Category: regular

Are benign! I got the good news on Monday…after sitting in the doctor’s office for an extra 1.5 hours. Yay for doctors running late, and having parking expire! 

My grumpypants for tardiness aside I was super relieved. 

This has been a long process, and I’m so thankful this is how it’s ending. My knife wound is healing, and I go back for another follow up appointment in two weeks. There won’t be any more surgeries so I’m happy about that.

Bottom line, the doctor thinks the enlarged lymph-nodes were caused due to stress. 

Stress? In my life?! No way!

I think I mentioned a few months ago that Manfriend and I took a stress test and we both scored off the chats for stress factors in our lives. 

Our friends and families know how stressful our jobs, lives, and bionic ankles are…so this isn’t a surprise, just more of a confirmation. I think everyone manifests stress in different ways. I personally get enlarged lymph-nodes. 

To only further drive the point home, this week and last week have been insanely busy and stressful at work. Just when I think I’ve caught up, a whole new swarm of chaos comes bearing down on me. 

Meh. It’s the job.

How do I plan to combat such challenges and balance my stress level? Exercise. Even during the most stressful points in my life working out always gave me a sense of balance and relief. Even when I felt like I didn’t have the time for water polo or swim practice, I still left the pool with a clear head and a new focus. 

I’m 2 for 2 going to the gym this week and beating the crap outta the treadmill. I’m sore and my body is angry, but I’m calmer and my head is clear. 

Happy Hump Day. 

Today is hard. Yesterday was hard. Tuesday was hard. This week was hard. Normally, I can juggle my work, personal, and social life with minimal meltdowns.

Over the years I’ve grown accustomed to the chaos, fear, and insanity that is my career. It’s not that big of a deal. I don’t save lives, I’m not working to cure cancer, I don’t risk my life (just sanity) for my job. Which is why I have to step back when I’m having weeks like this one. 

I have several friends and family that decidate their lives and careers to making a huge difference in the world. I work in the entertainment industry. I help provide entertainment for people so they can be happy, laugh, and smile. Entertainment. It’s not brain surgery. 

That said, it’s stressful. My thoughts (and days) are consumed with putting others before myself. I don’t mind, it’s part of the gig, I can deal. 

Everyone at work (and in my life) has been super supportive of my recent #knifewoundproblems. I’m so thankful for this. But, being the people pleaser that I am, I cannot just “check out” and let work stuff slide. Sure, I probably should have stayed home resting for another day or two…but, I couldn’t. There was too much to do, and it had stacked up massively over the two days I was out.  

Resting after surgery on Tuesday was near impossible…the emails, texts, and phone calls felt overwhelming. Wednesday was much quieter, but I was anxious about getting back to work Thursday. Yesterday was stupid. I have to step back today and realize that it probably wasn’t all that bad, but since I have #knifewoundproblems it seemed awful. 

Today, rough. But, getting better. My office is looking more organized, and I’m checking things off my to-do list. I’m trying to move slower, and take my time…but, it’s hard to remember that when I have a million things just begging for my attention. 

#knifewoundproblems. Entertainment problems. 

It’s nothing earth shattering, but sometimes in my own little part of the universe it seems gigantic.

I’m dreaming about a restful and low-key weekend. Brunch in my pj’s and some serious couch time. 

TGIF. Amen. 

Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of breaking my bionic ankle. 

How did I celebrate such an exciting experience? By visiting another OR, Pre-Op, Post-Op, taking a pregnancy test, getting some general anesthesia, riding around in a wheel chair, getting an IV (twice), and adding a sweet new neck tat to my collection of scars. See photo (maybe graphic?) below:

I had another surgery yesterday to remove an enlarged lymph-node from the right side of my neck. It was pretty minor surgery, I was mostly worried about the after affects that the general anesthesia would have on me. 

Some new fun facts I learned through yesterday’s expereince:

– They need a current (within 3 days) negative pregnancy test before they operate (I’ve never taken one, so it was creepy)

– St Jude in OC is the BEST. The nurses there are my favorite. I’m an expert on this, I’ve met a lot of surgical staff in the past 365 days. 

– When it’s cold, and you have little veins in your hand they will attempt to put your IV in twice. The first time they fail, they will pull out the needle and your blood will spew all over your bed. 

– They have magical blankets now. When they make you strip off all of your clothing and put on the hospital gown (ps. they have a much better version at St Jude – they tie on the side, and cover your bottom) and you’re freezing, you crawl under this magical paper blanket that hooks to a giant blow dryer that pumps warm air into the blanket and makes you toasty. Where were these magic blankets for all the times I went into shock in ER!

– A young, white, fair skinned, brunette, female has the highest probability of having a very negative reaction to general anesthesia. Yep, been there.

– When they slice open your neck they will glue it shut, which is nice so you can shower.  Your jaw and neck area will feel numb, swollen, and tight for several weeks. 

– The pathologist in the OR will see your lady lump (lymph-node) and wonder aloud to the rest of the staff that this patient may have a rare case of Cat Scratch Disease. 

– You and your Manfriend will google CSD and go WTF? After learning there are less than 22,000 reported cases a year, a Cat can only be infected for 2 weeks, most people flight off the disease, and only those with suppressed immune systems are susceptible.

– You will also wonder how the heck this happend since you don’t even live with a cat.

Pathology results come on Monday folks, we’ll find out if it’s CSD soon enough.