Patrick and I got to thinking about what was the best way to share what has been happening in our world over the last couple of months, and decided that the easiest way to give some information would be to share some of the new words entering our vocabulary and some of the words that have been there, but have become more important to our little world right now.  We are dividing these Vocabulary lessons out by family member and if we decide to continue to do this, we will do it by month as well.

So to get started, here are the terms that entered our world or became more important directly related to me, Aunesty Janssen:

1. exophytic – growing outward; in oncology, proliferating externally or on the surface epithelium of an organ or other structure in which the growth originated – or as our doctor described to us, it is like a golf ball sitting on the edge of the green…
2. vascularity – the state of blood vessel development and functioning in an organ or tissue
3. renal – pertaining to the kidney
4. atypical – Not normal, irregular, abnormal, not conforming to a type, abnormal in presentation, morphology, appearance or behavior
5. iron saturation levels – Transferrin -iron saturation percentage (TS%). TS% is an indication of your ability to bind iron and transport it to various sites such as the bone marrow or liver. Transferrin-Iron Saturation Percentage Normal Range: 25-35% (mine is 7%)
6. adrenal insufficiency – not a new term, but has become important because of the pregnancy and being in the 3rd trimester – refers to the inability of the adrenal glands to produce a normal quantity of hormones
7. newborn adrenal insufficiency – or “crisis” is important to recognize because of its potentially life-threatening implications. Crisis occurs when the adrenal is prevented from producing normal amounts of its vital hormones. Symptoms and signs of adrenal crisis are varied and nonspecific. In infancy these include lethargy, vomiting, poor appetite and failure to thrive.
8. radiation levels from CT while pregnant – are too high for my doctors to feel comfortable, so all scans are put off until the day after baby “r” is delivered
9. recurrent cavernous hepatic hemangioma – not new term to me, but new in the past few months – is a noncancerous liver tumor made of widened (dilated) blood vessels

Those are pretty much the most important terms for the past couple of months, and as we learn more and our vocabulary increases, we will keep you updated.

Now on to:

Patrick’s Terms – Gabe’s Terms – Angel’s Terms – Becca’s Terms – Stevie’s Terms – Carson’s Terms