@bonitav, @hopeful33250, I want to update as I promised! Retina Doc is thrilled that the treatment for my leakage and edema were successful. He again said that I respond well to the Lucentis injections. Now, I'll hope for another year or longer to be treatment free. I do have an appointment for check-up every 3 months to stay on top of it.
Today I went to my ophthalmologist. He checked if my prescription was filled correctly, which it was. And then did some more vision checks and has written a new prescription for right eye. And the good part for me is he is not charging me for it 🙂
Rosemary.

Thanks Teresa and Rosemary @hopeful33250, @rosemarya, and all who provided support during my brother's illness. He passed away soon after I last responded here. I had been able to visit him before the stroke but didn't get there in time after the stroke to see him alive.
After returning home, developed another large floater in my left eye. Off to the retina specialist who said there were more occlusions in the same visual blood vessel. Laser treatment cleared the occlusions. Didn't ask too many questions this visit as my regular dr wasn't available and have appt with my regular dr in August. Was glad the floater went away. Also have cataract in that eye and need to schedule surgery.

The MRI for the pancreatic cyst showed no indication of a cyst at all. GI scheduling an MRE.. no idea how that differs.

Re Crohns... has been difficult to assess the effectiveness of Stelara. Have begun to have nausea after eating very much. Also, had a followup visit with the vascular dr to discuss the results of the CT scan with contrast. He is amazed at the amount of collateral blood flow I have throughout my abdominal area. No procedures or surgeries necessary. So relieved! The abdominal aorta bypass I had in 1998 is totally occluded but am saved by the collaterals. I have Peripheral Vascular Disease so, as my daughters say, I'm a walking bionic woman.. 🙂 Seriously, after the episode at the Mayo here in Jax, in 2011 and survived an 8-hour surgery after a stent placement ruined my left brachial artery and had to have a graft from my thigh, the surgeon told my daughters they needed to "study" me because they thought I wouldn't breath on my own again... glad that's behind me.

Apologies for all the details and that I haven't kept in touch, but since I haven't replied in a while, though it better to cover all the bases.
Hope you all are continuing to do well and are happy with your treatment(s). Wishing you the best and hoping you have a great day! Bonnie.

Hi Bonnie, @bonitav

Thank you for the great follow-up note. I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your brother. Were you close in age to him? Losing a sibling is very difficult.

Regarding your vision - I'm glad to hear that the floater is gone now - they can be both annoying and concerning but I'm glad to hear that there was a treatment available and you are doing better now.

I am sorry to hear that eating is not going well for you. Could it be a result of the new med?

You were wondering about the MRE, I found an explanation on Mayo's website regarding this, http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/magnetic-resonance-elastography/basics/definition/prc-20013647. Hope this helps you understand how it differs from a MRI.

You have certainly been through a great deal over these past few months and that is difficult both physically and emotionally. Take care of yourself and keep in touch with us.

Teresa

@bonitav, Bonnie, I am sorry to hear about your brother's death. When my big brother died from a stroke, I was not able to be there either. He was 20 months older than me.

I have been fortunate that my eye occlusion is responding well to the injection treatments. I needed another treatment last week since the inflammation and swelling is slowly returning. Next visit and scan in 8 weeks. They decided that for now, that I would not benefit from the laser treatment. I hope that you will get your questions all answered when you see your regular doctor.

No need for any apology, ever. We are here to listen and to learn together. And to lend listening ears to each other:-)
Best wishes as you continue with all of your health investigations.

Hugs,
Rosemary

Thanks Teresa @hopeful33250 for your supportive message, as you always do.

Believe it or not, this is my 3rd attempt to respond to your message; not sure what happens when it disappears, so excuse if this is a duplicate.. 🙂

My brother and I were close because he was 7 and I was 10 when our mother died. Our father was a double amputee (Buerger's Disease) so I was instrumental in helping care for my brother and helping with the housework. Thank goodness our Dad was a great cook.... from his wheelchair. After our Dad died when I was 15 and my brother 12, we were moved from relatives to friends, etc. When I went away to college, felt very guilty as I had been instrumental in helping him with his homework, etc. He later joined the Army.

Thanks for the link to the MRE article. After reading that, realized I probably have had that test.. sometime ago. Not pleasant but hope it provides my GI some helpful info. Will keep you posted when I get the results of that test... which may take some time based on my recent experience.

I hope things are going well with you. I know you provide much support to many and for that, you are indeed a blessing.
Thanks again.

Bonnie

Thanks Rosemary @rosemarya for your supportive message.

I do understand the loss of a sibling especially when you're close and can't be there before their passing. Today I'm thinking about my brother as I so want to call him or have him call, as we normally would.

Happy to hear your vision treatments are working for you and hope that continues! Yes, I think I will learn more when I see my regular retina specialist next month. I'm so grateful for the expansion of treatments for vision problems.
Take care and thanks again!
Bonnie.

Hi Bonnie @bonitav

Thanks for your response and your kind words. I'm sorry that you experienced the disappearing message - I'm glad that you persisted and got your message through!

Wow...you and your brother were very close - I can understand better the profound loss you must feel. He was like a brother as well as a son to you, given your history of your taking caring for him as you both were growing up.

I will be looking forward to hearing from you regarding the results of your MRE, I hope that it goes well for you and helps your doctor find some answers.

I recently had a repeat MRI for the pancreatic cysts and while they looked unchanged, there was a lesion on the liver. According to the radiologist it looked benign, however, I'm going to look into that further.

Keep in touch,

Teresa

@hopeful33250, Teresa, You are absolutely right to stay on top of your health 🙂 I hope that you get another good report.
Rosemary

Thanks, @rosemarya

Yes, Rosemary, if there is one thing we learned from Katherine - it's to be proactive and our own advocate!

Teresa