Damn BBs

So things are hanging in there.  I STILL have this pneumonia.  I went to see my GP again yesterday.  He advised me to stay on the antibiotics until I was better.  He was at a loss about my plugged ear.  His only suggestion was to sleep upright so they can drain.  He did basically say he is unsure next steps besides to send me to an ENT in 10-14 days if I am not better.  Good thing I have a favorite ENT, Dr. S.

With my ears plugged so long, they said they are concerned about permanent damage that requires surgery.  Honestly, tubes in my ears would be a huge relief at this point.  I'm going to not wait 10 days and get on Dr. S calendar.  It usually takes a week or 2 to get in anyway.

The other disappointing news is that over the last weekend, I woke up itching my right eyebrow.  In my drug induced haze, I felt like my eyebrow felt "thick".  In the morning, I tried some more.  It is certainly thick and there is a "bead" again in a new spot.  At least I thought it was a new spot.  It is about 1/2 inch closer to my nose from my previous eyebrow lump.  So I got into Dr. L today to have it checked.  He agreed it was new.  But he also said it is too small to do anything about or to guess what it is going to do.  It could be inflammation but with the bead, he was pretty skeptical about that idea.  So my next steps are to keep an eye on it (pardon the pun).  If it grows, he suggests I see Dr. C, the radiologist again to see what he thinks.  He wondered if it might be residual from the last radiation.  If Dr. C is okay to do some more radiation, we will.  If Dr. C isn't too sure or hesitant, Dr. L suggested I get a biopsy.  He is curious to see what this lump would say as far as staging.    Could be chemo....maybe not.  If I keep growing lumps, we will need to talk about chemo anyway. 

I did ask him about my trip to see Nola I bought my ticket for on Halloween.  He said Halloween is his birthday so he would rather not treat before then too.  Haha.  He felt pretty confident I will be able to travel.

So as I walked out, I was telling Dr. L how my father was a hunter and we used to have to pick BB shot out of our pheasant at dinner.  He laughed and knew exactly what I was talking about.  I can't help but feel these beads in my eyebrow are just like BBs.

And as I was about to leave the office, I saw my Polymyositis friend, Dana.  She is getting ready to treat her ovarian cancer they found in July.  She was exploring radiation!  So we caught up a little bit and I shared how easy radiation was for me.  I'm happy she is going to my cancer center for her treatment because I think they are the best there is.  It sure is a small world isn't it?

That's my update.  Not great news but nothing to panic about.  :-)