Okay, when my doctor said he was going to play with his schedule to get me in “soon.” He said he didn’t want me to wait a whole month before his schedule opened up… I didn’t think he meant it this litterly.

I go under the knife this week Wednesday.

Given the normal way doctors do things, I thought “soon” meant in a couple weeks. No, apparently “soon” to my doctor meant ASAP emphasized with a Looney Toon style scream at the end.

They’re already harassing Medicaid to authorize the surgery, coordinating with the hospitol, and that’s just today. Monday, I call and preregister and Tuesday the hospitol will call with complete details about what they’re going to do to me. (The hospitol won’t even have a chance to drop the information packet regarding my surgery in the mail!!) I can’t have any food or water after midnight on Tuesday and go in sometime the next day.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be under the couch trembling like a leaf. >_<

Okay, got to see the Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor today. In a nutshell, the CT scan showed that my glands are all normal, but it’s my lymph nodes that are the swollen. I have a whole series of them in my jaw that are inflamed.

I told him about Kaze and her habit of dabbing her paws into any available water (the water dish, our glasses, the sinks, the toilets, the bathtub, etc.) and licking the water off to get a drink. We’ve found congealed masses of clumping kitty litter in the bottom of our glasses before, so I brought it up to him and we discussed the possibility of me contracting something from Kaze’s little habit.

He wasn’t willing to completely agree or dismiss it, since I don’t have most of the common symptoms seen in people with those more common infections (e.g. no significant pain, fever, etc.) nor am I in the most at risk groups (e.g. the very young or the very old). But, like I said… he wasn’t willing to completely dismiss it either.

He didn’t feel a needle biopsy or other non-invasive methods would turn up good enough results, so it’s surgery for me. He wants to remove one of the lymph nodes in my jaw and send it to a pathologist for testing. I agreed immediately. It’s a short (30 minute) out-patient proceedure… According to him, it’ll take me longer to get to the hospitol and for them to prep me than it’ll be for him to open me up to see what’s going on.

He went over what he would do in surgery with me too. He can’t cut right into my jaw, since the major nerve that controls all my facial functions runs in that area too. Instead, he’ll go down about 2 inches and place the incision inside one of the natural creases in my neck. Then he’ll go upwards and nab the first swollen lymph node he comes to. And once everything is done, I get to go home. =)

In the meantime, all of us have begun using covered cups to drink from to discourage Kaze from doing her thing and have begun trying to make her unlearn her habit everywhere else as well. (Problem being: she’s just too damned cute!)

Went over to Poppa’s afterwards and I told him what my doctor wanted to do. Since he’s under no obligation to remain neutral, he felt Sal’s and my hunch was right about us getting sick from Kaze’s habit. Afterall, Kaze started her habit just before Sheba came up for her visit and we noticed the swelling sometime in August. It seems more credible than our original thought of catching some elusive bacteria that lives predominately in the southern states and Mexico. Kaze’s habit with our glasses is pretty much the only common factor between us, aside from our exposure to Sheba and living in Ionia where it started. But since I’m no pathologist (I’m just a CSI nut who has too many big words playing dodgeball in his head) I’m just going to wait for what they say.

I was partially hoping he’d toss some penicillin or amoxicillin and tell me to come back in when I’d taken all of it, but I had a feeling it was going to be surgery. So… I guess back to praying that it isn’t something nasty and that - in the end - it’ll just boil down to some medicine and breaking a kitten of a bad (but cute) habit.

I finally got the results of the chest X-ray I had earlier in the month. Nothing there. =) Let me tell you, that’s a major relief. For a bit, I was scared… seriously scared.

Just about did my own rendition of Cirque Du Soleil trying to get them, but they came in and I’m fine at least that far. Thursday I get to go back in to the Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor to see what the CT scan turned up.

I know I’m coughing quite a bit now and I have been having a runny nose. So… I’m willing to bet my doctor was right… I’ve just run into some nasty bug that’s settled in and made itself at home.

Funny thing is that somehow my results ended up at Sally’s specialist instead of at my doctor, so for a good couple weeks I had no idea where they were. Nice thing was that her doctors still checked them out for me and gave me the “all clear.”

So yeah, I’m happy. =)

I quit. No more of this shit.

I am no longer a member of Gaia Online. (more…)

Merry Christmas, everyone! =)

Congratulations, Theresa! *HUGS!* She’s going to be one spoiled little angel, that’s for sure. Any thoughts on names yet?