Thursday, January 31, 2013

I updated my health blog and I am going to post the same thing here as I am too tired right now to do another entry. Please bare with me while everything seems to take so much energy. Will get fixed and be back soon. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's been awhile since I have written in this blog. As with many other Phers I have multiple health issues. Right after Christmas I came down with an upper respiratory ailment and began running a lowgrade fever. I had to go see my lung specialist who immediately said what had been viral was now bacterial and put me on the first course of antibiotics, Levaquin. This drug is well known for knocking out pneumonia. My chest x ray did not show any pneumonia however it did show about half a litre of fluid surrounding my lungs. This is almost normal for me at this point. After a week I wasn't feeling a lot better and I went back. I was then given a huge dosage regimen of penicillin for the next week. If I wasn't feeling better by Sunday I was to let the doctor know as she would consider IV antibiotics and a hospitalization. I was feeling somewhat better and felt the chest part had really recovered. I was also using a nebulizer three times a day with a wonderful drug in it called Xopenex. It broke up the congestion. Fast forward a week or so and now I have developed the following: I am ALWAYS cold (one exception, in my bed with warm pjs on and under a down comforter designed for the chilly nights of New England. Other than that forget it! I am also seemingly compelled to eat ice. When talking with my mother, she reminds me that when my grandmother had those two symptoms she was always anemic. I went to the cardiologist today and he had the results of my bloodwork done on Monday. I can't believe it: my mother is right! I not only am anemic but he can tell I have been for some time. I have not been exercising because I simply have no energy right now to do so. I often feel light headed. I can sleep 8 hours and get up feeling very tired. He will be sending all that information over to my PCP, he thinks I might need a hematologist and shots. I hate needles but I hate this feeling even more. MY PH seems to be doing okay. I am not overly short on breath. My pulse oxymeter shows that I am rarely low now. I think the revatio is working well. One odd thing about the revatio. The other night I began to have really bad pains in my feet. My pain toleranced is quite high. I have had two open heart surgeries. (That means not only cutting through the sternum but the muscles, having ribs spread etc.) I am no stranger to pain and I want to tell you the pain was pretty bad. It felt like a sledge hammer had hit my feet several times each. I could barely stand to walk on them. I called the specialty pharmacy where I get my meds from and sure enough it is a KNOWN side effect. It lasted for a few days then went away. I asked a few PHriends and they had leg pain and/or foot pain. This is the value of knowing others who have what you have. Life goes on and I am doing okay except for the anemia. I have to get this treated and corrected. Everything is difficult when you are exhausted, my thinking is not clear and I am grumpy. Yes, I admit it, grumpy. Just ask the dog and cat. When they are whining and carrying on at 6:30 a.m. and my head is pounding it's not pretty. Hopefully my PCP (who is wonderful) will find me another doctor to help me. My cardiologist is also wonderful and such a great listener. He takes the time to listen to my complaints, answers any and all questions and is just helpful. I wish I had switched to him years earlier. Stay warm and carry on.

1 comment:

alphawoman said...

oh Nelle, I have not been on the computer for a long time (you know, it's not so bad being disconnected, have lots of time on my hands!) and did not understand you are not well. I have you in my prayers and hope all gets better for you as spring is right around the corner. Winter is so blah and too long. Short days are not good. Sunshine and warmth. That would do you a world of good. Also spinach and liver - hahahhah.