be a few folks in the hospital paid to look in and spend time with patients who may not have a family/friend system in place. I found myself occasionally visiting other patients and became painfully aware of the lack of friendly personal attention many patients experience. And when it comes to the insurance issues, the system is very broken. I have Personal Choice, yet I still experienced regular difficulties when trying to get prescribed tests and when trying to see various doctors. I cannot imagine what it must be like for those with an HMO in my situation. Remember when I drank a quart of radioactive liquid in preparation for a CAT scan only to be sent home with out the scan and a little more radioactive than I probably should be. It seems to me that the insurance companies (who routinely post strong profits and extremely high salaries to their administrators) should be able to do a much better job of making the process of getting well doable. I think many of us feel at odds with our health insurance and those of us who have had to use it often feel frustrated with hidden rules about how that insurance can be implemented.
Well, I will step off the soap box once again. This has been a crazy ride and I will be monitored by my doctor(s) over the next few years to make sure this does not happen again. They have not yet figured out why this happened so there is no way to know if it will happen again. But I lived through it and that is a huge battle won.
Those of you who would like to read the entire blog about this, can go here.
Now back to cooking the corned beef for tonight's belated St. Patty's dinner.
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