BUSY DAY!!!

Today I have my blood draw first thing in the morning to check my kidney function (prior to having the dye contrast for my MRI)...it's protocol here.

Shortly after that, I'll be getting my MRI.  I sure hope MD Anderson's 3T Machines are set up with music like they are at MRI-Centers in LA where I've had my previous ones.  The second time I had one, their system wasn't working for some reason and it sure made the hour feel longer and the anxiety of being stuck in a tube, unable to move, with a "cage" on my head a bit more unbearable.  The good news is that the results will be visible on their computer system almost as quickly as they are taken, so when I get to my appointment, we'll be ready to go! 

I'll have a bit of a break for lunch (REALLY hoping the MRI is on-time) and my friend, Katherine Benner, will be in recovery in the neurosurgery unit from her Pituitary surgery, so I will be going to pop in and say hello.  She tells me Attorneys get extra-special treatment when they are in the hospital, so I hope she gets care that is beyond reproach and her surgery and recovery go well.

After visiting Katherine, I will be headed to the neurosurgery clinic for my appointment.  It doesn't look as though surgery was a success in curing my Cushing's, though tumor tissue was found and removed and surgery itself went quite well with a too-easy recovery.  My testing to prove recurrence/failed surgery will not be complete at that point, but this appointment will tell me whether, after the testing is sufficient, I will be looking at having a repeat pituitary surgery or if we will move to the next option, which is a bilateral adrenalectomy.  Big news either way.  I was really hoping to have sufficient lab work in by this appointment so that if pit surgery was the preferred option, I could possibly even extend my trip and have it the following week (I know, right?  They're awesome like that, though.), but my high/low cycles haven't been cooperative thus far.  I have a too-high ACTH for a midnight blood draw (when it should all be near zero) and what appears to be a too-high serum free cortisol, but I had to stop testing because I started getting migraines and then I swung low.  In theory my next high will start while I'm in Texas, if I follow my pre-surgery patterns, but who wants to do 24 hour urines while on a trip?  Apparently, this gal just might.  *Oy.*

ANYWAY, after my appointment, I will then be headed back to San Antonio for the "Meet and Greet" that starts off the Convention.  There will be hors d'oeuvres and displays, and it is also when we check in and get our final registration/convention paperwork, etc.  YAY!!!