Patience is Virtue

A lifetime of rocky health...

One solid year of a weakened immune system and increasing pain...

Three months of constant testing and weekly doctor's visits...

All of this has lead to one lesson that I have yet to grasp completely but am getting closer each time, the lesson of patience and trust.

They say you don't ask the Lord to grant you patience if you aren't ready for tough times. He knows the only way for a person to become patient is to learn by waiting, and waiting, and waiting. 

Thankfully, my wait was fairly short and we all are breathing a sigh of relief. 

Yesterday was my follow-up with Dr. V, my Hematologist/Oncologist. We had the MRI results and the blood tests we ordered during our last visit. 

MRI echoed the CT as for the size of my spleen (looks about the size of a liver...normally the size of a fist) and that the "spot" covering the majority of my spleen is a cyst. The Radiologist who reviewed my MRI results labeled it as a "basic splenic cyst" and though they have to consider a parasitic cyst, they are pretty sure its not based on other indicators. Between the CT scan and MRI the cyst has slightly reduced in size and is beginning to calcify! (which apparently is positive) :) :) :) :)

So....we are going to let time and the Lord reduce this puppy and go for ultrasound check ups every 3 months.

~There is a very small cyst on my liver but according to both the Radiologist and Dr. V, that is of no concern especially with its size.~

As for how all of this came about...

We ran some blood tests to check for past infections as well as other illnesses and all came back negative except the Epstein-Barr virus which is the guilty party for Mononucleosis. Our bodies create antibodies as a sort of memory file for viruses and these antibodies can be identified in a blood screen. This test is called a Mono-Spot test or a heterophil test, named after the heterophil antibody, which can be detected up to a year after infection.

~We were also able to rule out Hepatitis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lymphoma as they sometimes cause a false Mono-Spot test. Some of these illnesses have been on our watch list the past year so we are breathing an extra sigh of relief to know those are definitely not to be concerned with~

I suspected Mono last summer when I had a month's worth of strep, another month of fatigue and a very slow recovery. Unfortunately, I let my "strep" go two weeks without seeking conventional medicine so by the time I got to Dr. L, he saw my tonsils kissing and skipped the strep culture by just prescribing antibiotics. I too went in thinking it was strep but all the symptoms that I had attributed to the cleanse were actually the symptoms that differentiate strep from mono. Dr. L and I talked about the possibility of mono but he ended up just calling it strep.

Sometimes mono can cause Splenomegaly (an enlarged spleen) and according to Dr. V, this can also cause a splenic cyst as well.

Time is the healer of all wounds they say. Okay, so maybe that's more about loss and heartbreak but it works in this case too. Dr. W and Dr. V both said that my spleen won't go back to a normal size but that it should follow suit as the cyst reduces.

I almost forgot to share my best news! My white blood and platelet counts were up from my last CBC!!! Seems like this last month has done wonders for my system and I'm so excited to see where we stand in September :).

Praising God for His blessings and patience toward me as I cried out to Him in fear the last three months.

God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good.