Relief and thankfulness

See, happy face... this is what tickled looks like

Y'all know that I wasn't feeling right back at the beginning of the year - at one point I even went to the ER for a scary episode.  Then I had a bunch of appointments, no answers, even refused testing and took control... and I'm glad that I did because that was when we found the answer.

Let me start by saying that I have the most amazing doctor in the universe.  She brings the heart back into practicing medicine, just like Hobbit's pediatrician.  They believe in the old school way of doing things - listening to patients, talking to them, working through things together instead of just tossing medicine and odd tests at it simply because insurance will pay for it.

By listening to me, asking me questions and honestly hearing the answers, she figured out what is wrong me.  It's something that does need to be monitored but it's not something as horrible as what I was originally fearing.  I have Essential Thrombocythemia caused by a mutated gene handed down from my Poppaw.  I've linked it up but the skinny of it is that I have too many platelets in my blood which can cause clots which is the reason it needs to be monitored.

When I was talking to my doctor about my hands and feet going numb or tingling and burning, or my headaches, or my vision getting wonky, or my fluttering in my chest she listened.  She did not have me go through painful unnecessary testing - some of which was going to be really invasive but all of it was unnecessary because the results of my other testing showed that I was structurally sound - performed, looked, and sounded perfect.  She agreed that there was no need to go poking at my heart straight off the bat when all of those factors were present. Instead, she pulled a full blood work up which ruled out several things and confirmed others.  I am healthy as a horse sans this uncommon blood disorder - but I can manage it with a low does aspirin a day right now.  That's it.  Granted, she said to continue to omit the caffeine and that I should try to get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise in a day as well. 

That sucker is just over 13" long!

To mark my thankfulness, I gave back today.  I found a super sweet haircut that I really liked and made an appointment to have my hair done.  It wasn't just any old appointment though.  You see, I had them braid my hair very neatly and I donated it to Locks of Love.  I pray that my hair makes a child equally as tickled when they receive their new custom made wig.  To me, it’s just hair… but for them, it means so much more. I hope that my little gift will help them feel special - or even better, normal.