January 7, 2026

 Happy New Year! Hopefully this year will be filled with more good news than last year.... 

Today I had my trek to VCU. This was an EARLY day as my first appt was at 7am. Physical Therapy. No big deal.

PT appt. This therapist is hard to read. She's super nice, but her facial expressions are non-existent and her voice is soft and often has no emotions in it. I do like her, she's just kinda hard to "read". She noted my huge improvement in my range of motion. I told her that's because I've resumed normal activity. I just needed the "release" to be able to move, and what I could and could not do with these expanders. I have been taking it as easy as I can because I didn't want to mess them up or anything. She told me to continue what I'm doing and even cancelled the appt I had scheduled for the following week. Just to use "tolerance" as a guide. She said a month follow-up should be sufficient. That's good news in my book!

I still have some range of motion issues to work thru, not that things hurt, but more like it feels like the expanders cause some restrictions in my movements. I'll continue to work thru things as best as I can. 

So, I had a couple hours to kill before my lab appt, so I ran down the street to fill up my truck. Make good use of the spare time. I went on back to the office and figured I'd just work and wait until my next appt. 

No sooner did I get settled into a corner seat, they called me back to do my labs. Yay! The labs are no big deal, plug into my port, draw blood.. no problem. I go back to the waiting room expecting to still have a long wait period before the office visit, but nope. They called m back for that appt early too! 

Sara and I go over the usual... anything new to report? Side effects? Etc... Luckily I'm not having the gastro side effects or anything. I'm just still very tired. I suspect that's from the immunotherapy... it's caused my Thyroid to be out of whack and that can make one very tired. Labs did show my Thyroid numbers are still going the wrong way, so she increased my prescription again. Ugh.. She took another picture of the rash on my leg, just to monitor it. She's pretty certain it's from the immunotherapy. 

Off I go to the North Hospital downtown. I swear the receptionist there has something against Stony Point patients. Hopefully the renovation at Stony Point gets done soon. The receptionist always acts snooty when I check in... "Oh, you're from Stony Point" with an attitude when she validates my valet parking ticket. I always tell her I'm early but since I'm not from the area, there's nothing for me to do in between these appts so I'll be in the corner working. She always asks if they sent me over. Like, what did I just say? I know I'm early. I will sit and do my thing and wait for my appt. No big deal for me. Luckily, they were able to get be back to do my infusion early too. Yay for things going my way! I do enjoy the brief chats with the parking attendants. They really seem to enjoy their jobs and are supper friendly and chatty. 

The nurses back in the back are always so kind and friendly. This visit they even paid me a sweet compliment - they said they love it when I come in because I'm so upbeat, positive and happy. That was really nice to hear. 😊 It's because I have the faith that God's in control. He's got this. They always offer blankets, snacks and drinks. I come prepared with my snacks and water jug. Some days, like this one, I did accept a warm blanket. They are still trying to get the air flow regulated in this area so it was a bit chilly today. 

With all appointments for the day taken care of, I was able to get back home at a decent time and have supper with my love. 💗