Monday check-in

Advice:

Even if it is comfortable at the moment, do not go to bed with a comforter on when the apt/house is already 74 degrees and you have no fans or air conditioning on. You will wake up feeling like one giant sweatball.

Up 3 hours before I have to be due to extreme heat (windows open now and fan on) as well as headache and pain in left lower back/side…..if that infection comes back I'm gonna have to bite someone's head off!!

Anyway, Have a low pain week.


Sunny.

Texas floods have ended, now we have beautiful sunshine!

I saw my 2nd opinion thyroid dr last week. Same diagnosis-subclinical hyperthyroidism-but with much more explanation. I like the new dr. I can work with her. She did blood work, hoping to get results tomorrow, then probably start on low dose Rx. Without any symptoms I could not understand the need for medication. Now I know if the blood work shows the same thing, it could be affecting my muscles in a negative way.

Take care everyone. Enjoy the sun, carefully. Best wishes and prayers for those facing surgery soon.

Happy Birthday BunnyGirl! and, thanks a lot for getting me hungry! Ha!

Vickie, I live at the Jersey Shore and we are "in season" here too. Traffic is ridiculous! To top it all off, Monmouth Racetrack is nearby and the Haskell race is coming up. If American Pharoah is running, it will be an absolute zoo here!

Sunny, thanks for the advice and I'm sorry you were suffering. I'm about to change over from the winter comforter to the summer bed spread myself!

Happy Turtle, hope you can stay snug and warm there! How many months of cold weather do you get? Here, it's about half the year I am miserable from cold, then I have to carry a sweater in the summer because of air conditioning!

Abilene, glad the storms are over and the sun is shining again. Like you, my daughter is working with a new endocrinologist and we are confident in the change. There was nothing 'wrong' with the previous doctor, she just was not a 'specialist' in Cushing's Disease and referred us to this one.

I'm debating whether or not to seek reappointment to the Tenant's Rights Committee here where I live. The Mayor and majority of the Borough Council are seeking to repeal rent control here and I'm just not up to fighting. I want to simplify my life but out of concern for those that don't, can't, or won't stand up for themselves, I've always been willing to put my efforts in for them. Had a recent 'let down' in that the person I thought 'had my back' didn't. Left me wide open for the blade of ridicule to hit me square in the middle! Gonna take a bit to get over the "ouch".

It's been dry with a few rainstorms here, but we have to water the flowers in between.

I don't do as well out in the heat, but it looks like I can get into a "lung rehabilitation" program at the hospital here, which lasts twelve weeks and has three sessions a week of individualized exercise on indoor equipment in the air conditioning. Yay!

In other news, the radiation oncologist recommended whole brain radiation for my brain mets, which I refused. It has a high risk of dementia developing after a year or two, and if I get lucky enough to live that long, I don't want that to happen.

There's a new targeted drug that's supposed to work as well as what I'm taking, plus it crosses the blood-brain barrier so it shrinks brain metastases too. It's not FDA approved yet, but it's in the last stages of approval and there's an expanded access trial a couple hours from me. I emailed my oncologist a link to the trial, and he agreed that was best and already had the hospital's coordinator working on getting me in, when I went for my appointment last week. Fortunately I caught the brain mets before there were any symptoms, so they're still small.

My post-herpetic (shingles) pain is same as always. Sigh.

Hi all, I'm on "vacation" by the ocean. So far this has meant that my sister is getting free baby sitting. Not so relaxing.

I had a bone scan and it showed significant damage to the bones in my right knee. There's no cartilage and my kneecap is terrible. The left knee isn't far behind. I've trained physical therapy, building muscle around the joint, and I'm not allowed any nsaids. My pain management Dr gave me a couple steroid injections but it quickly became apparent that I'm allergic. That's another factor messing up my vacation. I had my last injection the day before I left. The pm said to expect to easily overheat, feel dizzy, headache and just general malaise for a week. He has given me some meds to help but I am sweating through my clothes several times a day. I feel yucky.

My Dr located an ortho near home willing to take a look at me. My joints aren't formed like everyone else's and I'm only 31 so none of my local drs will help. They all agree that a knee replacement is the logical next step but won't do it. I'm hoping this new Dr (he's located at a university hospital) can help. Hop e you are all well!

Saw my pain doc yesterday for prescriptions, and I have another 3 months of nothing new to look forward to. Depressing. Pain is actually down to 7 (from 8) now, but I think I just tolerate it better because it's not new.

Meniere's (new dx recently) is getting me down. Getting used to the nausea every time I try to eat and headaches for hours every day isn't fun. It's hard to get healthy food when I feel sick preparing it. I'm trying to make enough for several meals when I feel like cooking, because most of the time I just want to grab a few bites and wait out the misery. I've tried some meds that just make me sleepy.