12/18/2009 In November (the day after thanksgiving, 11/27) I had slipped (standing on a rail of a wet trailer) and fell on my shoulder. Over the next couple of weeks my shoulder started feeling worse, to the point where I couldn't lie on my left hand side without substantial pain. My doctor referred me in for a shoulder x-ray, which I got on the 18th.
12/23/2009 I was called back for more x-rays. The x-ray of my shoulder looked fine (and the shoulder itself was starting to feel better), but the radiologist saw something they wanted to check out in my lung. They did 4 or 5 x-rays and I waited while those were read. I was hoping they'd come back and say, "OK, no problem," but instead they said, "we would like to do a CT scan," so my heart kind of dropped. They brought me over to do a CT scan of my chest, which is is like doing several hundred x-rays. That was it for the day, but it gave me a lot to think about. On the way home I went to see the movie Avatar, a good distraction.
12/24/2009 My doctor got back to me. The first X-Ray (CXR) showed one density; the more accurate CT scan, however, showed 8 small incidental densities. He said they're too small to easily go in with a needle and biopsy and see what they are right now. They want to follow up in 3 months with another scan and see if they're any bigger.
12/31/2009 My doctor did an exam (first time he'd seen me in person, at least for a long time) and scheduled some blood tests.
1/4/2010 Blood test panel, all results normal except bilirubin total levels somewhat high (1.6), with normal levels being 0.2-1.2.
1/18/2010 Second blood test panel. The bilirubin was slightly higher this time (1.9), my doctor is not sure what's going on with that. Due to the anomalous bilirubin total level and given my history, my doctor scheduled me for an abdominal CT scan.
1/25/2010 The abdominal scan included drinking a barium smoothie beforehand, and then getting an IV die infusion during the scan. The results came back negative for my abdomen-- no lesions found in those organs. No explanation for high bilirubin total level.
3/2/2010 Went in for my third CT scan, the second one for my chest. No smoothie or die infusion. A couple of days later my doctor called me back and said the lesions in my lungs were still there, and that he would be referring me to a lung specialist.
12/23/2009 I was called back for more x-rays. The x-ray of my shoulder looked fine (and the shoulder itself was starting to feel better), but the radiologist saw something they wanted to check out in my lung. They did 4 or 5 x-rays and I waited while those were read. I was hoping they'd come back and say, "OK, no problem," but instead they said, "we would like to do a CT scan," so my heart kind of dropped. They brought me over to do a CT scan of my chest, which is is like doing several hundred x-rays. That was it for the day, but it gave me a lot to think about. On the way home I went to see the movie Avatar, a good distraction.
12/24/2009 My doctor got back to me. The first X-Ray (CXR) showed one density; the more accurate CT scan, however, showed 8 small incidental densities. He said they're too small to easily go in with a needle and biopsy and see what they are right now. They want to follow up in 3 months with another scan and see if they're any bigger.
12/31/2009 My doctor did an exam (first time he'd seen me in person, at least for a long time) and scheduled some blood tests.
1/4/2010 Blood test panel, all results normal except bilirubin total levels somewhat high (1.6), with normal levels being 0.2-1.2.
1/18/2010 Second blood test panel. The bilirubin was slightly higher this time (1.9), my doctor is not sure what's going on with that. Due to the anomalous bilirubin total level and given my history, my doctor scheduled me for an abdominal CT scan.
1/25/2010 The abdominal scan included drinking a barium smoothie beforehand, and then getting an IV die infusion during the scan. The results came back negative for my abdomen-- no lesions found in those organs. No explanation for high bilirubin total level.
3/2/2010 Went in for my third CT scan, the second one for my chest. No smoothie or die infusion. A couple of days later my doctor called me back and said the lesions in my lungs were still there, and that he would be referring me to a lung specialist.
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