Friend Stuff & My ENT

Our friend Lauren (Ethan's future wife :) started Kindergarten on Monday - yes, Ethan likes older women just like his daddy. Here is an adorable photo - she picked her purple shirt to match her new purple shoes!!! How cute is that.

Also, our neighbor's dog was just diagnosed with lymphoma and will need chemo (which apparently dogs tolerate better). She will start treatment soon and is expected to make a full recovery, but still...keep her in your thoughts and prayers - her name is Ginger.

I had a tough day yesterday, didn't feel well emotionally, physicall, mentally....it did help spending some time with friends in the evening, but I was just really down about mom and my issues (some days I feel 80 years old - and I am only 34!!)

Anyway, I feel much better today. I dropped the boys at school (BTW, it is taking some adjusting for us to go to school every day, but I think we will settle in soon) then headed to my ENT appointment afraid that he would have nothing for me. He was very GOOD - very thorough - not particularly at touchy/feely dr...but, he gave me some *mostly* good news. He thinks that the lymph node swelling is a symptom of something else and that the nodes are doing what they are suppose to do and reacting to something going on in my body - and not the main issue themselves. He scoped me (down my nose - yuck)....this is a bit gross so quit reading if you can't handle it. I have lots of mucus in my throat and down onto my vocal cords AND the whole area is very swollen (and this is all with me not being *sick* at the moment - no cold or sore throat). He said he was surprised that I am not hoarse all the time with the swelling and mucus agitation. He said it could very well be what attributed to all the strep (the draining mucus causing a hospitable environment for the strep in my throat). He thinks that there is without a doubt something going on in my sinuses. Bottom line, he sent me for a CT of the sinuses and I will see him back in about a month to discuss.

Who knows what he will find or what I will need to do...but I feel better knowing that if it is sinuses, and he is pretty assuring of that, then it can't be too major and we might have a hope of fixing it!!! In the meantime, I am on yet another antibiotic, a steroid and a special mouth wash. Yippee!

Oh, and he finally echoed what I and all of you have been asking/saying everytime I would tell you I have strep again - how? why? He said as an ENT he has NEVER seen or heard of someone getting strep so much when their tonsils were not present! Finally!!