Mayomail

I received a letter in the mail listing two new appointments at the end of January. One is for a second opinion and the other is back with Dr. Not. ? I didn't make these appointments. I did cancel them though.

Finally called

The gastro doctor from the Mayo called after I waited for twelve days. He apologized for not calling sooner because he was out of town last week. (No one from his office mentioned this). Instead of drilling him about why it took twelve days to get a call (I called the thursday before he left). I feel good that they called back and the doctor was very nice and caring. He said he would do anything he could to help me and if I wanted a second opinion he would have me see another doctor there. I'm already in Chicago and have an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic on friday. But it was very nice to know that the Mayo Clinic did care, even though it was a little late.

Being a sensitive person I do feel bad that this blog is so negative about the Mayo Clinic in Florida. But it is what it is. And that is what it is. If it walks like a duck it is a duck. You know? When I cleaned houses for a living I'm sure there was a job I messed up and there could be a blog about it. I'm sure that the Mayo Clinic gives excellent care in many cases because I've heard people say positive things before I went and while I was there. And they may be right about the scar tissue. I did start taking more xanax because of the "chronic anxiety and depression" statement on the Mayo Clinic form. It didn't have any affect on my pain and it made me very sleepy. So now I'm sure that this has nothing to do with anxiety. When those three doctors said the pain wasn't in the muscles and nerves I have felt mentally worlds better.

I'm planning a new approach when I go to Cleveland. I've colored my grey hair to look younger and I'm going to say three times while pointing to my stomache, "this is trying to kill me, this is trying to kill me, this is trying to kill me". And if they don't find anything wrong will they at least look inside to see what the problem is? My local gastro doctor that I totally love recommended I have laproscopic surgery last year. I'm very nervous that the Cleveland Clinic may send me down the river with a quick muct-be-scar-tissue diagnosis and put me on pain control meds without going over everything else. We will see.

Goodbye Mayo

I've decided not to put one more money egg in this basket. They just don't care about me enough. Bottom line.

This girl is not giving up, I need a second opinion from a high up institution. And I am heading to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. It is supposed to be the best place in the country. If they agree with the Mayo Clinic I will post another blog to give them credit. Otherwise, signing off-

Check out my new blog 'Sick Girl Going to Cleveland Clinic Ohio' at: valerievale2.blogspot.com

Second Opinion Please

Seven days no call. I called the Mayo Clinic appointment line and told them I needed a second opinion and that I was not happy with my doctor, Dr. Not (formally known as Dr. Hot). Second opinions are so okay and common that I knew a place like the Mayo Clinic would hook me up. Especially if I'm unhappy with one of their doctor's. I stood with my shoulders back and head held high.

"You'll have to go through his office to get a second opinion."

I was not expecting her to say that. "Okay, I guess connect me."

I won't make you read through the entire conversation but basically I can't get a second opinion without going through the doctor that I was unsatisfied with.

So after all this Mayo Clinic whoopla, this is where I'm at. I have one doctor from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville Florida who didn't take time investigating any cause of my pain. He looked at my records briefly, did a brief exam and ordered an MRI and a colon x-ray and briefly looked at the results. He determined that I probably have scar tissue problems and need pain management. Between the fasting for the MRI twice and not being notified that they cancelled it and the no return phone call makes me feel like they just didn't give a crap about me.

Then I have three doctor's, two deal with pain management and rehab and the other is a gastro doctor disagree with what the Mayo Clinic thinks. All three of these doctor's were more thorough in the exam, questions and caring. This gastro doctor wants me to TRY the pancreas enzymes. He said it would take a month or two to work.

If the Mayo Clinic is right my scar tissue may get worse and this is my life we are talking about. The thought of having more pain down the road because I didn't listen to the Mayo wasn't acceptable.

I cannot believe that the Mayo wouldn't let me schedule a second opinion. That sucks. That really really sucks.

Day 7 and no call from Dr. Hot

I'm pissed. Wouldn't you be? Maybe I should've asked Dr. Hot for an ID to make sure he really works at the Mayo Clinic.

