Test results

About 2 weeks ago, I went to the walk-in clinic about the lump in my neck (kind of under my chin). I just wanted to be on the safe side and have it checked out. Of course I've had swollen lymph nodes before, but I've never had it happen there or be so big. That doctor confirmed that it was just a swollen lymph node and put me on antibiotics for a week (even though I'm already on antibiotics). A week later when I was done with those antibiotics, the lymph node was even more swollen and it hurt to touch it. I saw my primary doctor on Thursday of last week and she was a little concerned. I had a light fever with it and just wasn't feeling right. She had me get lab work done – which was fun because of my “unusual veins” that they can never find. And she scheduled me for a CT scan of my neck and chest for the very next morning to see if I had a mass under the lymph node. She didn't give me any other ideas on why my neck was so swollen, so I was panicking and assuming the worst. For my CT scan, I had to have an IV so they could do contrast. I'm ok with having my blood drawn, but I hate IV's so much. Though, the dude that did it was good and got my vein on the very first try. He injected something to make the inside of my body feel hot all over. Like, I seriously thought I peed my pants. That's where I felt the warmest. That would have been really embarrassing...

So, the good news is that the CT scan didn't show any mass besides my swollen lymph node (and a second smaller enlarged lymph node that I was unaware of). That was a big relief. The slightly worrisome news is that my blood test showed that my white blood cell count is low. The nurse said that the doctor wants to recheck it in 2 weeks. I've read that antibiotics can make it low, so I'm going to try not to worry about it too much. I need to call my lyme doctor and see if I should stop taking the antibiotics for awhile so it won't affect my test results. The nurse didn't say anything about my other results, but I saw my test results online and it shows that Mono is really high. So I guess I'll talk to the doctor about that when I see her next Friday. And my husband is threating to shut off our internet if I don't stop googling my symptoms and test results, lol... I tend to assume that I must have the worst thing on the list of possible diseases the symptom checker shows me...

Anyway, yesterday I heard some arguing going on outside our front door. Mikayla and one of her friends were arguing with Dakota and one of his friends (a girl about his age). I asked what was going on and Mikayla said that Dakota and his friend were bullying them. Dakota and his friend were all worked up and were saying that Mikayla and her friend are too young to be dating an 11 year old. I knew the boy they were talking about without them having to say his name, so I was just like “Mikayla, you guys are just friends aren't you”? She was all upset and dramatically threw her arms up in the air and said, “Fine, you got me. He's our boyfriend”. Her seriousness about it all was very comical and it was hard for me to keep a straight face. I had to calm her brother down and explain to him that it wasn't that they were actually dating. I later found out that this boy never even asked Mikayla and her friend to be his girlfriend, they both just want to be his girlfriend. They were dressing up and doing their hair yesterday, to look pretty for this boy. I heard her friend say, “Do you think he will love me if I wear this in my hair”? Ha ha... I love kids. They are so fun to listen to when they don't think anyone is listening. And I love that Dakota was feeling all protective over his sister “dating” an older boy. I can just imagine when she really starts dating boys. I can picture John and Dakota scaring the boys away. John will be cleaning his shotgun when the boy shows up to pick up Mikayla...

Oh, and I just got the actual results of the CT in my online health records. It's a little wordy, but says something about “calcified granuloma in the lingula from granulomatous disease”. It's funny what you will find in your health records that the doctors never mention to you. I read up on Granulomatous disease, and it's a genetic disorder that causes your immune system to malfunction. Only 1 in 200,000 people in the U.S. have this disease. And rarely, it can cause a child to develop an autoimmune disorder, such as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. I guess now, after all these years, I know how I got arthritis at such a young age. And now is when I keep reading on the issue to find something to freak me out... “Repeated episodes of infection and inflammation reduce the life expectancy of individuals with chronic granulomatous disease; however, with treatment, most affected individuals live into mid- to late adulthood. “ But now I will stop researching before my husband shuts my internet off...