blarg!

so this has apparently turned into a whiny, medical blog. if and when i deign to post. it really feels like there's not much going on, even though there occasionally is. work is sapping my energy, so that i barely feel like functioning or doing anything when i get home. i'm lucky if i get around to picking up my dirty laundry & putting it in the new hamper i bought last month to replace the one i'd had since i was 10.
last monday i went to the gi doctor for a 6 month check-up because his nurse had called to tell me it was time. when i got there both the doc & the nurse asked what i was being seen for/why i came into the clinic. uh, you tell me? i only set up the appointment because i was told it was time & i figured it'd be good to discuss the weird lab results from the rheumatologist.
okay, so i hopped up on the table, he taps my belly & listens with the stethoscope, tells me he thinks i should continue on the remicade infusions since it doesn't seem i've developed any antibodies to it.
wait! but i do have an allergic reaction, which is why dr. f at the cancer center only lets me infuse at 60 (mg/mL- i think that's the right measurement).
at that comment dr. t looks at me like that's the first time he's ever heard that. so apparently, dr. f doesn't dictate anything about my every 7 week visit or when i had an allergic reaction to the freakin' benadryl or breaking out in hives when they sped up the infusion on 4 separate occasions, which is why they no longer go above 60. not to mention the fact that i had told him myself when i was feeling so sick all of last september & they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. he just shrugged & said that there didn't seem to be any reason to stop the remicade.
then he told me the good news. oh happy day. because i've had colitis for 10 years (diagnosed in june of 1999), i'm due for a colonoscopy. after 10 years, people have an insanely higher risk of colon cancer (something like 50 or 60%, i'll have to look it up because i can't remember the exact number). i've had my share of flexible sigmoidoscopies over the years, i think 6, but never a full colonoscopy. and after having a sedated flex sig when i was in the hospital in september 2007, i am never going to get another unsedated one. they are extremely painful in comparison. not that they usually do unsedated colonoscopies. at least at mercy, unlike the gi clinic where i work, they only use half-lytely instead of the whole gallon bowel prep.
i scheduled it for september because there's so much going on in the next few months: at work, blogher, s moving, my brother's wedding, possibly getting a puppy in that timeframe (squeee!!) probably should just get it over & done with, but there's no real rush.
what a thing to look forward to in the very near future. lucky me!