Walgreen's had to order the pancreas meds and I wanted to talk to Dr. Hot before taking them, to get his opinion. Since the rehabilitation doctor at Mayo was the doctor that I liked the best, I called him. He called back the same day. Thank God. I explained to him that these other three doctor's think Dr. Hot is wrong about the scar tissue causing this pain. He had me hold while he looked at Dr. Hot's notes. When he got back on the phone his tone was a little different. I am sensitive and maybe was reading too much into it. But he said Dr. Hot said he didn't think my pain was inside my body (cavity compared to muscles). If everything here is going to lead back to 'what Dr. Hot thinks' I may be in trouble. He also said he wanted me to have the physical therapy with a certified therapist in manual therapy. I told him I searched everywhere and couldn't find that kind of therapist. He will have his scheduler make an appointment with someone in Jacksonville and then I can see Dr. Hot on the same day. I agreed. I want to have a Mayo Clinic person who touches bodies for a living give their opinion. And I know the Mayo will trust that opinion more.

When I hung up the phone I wondered why his voice changed a little after looking at Dr. Hot's notes. I did receive a standard letter from the Mayo with a copy of my records. I got it out and read it. Mrs. Valerie Doherty is a 43-year-old female with a history of chronic depression and chronic anxiety. What? That is what he typed in after my name. I wasn't acting hysterical in his office nor was I crying. I've had issues with anxiety and depression but none of my friends, family or doctors that know me well would describe that way. It takes me 6 months to a year to go through one bottle of low dose xanax. The only time I had full blown depression was last year when a Northwestern University doctor had me on Reglan for months. It is known to give some people depression and boy did I have it bad. A few months on antidepressants and I was fine. I in no way am a chronic mental case, thank you very much Dr. Hot. Who wouldn't have some mental health issues after going through what I had. The paper also said that I've had this red-hot-poker pain since 2005. Wrong again, this started two years ago, not four. Under 'social history' it says that I enjoy riding. This made me laugh out loud. Me, in tons of pain riding a horse.

Apparently, according to this paperwork, I'm a mental case that has had no change in pain since my girl surgeries and am still able to ride a horse. Wow. Ummm, okay. I really hope Dr. Hot calls by the end of the day. Day seven. Or I'll have to change his name from Dr. Hot to Dr. Not.

The reason why I am not putting the real names of the doctors on this blog is because I come from a family of doctor's. My grandpa was a general practice way back when and my grandma was a nurse. My uncle was an emergency room doctor and my cousin is the most educated woman in our family. She has a doctorate in gerentology-she is a nurse. My dad is an orthodontist, his dad was a dentist. So I kind of feel like I'm on their side too. And in case you haven't figured it out, I am a sensitive red head and I don't like to hurt anyone's feelings, especially in a public way when they aren't here on this blog to defend themselves.

New Eyes

Feeling sick and alone (still no call from Dr. Hot) I went to see the new local gastro doctor. His office fit me in right away because I was in pain. Well, that was refreshing.

His office was very homey and non-hospital like. His paper work was minimal, that was a first. No asking for my life's history, again, refreshing.

This gastro Doctor, Dr. New Eyes didn't think my pain was coming from scar tissue. After careful thought and conversation he said, "I think your pancreas isn't producing enough enzymes. Too see, you can take the enzymes and if your body doesn't need them it will just get rid of it and there are no side effects. It could be a hernia or something else, but let's try this first."

The story girl in me took this new information and ran with it. Yippee!! All day long I thought, this could be it, this could be it!!!!! I knew of two people that had horrible pain problems that involved their pancreas malfunctioning.

I am very curious to hear what Dr. Hot has to say about all of this.

To readers:I get behind in blogging, so the dates on the blog may not go with the dates in the blog. I'm trying to keep a time line even if I don't post for a day or two.

This blog is getting boring

I'm a writer who loves happy endings and I'm sorry that this blog is officially boring and confusing. It has transitioned from a fun way of tracking my journey to a venting tool.

