Sorry for the delay in updating post-vacay. There is some negative stuff happening in my professional life that has been keeping me busy and silent. Things are finally coming to a resolution, and, well, it's just not going to be pretty. I can't really talk about it further, but if you're worried, we're fine for now. I'm just anxious about the future, and, well, anxiety makes me quiet.
I do have a bunch of other stuff I can update you on, though, so this post won't be all "cloak and dagger."
For starters, I made a small photo album of our WV vacation to share with those keeping up.

I'd actually made a MyPublisher scrapbook for the family that turned out REALLY well, and was going to link to the online version of it. However, their online albums leave A LOT to be desired. You can barely see the pictures or read the captions on them so I said skrew all that and picked a few select photos to share. (The printed books themselves are fabu, though.)
Second, I've got a health update. Remember when I posted, oh about 4 months ago, that I had bizarre tingling that might have been caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency? Well... the vitamin B12 I was taking was doing bupkis. I just kept feeling worse and when I woke up with both arms numb last week, I decided that enough was enough. I decided to get a second opinion and contacted the folks at Columbia Eastside for a wellness consult. I had so much luck with their docs and the practice there for my maternity that I was willing to take a blind risk on the rest of their services.
Well, I met with a Doctor Nurse Practitioner in their CAPNA group. They specialize in primary care and in dealing with the "whole" patient. They're equipped to prescribe and refer to specialists, which is basically what my old doc was doing for me, so I squashed the whole, "But you're not a doctor..." thing and went for it.
I'm sooooo glad I did. For starters, she asked me more questions than any doctor has EVER asked me. I brought along my bloodwork results from my previous doctor's visit -- from now on I will always ask for a copy of my results! Soooo helpful! -- and she went over them with a fine-toothed comb. (She was surprised by the sheer number of tests and called it a "million dollar workup" a couple of times.) She reviewed them along with all the other write-ups from the chest and back x-rays, the EEG and the nerve test I'd had. All had been normal, of course, which is why I'd been frustrated when the "take more vitamins and stretch" routine wasn't making me better.
She circled the abnormal stuff along the way and admitted that she needed to look up a certain panel she didn't know. (A plus since my doctor said it was something that it wasn't. I Googled.)
Then she stopped and asked me if my doctor had done anything about my abysmally low thyroid.
Um, why, NO, he hadn't. Abysmally? I believe the term my doctor had used was "slightly out of whack..."
Well, my thyroid tested at 0.007 back in May. The normal range is 0.35 - 5.5. So, at best my thyroid is functioning at 2% at the LOW end of the norm!
My vitamin B12 was 199. The norm is 211 - 911.
Jee-zus. Talk about glaring and obvious.
Anyway, long story short, she doesn't think it's just my thyroid because of other symptoms she coaxed out of me. Stuff I would not have thought to mention came out as she asked, "Do you also have XYZ in ABC?" and the light bulb would go off in my head and I'd be like, "Why, yes. Yes I do." I could tell that she was going through some sort of mental checklist in her head and I was just confirming her hunch.
I might still have an autoimmune disorder but she suspects the main problem is with my pituitary. She sent me for some additional bloodwork -- it was funny because she kept debating about which tests to send me for as she didn't want to go for anything "unnecessary" as she obviously thought my previous doctor had done -- and I have a follow up on Wednesday. If the stuff for the pituitary shows up, then I get an MRI. If not, we can begin treating the thyroid.
I just feel overall better because a) I feel I was finally listened to as a patient and b) there is an end in sight. I don't know how far away it is, but she assured me that we would get to the bottom of it. She said we would treat each thing one at a time, and that she knew it'd be frustrating for a little bit but that we'd get there.
Seriously, that was the best news I'd had in a long time. She seemed genuinely interested in helping me and I have forever changed my idea about NPs. I've been so run down, so tired, so crabby, sooooo not me... And it sucks.
The main reason I want to be well is so that I can be a more active mom to these two:






They're growing up fast, aren't they?
I'll update you on knitting on Wednesday, but for those on Ravelry, you can visit my quasi-updated project pages...