Lotsa Good News

Well, things are doing a bit better on a lot of fronts. Here are some updates:

Hubby went to the doctor for his latest blood test results. So to recap, his prolactin level was over 400 at the time of the first test. It should be less than 20. After a little over a month of treatment the level is now at... 1.6!!!! Completely normal and even the doctor was surprised at how well the medicine worked. The plan is to stay on it a while, then go off and continue testing. Usually, people need several rounds of treatment before the tumors will stay away for good.

My hair seems to have stopped falling out. On my own personal scale of hair-falling-out-ness, I would rate it at low or medium every day for the last week or so. Before that it was high. As a point of reference, post-partum it was apocalyptic. I am going to go ahead and assume it was from changing my birth control. Which, on a different note, I am happy about because my first period was so much better than with the Yas.min. Thank the Lord! Only had headaches two days the whole week.

As for my mystery rashes...things are better. I went to another dermatologist. Apparently, my face was addicted to the steroids. So I guess my face was just 'roid raging. She said your skin on your face quickly becomes accustomed to using the topical steroids and then freaks out when you stop and you just have to get through that bad part. So I was being bad and kind of using them on and off and that was making things BAD. I have to use very gentle cleanser and lotion and use a new prescription topical cream. I also have to make sure my skin doesn't hang out with high school or professional athletes after 9pm on dark street corners. No more 'roids! Anyway, the new treatment regimen seems to have helped a lot. I don't itch much at all anymore and my face and neck look much better. I have also started taking Zyr.tec every day but it seems I might be in the 12% that gets really drowsy from it so I may have to stop. I guess I won't know how much that has helped or not until I stop it.

I also have an interview coming up in Michigan. I have been told it's a lovely area but I have never given much thought to moving to Michigan. So I don't know how I feel about it. But we'll be travelling there soon so we'll see how we like it. For starters I just hope I like the job and company!

Oh, and I still have to tell you about how we are a pacifier-free household!!

Where Do I Start?

I have been meaning to blog for so long, I've just been stressed and tired.

Let's see what we have been up to.

• Hubby had the MRI and they found that his tumor is non-cancerous and is only 1 cm. His doctor expected 2-3 cm so he was pleased. Either it started out smaller than they thought, or more likely, the meds are already shrinking it. Either way, it is good news and no surgery is needed. He has more blood tests this weekend and will have at least one more MRI at some time.


• I had absolutely no activity on my job applications until today. I have a phone interview on Friday.


• We are putting our house on the market tomorrow. It makes me sad but it makes the most sense. Why wait until I have a new job and then we move and can't afford to make payments while we try to sell. This way we are trying to short sell while still making payments to try to salvage our credit as much as possible. I wish it didn't have to be this way but fair market value is not enough to pay off our loan. For us and practically half of the country. I've been looking for jobs here since January when I was laid off the first time; there aren't any for me so I don't know how we can stay. C'est la vie, I guess.


• I'm freaking out a bit about my health. Since mid-September I have been having recurring hives/rashes under my eyes, around my mouth, and on my neck. Nowhere else. I've had three rounds of oral steroids and one round of topical steroids and they keep recurring. I have not changed any of my household or personal products. Oh, and I forgot that my hair is also falling out. Not like at an alarming rate, but at a concerning and sustained rate. You might guess it is stress but this has been going on since before all the stressful events. This week I had a skin patch allergy test. It freaking sucked to have that crap taped to my back for 48 hours and not be able to shower. Today they removed it all and... NOTHING! Nothing was positive. I don't get it because I have had nickel allergy or at least nickel sensitivity all my life. What the heck?! I was so hoping it would give me some answers. So what now? Could I have lupus? Hashimoto's or hypothyroidism? If my hair was not falling out I probably wouldn't be so freaked out. Tonight I went out and bought new laundry detergent, hand soap, and shampoo and conditioner. I can't figure out what else it would be. In the past I have had terrible skin reactions to Tide and Pert shampoo so I know there is something out there that doesn't agree with me. It would really help if I knew what it was.

Ooh, next time I will have to tell you about "The End of the Pacifier and the Serious Repercussions Therein".