To refresh, the Mayo Clinic thinks I have scar tissue issues that need to be addressed with physical therapy and pain management. When I went to a local doctor, Dr. Smart, that deals with pain and physical therapy, he was ten times more empathetic to my pain and didn't agree that scar tissue is the cause of this torture-like-pain I have. He got a second opinion on-the-spot and they both recommended a gastro doctor for me, here locally. I felt deep down inside that they are right and the Mayo Clinic is wrong. And I know nothing about medicine. What do I do?

I went home and thought about it. I decided to call Dr. Hot from Mayo and tell him what is going on, what the doctor's said. I left a message in detail with his nurse. She said he would call me.

Meanwhile, I made the appointment with the new local gastro doctor. Why not get his opinion on my problem?

Dr. Hot had mentioned I see a urologist about my repeated bladder infections. The urologist was an older man who looked like he should've retired about 10-15 years ago. Wise and old. I liked him right away. He said, "that the colon x-ray the Mayo Clinic gave me wouldn't show very small fistubles. We would have to look into your bladder to see...." I sighed and said,"great, where do I have to go for this test". I was tested out if you know what I mean. He smiled and said, "oh, well we do it right here and it takes about three minutes." They put a scope up my pee hole and looked into my bladder. I watched on the tv screen, every ounce of the inside of my bladder. There were a few cysts, which are normal but I passed the test. I couldn't help but wonder why Dr. Hot didn't give me this easy fast test instead of the one that cost a lot and put me through bowel prep and radiation. I had had a Catscan and a colonoscopy and endless tests before going to the Mayo. I will definitely ask Dr. Hot about this when he calls me back. I was getting annoyed because he hadn't called back yet and two days went by.

Dear God, why does this still hurt?

Distorting my face via photobooth on my Mac is so fun! No offense to anyone who is deformed, I bet they would have as much fun undistorting their face. Woke up feeling sore but less frustrated. This was a big deal yesterday, numbing the muscles and it still hurting. Something in my body cavity that isn't showing up on an MRI is trying to kill me. I called Dr. Hot and left a message for him with the update. My instincts are telling me that he is done with me, but you never know.

Dr. Smart

Feeling pretty good, I walked in to see Dr. Smart. The pain was still there but not tremendous. He was very curious if I had tried the medicine he'd given me. I explained about going back to the Mayo Clinic. He was extremely concerned about me, he really wanted me to take the meds and to put this cream on four times a day. He had me lay down and did another exam on me. His eyes were so deep and smart. He asked his mentor doctor to come in. They were both puzzled and extremely interested in what was wrong with me. I felt very lucky. They decided to inject my stomach right where it hurts to numb the muscles and nerves. They sprayed something on first that numbed the area. After they injected it, the area still hurt. No change. That means it IS in my body.

Dr. Smart recommended I see a new gastro doctor. He does not think it is scar tissue or the SMA thing. He said "A doctor that hasn't seen you before. So they will have new eyes." He recommended one and I have an appointment in about a week. I was already thinking about getting a second opinion from the Mayo Clinic about this whole matter. But I really feel that Dr. Smart may lead me in the right direction.

He said if I don't come back in he would hunt me down to find out what happened. What a refreshing dose of humanity.

I will keep searching for the physical therapist just in case the Mayo is right.

Physical Therapist certified in manual therapy

The search was on. I had a friend refer a therapist that works with Dr. Smart, so I started there. I called and the scheduler said she was certified. Yippee! That was easy.

Before my appointment there was confusion as to why Dr. Smart hadn't given me a script for therapy but the Mayo Clinic did. I was just like "da, I don't know", I have times when I can't think about this anymore, this was one of those times. Then the therapist saw the "certified in manual therapy" and said she didn't have the certification. I said "please work on me anyways, I don't really know what is going on (gave review of my case)." She was fabulous and I really wished that she was going to be the one to help me. She called people trying to find me a therapist that had the credentials. She really felt for my problems and at least lifted my spirits for the day.

Dr. Smart's office called me because he wanted to schedule a follow-up visit. They called me? They cared enough to call me? Last they heard I was on my way back to the Mayo Clinic. This is a very good sign. I made my appointment with Dr. Smart.

