Sparkling Escapades Abroad with the Fairy Bra Mother

I’ve been hinting for a while that something medical was going on, but I didn’t want to share details until I had either good news or bad news to report.

At the end of July, I went to my primary care doctor because I thought I had a UTI. It wasn’t a UTI. They suspected kidney stones and sent me for a CT scan. No stones were found — but they did see a small mass in my right lung. It measured 5 mm. I was told not to worry about it, so I truly didn’t. I went home and carried on with life.

Then, at the beginning of September, I was suddenly hit with severe burning during urination — so bad I could barely go. After setting up most of my booth, I ended up in the ER. Again, no infection showed up, but there was a lot of blood in my urine. Another CT scan was done. Still no kidney stones — maybe I had passed one, they said. But the lung mass showed up again… and this time it had grown to 9 mm.

That’s when I started getting scared.

I made another appointment with my PCP, and he ordered a follow-up CT for mid-October. The day before my pre-op appointment, a nurse called and told me the scan was stable and hadn’t changed. But when we reviewed the actual report at the appointment, it showed the largest spot had grown to 1.2 cm — and now there were 3–4 additional measurable spots.

Around mid-August, I had also started experiencing shortness of breath and coughing.

Some of my other doctors were concerned and recommended I see a pulmonologist. We requested the CT images be sent over, but after a month of hearing nothing, I called. They still hadn’t received them. We followed up again. Finally, around Christmas, they called to schedule the first available appointment in January.

We arrived nervous… only to find out they still didn’t have the images.

So the pulmonologist ordered a new CT scan for mid-February, along with pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and scheduled a follow-up for the following week.

Last week I had the CT. Today I had the PFTs and the follow-up appointment. I was worried — but trying very hard not to be.
The PFTs were essentially normal, both with and without Albuterol. Then we met with the doctor — interestingly, he’s a traveling pulmonologist (I’d heard of traveling nurses, but not traveling doctors!). He was kind, knowledgeable, and originally from Florida.

And here is the good news…

All of the masses had shrunk considerably. The largest one is now about 4 mm.

He told us there is nothing to worry about. Because I’ve never smoked and there’s no family history of lung cancer, the overall risk is very low. He recommended a follow-up CT scan in one year — February 2027 — just to monitor.

We asked lots of questions, and he answered them thoroughly. We left feeling incredibly relieved.

I finally feel like I can breathe again — in more ways than one.

Thank you for the hugs, the prayers, and the quiet support. It means more than you know. 💛