Long Vacation...

I have not really been on vacation, just sick and taking care of my autistic child. Quite a bit has happened since my last post. It started out with that terrible cold that was going around in mid March, my youngest and I both had it for over a week. When we finally got over that, we took a trip to see my dad and our autistic son. We had a good visit but we were still at the end of our colds.

At the end of March, I finally got a hearing for my Social Security. I applied about two years ago; got denied, hired a local Social Security Disability law firm, got denied again and then finally got the hearing with the judge. At the hearing office I had to go through security with the security guard, it was a bit like going through security at the airport. Had I known this, I would have carried my usual airport things; a tiny wallet (with my ID, bank card and insurance card), then wore a pair of Crocs. But nooo…I had a purse full of all kinds of stuff. I had to dump everything out and let them go through it, then get wanded. When we finally got to the hearing room there was the judge, court reporter, a job expert and (via the phone) the social security doctor. First the judge asked me a lot of questions about how I felt and what was wrong with me and then about my various careers. After explaining to him what I had done at my past few jobs that spanned back about 15 years, he told the “job expert” that she was no longer needed. Then came the ss doctor on the phone…first he didn’t think that my Chronic Kidney Disease is as bad as it is, then came the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome…he tried to say that it was not a “text book case” of CFS (my attorney came back with asking the doctor if there was anywhere in any of my doctor’s reports that said that I was not chronically fatigued? The ss doctor said “no”) next was the Fibromyalgia; somehow my pressure point test did not wind up in any of the reports? When the hearing finally ended, I left with no answer for my SSDI (no yes, but no “no” either)

The day after the hearing I went to see a Rhumotolist, to get diagnosed by an “expert” for the Fibro. I have been a little reluctant to see a Rhumotolist, mainly because of all of my goofy medication allergies. But, to my surprise he was really good! Due to my allergies and CKD there are a lot of pain medications that I am not able to take, he came up with Ultram which is aspirin based and does not have the compound that is in Darvocet, Percodan and most others that end in “cet”. He agreed that I do have Fibro and hopefully…this will help in my SS case.

Then finally it is the end of the school year, yea!!! My autistic son flew out to stay just a little over a month, he has been doing this since my mother passed away. With my mother gone, my dad doesn’t always have someone to watch him while he is working. Even though he is 15 and high functioning, you cannot leave him by himself. This summer, we had a really hard time with him. I think that his Psychiatrist is on the “conservative” side and does not have him medicated enough. Most of the time that he was here this time, he did not go to sleep until after 2:00 if he did sleep at all. He has always had a problem with sleeping, before we started him on medication he would “maybe” sleep for about a hour a day after the age of three and even before that he rarely took naps. It would not be so bad if he would stay in his room but, he wanders around (even outside sometimes) and gets into EVERYTHING! So, I had to say up with him and not take my evening medications most of the time he was here. By the time he left to go home, I was completely exhausted.
About getting into “EVERYTHING”, I do mean everything. He got into my husband’s clothes (he wears an adult XL and my husband wears an adult M, not sure why he does this? He even gets into my clothes???) he found my daughters artwork that she did in high school that has been missing since 2003. He likes to draw and has tons of his own paper, colored pencils and markers but, he got into and used up my brand new set of Prisma color markers. Everyone in the house’s stuff is free-reign but, he will have a fit if you touch his things. We are just about at our wits end, we have tried everything that we can think of to teach him that; you have to ask to use someone else’s things and you don’t steal. It is not that he does not have the ability to learn this but, it is like he is a clepto maniac. The things that he takes, he does not need like with the markers he had his own. Please post any suggestions or things that have worked for you if you have dealt with this or the sleep problem.

Closer to Curing Parkinson's Disease

In previous posts I talked about stem cells, what they are, where we can get them, and what they might be able to do. One of the many great expectations is that medical science will learn how to change stem cells into dopamine producing brain cells to replace the ones destroyed by Parkinson's Disease, essentially curing it!

As far back as 2002, Harvard researchers showed that injecting embryonic stem cells into Parkinsonian rat brains could grow into dopamine producing brain cells, and improved the rats' Parkinson's symptoms!

In 2005, Japanese researchers showed that dopamine producing brain cells generated from monkey embryonic stem cells and transplanted into the area of monkey brains where these cells had degenerated from a Parkinson's-like process, were able to reverse the Parkinsonism!

Rats, then monkeys.  We're getting closer!  Now we just have to test them on Europeans, and then on humans!  (Joke!)

As I mentioned on my previous posts, stem cells can be gotten from various sources.  They vary in the degree of potential to change into other cell types.  Human embryonic stem cells seem to have the most potential, but their harvesting is ethically very controversial.  Research is legally limited.

In late 2007, the Harvard research team published a paper showing that nerve cell precursor cells, derived from human embryonic stem cells, could generate dopamine, proliferate, and maintain this potential through long term frozen storage and multiple freeze-thaw cycles.

We are getting ever closer to the day when Parkinson's Disease will be cured by stem cell therapy.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day! This is for my favorite Valentine, best friend and husband. I couldn't ask for any better.