The search for the right physical therapist

Trip home from Mayo #3

There's nothing like a bowl of P.F. Chang's wanton soup. Yummmmiee. It got foggy and gray before I left for home. And it really matched the way I felt. Dr. Smart I still feel is correct in his opinion that my pain is coming from inside of my body. Now the Mayo is sending me to someone to rub and loosen up muscles and nerves. I'm so confused and hazy myself, exactly like the weather.

My hair got redder when I thought about how my husband could and should be driving me here. At least one of the times. I love him and I maybe shouldn't be writing this but it I am mad. I wondered if Dr. Hot would have taken my problems more seriously if my 7 ft husband was sitting next to me describing my pain and puking, and how I am sick all of the time. I really wish my husband had been there. I noticed that there weren't many people alone in the Mayo Clinic waiting rooms and I didn't like being one of them. And then puking all morning and driving across the state? Where is my tiara? I know I had one. I need to put it back on when I get home to show my status in my household.

On my husband's behalf I must add that I've been this sick lump of a woman on and off for years now. Mumbling about pain and sometimes hobbling. As you can imagine, I'm not the sexual energy bunny I used to be. I'm nothing like I used to be. And when you consider that we have only been married for almost six years, wow. It's like I skipped middle age. He is twelve years my senior but I'm the elderly needy one.

Can sick girls still be princesses?

I thought my mother-in-law who recently passed away. My husband inherited the Honda CRV I was driving and I haven't even cleaned the inside of it because it smells like her. Or, I like to think it does. I love and miss her so much. She would be very proud of me for driving across the state to get help for myself.

Ahh, a sighting, a sighting. Three baby deer eating along the highway. Too close might I add, but how exciting! So indescribably cute! I wanted to stop and shu them into the woods, but I was afraid they would run into traffic.

A man walked ON the white line on the highway. On the white line.

The Vascular Surgeon at Mayo

The next day (I'm behind in my blogging, sorry) I had my big appointment with the surgeon to see what he thought about the SMA syndrome possibility. I puked all morning and was in tons of pain in the same spot on my stomach, just under my ribs. The thought of driving home was maddening. Drive home vs. $160.00 stay at the hotel at Mayo. I bucked up and checked out. If my stomach didn't stop bubbling, I could always check back in.

In the waiting room I couldn't believe what I saw. I felt a sick and demented glee. Someone else was puking in the waiting room. Yes, a fellow puker. I was not alone for the first time ever.

The surgeon's nurse was extremely nice and thorough. She sympathized with me about how long this had gone on. I filled out the easy form they gave me. I wrote that this problem is so bad, the pain, that I am the sickest person I know and that I think I could die from this if it isn't diagnosed.

Looking at the MRI on the computer screen was way awesome, and hey, everything looked perfect to me. The surgeon said I do have the compression thing, don't remember all the lingo, but he didn't think it was causing my pain. It could be, but he didn't think so. He could go in surgically and put a splint inside my vein, but he didn't think it was going to help. I started to ask him questions and he said I had to ask Dr. Hot (gastro dr.)because he was just there for the SMA issue. He said some doctors think that the SMA syndrome doesn't exist because the other two veins are enough to give the body blood.

You mean I bought the domain name smasyndrome.com for nothing? Damn.

Hhmmm, SMA syndrome is supposed to be rare and deadly. How could it not exist? What about all the deaths? Are all of the doctor's at the Mayo Clinic taking acid? Am I taking acid and hallucinating this entire experience? Do I really have to go back to Dr. Hot? He asked me so tell him in one sentence what me problem was at our first meeting. I lifted my shirt and pointed to my sore spot and said "this is trying to kill me". And he didn't re-test me for anything. Just an MRI, colon x-ray and off to rehab and pain management.

It's the Mayo Clinic, they must be right. I took my prescription for rehab and headed home.

The Rehab Doctor at Mayo

Before my appointment I took some pictures. A woman sitting on a bench observed me placing Puppy and snapping pictures of him. I had to walk by her to get to the building. She smirked as I walked closer and I figured I'd better say something. I shook Puppy and said, "I'm sending pictures to my five year old nephew. He loves it." The woman smiled a little. Then I said as I passed her "I wonder if I'm at the right kind of hospital." I didn't expect it, but she let out a full belly laugh. It was so loud that a few people turned their faces toward us from across the fountain.

