Well, Monday turned out to be the strangest day ever! I called the retinal specialists office on Monday and they couldn't see me until 3:00 pm. Until then, they told me I couldn't eat because I might be having surgery. I was super pissed that they couldn't see me earlier, so I was crabby all day.
When we went it, they dilated my eyes again and we waited for the doctor. He came in, took a good look at my eyes, and plainly said "You're fine. You don't have a detached retina." Of course, I was in shock, since I had been told I was for sure having eye surgery on Monday. The retinal specialist told me that what my eye doctor had seen was something I've probably had since I was a baby. It's called old peripheral retinal neovascularization and it happens when scar tissue forms from blood vessels breaking through the eye and then retracting. Since I wasn't a preemie, he said it probably happened spontaneously.
Though I am quite appreciative of my eye doctor's thoroughness, I think next time she should take a breath before jumping to such drastic conclusions. Nevertheless, I'm just thankful that everything is fine!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Head and Neck Cancer
So I know I’ve been missing in action for a bit, but it’s time for a work update. I recently had the privilege to dive into a new area of speech pathology that I never thought I’d have the chance to experience, much less enjoy. …Head and Neck Cancer.
Our hospital has its own cancer center and through a series of events, we learned that their head and neck cancer patients were not receiving routine dysphagia/speech intervention. I ended up being asked to give a presentation to three oncologists and two radiation oncologists about speech pathology services for head and neck cancer patients. And, long story short, I know see all of our head and neck cancer referrals.
At first, I thought it would be a depressing group of patients to serve, but I’ve actually come to like it…a lot! I think the most thrilling part is problem solving for these people. They’ve been told they have cancer and that they’ll need very invasive treatment to cure it. What they haven’t been told is that the side effects of that treatment may be worse than the actual treatment itself.
Could you imagine living a life where you have no saliva, where everything tastes like drywall dust, where you’re not hungry, where your food gets stuck in your throat and won’t go down, and where you neck is literally as hard as a rock?!? But, you’re alive!
My very first head and neck cancer patient (nasopharyngeal cancer) has been very challenging. At first, I had no clue what I was doing. I read some books, did a lot of research, and then just had to go for it. Surprisingly, my patient has made some pretty significant progress and I couldn’t be more thrilled. She went to being totally dependent of her feeding tube to tolerating liquids to eating soft solids and swallowing whole pills! My speech pathology friends out there will know what a big deal this is!
I can’t wait to see where this new venture takes me. If you work with head and neck cancer patients and have any good resources to share, please pass them my way!
Our hospital has its own cancer center and through a series of events, we learned that their head and neck cancer patients were not receiving routine dysphagia/speech intervention. I ended up being asked to give a presentation to three oncologists and two radiation oncologists about speech pathology services for head and neck cancer patients. And, long story short, I know see all of our head and neck cancer referrals.
At first, I thought it would be a depressing group of patients to serve, but I’ve actually come to like it…a lot! I think the most thrilling part is problem solving for these people. They’ve been told they have cancer and that they’ll need very invasive treatment to cure it. What they haven’t been told is that the side effects of that treatment may be worse than the actual treatment itself.
Could you imagine living a life where you have no saliva, where everything tastes like drywall dust, where you’re not hungry, where your food gets stuck in your throat and won’t go down, and where you neck is literally as hard as a rock?!? But, you’re alive!
My very first head and neck cancer patient (nasopharyngeal cancer) has been very challenging. At first, I had no clue what I was doing. I read some books, did a lot of research, and then just had to go for it. Surprisingly, my patient has made some pretty significant progress and I couldn’t be more thrilled. She went to being totally dependent of her feeding tube to tolerating liquids to eating soft solids and swallowing whole pills! My speech pathology friends out there will know what a big deal this is!
I can’t wait to see where this new venture takes me. If you work with head and neck cancer patients and have any good resources to share, please pass them my way!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Nervous!!
So, I thought this weekend was going to be a relaxing weekend at home, but alas, that never happens. Jon’s friends came in from Austin to go to the Renisance Festival with Jon while I planned to get some things taken care of at home. One appointment I had was with the eye doctor. I know, an eye doctor who makes Saturday appointments is awesome!
At 11:00 am I went for my appointment. My new doctor was very through and quite nice. They had this fancy new machine that can take a picture of your retina instead of having your eyes dilated. Of course the fancy eye camera is not covered by insurance and is an extra $40 bucks. So, I opted to have my eyes dilated. After she dilated my eyes, I had to wait about 20 minutes and then have her re-exam my dilated retinas.
As she tested my right eye, I could tell something was wrong. She would have me look to the right several times, check another direction, and then have me look right again. When she was finished, she let me know that I had two holes in my retina and that it was detaching from my eye. SCARY! Being in healthcare, I know what retinal detachment means. My doctor wasted no time in conveying how serious my condition was (retinal detachment = blindness) and quickly explained how I would be visiting the retinal specialist on Monday.
Needless to say, I’m a little freaked out. My eye doctor told me that retinal detachment is common in people who are very nearsighted (me!) and in people with diabetes. So, in addition to visiting the retinal specialist, I also have to be tested for diabetes. UGH!!! I’m not quite sure what Monday holds, but my eye doctor said I’d probably have laser surgery tomorrow, if not very early next week.
So, please pray everything goes well. Oh, and go make an eye appointment!
At 11:00 am I went for my appointment. My new doctor was very through and quite nice. They had this fancy new machine that can take a picture of your retina instead of having your eyes dilated. Of course the fancy eye camera is not covered by insurance and is an extra $40 bucks. So, I opted to have my eyes dilated. After she dilated my eyes, I had to wait about 20 minutes and then have her re-exam my dilated retinas.
As she tested my right eye, I could tell something was wrong. She would have me look to the right several times, check another direction, and then have me look right again. When she was finished, she let me know that I had two holes in my retina and that it was detaching from my eye. SCARY! Being in healthcare, I know what retinal detachment means. My doctor wasted no time in conveying how serious my condition was (retinal detachment = blindness) and quickly explained how I would be visiting the retinal specialist on Monday.
Needless to say, I’m a little freaked out. My eye doctor told me that retinal detachment is common in people who are very nearsighted (me!) and in people with diabetes. So, in addition to visiting the retinal specialist, I also have to be tested for diabetes. UGH!!! I’m not quite sure what Monday holds, but my eye doctor said I’d probably have laser surgery tomorrow, if not very early next week.
So, please pray everything goes well. Oh, and go make an eye appointment!
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