CRAZY TOWN WAITING ROOM - TESTS coming up? All Stages Welcome.

Mommy, so glad hubby will be getting his shot! I got my first one last week, second on the 22nd (Pfizer).

Haven’t been on here in forever but it’s the night before another mammogram and sleep is a long way off. Finally got my 1st COVID-19 vaccine last week after weeks of no success. That is a big relief. Lost my MO recently and just can’t talk as well with the new one I was assigned. May have to look for a new one. It’s always nice to have this site to come to when the scan craziness starts. Good luck to all

ThreeC--be sure to tell your mammo tech (if you haven't already) and patient-portal-message your primary care doc & interim MO that you're a week past your first COVID shot. Temporary lymphadenopathy--even if you had no more than an injection-site reaction--is quite common after any kind of vaccination, as your lymph nodes are where your newly-created antibodies are "mustering" for possible "deployment" in reaction to your next shot. It's usually on the same side as the injected arm--which if you were following lymphedema-prevention protocols would be your right arm, the opposite side from where you had DCIS. Occasionally, there's bilateral axillary-node swelling, but in that case the nodes near your salivary glands would also be slightly swollen too. It's NOT a sign of spread. Your MO or RO might consider doing a quick CT or ultrasound to make sure it's just a vaccine side effect (and one that shows the vaccine is working).

In your pocket for the mammo, Poppy!

Jumping into your pocket, Poppy! (A nice sundae with Ativan sprinkles--as Queenmomcat, the second "Mayor of Crazy Town" used to say when welcoming a new BCO sister--wouldn't hurt, either).

My son just got his first Pfizer shot today--UIC Health called him and said they had some no-shows today, and he has asthma. He's in IL's Group 1B+/Chicago's Group 1C. 1B+ is already being vaccinated downstate. The city's health commissioner says that while 1C doesn't officially start till 3/29, if centers & pharmacies have cancellations & leftovers that need to be administered, they can offer them to those in 1C who are restaurant workers or have underlying conditions.

Have a little "scanxiety:" had my 5-month followup chest/ab/pelvis contrast CT scan this morning and am awaiting results--the only thing in my portal inbox is that my kidney enzyme levels (via finger-stick) are normal and that I passed the COVID screening questionnaires. Meanwhile, my allergies are driving me nuts: itchy throat (even on the outside), itchy eyes & ears too; twitchy lungs; and an annoying crackle that sounds like cellophane in my R ear when I move my jaw. FP says it's likely fluid in the Eustachian tube, due to allergies. I've had to go off both Zyrtec (and any antihistamines) and my Pataday eye drops since Saturday, since my penicillin allergy challenge test is tomorrow morning. Had to cancel it twice before (due to awaiting COVID test results), then they cancelled on me because a staffer tested positive, then they suspended all elective procedures while Glenbrook (the only hospital in the system with allergists) was used as NorthShore's COVID-only hospital. I've been getting by on Nasalcrom, Nasacort, my rescue inhaler, Singulair and if truly desperate, the prednisone eye drops left over from my plaque-brachytherapy eye surgeries. (All the above are OK to take, per the allergy clinic's NP). My cats have been unduly affectionate of late, which does aggravate matters; and trees are starting to pollinate. If the challenge turns out negative, then I can take penicillin instead of a costlier antibiotic before my dental procedures. Apparently, while 10% of patients claim to be penicillin-allergic, only 1% of the population actually is: the "amoxicillin rash" is not an allergy, it's a side effect. Fingers crossed!

Scan results in: all stable. Same lung nodule <5mm (likely a scar from December 2019's cough-fest), same diverticuli w/o inflammation, same uterine fibroid, same 3.3cm scar at the mammary seroma site, same "degenerative changes" in my spine (guess that makes me a degenerate?). Whew! Now on to the penicillin challenge.

It did, Betrayal! (Although that 500mg oral dose of amox. on a virtually-empty stomach, followed by a lunch of fried egg atop avocado toast and more black coffee is doing a number on my appetite right now. abx+fat+acid=yuck).

Everything was perfectly fine his morning and then my day went straight to crud. I got word that I lost a dear friend last night

Its been a hard couple of days since my friend passed but it is slowly getting better. She is an angel now.

Mommy ..thinking of you ..

yay for shot two! I am also fully vaccinated; happy about that...

Tuesday I have an ultrasound of Thelma, my homicidal boob. I'm nervous because it's a check of how I'm responding to chemo after 10 weeks of Taxol, and if it's not a good result it will sink me. Ugh.

We will be with you. Taxol works wonders (although it makes us feel like a dog who ate a slab of Hershey chocolate)

LW...in your pocket ...hoping all goes well for you !!! Let us know how you go ...