I write children's books and that is why I have added Puppy, Flower and Orange to my story. I'm bored. Not crazy. Think Mr. Rogers.

The rehab doctor was smart and very caring. He did the exam and was very honest about his opinion. "I want you to see a certified manual therapist. Either it will help or it won't. Surgeons don't like to go in surgically to fix scar tissue because it can come back and be worse. Are you on disability?" I said "No." He looked me in the eyes, sincerely, and said, "I hope things work out for you." He gave me a prescription for the therapy, it is on a form that has check points. One of them reads: potential for achievement of Rehab Goals. Excellent, good or fair. He checked good and fair.

That word----disability----what does it mean. It can be different for everybody. When I'm sick for over two months at a time I feel disabled. When I can't keep up with life at all and I know that I wouldn't be able to provide for myself. I think about where I'd be without my husband taking care of me. It scares me.

Puppy wants a yellow flower

Alright, we'll get you one on the way home tomorrow. Today I see the PMR doctor and tomorrow is the big day I talk to the vascular surgeon. Things this time are going smoother already-no offense Dr. Hot. I was on stand-by this morning at 7:30 am for my PMR appointment. I brought enough reading material for a couple of hours. I didn't wait for two minutes before they called my name and told me I have an appointment at 1:30 today. Instead of waiting around for hours, they made it easy. Instead of staying at the Inn at the Mayo I'm staying at the other hotel on the Mayo property the Courtyard Marriott. The rooms are smaller but MUCH cleaner. And the staff is very customer service friendly. This trip is really feeling like I'm at the Mayo Clinic.

More pictures of drive up

Excitedly taking pictures of yellow flowers when I almost put my boot through this dead deer. I freaked out and ran away. I'm still thinking about different situations that could have taken place. Redhead wearing Woodstock t-shirt stuck in deer on side of road. What would my boot have looked like when I pulled it out of the deer. What if I tripped over the deer and fell face first into another dead deer in the bushes. Would these locals on the ATV have helped me get the deer off? Or would they laugh hysterically while taking pictures.

3rd time at Mayo

Puppy does not like the new flower Orange, he wants one like the yellow ones we saw driving up. He's very upset.

The drive was beautiful once again and this time I got very close to horses, cows and billie goats. When I sweet talked the horses, they ignored me. When I sweet talked the cows, the all stared at me and slowly walked toward me. They were very interested and I can tell they have heard sweet talk before. Then the billie goats. I pulled over, ready for ant hills this time with my Doc Martin boots. (I used to wear them to rock concerts so I could jump in the mosh pit and my feet wouldn't get trampled on-ahh, my old healthy days. Now my stomach feels like the mosh pit.) I started my "hi sweetie, your so beautiful" hello and they all came running to the fence, naahhaaaing and acting like dogs who haven't seen their owner in a week. It was CHARMING, they were rubbing on the fence like cats, like they wanted me to jump the fence and play with them. It's like I've already died and I'm in heaven on FL 301.

Dr. Hot called personally

I feel like a queen because the doctor called me yesterday. He said he's referring me to a vascular surgeon about the SMA, a PMR doctor and the pain clinic. His nurse will call me back with the appointments. Yikes, three appointments. Stomach hurting. Okay, I'll go.

I thought about how much money this is all going to cost. An ugly picture moment. I love this ugly picture of me. I used to have a small photo album of ugly photo's of me, some from childhood that were so funny. I moved like 15 times and lost track of it. Bummer.

After it sank in-more money being spent on Sick Girl-I checked my small stock account. The number was high and when I clicked on gain/loss it said I was up by 70%. I stared at it for ten minutes, then printed it out to show my husband. Technically, if I sell some of my Whole Foods stock tomorrow morning, I can pay for my hotel for a week or so if need be in Jacksonville at the Mayo Clinic. I do miss cable. Just kidding. Kick ass. Life is sweet. My terra is shining!!! I rule! I made money while being sickly all year. I sat on my but and made money. Why do I have to be sick, I'd rather go shopping.

