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      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

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2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Much obliged, as always. I just wish I had more positive updates to provide, that's all. The root of my problem, exposed.

We could say much the same of life itself, old friend. We get what news we get. And as the gentle anchorman was fond of saying, that's the way it is.

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On a slightly more positive note, at least for me, I found out who the mystery insurance company was (It is a DBA of the main one) and that the doctor I was assigned, in fact, works for the same clinic that I used to use as a walk-in when needful.  So he has my charts and all that with the freaking kidney stones, which will cut down on a tonne of hassle if and when I get one that needs the right stuff.

And I get to see him in just a hair under two weeks from now.

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4:58 p.m. CDT 20170526. Finally, a smidgen of good news from my podiatrist. He differed with my primary care doctor's opinion on the Charcot foot, thank goodness. Granted, I've seen him a total of three times (including in the hospital) compared to the countless times I've seen my PCP, but he is a podiatrist and does know what he's talking about. He believes the hospital and my PCP may have been trying to dramatically warn me that I could be heading toward a Charcot foot, perhaps. In any case, he doesn't think I have one.

As for the rest of my podiatrist appointment today, he unwrapped my foot to get a look at how my toe was doing. Good grief—I've got radio antennae sticking out of the sides of my big toe! I should be able to pick up FM radio! Seriously, there are pins with rubber cushions on the ends sticking out of each side of my big toe, a nasty zig-zag set of stitches running down the top, and a fair amount of redness and swelling that concerned him enough to put me on Augmentin, just in case.

There was also a bit of a problem with him re-wrapping my foot. I took a step after his first re-wrap and immediately jumped back from significant pain in my second toe—one that wasn't broken. He had to do a rather complex rewrap job before I could put weight on my foot (in the boot) without non-broken toes yelping at me.

Now, for the weird part: he's going to pay me a house call next Wednesday to remove my stitches!

You see, Mrs. Prof has Jury Duty on Tuesday (right after I received confirmation that I've been permanently removed from jury duty due to disability—what are the odds?) and is required to go in to her office to work on Wednesday, so she can't transport me to the podiatrist's office. He doesn't want my stitches to stay in any longer than next Wednesday, but he'll be leaving town for something on Thursday. Hence the Wednesday house call. Of course, that means Mrs. Prof will go into another absolute cleaning frenzy the night before, but that's a small price to pay for one of life's little rarities.

So, for now, Mrs. Prof is over at a family friends' house, watching their kids while they attend the U2 concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington (they're spending a mint—$200 tickets each, plus $50 for parking). She won't be home until well after midnight. I've been told by the podiatrist to continue elevating my foot for another week, which I do when I'm passed out from exhaustion and hydrocodone. I'll probably order up some sushi from the local Asian delivery place later on and try to find German food on Amazon for possible addition to a Wish List. :):):)

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2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Errr, is that even legal? O.O

Certainly.  It's just rarely done because there isn't a "town doctor" anymore in most American cities.

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54 minutes ago, Yzjdriel said:

Certainly.  It's just rarely done because there isn't a "town doctor" anymore in most American cities.

Correct. It dates back to small town Americana, where one, maybe two doctors served an entire burg. It is a thing of ancient past, being resurrected, and most surprisingly so. The doctor and his nurse/wife are even familiar with the part of town in which I live, which is even more surprising since it's in "blue collar" Garland, TX.

I'm not going to complain about it, either way. ;)

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3 hours ago, Yzjdriel said:

Certainly.  It's just rarely done because there isn't a "town doctor" anymore in most American cities.

I was being facetious but thank you even so :)

2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Correct. It dates back to small town Americana, where one, maybe two doctors served an entire burg. It is a thing of ancient past, being resurrected, and most surprisingly so. The doctor and his nurse/wife are even familiar with the part of town in which I live, which is even more surprising since it's in "blue collar" Garland, TX.

I'm not going to complain about it, either way. ;)

Me neither. Thank goodness for doctors with empathy and care for their patients. :)

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25 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

Me neither. Thank goodness for doctors with empathy and care for their patients

You know what'll really surprise the hell out of me? If he shows up carrying the stereotypical "little black bag" that doctors of yore used to carry. That'd be a hoot.

