Sunday, July 24, 2005

Finally Back


I have been sadly remiss in keeping up with my blog the past two weeks. I present a beautiful zinnia from my garden as apology. As an update....my liver enzymes came down, but are not perfect, so I had a ct scan done. I was over the moon when the results came back. Absolutely nothing unusual going on with my insides! Some of you know what a huge relief that is for me.
I am adjusting to being off most of my medications. Some of them I have taken for about 3 years. I am going to try do repair my body with more natural ingredients. In reading about the meds I was on, I found that a lot of my problems lately are due to the meds my doctors have had me on.
I also joined the health club here. They have a set of workout stations that I hope to hit regularly. Of course, I will have them set on minimal weight for a while and concentrate on repetitions. I have to be careful because I can easily hurt myself....which backfires on me the third day.
I have been feeling better and stronger each day. The past few days I have been trying to clean house. This house is a pigsty from my being sick for over a month. My goal this week is to get the bathrooms a good scouring. I have kept them clean....but a scrubbing is necessary every so often.
It finally rained yesterday! I only got about 3 tenths of an inch, but that is the first in a month. I knew the day before that if I watered everything real well, it would coax the rain....and it did.
Chris stoppeed by this weekend to borrow one of Kim's handguns. He was meeting a bunch of friends in San Antonio for a retreat. Nearly all the guys were into guns, so they all went to a shooting range and played with their toys. He had such a blast and can hardly stand to wait to do it again next year.
I promise to try to keep up better on this thing. Catch ya later!

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Health Update

First off....I think I finally have the settings where anyone can post a comment. I didn't know it wasn't set up right until my sister let me know she was unable to fire off a smart-ass remark. Can't have that,eh?
Okay....now to try to explain what happened to me the past week. On tuesday, June 28th, I thought I had come down with a virus. I was thrilled when Kim was able to come home a few days later to take care of me. I can't recall, but thursday or friday, I went in to see Dr. Di. She gave me some antibiotics to make sure I didn't have an infection anywhere and instructions to come back if not better in a couple of days. Sunday morning, I was so weak that i could barely stand, so Kim called Di at home and she had him take me into the ER. Dr. Johnson was on call, and ran a fluid IV, painkiller, and did bloodwork. Di came in to check on me just before I was sent home a couple of hours later. I had perked up a little bit that evening, but was still very pale and puney. Tuesday morning, Kim took me in to see Di about the blood test results. No sign of infection or virus, but liver enzymes were high. So, given no choice but to go into the hospital and have tests run.
While in the hospital, they took lots of blood, did a sonogram on nearly every organ I have, and numerous xrays. Also, by then I had taken on a yellow cast to my skin. I never thought to look at my eyes to see if they were yellow. But by the next afternoon, I felt well enough to go home. I took it easy for a couple of days, then by saturday morning, I woke up feeling normal for the first time in almost two weeks. I go back Monday morning for the results of the blood tests that they had to send off.
Bottom line, so far, is that I may have drug induced hepatitis. I was taken off the Lipitor I have taken for 5 or 6 years, and Celebrex, which I have taken for about 3 years. I will find out monday just exactly what it is, but for now the idea is that it will resolve itself in time, like Mono.
I guess from the IV fluids, I came home weighting about 5 lbs heavier than when I went into the hospital. Today I have gotten not only that fluid off, but lost a few more lbs. I have been on Lipitor because, no matter how much weight I dropped, nor how proper I ate, my cholesterol would not come down. It is going to be a real battle to eat right for me while Kim is home wanting to eat all the bad foods. He should go on a low cholesterol, low trigliceride diet also, but he refuses.
Meanwhile, the heat continues down here. I have had storms roaming all over the place the past few days and everyone has gotten rain but me. Not one drop! I have got to get outside this morning and water plants before they all die.
Have a good one!

Monday, July 04, 2005

Happy 4th

Things don't seem to be going to well here. Kim and Diana convinced me to go the the ER yesterday because I wasn't getting any better. They started fluids and gave me a painkiller. My test results were disheartening. I am showing no sign of a virus. My liver enzymes are high. I have to go back to see Diana tomorrow to recheck my liver and possibly even do a sonogram on it. I am trying not to think of the possibilities of all this.