update:
platelet count is high: 412.
monocytes are low: 0.23
cortisol AM is high: 23.
total iron binding capacity is high: 409.
ENT numbed my nose and scoped me to look at my tonsils, they said my tonsils look enlarged but normal for someone my age and they see no reason for biopsies or further evaluation..but the appointment with ENT was before my brain MRI.
MRI:
Mildly prominent diffusion-weighted signal within the upper cervical lymph nodes and lacrimal glands without pathologic enlargement or suspicious morphologic change.,
Suggest correlation with clinical and laboratory results to exclude occult hematologic malignancy.
Multiple small suboccipital and intraparotid lymph nodes and the lacrimal glands retain their normal morphology but appear atypically hyperintense on the diffusion-weighted sequences.
No pathologic enhancement.
Internal Medicine Note for the MRI:
No intracranial findings to explain headache. Continue with ENT evaluation regarding lymph node findings. No change in our current plan.
Leukemia/Lymphoma Immunopheno Blood test, note from Internal Medicine:
Reassuring flow cytometry, no abnormal findings for leukemia/lymphoma in the blood however this does not exclude
diseases confined to lymph nodes or not spread to blood stream. Continue with current evaluation.

Still no clear answers for why i’ve been sick for so long, still no official diagnosis/diagnoses.

Also, yesterday i got a call from my local GI’s office (not affiliated with Mayo). They want me to come in as soon as possible to discuss biopsy results from my colonoscopy/endoscopy. So i’ll be seeing my local GI this coming Monday (02/19/2024) at 9:30 AM to go over those results. I’m not sure why they couldn’t give me the results over the phone when they were previously able to give me test results over the phone regarding my stool samples. And i know that if there was nothing to discuss, if they did not find anything, then they could simply tell me that over the phone. So, i don’t know what i’ll be hearing on Monday and honestly i am a little nervous even though i’m still trying my best to hold onto “don’t worry until you know for a fact that it’s something to worry about”.

People in my every-day life are minimizing things and just because my ENT doctor cleared me before i did the MRI, before the MRI lymph node findings, they automatically believe that whatever i’m going through must be something not-so-serious even though it all feels pretty serious to me. I’m tired of having these symptoms and being sick for so long, but i’m especially tired of people looking at me as though i’m just a mentally ill disabled woman and so therefore maybe all of my physical symptoms are just from stress even though i’ve been feeling worse and worse as time goes on. I’ve been sick since October 2023 and none of what i’ve been going through is “normal” and i have a hard time believing that all of this is just from stress..these findings of my lymph nodes or the high and low blood work levels or the fact that my GI wants to see me as soon as possible, etc. But what do i know? it’s just my body. it’s just my health. it’s just me being so sick for nearly 5-6 months.

ugh. i don’t mean to sound rude or disrespectful to the people that i love and care for, the people in my everyday life. i just wish people could somehow truly see what i feel and understand why it hurts to be told by them that they think this could all just be from my mental health. and i know i’m not the only woman to ever experience something like this. a lot of women aren’t taken seriously when it comes to their physical health and it’s so sad.

it’s not like i want bad news. it’s not like i want a bad diagnosis. i just want factual answers, and for my loved ones to not make assumptions based off of my mental health rather than the laundry list of physical symptoms that have been impacting my every day life. hopefully that makes sense..