Finally, I'm seeing a surgeon. And I get to drive down 301 again from Ocala to US 10.

Thank you Dr. Hot for taking my situation seriously and coming through! You rock. Your hot.

Waiting on Dr. Hot's call

What the.............?

Go Obama! Get this health care thing passed. It's pretty much the healthies against the sickies. And I'm a sickie! On election day I merrily made this mosaic and I think it is part of the reason he won. My art changed the world. Just kidding. Maybe someday.

I went to my appointment at the new doctor, Dr. Smart here locally. He was very smart and thorough. He did the same test on me as Dr. Hot, but he spent more time pinpointing the pain. Both tested to see if my pain was in the muscles and nerves, or inside the body cavity.

Dr. Smart had me lay down then pushed on the sore spot just under my ribs. It hurt so much that it feels like my insides in that area have turned to mashed potatoes. Rotten mashed potatoes. Then he had me crunch up into a sit up (the working out kind of sit up) so my muscles are flexing, doing their job to protect my insides. As I'm flexing, he pushed on my stomach on the same spot. It didn't hurt much, not even when he put heavy pressure. He checked over and over. He came to the conclusion that my pain is coming from the inside. This wasn't good. He said he was very concerned at my age-too young to be having big pain problems- we need to find out why this is happening, he said. He mentioned when he was at the Cleveland Clinic, at the Cleveland Clinic they would..... He gave me some cream and some pills and off I went. Couldn't wait to hit the bed. 43 years old and heading for the bed, exhausted, at 3:00pm. Someone better figure out what is wrong. Type A redhead, workaholic types don't hit the bed at 3:00pm, 3:00am, yes.

Last week, Dr. Hot did the same test, but quickly and he focused on the belly button area instead of the feels-like-a -hot-poker-here spot. I know I have scar tissue issues because I feel a pull from the right side of my felly button. I think if Dr. Hot spent more time in this test, he would be at the next step now. I think he didn't get how much pain I'm in. And Dr. Smart did.

Before I made my appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville Florida I promised myself that if things didn't get resolved there that I would try the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio before I gave up. I've been sick a long time and giving up would be easy on some days. The Cleveland Clinic is the #1 place in the U.S. according to many top ten surveys online and in magazines.

Now the decision. Do I call Dr. Hot and tell him the problem is in the inside? I'm kinda thinking three strikes and your out. But, maybe that's not fair. Maybe I will call Dr. Hot and tell him I want one more test. I heard that the PET scan is the only test that detects cancer for sure. A friend lost her husband to pancreatic cancer. He wasn't diagnosed and was in tons of pain, the kind that sent him to the ER. Then they found it with the PET scan. It was too late. When I feel really sick I think of these things, because I haven't been diagnosed correctly yet. It's scary when most of the people in tons of pain stories seem to end in death. Hhmmm. Mayo Clinic......Cleveland Clinic..........savings dwindling...........think I'll think about it over the weekend.

Maybe Dr. Hot is right

The day after my drive home I was miserable. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a hot poker and there was a screen under my skin under my ribs on the front and the back. It was hot to the touch and I could barely stand it.

It didn't take long for me to put two and two together. The drive home in a vehicle I'm not used to-when I was already feeling really bad-used up my stomach muscles. If driving drove me this pain and not food, then it may be a nerve/muscle problem and not SMA syndrome.

I feel a bit more concerned today because I don't want to have this sickly life forever. And I definitely don't want to start on a daily pain med routine. I made my appointment at the new PMR doctor here locally. If I'm not happy with them I'll be heading down 301 and back to the Mayo Clinic where the best PMR's probably are in this part of the country. And I will learn how to use the cruise control on my Honda.

301 is king

The best part of this experience was not the Mayo Clinic, but the ride down 301 between Ocala and Jacksonville. If I die tomorrow I'll be thinking about how lucky I was to have witnessed this beauty. On the way home, there were the yellowist flowers I'd ever seen speckling the green landscape. Some were like a water color of yellow and others were like spiny yellow daisies. They were yellow the week prior when I drove by, but this week they were peaking. Incredible. I want to live on 301. Wait a minute, my address is 301, oh my, this is meant to be.

