Today has been a very long day, but there is also a very important detail about my outfit that you need to know about before I continue. I was wearing one of my very favorite Tshirts which is a frank turner band shirt with the phrase "NOT DEAD YET" in big black letters on the front. I brought it a.) because I love it and b.) I felt that it would be very motivational to wear on my longest day. Now when I walked down the stairs MY dad started cracking up because it's very very appropriate for the day kinda shirt although was a little concerned that it wouldn't go over well at the clinic. Everyone I came in contact with LOVED it. The Woman who called me back to get my blood drawn could barely hold her laughter back asking me where in the world I got that shirt, where she could get one and that she loved the attitude. More than several patients asked me where I got it or laughed and said they needed one. All the nurses thought it was great as well. So just, in general, that put me in a better mood. A little humor tends to go a long way in these waiting rooms and it was greatly Appreciated. 
(Special Thanks to Michael for getting me the shirt when my health started going wack, its absolutely the best)

It started with Testing. It started early morning but I was fasting for the tests so I couldn't eat anything at all. I went to get my first tests done which they had all ordered back to back so they could get most of my blood drawn in one fell swoop. They took me back and I warned the lab technician that I was a very hard stick and she went and grabbed some heating packs so we could get my veins to show up more. After trying that and getting my vein to work so they could stick me they figured out that it was angled a weird way. She called over 2 other people to help her find and stick the needle in my vein but they only had to poke me once which as absolutely amazing. They took 18 Vials of blood from me at this point. When I was done I was rather lightheaded and apparently changed color according to the technician. She offered me some apple juice and crackers but I couldn't accept because I still had other tests that I needed to be fasting for later that day. 

My next test was a test that started with a K but I forgot to write it down/ I probably couldn't spell it anyway. Essentially they were testing for the hormones and things in my flight or fight system andif they were hyperactive. I went in and they hooked me up to an IV and then took some blood. They then had me lay down in a dark room hooked up to this IV under some warm pre-heated blankets for 30 mins till I reached a "resting heart rate" during this time I was hooked up to a heart and blood pressure monitor and still on the IV as well. After they took my Vitals they had me get into this weird harness thingy. It was green and connected to the ceiling. I was so if I fell over or fainted I'd fall back and it would catch me like a hammock. They had me stand and I talked to the two nurses there about the crazy rainstorm that had hit Scottsdale the night before. Apparently on one of the nurses way home saw two powerlines get knocked over and fall between two cars. My hands fell asleep during this test as well but it went relatively well, the drew more blood and took more vitals. At this point they had taken a total of 23 vials of blood from me.

After that test, it was now almost one and I hadn't been about to eat anything yet so I was so hungry. Mom packed some peanut butter sandwiches so I scarfed that down but was still hungry and so was everyone else so we went to the MAYO cafeteria. It was like an episode of scrubs how everything was set up and it was actually a little surreal. I also got a cup of Orange jello cause were at a hospital so how could I not. ('ll see if I can figure out how to uplaod a photo)

After lunch, we went up to the second floor to go check in for my endocrinology appointment to go check up on the tumor on my pituitary gland. In the waiting room, I met a family from New Mexico specifically from the area my mom grew up in. There were lot's of conversations about The Gadston highschool that they all went to and common new Mexico things like pretending we had no clue what rain was (honestly that' the most wholesome thing all desert people share.) The Guy that was there for the medical things was a young cop who had lupus. He as having a really bad flare up and was told to come to MAYO fro treatment, he has been diagnosed for years. It was really nice to talk to him about symptoms because lupus and whatever I have seem to have a lot in common. It was also really cute cause his mom and grandma were also there with him.
They called us back for the endocrinologist and I really liked the doctor. She was an older lady and very kind and understanding. She thought that according to the labs it didn't look like the tumor was causing any of my symptoms but that I haven't had an MRI in over a year so she wanted to take a look at it. She was very kind and understanding of my concerns and was overall great. We waited to hear from scheduling to see if they got approval for the MRI they finally told me that they'd try to schedule it tomorrow instead of today so we got to go home.
When we got home I napped and then took a bubble bath with wayyy to many bubbles. I really hope that I get into the MRI tomorrow before we leave. I'm gonna head off to bed for now
Taylor <3