Week 7

Where do I even begin. To say this week was horrendous is an understatement. I knew going into it that it was going to be a long and exhausting week but I wasn't prepared for all that happened. Eric had a REALLY large event going on at work that constituted him working close to 80 hours in a week. I braced myself for being mom/dad, chauffeur, chef, maid, coach, and then some. What I didn't expect was for shit to hit the fan starting Monday and turning my week upside down.

Let me back up; a couple of weeks ago in the midst of being adjusted by my chiropractor
she noticed a lump on my throat. She asked how long it had been there and I explained about 6ish weeks or so (end of November to beginning of December). I didn't think much of it because it didn't hurt. She instructed me to ask about it at my next appointment.

So Monday came and things were going normal. I had to take the kids to playcare, because I knew there was no way they'd sit through my first OB apptointment AND a sonogram. My appointment was at 9:30 and I arrived literally five minutes before (thanks to my crazy kids). I filled out the normal pre-pregnancy paperwork, and stats (weight, blood pressure; etc) and then had my sonogram. I saw the nugget for the first time measuring just a few days short of my calculated due date (but this is nothing new for my children). We discovered a cyst under the baby which again isn't unusual for me. In fact it is helping protect the baby until my placenta takes over but we still want to watch it to make sure it doesn't get to large. I then proceed to the exam room to speak with my Dr.; upon his exam we were chatting it up (I LOVE, and that is an understatement, my Dr he's been nothing but amazing for my last two pregnancies and I owe my children's life to him). So in conversation I remembered to ask him about our upcoming trip to Punta Cana in April. You see, this is no ordinary trip; I busted my tail and earned this trip fully paid for through my job as an online health and fitness coach with Beachbody. This was going to be Eric and I's first Beachbody trip together, a makeup honeymoon we didn't get and just simply some much over due time together. He immediately responded with NO; absolutely NOT because of the Ziki virus. Let's just say I almost lost it right there on the exam table. He then retracted and said we'll do some research, if it's on the CDC list then I'm going to go with no, if it's not then you are fine. I of course immediately started researching and panicking, may have shed a few tears, as I saw the Dominican Republic on the list.

As he continued his examination of me I mentioned the lump on my throat and about how long it had been there. He mentioned it was definitely enlarged more than normal and that he was slightly concerned. We had two options, we could start on an antibiotic to see if it went down or do an ultrasound. Since neither of us were too fond of doing and antibiotic so early in my first trimester, I opted for the ultrasound. They called down to the ultrasound folks and they were actually able to get me in that afternoon, which meant I would have to bring the boys. I then went down the hall for my fourth round of pregnancy blood work, which took forever, and I ended up being at the doctors office for about three hours. I left there, hurried to pick up the kids, fed them some lunch then came back to the hospital for my sonogram on my neck. In doing the ultra sound the lady confirmed that my right lymph node was moderately to significantly enlarged (2.5x3cm) which was in fact about 2-4 times the size of my other one.

You can imagine the amount of things going through my mind, the unknowns, the questions, the really not being able to communicate ANY of this to my husband because of how tied up he was. So Monday started in pure craziness.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning and I'm at church. The doctors office called right in the middle, so of course I answered it. The doctor wanted to put me on an older antibiotic for longer period of time (14 days) to see if it would decrease the swelling, and it wouldn't harm the baby. Thirty minutes later she called me back and said he just came out again and wanted me to call and give you a number to an ENT, (Ear, nose and throat doctor). If at the end of the fourteen days it has not gone down he wants you to see this ENT and potentially have it biopsied. She also mentioned that he was extremely hard to get into; to which I asked if I should go ahead and call now so that I could get in at the end of my fourteen days, just in case.

After church I called the ENTs office and it just so happened that he had a rare opening that next morning, so I of course hopped on that immediately. Thursday morning rolls around, I drop the kids off at playcare and headed to the appointment. I spent about an hour and half in the appointment with the doctor. He was one of the most kind and thorough doctors I have ever met and answered all of my questions and concerns with care. He didn't sugar coat anything and was very up front with me. We spent some time going over my history over the past several years and all of that. He then explained to me that because of the size of the lymph node; and some things I disclosed about my history that I had been experiencing that he was concerned with the possibility of this being lymphoma. He stated he wanted me to finish out the antibiotic that we had started and if things hadn't changed what would probably need to happen next.

First and foremost is the safety of myself and the baby and that will always be his main concern. If after the fourteen days it does not subside, he is going to want to do a biopsy. He explained the three types; local, needle and open biopsy. Due to my blood clotting disorder and the fact that I'm on Lovanox the local was out of the question. The needle biopsy would not give him enough tissue to be able to grow the cells needed to determine the type (hodgkins vs non hodgkins lymphoma) so therefore that meant we would have to do an open biopsy. This is extremely risky because I have a blood clotting disorder and we would have to wait until my second trimester for the best interest of the baby and myself. He explained that basically the difference between hodgkins and non hodgkins lymphoma would essentially boil down to how we would treat the cancer.

Thankfully Eric was home after this appointment and we were able to discuss completely everything that had happened the past several days. To say that I was an emotional wreck is probably an understatement. That week ended and I was emotionally, physically, mentally drained. So for now we play the waiting game.....

Nutrition and Exercise
One of the things I promised I would document on my journey is my continued effort with my nutrition and exercise. As a health and fitness coach I pride myself on being 100% real and raw. I'll be COMPLETELY transparent in that this week NOTHING was on point. My nutrition and my exercise were pretty much non existent, minus a yoga session I attempted to calm my nerves. My nutrition was probably the worst it has been in years. I am a recovering emotional eater; you throw in all that had happened and the amount of exhaustion I was feeling not only from growing a tiny human but raising three tiny humans and lets just say I didn't make the wisest choices. Thankfully Thursday I sat down and mapped out what the next week would look like and went back to my Whole30 Meal Plan to help me refocus my attention and energy. I only gained 2 lbs this week but way more than what I was wanting this early in the pregnancy.