11/2/10: I bet you thought I fell off the face of the planet

Can you believe that I have gone so quiet?  I can't.  But then...I am not quiet ever...so even though I've not been blogging, I'm still making plenty of noise.

But here's an update.

1. I went to a family wedding about a week and a half ago and I felt sooooo very loved!  It was my hubby's cousin that got married and we decided to share our news since we won't see the family for Christmas this year.  The response and the happiness for us just completely touched my heart.  It was amazing. 
2. I seriously hate my surgeon.  I thought I was getting over the hatred because his treatment and personality, lately, were such that I could say, yay, he's my surgeon.  But nope.  Even after telling him "I'm pregnant" he proceeded to prescribe something for me that could very seriously harm the baby.  I specifically asked him if what he was giving me was ok and he said "sure".
1. So he decided back in October that the cyst was not a cyst, afterall, but was probably dermatitis.  Claimed that it's not uncommon for incisions to be more sensitive to laundry soaps and body washes.  So he decided to not cut out the cyst (good) and prescribed said problematic cream that my ob/gyn last week said "STOP TAKING THAT RIGHT THIS VERY INSTANT".
2. That cream had been working.
3. Now that I'm not taking the cream, the "problem" is coming back.
4. So yesterday I called my dermatologist figuring maybe I could get an appt later this week or next week.  They had something available yesterday - and I was home sick.  So I took that appt.
5. My dermatologist thought this was amazing and proceeded to have every other dermatologist in the practice take a look and give an opinion.  Five different Dr.'s and all five thought
1. could be a GA
2. could be foliculitis
3. could be a microbacterial infection
4. could be something "worse"
6. Now I am supposed to let more time pass so as to get the prescription from the surgeon completely off my skin and out of my system and go back to see them next week.  They will probably do a culture and a biopsy next week.  They all noted the buildup of scar tissue at the place where this thing spent so much time "open" was very troubling.
7. And they all noted they can't believe my surgeon didn't do something more to figure out what's going on.  They wanted notes on name, practice, etc and I believe they might go somewhere with this information once we get to the bottom of it.
8. My Derm did tell me at the end of the appt that it is very treatable and to not be worried.  We just have to get to the bottom of it and with that prescription cream not quite out of my system yet, it could/would change culture and biopsy results, too.
3. I will seriously hurt my surgeon if my baby has a cleft pallet - which is what the cream is known for doing.
4. So, went in last week for ultrasound number 1.  Presumed to be seven weeks along.  Growth of the baby is not where it was expected to be.  So we are going back again this week to make sure growth is twice that of last week.  So long as it is, then everything is fine.
5. Our ultrasound tech did just about everything "wrong" in that appt that she could and so my hubby and I were sufficiently freaked out when we left.  Went straight home and called my cousin who is an ob/gyn.  And she was able to tell us all the positives based on what we knew.  Shape of the yolk sack was indicative of a good healthy pregnancy.  Size, heartbeat, etc, all pointed to me being a week "earlier" than one might expect.  She thought that all sounded well.  She said the notion of them putting me on progesterone is something they've quit doing in her practice - it won't hurt me or the baby but it's not doing anything, either.  She gave me some tidbits on prenatals as the one I chose as my favorite has been discontinued.  I am taking the one she liked the best now.  And we also talked about the amniocentesis debate.  My age says I should.  But will we do anything with the news?  Other than do our research and be prepared, no.  So why go through the risk...I can just do the research and be prepared.
6. I got my Texas A&M class ring resized and refinished.  It's down a size and a half!  It was nerve-wracking as I had to "send the ring in" and hope that it worked out well.  Just got the ring back and it fits perfectly!    In getting it refinished...they actually had to make me a whole new ring!  All for the price of shipping.  I love lifetime warranties!
7. What else.
8. Did I tell you I hate my surgeon?
9. Like seriously, I don't even want to get fills there anymore.
10. Oh yeah, cause...the last three or four times I was in for a fill or an unfill or dealing with this open wound thing...I would ask what my balance was.  I had paid half what I owed for surgery on the day of and was paying $100 on that balance each time I went in, plus my copay.  Well, they'd always say the only thing they can do is "count up how many payments I've made" and subtract that from my signed agreement price.  Finally, when I was there for the cyst removal (which luckily didn't happen now that we know it's not a cyst) they said, if you really want to know, call this number, it's the corporate office.
1. Corporate says, "what?  Of course they can check your balance.  We're gonna have to look into that."  And then she pulls up my account and says "hold on, something's wrong here, let me call you back".  I give her my number and we hang up.  After about five minutes, she calls me back.
1. "Yeah, we owe you $1080.00"  You don't owe us another penny and you should not have to pay another copay for the rest of the year.
2. Because of what they owed me...I shouldn't have been giving them a dime since May.  I had surgery in April!  That's how many overpayments there were.
11. So I hate my surgeon.  And I hate the front office staff.  All that's left is the RNP's.  And I hate one of those three, too.
12. I seriously want to be done with that office but that means finding someone else for fills.  We'll see what we see...
13. What else.
14. I have a cold right now.  I'm miserable.  Since I can't take any true "cold medicines" but have to take things piecemeal...it's just not the same.  Dayquil always works so well for me...and I can't take it.  Whah!  My "worst" pregnancy symptom is dizziness, so far, and this cold is making the dizziness a gazillion times worse!  Whah!
15. And that's about all I got.
16. Please pray for us that the baby's growth is where it should be based on what we saw last week.  We did see a heartbeat but it was slow.  If we were watching the heartbeat on the day it started, then we are fine, but....        It's so easy to get scared with this but my hubby and I are doing pretty good with staying upbeat about it all.  My cousin's words meant a lot to us.  Still, I think prayers are always great!