Ooh, you make me live
Whatever this world can give to me
It's you, you're all I see
Ooh, you make me live now honey
Ooh, you make me live

Oh, you're the best friend
That I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
(Ooh) Oh, you're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live

Ooh, I've been wandering round
But I still come back to you (still come back to you)
In rain or shine
You've stood by me girl
I'm happy at home (happy at home)
You're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live
Whenever this world is cruel to me
I got you, to help me forgive - oo oo ooh
Ooh, you make me live now honey
Ooh, you make me live

Oh, you're the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I'll never be lonely
You're my only one
And I love the thing
I really love the things that you do
Oh, you're my best friend

Oh, ooh, you make me live

I'm happy (happy at home)
You're my best friend
Oh, oh, you're my best friend
Ooh, you make me live
Oo oo ooh
You, you're my best friend

Freaky Friday ~ Will Wonders Never Cease

I have posted before that every time that I go to the doctor, I get a new diagnosis. Well, earlier this week I went to the doctor to see about my fibroid issue. I was hoping that I would qualify for a fairly new procedure for fibroids called “Doppler Guided Uterine Artery Occlusion” I included an article about it from the Oxford Journals. Anyway, the doctor told me “I have good news and bad news,” that is never good. The good news was that my fibroids had not grown any in the past two years. The bad news was that I need to have a hysterectomy and re-constructive surgery. He said besides the fibroids and the cysts, I have Uterine Prolapse. And to think, I was worried about my boobs or my bum falling later in life. Years ago, I worked with a woman that had this and had a hysterectomy. But, she is the only person that I have ever known with it. It seems like that she was in her late 30’s? I am really starting to hate going to the doctor.

The “hysterectomy” itself doesn’t bother me as much as the surgery does. I don’t do pain well and there are not many pain killers that I can take either. When I had my thyroid out, it took the surgeon and the anistegeoligist to come up with something for me to take. It worked “ok” after the swelling went down before that the pain was unbearable. The swelling was due to my bruising problem, I bruise at the drop of the hat. I always have bruises and never know where they come from. The other thing that scares me is the numbness that goes along with surgery. When I had my thyroidectomy, it took just about a year before the feeling came back in my neck. Oh, and I can’t forget my fear of something else not working after surgery. I don’t do well with percentages, when I had my biopsy for my thyroid they told me “don’t worry, only 5% of these ever come back anything.” It came back follicular thyroid cancer. Then the doctor told me only 1-3% of people that have a thyroidectomy have their parathyroid quit working. See, I am not very good with percentages.

The past few days I have been looking for information on hysterectomies and now I am more confused than I was when I started. I have found a few good patient friendly pages. One is a personal blog called “One Girl, No Uterus” and Hyster Sisters, which is an online group. Let me tell you, it was much easier finding a surgeon for my thyroid. With hysterectomies there are so many options, it is starting to make my head spin. Laparoscopic (LSH), TLH, Laparoscopic-assisted (LAVH) and Total Abdominal (traditional). And those don’t even cover the “re-construction” part.

If anyone has any good links or information please post them here or if you would rather Email Me. I have a second opinion lined up and I hope that I will be able to put this off until this summer. When school is out and I will not have to drive anywhere.

Nominated for Excellence

I’ve been chosen for the Excellent Blogger Award by Grace at All the world’s a stage…! YEA! She is one of my regular readers and I am hers.

Now, I am supposed to name 10 other people…Grace already nominated some of my favorites. Here is a list of some of my other favorites.

Daisy The Curly Cat ~ Daisy is a calico Devon Rex cat that reminds me of the cat version of Curious George the monkey. She is also an entrepreneur. Well…she tries to be. She likes to come up with new ways and ideas to catch lizards.

Can You Identify Me? Do You Know Me? ~ This blog can be hard to read, not because of the way that is written but due to the content. RJ does her part in trying to help unidentified soles find their way home. I was surprised to find out how many peoples remains never make it home to their loved ones.

Pencil Drawing Sketch Art ~ I first found Sue’s “Pencil Drawing Sketch Art” while looking at the latest EC blogs. What first caught my eye was her widget of Stevie Ray Vaughan. I am a huge fan of his. But, once I got to her blog I discovered that it was MUCH more than just Stevie Ray. She does really wonderful work. Some of my favorites are (of course) Stevie Ray, Jimmie Hendrix, Steven Tyler, Johnny Depp and Sting. Whether you are a music or art fan, this is a must see.

SneezieBreezie ~ is a very will written health blog. I always find something new and interesting. Sneezie’s other blogs are very good too.

The ramblings of an inquisitive idiot ~ Is a very well written political blog with a splash of health. This is another one of my daily reads.

Blogging About Flugpo ~ If you have not discovered Flugpo.com, it is a great place to advertise your blog. It is a bit like Craig’s List. At Blogging About Flugpo, Kelly blogs about ads that she finds on Flugpo.com. She also has some really great contest.

Creaky Easel ~ Sue has some very exquisite work. One of my favorites is on her “Anthurium” post, this one and many of her other flowers remind me of one of my favorite artists Georgia O’Keefe. All of her work is wonderful; she is a very talented artist!

Telling It Like It Is ~ Lin has some great tips on relationships, marriage, parenting and health. Another excellent blog.

A Circle Of Women ~ Another really written blog, this has been on my daily read list since discovering Entrecard. A Circle Of Women has a great variety of topics, I am never disappointed.

Clutter Cubed ~ I need to spend an entire day studying this blog. Great tips on clutter problems. I am one of those people who, while I am not a pack-rat but…I do have problems throwing things away.

You can find the rest of my favorite Entrecard blog on my Entrecard page.