Just to recap and get everyone up to speed:
5/26/09 Hysteroscopic Myomectomy
7/6/09-7/24/09 The painful & heavy period from hell!
8/25/09 Hysteroscopic Myomectomy. That's not a typo, I had 2 surgeries in three months time. If only my garden grew things as well as my uterus grows fibroids.
9/4/09 Deep Vein Thrombosis of lower right calf.
9/20/09 I was watching Mystery Diagnosis and realized I have Non-Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia 9/21/09 E-mailed my Reproductive Endocrinologist to tell her I have NC-CAH.
9/25/09 Post-Op check up & blood work. The idiot endocrinology resident insisted I had Cushing's not NC-CAH.
They sent me to the lab and took 6 vials of blood. And I was given an orange jug for the 24 hour urine test.
10/5/09 Shockingly bad news
Renal Failure
Well I had a complete blood workup done and thats what the results apparently pointed to. My primary care physician told me that I was anemic, had no vitamin D, am diabetic, and apparently I have very poor kidney function. When I asked what that meant she said I was at risk for renal failure. Which I automatically translated to mean I would need dialysis and/or a kidney transplant. I think I went into shock at that point because although normally very vocal, my brain just sort of shut down and I couldn't speak. It was at this point that my primary care physician told me that I should forget about ever becoming pregnant because it would probably kill me and if I lived my baby would be put at risk of various birth defects, such as low birth weight, heart disease, and other things.
When I say I have no vitamin D I mean zip, zilch, nada. She put me on a presciption dosage of Vitamin D, 50,000 iu's twice a week.The average over the counter vitamin D caplet has 400 iu's.
Yes, that's right I am as mouthy and brassy in real life as I am on line. I believe in asking doctors questions. But I was truly stunned.
Not sure about the rest of that day. I know I called my mom on my way home; but she wasn't there. When I got home I just kicked off my shoes, curled up on the sofa in the den, tried not to think about Julia Roberts character in Steel Magnolias, and went to sleep until dinner.
10/10/09 My repro. endo's nurse called me at 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon to tell me they need to do more blood work. FYI - A call from a doctors office on a Saturday is NEVER a good thing.
10/15/09 I go into Atlanta for the bloodwork and this time I write down the test names so I can check them online. Guess what? They are just now testing for NC-CAH. Apparently the 6 vials of blood they took to test for Cushing's all came back negative. The 3 vials of blood they took Thursday were to test for Non-Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.
Son of a gun, turns out I do know my body pretty well. Imagine that? After only 43 years I know my body better than some young pup medical resident.
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This was of course in the midst of my computer dying and the Great Georgia flood of 2009. Meteorologists have said that this was not one of those piddly little 100 year floods; but a 500 year flood. Hence there being no previous record of a flood this bad. Seventeen counties have been declared a state of emergency including the one in which I live.
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Also during this time my dads neurologist put him on Mirapex for his Parkinson's Disease. Guess what? One of the side effects of Mirapex is visual, olfactory, and auditory hallucinations! Talk about the treatment being worse than the disease. Mom and I thought "OMG! He's gone senile overnight and it's getting so bad so quick." We didn't know what to do. We finally thought to call his doc as this was a new medication. Sure enough, he told us to cut dads dosage. Literally overnight his hallucinations ended.
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The really disturbing thing is my primary care physician, Dr. Sharon Haynes wait and see attitude about my kidneys and the diabetes. This is serious stuff! My doctor has NOT put me on any diabetes medication or insulin, has not recommended a change in diet AND has not laid out a treatment plan for my kidneys. WTF!?!?! Until a cousin who is a retired nurse, visited me on Saturday, I didn't even know that I should be seeing a nephrologist for my kidneys.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Diabetes Increases Risk of Eye Disease
Roughly 40% of people diagnosed with diabetes in the United States have some form of diabetic retinopathy. Retinopathy refers to non-inflammatory damages to the retina of the eye, in most cases, due to problems with blood supply. The retina is a tissue located at the back of the eye and sensitive to light. Retinopathy leads to decreased vision and eventually blindness.
Diabetics also has higher risk of other eye problems such as cataracts (loss of transparency in the eye lenses) and glaucoma (build-up of fluid pressure in the eye).
Early Retinopathy
Early retinopathy is also known as nonproliferative retinopathy.
