12/11/06

* * * I had my appointment with the ear nose and throat specialist – we’ll call him Dr. NeckDoctor – on Friday. Basically he reviewed my thyroid uptake scan (which he told me was kind of useless, because nodules don’t show up on those), felt up my neck, looked down my throat to check my vocal chords (I had to keep going “EEEEEE!” and I became amused at how I sounded, so instead of going “EEEEE!” again when he commanded it, I went more like “HEEHEE!”, but he didn’t seem to notice), and basically told me he didn’t think it was cancer (Hey, that was my diagnosis, too!), but he wanted to send me for an ultrasound, get a biopsy of the nodule (He kindly paused while I screamed and ran around in circles. Not because I’m afraid of the pain (a bunch of you have laid my fears to rest on that, thank you very much, you awesome readers), but the idea of a needle? Going into my neck? EEK!) and if it comes back normal (which I fully expect it to), they’ll go ahead and remove my ENTIRE NECK. Kidding! No, if it comes back normal, it’ll be a matter of just keeping an eye on it to make sure nothing goes Terribly Wrong. He was very reassuring that in his opinion the chances of it being cancer were very low, but that if you were going to get some kind of cancer, thyroid cancer would be the kind to get since it’s so incredibly curable and there aren’t even any side effects from the chemotherapy. “So, I don’t want you to worry,” he said. “Oh, I’m not worried,” I said. And I’m not. The good thing about me is that while I might talk about being worried about cancer and neck removals here in my journal, that’s not the sort of thing I worry about in my day to day life. It’s pointless to worry about it ’cause either it’s cancer or it’s not and I’ve got better things to fret about. (Such as the fact that I still have a few more things to buy for Christmas!) I have an appointment for an ultrasound tomorrow afternoon, then once the ENT gets the results back from that, they’ll schedule me a biopsy with a guy who’s so good at what he does – according to Dr. NeckDoctor – that he’s worth waiting for. In other words, I don’t guess the biopsy is going to be right away. Thaaat’s just fine with me. I’m okay with waiting!

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Tufted titmouse (hee!). I really need to clean the outside of the dining room window if I’m going to be taking pictures through it.
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This morning at the pet store, I am unhappy to announce, Catie, Flopsy, and Mopsy were all still there. Adoptions have dropped off a lot this past week, I guess. I was sure to give them some extra love, and Catie was perfectly happy to go back into her cage, but Flopsy and Mopsy gave me the betrayed looks and I was this close to just stuffing them in my purse and bringing them home for a few days. I hope they get adopted by next Monday, is all I’ll say. The Christmas kitties (what I’m calling our current fosters) are doing okay. They’re still very skittish, but they’ve calmed down a little. They flinch away from us when we reach out to pet them, but not as much as they are. We’re spending as much time with them as we can, and Jack Frost and Faith have started squeaking at us when we walk into the room. I don’t know if they’re squeaking at us in greeting or if they’re telling us to go away, but they’re squeaking whereas before they were completely silent. The best thing of all is that last night Fred got Faith to purr. And once she was purring, Kringle started purring, too. The other kittens milled around with little question marks hanging over their heads, as if they didn’t know what this sound was or where it was coming from. Fred suggested that the sound of the purring reminded them of their mother and they found it comforting. Who knows? All I know is that this was the first time we got any of them to purr (I got Kringle to purr again this morning), and it’s a step in the right direction. Noelle with troll hair. She’s the most skittish of the bunch, which is too bad, ’cause I want to pick her up and kiss her and squeeze her.   “Lady, why you flashing that thing at me?” “Bob! Hey, BOB! I hear you’re the man to talk to!”     All of today’s uploaded pictures can be seen here.     * * * * * * Previously 2005: No entry. 2004: And if I ever get the urge to go shopping at the mall on a Saturday two weeks before Christmas, I’ll lay down until it goes away. 2003: Thank god I’m not famous. I could handle being followed around by the papparazzi, but live interviews on the TV and radio? Fuck THAT. 2002: My favorite Christmas entry, ever. Chock-full of the Bitchypoo Christmas Spirit. 2001: Of course my world revolves around me and the people I care about. And yours revolves around you. Except when it revolves around me. 2000: I think they should hire me to play his girlfriend – the stripper with a heart of gold – because I just love that man right to pieces 1999: No entry.]]>