CD4 - Raining and Pouring

As you know, BJ was recently diagnosed with Lyme Disease. He's been taking his meds and he will go back to his doctor in mid-October for more blood work. He seems to be doing ok other than he just can't sleep worth a darn. Anyway....we were at his sister's a few weeks ago talking about his situation. She brings up the fact that she got a tick bite about 6 months or so ago and it left a big welt/rash on her and now she even has a scar. She recently went to her doctor for a "fluttering" heart. He put her on a monitor for 24 hours. Her heart didn't do anything so she just dismissed it. Her legs are achy and she's always tired. We suggested she get tested for Lyme Disease. Low and behold she is positive. I was so upset with her for not getting tested after the bite left that mark on her. EVERYONE knows (especially in our neck of the woods) how common this condition is. Plus, I didn't know that she wasn't seeing a cardiologist...just her PCP. Ugh! What kind of a quack doctor is not going to send her to a cardiologist? BJ and I jumped all over her for that and now she has an appointment with the cardiologist that we have seen in the past. Her condition sounds much worse than BJ's since she is having the heart issues. I bet she'll have to have the IV drug treatment. I just don't know how she let this go.

That's the rain part....now for the pouring part.

My sister (27) has recently been diagnosed with Chiari Malformation. Part of the base of her brain is "sliding" down into her spine. Her doctor told her that maybe in the future she would need surgery to help/correct the condition. This was less than 2 weeks ago. She started having more pain and dizziness so she called her doctor. He told her to set up an appointment right away with a neurosurgeon. She goes in on 10/15. They are most likely going to have to operate on my sister's skull. They will remove parts of it to let things "shift" into proper place. My sister lives in PA, 3 hours from me. There is a long history between us that I won't get into today. I love her dearly and I'm scared for her and her little kids. She has a 7 year old boy and a 16 month old girl. This is not a good time to be a sister in our family.

On to TTC stuff - I am on CD4 and my period is all but over. It was pretty much over yesterday. I don't know what it is lately or even if it's a good thing, but I like the shorter, lighter period. I've always been a moderate to heavy flow. I usually spot a day or 2 before it shows, bleed for 3-4 days and then spot for another day or 2. These past 2 cycles have been bleed for 2 days and be done. Hell yeah! However, I worry that I now have a hormonal imbalance and an inhospitable lining. Anyone have a way to reassure me that my lining is still good even though it's a lot lighter than usual? Should I be doing something to beef things up? That sounds great, doesn't it? And as much as we all hate our period coming, it seems awfully ironic to be wishing it were heavier. No wonder I can't get pregnant....I'm always contradicting myself so my body thinks I don't really want to BE pregnant. I know that's not true, but it's a thought running around this crazy head of mine sometimes.

I will start using the opk strips on CD9 and hope to get a positive and a really good chance this time around. But I always think that and it gets me nowhere. Ever the optimist. My temp was 98.0 this morning and that is high (for me) for pre-ovulation. I didn't sleep well and I woke up for about 20 minutes at one point during the night. I didn't get up, but I was definitely awake and tossing in bed. Not sure if I should keep that temp.

They are framing our house and I hope to be able to put some pictures up tomorrow. They should have most of it done by Monday because the HVAC is scheduled for rough in on Tuesday! Yay for progress!