Poor blood sugar control in diabetic patients makes small blood vessels in the eye (called capillaries) become particularly fragile and develop weakened spots called micro aneurysms. Fluid is then leaked onto the macula, which is responsible for precise vision. This problem is referred to as macular edema. As the disease progresses, some of the damaged blood vessels are closed off, blocking the blood supply to parts of the retina. No new blood vessels grow during this stage of retinopathy.
Later Stage Retinopathy
During the later stages of retinopathy, new capillaries grow in the eye to supply blood to the areas that are damaged. This is why this later stage of retinopathy is often referred to as proliferative retinopathy.
These new capillaries are very fragile. Bleeding from these new capillaries can severely reduce vision capacity and cause blindness. In some cases, bleeding can lead to retinal detachment and the retina is detached from the wall of the eye.
Risk Factors for Diabetic Retinopahy
According to the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (WESDR), 3.6% of type-1 diabetes and 1.6% type-2 diabetes were legally blind in the study.
The main risk factor for developing diabetic retinopathy is the duration of diabetes. Among patients with type-1 diabetes in the WESDR study, 8% develop any form of diabetic retinopathy at 3 years after diagnosed with diabetes, 25% at 5 years and 80% at 15 years.
On average, it takes 15 years to go from the first stage of diabetic to blindness if it is not properly treated.
Early Detection of Retinopathy Can Prevent Blindness
Early stage of retinopathy is treatable. If you have diabetes, you should have your eyes checked every year. If you have some difficulty seeing clearly, seek an ophthalmologist immediately. Good control of blood sugar levels, for instance through metformin use or lifestyle modifications, also prevents the onset and slows down the progression of retinopathy.
Diabetics also has higher risk of other eye problems such as cataracts (loss of transparency in the eye lenses) and glaucoma (build-up of fluid pressure in the eye).
Early Retinopathy
Early retinopathy is also known as nonproliferative retinopathy.
Poor blood sugar control in diabetic patients makes small blood vessels in the eye (called capillaries) become particularly fragile and develop weakened spots called micro aneurysms. Fluid is then leaked onto the macula, which is responsible for precise vision. This problem is referred to as macular edema. As the disease progresses, some of the damaged blood vessels are closed off, blocking the blood supply to parts of the retina. No new blood vessels grow during this stage of retinopathy.
Later Stage Retinopathy
During the later stages of retinopathy, new capillaries grow in the eye to supply blood to the areas that are damaged. This is why this later stage of retinopathy is often referred to as proliferative retinopathy.
These new capillaries are very fragile. Bleeding from these new capillaries can severely reduce vision capacity and cause blindness. In some cases, bleeding can lead to retinal detachment and the retina is detached from the wall of the eye.
Risk Factors for Diabetic Retinopahy
According to the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (WESDR), 3.6% of type-1 diabetes and 1.6% type-2 diabetes were legally blind in the study.
The main risk factor for developing diabetic retinopathy is the duration of diabetes. Among patients with type-1 diabetes in the WESDR study, 8% develop any form of diabetic retinopathy at 3 years after diagnosed with diabetes, 25% at 5 years and 80% at 15 years.
On average, it takes 15 years to go from the first stage of diabetic to blindness if it is not properly treated.
Early Detection of Retinopathy Can Prevent Blindness
Early stage of retinopathy is treatable. If you have diabetes, you should have your eyes checked every year. If you have some difficulty seeing clearly, seek an ophthalmologist immediately. Good control of blood sugar levels, for instance through metformin use or lifestyle modifications, also prevents the onset and slows down the progression of retinopathy.
Rude Questions From Strangers
Lately my mom has been perturbed by acquaintances and strangers asking her a weird question. My mom is 79 and my father is 81. My mom could pass for 50 in a heartbeat. My dad on the other hand is in the advanced stages of Parkinson's. He no longer walks but shuffles with the aide of a rollator. Sometimes he drools, and he has trouble speaking. Yet they manage to go to the local senior center three days a week. Last week a rather rude woman, whom she had only spoken to once or twice before asked if that man she came with every day was her father or her husband? Mom was aghast! When she told me I was horrified at the womans rudeness and audacity. It seems to me and mother agreed, that she should have quietly asked one of my mothers closer friends at the center. More importantly, why did she need to know?
Has Fear of H1N1 (Swine Flu) Changed Your Routine?
