Wading into new waters

I haven't been able to post since my last one...not because I haven't had the time....but because I couldn't figure out where to go from there. Once you've poured out your heart--essentially to the unknown--where do you go? It seemed almost silly to write about my weekend at the beach house, or the major shopping trip I did- at the teacher store-or the curtain rods we purchased....

So, I have decided, for now at least, to give you an update about this new world I am beginning to wade into. Here's to hoping I'll just be dipping my toes in, and not diving head first into these murky waters....

I went for my blood work. To check hormone levels and other various things that I don't really understand. It was a little bit of a challenge--the directions were easy- get it done on the third day of your cycle, but, of course, things were a tad messier. My third day turned out to be a Sunday. So, after much thought, I took a risk and went on my second day. Guess it was the right decision because the results came back.

Apparently all is normal except (and here is where we enter this new world of words I don't know) my prolactin levels. Which were high. How high I didn't ask, but high enough that I have to go back again for more blood work to see if it is consistently high or if it was a fluke. Prolactin, for those of you that don't know (I certainly didn't!) is a hormone that women secrete to stimulate milk production. My doctor actually asked me (I'm assuming he was joking) if I had recently had a child. Clearly, no.

He told me not to panic (which I didn't-then) and explained some reasons why it might have been high (none of which applied to me) and asked me to go back again for blood work (no big deal). I hung up feeling good. We are getting somewhere. Figuring things out. If this is what it is, some hormone that can potentially be treated with some pills, well, that seems manageable!

Then I went to google. Which makes me think that sometimes having so much information at your fingertips is NOT a good thing. I'm not normally one of those people to self diagnose or freak out over health issues. However, reading the words "tumor" and "pituitary gland" definitely made me panic just a bit. But my doctor had said don't panic, and he also called me by a nickname, which I liked, so I relaxed and decided to wait to really panic until I get more blood work done and we figure out if this is a fluke, or something more serious.

So, I have one more lesson to add to my life's education: prolactin = breast milk. Now if that is only a question on Final Jeopardy when I happen to be a contestant, then I'll be all set!