Where have we been?

Where in the world are Tiffany and Keith?

I have been receiving many phone calls and comments about not blogging since, um, well....

July.

My apologies!!

I have had a lot going on in my life lately (who doesn't right?!)

 that has required a doctor ordering me to "slow down" for me to actually give my body a break.

I have not blogged about my recent illnesses for many reasons.

One of the main reasons, unfortunately, is that I was embarrassed.

It was something I didn't want to talk about or wanted people to know about.

It wasn't until the past month or so that I really have come to terms with what is going on 

and have decided to talk about it.

Let's take a little flashback...

About two weeks after we came back from Vegas,

I had some terrible pains in my back on the left side.

I felt like I was being stung by bees.

Keith checked to see if a bee had stung me,

but there was no mark.

No sign of a sting.

After awhile, the pain subsided and I didn't think about it again.

On June 20th, the night after our 2nd anniversary catholic wedding,

I woke up with a rash covering my left side.

It wasn't terribly big, but it was painful.

I thought the dress that I had worn the night before

may have rubbed me the wrong way and left a mark.

Again, I didn't think anything about it.

On Monday, June 25th, I woke up with severe pain under my left arm.

I'm talking excruciating, can't lift your arm above your head, pain.

I went to the bathroom, slowly and carefully lifted my arm, and started

feeling around.

(Side note: For those who may not know, my grandmother passed away

from breast cancer in 2001.  I am a firm believer in monthly breast exams

on yourself! You are your best mammogram!)

To my horror, I found a lump.

Could this be true? 

Is this real?

Or is my brain playing tricks on me?

I am not going to lie--I usually stay calm in sticky situations--

but not this time!

I flipped out.

With a shaky voice,

I called my family doctor who was able to schedule me

an appointment later that day.

I hung up the phone, but needed verification that my brain was not playing tricks.

My mother-in-law, Lisa, is off on Mondays,

so I called her and asked her to come over.

I didn't say much, and didn't tell her why I needed her.

She walked through the door and I said, 

"You are about to get really personal with your daughter-in-law."

I had her feel under my arm and, fortunately or unfortunately (at the time I didn't know which),

she felt the lump that I was feeling.

Since Keith is one of the best husbands in the world,

he came home to drive me to my appointment.

At the appointment, my doctor also felt the lump,

but thought it was just a cyst.

Just to be safe,

she ordered an ultrasound to be completed

under my arm.

When I called the hospital to schedule the appointment,

they weren't able to fit me in until Thursday.

I immediately thought, "This is going to be a long week."

The next day (Tuesday),

I had a previously scheduled annual appointment with my

dermatologist.

During the examination, the doctor did not say anything

about the rash on my side.

Part of me was going to let him walk out the door and not say anything,

but the rash was now there for almost a week.

Shouldn't a rash from a dress rubbing have gone away by now?

I asked the doctor to take a look.

After a moment he said, 

"I think you have Shingles."

My first response was,

"Isn't that for old people?"

He informed me that younger people are getting Shingles 

these days due to high-stress lifestyles.

He proceeded to ask me if I had chicken pox

when I was younger?

I said, "Yes, when I was 8.  I don't 

remember it being a bad case though."

He told me that after you have the chicken pox, the virus lives in your

body and comes out again when something triggers it.

While the cause of what triggers it is not fully understood,

stress has been linked to the causes.

I left the office thinking,

"What the heck?!"

I didn't know anything about Shingles

except that my grandpa had it a few years ago.

I immediately went to one of my best friends--

Google--

to do some research. :)

As I was reading, I noticed that lymph nodes

can be swollen near the Shingles area.

Hmmm...Shingles on the left side and a

lump on the left side?

Connection?

On Thursday, I put my big girl pants on and went to 

the ultrasound appointment

by myself.

My impression was that I would have the ultrasound

but wouldn't find out the results that day.

As the technician is doing the ultrasound,

I asked if I could watch the screen 

(In my next life, I think I will be an x-ray or ultrasound tech,

 or maybe a flight attendant--but that's for another post!)

As I'm watching, she's taking many, MANY pictures.

I thought, "How can you take so many pictures of one lump?"

She then stated that she would let the doctor on duty

look at the pictures and she, or the doctor, would

return to speak to me.

 I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting,

for what seemed like FOREVER.

Then I hear a knock on the door and

the doctor walks in.

I immediately think,

"Oh no, this can't be good if the doctor

is coming to see me.

This can't be good news.

Why didn't I have someone drive me today?!"

The doctor said,

"The lump looks like a swollen lymph node.

Do you have an infection?"

I explained that I had just found out that I had Shingles.

He had the technician turn the machine

back on and scan under my arm pit and on my

left breast.

He said,

"This is why your arm was hurting.

You have many swollen lymph nodes.

Are you feeling all of these?"

I said that I didn't,

that I mainly just felt the large one.

Feeling like the lump was connected to the Shingles,

 they scheduled me to follow up

in 3 months.

Stay tuned for my next post about the follow-up appointments....