From Altar Wine to Beer Pong, Flu Fears Curb Life’s Rituals
Yolanda Ray works in the kind of place where people “really love to eat and snack.” Colleagues are quick to tempt one another, she says, with homemade dishes and sugary treats laid bare for the taking on desktops. Before the age of swine flu, the arrangement was fine. But now, employees at Rudd Equipment in Louisville, Ky., have new company-wide directives: No sharing of unwrapped candy. Cakes and pies must be cut and wrapped at home. Food needs to be served with utensils. She added, “Sometimes I feel like the swine flu police.”
In offices, churches, hospitals, college dorms and schools — and even at yoga classes and in apple orchards — the fear of swine flu is turning age-old rituals on their head. What used to be O.K. is not anymore, as the flu has ushered in new standards of etiquette that can be, in turns, mundane, absurd and heartbreaking. Students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., are being asked to refrain from playing beer pong, a communal drinking game, after an outbreak of illness that officials feared might be swine flu. Roman Catholic parishioners of the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C., have been instructed by the bishop not to shake hands at the sign of peace, and wine is not being offered for the sacrament of communion.
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As many of you know I am kind of a germaphobe. I also have the immune system of a 2 day old infant. Yet, I am not freaking out about H1N1, because I'm already doing most of the stuff the CDC and various health officials recommend in so far as hand washing and cleanliness.
I think it's time for the religions who do communion from one chalice or cup to change. The first time I went to a church where everyone drank from the same cup I was about 7 years old and I was HORRIFIED! Even then I knew that 100 people drinking from the same cup was a great way for germs and sickness to be transferred. I know that the Priest or Reverend wipes the cup with a cloth which has allegedly been soaked in alcohol or some disinfectant after each sip. I just don't buy that it is really disinfecting after the 10th person or so. As for the 'Passing of the Peace' , I have never liked that tradition just because of the germ thing. During cold and flu season I find myself making mental note of just who is coughing and sneezing into their hand so that I know NOT to shake their hand at the 'Passing of the Peace'.
In the church in which I was raised, we took communion from individual mini-silver chalices. None of this cross-contamination business happens in any of the dozens of United Methodist churches I have attended since childhood. In my current church they use miniature clear plastic cups. Kind of like the Nyquil cup, but smaller. I like this because they are disposable. There is no question that so-and-so didn't wash & polish them properly; because you get a new one each time.
Yolanda Ray works in the kind of place where people “really love to eat and snack.” Colleagues are quick to tempt one another, she says, with homemade dishes and sugary treats laid bare for the taking on desktops. Before the age of swine flu, the arrangement was fine. But now, employees at Rudd Equipment in Louisville, Ky., have new company-wide directives: No sharing of unwrapped candy. Cakes and pies must be cut and wrapped at home. Food needs to be served with utensils. She added, “Sometimes I feel like the swine flu police.”
In offices, churches, hospitals, college dorms and schools — and even at yoga classes and in apple orchards — the fear of swine flu is turning age-old rituals on their head. What used to be O.K. is not anymore, as the flu has ushered in new standards of etiquette that can be, in turns, mundane, absurd and heartbreaking. Students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., are being asked to refrain from playing beer pong, a communal drinking game, after an outbreak of illness that officials feared might be swine flu. Roman Catholic parishioners of the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C., have been instructed by the bishop not to shake hands at the sign of peace, and wine is not being offered for the sacrament of communion.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
As many of you know I am kind of a germaphobe. I also have the immune system of a 2 day old infant. Yet, I am not freaking out about H1N1, because I'm already doing most of the stuff the CDC and various health officials recommend in so far as hand washing and cleanliness.
I think it's time for the religions who do communion from one chalice or cup to change. The first time I went to a church where everyone drank from the same cup I was about 7 years old and I was HORRIFIED! Even then I knew that 100 people drinking from the same cup was a great way for germs and sickness to be transferred. I know that the Priest or Reverend wipes the cup with a cloth which has allegedly been soaked in alcohol or some disinfectant after each sip. I just don't buy that it is really disinfecting after the 10th person or so. As for the 'Passing of the Peace' , I have never liked that tradition just because of the germ thing. During cold and flu season I find myself making mental note of just who is coughing and sneezing into their hand so that I know NOT to shake their hand at the 'Passing of the Peace'.
In the church in which I was raised, we took communion from individual mini-silver chalices. None of this cross-contamination business happens in any of the dozens of United Methodist churches I have attended since childhood. In my current church they use miniature clear plastic cups. Kind of like the Nyquil cup, but smaller. I like this because they are disposable. There is no question that so-and-so didn't wash & polish them properly; because you get a new one each time.
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