On my way home I thought about how none of these doctor's can rule out SMA syndrome. Tests on the past on me have been very inaccurate. Could it be that the compression is more then the MRI showed? Let's see, yes, the past tests. First, we have the torn ACL in my knee. Turned out to be something bigger that required twice the recovery time. Then the "fibroid" on my uterus that would be easy to remove. It's like a balloon that you cut off and take out and wahlah. Well, the fibroid was embedded all over my uterus wall and I had endometreosis. The cutting into uterus wall and the dropping (never found out how 5 things on the right side weren't right for sometime and how a huge bruise got there) turned out to be longer healing and more money. Then the third surgery-the tests showed I had some cyst problems but not big deal. Even though my lower abdomen was getting bigger and bigger. And the pain was increasing every month. During the hysterectomy my doctor found my uterus was FULL of blood, endo, scar tissue, and cysts full of a BROWN substance. Yawn. Then the forth surgery did show four to five cysts that didn't go away. So I guess this test was accurate. The only one.

Now even though I'm Puker Girl and I'm Atrophy Girl. I have tons of pain in the SMA sydrome area that makes me disabled. My mobility gets bad, like a need a cane. I have a Catscan and MRI that both show I "may" have SMA syndrome, but three really smart doctor's say that they don't think I have it. All the other tests have shown nothing wrong.

Maybe I should just throw in the towel and buy a shack off 301. Go pet some cows. Write some books. The radio out there kept playing Dust In The Wind by Kansas, maybe it is a sign. On the side of the road in the country I saw a cage with garbage in it. Cool. Bears maybe? Racoons? Hay For Sale signs. A cluster of shirtless high school boys holding signs on their lower half, were very amusing as they were purposely pretended to be naked. A rusty old white truck was parked on the side of the road with a garage sale sign and tons of stuff laid out all over the ground. Six newer cars were parked and everyone was acting like it was a gold mine. It was so charming out on 301. What the heck is a boiled peanut anyways?

I drove my Honda instead of my truck and I wondered why my stomach was killing me all the way home. It sucked. I kept thinking maybe Dr. Hot was wrong. He did apologize about the test scheduling problems and was very nice. He said the hot areas that hurt could be from the muscle and nerve problems. But how could I have this pain so far above the surgical site? Confusing. I threw my back out once in my life and I'll never forget the pain involved, I couldn't sleep, comb my hair or wipe my---. Maybe it is from nerves after all. He referred me to a PMR-Physical Medicine Rehabilitation doctor and a pain clinic. Massage and pain meds? I'm not so sure about this but when the Mayo Clinic talks, I listen. I'll try it.

The Mayo Clinic came through

Dr. Hot says I most likely do not have SMA syndrome. Yippee! The MRI showed a little compression but not alot. He told me to see a physical medicine dr. A rehab dr. He thinks that I may have scar tissue/muscle/nerve problems that can be helped by therapy. And do see a pain doctor, but not just for pain meds. Thank goodness, because I hate pain meds. Dr. Hot also said I will keep in touch with him and see how things go-if he is right. I'm so happy I most likely don't have SMA syndrome. I head home tomorrow and hope I feel well enough to take tons of pictures and videos of beautiful Florida.

Back here at the Mayo

Flower fell apart and wasn't up for the trip. Puppy and I made it to the Mayo Clinic again. I felt really bad yesterday and today which made driving a drag and I didn't stop and take as many pictures as I wanted. Hoping I'll feel good on the way home. Very nervous to see Dr. Hot tomorrow after my MRI. I'm nervous because he may not find out what's wrong with me and also because I faxed him a letter complaining. I'm nervous because he may find something really bad. I keep thinking positive things and I believe that the Mayo Clinic is as good as I heard. We'll see. My friend gave me a rekie (spell?) massage and said I was "hot" on the sore spot on my back. She is the third massage person to say that. Last night I was so hot on the middle of my belly and on my back in the same spot. I took my temperature with a strip, my forehead was normal, but my hot spot was three lines higher. Maybe this information can help Dr. Hot figure this out.