when it rains it poors!

Matt, my friend,

Sorry to hear the latest news, and the chicken pox scare. My mother (85) only mentioned to me lately, that I never had the chicken pox as a child, nor my brother. It scares me a bit, because getting it as an adult, can be a serious malady. I hope it comes to pass in your house without any major incidence.

I couldn't imagine dealing with a cold or flu right now, on top of what I normally deal with, so I feel for you, brother.

It's odd with me, and my doctor's agree, though I seem to be the perfect cancer magnet, as far as normal illness goes, I seem oblvious. I never get colds, coughs, for flus. I never have sore throats or ear aches. I have no known allergies, i.e. plants, weeds, etc. I don't get sniffles or itchy eyes or runny noses. Based on that, I should be healthy as a horse. If it were for all the endless bouts of various cancers, I probably would be a healthy person.

Hope you feel better soon. And chicken pox, stay away.

David

Hope everything is going OK. Do what you can so you are not exposed to anyone with chickenpox. My previous experience as a Respiratory Therapist working in the ER and the trauma ER Chickenpox is very serious in an adult. Do what ever you can to avoid the infected.. Be safe and take care.Randy

Hey Matt,

Sorry you have so much going on. :(

Few things.... I know that my family members have gone to Walgreens to get a shingles shot. I don't know... did they need to get a script beforehand? Anyway, talk about your situation w/ your GP and maybe, given your circumstances, he'll just write the script for you. Let us know.

Re: chicken pox.... I had them at 17 and was severely ill.... and it really played havoc long term on my immune system. For that reason, we chose not to vaccinate our kids for them.... The boys all got them over a 6 week time period when they were 9 down to 6 months. And the girls got them some time last year. Of course, one girl got them and recovered and then her sister got it. It's never easy :)

Point being, I know how badly it sucks.... but I think there's something said for natural immunity to this virus. Just my slant and my experience.

But things always seem to hit when they are the most difficult... and I feel for you too... Sending prayers your ways.

Let us know how you are doing.... --Tina

Afternoon all, I'm feeling a little better today, I slept like a baby last night! First time in a long time. I still woke up a couple of times, but I think I got about 7 hours total. I got a phone call from my GP, I had left a message for him yesterday, he said he doesn't recommend the shingles shot, he doesn't know if there is or isn't a possibility of it effecting the fusion process in my back, and he also said the likelyhood of me developing shingles from my niece having the chicken pox is very slim, a 1 in 1000 chance he said.

He also discussed another thing with me that really has me worried now. I always make sure that he gets a copy of everything, even my work comp stuff. Well, when I was in the hospital last month for the surgery, they did a CT scan of my lungs, because of the surgical pneumonia, and he got a copy of that scan, and all the chest Xrays. He also has copies of all the X-rays when I was in the hospital last year, from the bowel obstruction, and had surgical pneumonia then too. Well, to make a long story short, my lungs were pretty clear when they discharged me this time... but, there is apparently a mass in my right lung, that wasn't there last year. He said it's the same size in all the Xrays and the Ct scan. So, he said with all the films that were done, and the fact that it was consistent in all of them, it's time for a biopsy. Not exactly what I wanted to hear today. I'm not sure why the doctor at the hospital said nothing about it to me, but the GP said it's in all of his reports.

I'm not sure what's going to happen next, since I don't have health insurance, other than what work comp will cover, and I don't have the money to pay for any testing. My GP said he'd call down to a couple of the universities to see what they would do, said I should here back from him in 2-3 weeks. In the mean time, he said he wants me to pick up some kind of nlood oxygen monitor at Walgreens, and keep a journal of that level 3 times a day, so I have to see how much that will cost.

Yup, now it's definitely pooring rain here, figuratively anyways. But, Thursday is my 29th birthday, so hopefully I can get out at some point and get my mind off of all this.

Thanks tina, I have to go down to Kmart this afternoon and pick up pictures, my mom paid for a photo session of the little guy a couple weeks ago, and they should be in, so I'll check out the O2 monitors while I'm there. I know my O2 stats were at 96 when they discharged me from the hospital after surgery, and 96 again at the ER a few weeks ago. I don't know if that's low or not, but that's better than it was the first few days after surgery, I was around 82-83 ish, on supplemental oxygen.

I asked the doc if it could be scar tissue from pneumonia, he said not likely, and not in less than a year, so it's got me pretty worried. But, whatever happens, my left lung is supposed to be in really good shape, and he said my lung capacity is still pretty good (must be from singing in the shower lol). I might have another route I can go if my doc can't get me into one of the universities, but I've been a patient at USC multiple times now, so I'm hoping they'll be willing to help in some way, after all, they got paid over $100k for my gastric bypass. I'll let you all know what happens, could be a while though.



Oh, Tina, you said bay area.... how on earth do you handle the freezing cold tulee fog that covers that whole half of the state half of the year? Every time I've been up that direction, except in the summer, there's always a super thick fog that penetrates to the bone. Last time I was there, I had an interview at the windfarms just outside Fairfield, had to turn the job down for personal reasons, but it was colder there, than here at home with 4" of snow on the ground.