Good News and a Shy Arboreal Cousin Makes an Appearance in Everyday Ramblings

No rain yet. It looked like maybe we would get some yesterday but now they are saying more dry weather but at least the temperatures are moderate, not nauseatingly blast furnace hot like we had been having.

In spite of the heat the ivy is having a good year reclaiming parts of the neighborhood for it’s own.

My doctor thought it was a good idea to go ahead with the scheduled MRI yesterday even though my hips are better. They wanted me to have nothing by mouth for at least six hours beforehand so I was one thirsty person heading off on my own after clocking in an early hour at work yesterday.

This was the same place I had had the unhappy uncomfortable pelvic ultrasound so I was leery of the whole thing. I know about MRI’s because I used to audit them and make sure they were read in a timely fashion in a previous job, I’d seen the machines and read about them and talked to folks who had had them.

If you haven’t had one you have to fill out this long questionnaire that basically maps out your whole life history with anything metal.

There weren’t very many folks there as I had intelligently scheduled mine as the first one of the day. There are two machines in this facility and they took a nine-year-old girl in before me. She was a veteran of these exams; her mother didn’t even go in with her. She had a small stuffed plush toy with her and I thought that was just brilliant.

Somebody to clutch when the banging gets bad.

They got my IV in on the first try for the contrast. After sticking Sammy for 18 months I am a big fan of getting in on the first try. I was in the machine fully. The friendly tech sent me in for about 7 minutes to see how I’d do and to have me practice moving my diaphragm out of the way by holding an exhale.

And then I was in that tube for over an hour. I had special gel earplugs plus noise reduction headphones but the noise was still intense. Every type of loud banging you can imagine. Luckily it changed now and again.

I did much better than I expected to. All my yoga really paid off here and the tech was impressed. And then it was over and the first water I drank tasted so darn sweet! Oh yeah.

The results came in late yesterday afternoon. Totally clear! I have multiple cysts (one fairly large) that are non cancerous and a fibroid.

Whatever is going on with me, I can definitively say after two biopsies, an ultra sound and now the MRI it isn’t happening in my pelvis. Good to know.

In the afternoon I went to see Dr. Bob for a massage/alternative health/checking in consultation. He hasn’t seen me in over two years and even though he only has limited vision in one eye at this point he kept remarking on how different I seemed.

He had lots of interesting things to say some of which made me squirmy in terms of the mind body grief connection with losing my sister and Sammy. He doesn’t think it is an accident that it is my reproductive organs that have been symptomatic and that connection to my concerns about growing older without children or a life partner.

Eek.

He also thinks all of these mystery symptoms are sourced in my mouth.

I am not sure exactly what the next steps are. The problem with my ear finally (mostly) resolved and I have been able to teach. I have a follow-up appointment with the gum specialist at the end of next week.

Dr. Bob also thought that I might benefit from talking to a very experienced yoga teacher or Buddhist teacher that has practice with running energy as he thinks I may be sort of stuck in the middle of an unfolding awakening of energy and I could benefit from some expertise in that arena.

Hmmm. I have an appointment with my Buddhist counselor next week but he is very Zen. They don’t talk much about moving energy, or actually the body much at all. Other than to oh say call it the “food” body.

Well, at least it is not dull in my world.

I ran into the girl in the changing room after the MRI and I told her how smart I thought she was to have that stuffed animal with her and she told me very authoritatively that it was a Red Panda and she had gotten it at the Philadelphia zoo where they had red pandas that she had seen.

Red Pandas are native to the Himalayas. But could also be related to raccoons. I think that serious and intelligent child may have been all the teacher I am able to handle after this particularly long and active week.

Now I am going to chill, as I am able, here in what are becoming the dog days of summer.

Last updated July 11, 2015