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23 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

You see, Mrs. Prof has Jury Duty on Tuesday (I received confirmation that I've been permanently removed from jury duty due to disability—what are the odds?)

Given that it happened?  Unity, of course.  As to WHY it happens, see your random conspiracy theory export for hours of details on the subject.

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This dizzy stuff is getting weird.  A lot better, but weird. About an hour ago, I damn near face planted because I sat down too fast.   The dizzy to normal ratio is getting closer to normal, at least for me, but it is still about 50% above normal.  I still plan my life around moving very slowly or within reach of a wall.

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27 minutes ago, mlooney said:

This dizzy stuff is getting weird.  A lot better, but weird. About an hour ago, I damn near face planted because I sat down too fast.   The dizzy to normal ratio is getting closer to normal, at least for me, but it is still about 50% above normal.  I still plan my life around moving very slowly or within reach of a wall.

Please do. Vertigo is no joke. I hope improvement continues!

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47 minutes ago, mlooney said:

This dizzy stuff is getting weird.  A lot better, but weird. About an hour ago, I damn near face planted because I sat down too fast.   The dizzy to normal ratio is getting closer to normal, at least for me, but it is still about 50% above normal.  I still plan my life around moving very slowly or within reach of a wall.

The dizzy stuff is because of you Abilify dose, if I remember correctly, right? (Brain fade - please humor me.) Haven't experienced it with my own increase from 5 mg to 10 mg. However I am experiencing something almost as weird: afterimages after I wake up. I can wave my hand in front of my face, and it'll leave a "trail" of images that fade away behind it. Wikipedia calls it Illusory palinopsia. I call it weird, yet somewhat cool, when it happens. Turns out the culprit is most likely my Topamax. I can live with it, as long as the Topamax and hydrocodone keep working together.

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6 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I can wave my hand in front of my face, and it'll leave a "trail" of images that fade away behind it...  I can live with it

You see the hand after you wave it, but you know it is an illusion.  That does sound annoying but survivable.

If you see the waving hand before you wave it, or if you can not tell what is illusory and what is real, consult your physician.

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1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

You see the hand after you wave it, but you know it is an illusion.  That does sound annoying but survivable.

If you see the waving hand before you wave it, or if you can not tell what is illusory and what is real, consult your physician.

Worry not, my friend. I see it after I wave it. It's like a cursor with a trail, and it doesn't happen every morning. Only occasionally, and usually for just a few minutes after I wake up.

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7:25 a.m. CDT 20170528. Rough night sleeping. Had trouble finding a comfortable position with my left iron-booted leg elevated. My right spine nerve pain kept flaring up and waking me up. I had to switch from one side of our sectional sofa to the other in order to get sleep of any consecutive length. (Our bed isn't that conducive to sleeping with an elevated boot.) As mentioned elsewhere, coffee is required at the moment to keep me awake, and I'm about to go get a much-needed second cup.

Walking is a bit less painful, but still slow. I was having issues with pain in my second toe when I'd walk after the podiatrist re-wrapped my new bandages. That seems to have gone away, but I'm still skittish when I walk. My spinal nerve pain is also causing issues when walking, further contributing to my slow gait.

If you'll remember, I've been referred to an ENT doctor for out-of-control coughing, mainly when I lie on my back. For some reason, I'm not coughing any more when I lie on my back. I am still getting odd coughing fits, and I've still got other nose and throat issues, so I'm still going. I'll just be going for different symptoms. I'll also have Mrs. Prof with me to provide corroborating evidence so the doctor won't blow me off as a nutcase.

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14 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

The dizzy stuff is because of you Abilify dose, if I remember correctly, right?

I think that is the case.

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3:59 p.m. CDT 20150528. I received the results of my latest blood tests from my doctor (I guess he works the after-hours clinic on Sundays). My A1C is still at 6.1, which is at goal (normal is < 6.5), with my fasting glucose at 124. Not 100% wonderful, but not bad. All of my cholesterol and other numbers are at goal.

However. (And I quote.)

Quote

Your white blood count is high at 16.1 (normal < 10.8). There are immature blood cells present that are generally only found in the bone marrow called myelocytes. This can happen as a result of infection, stress, recent steroids, and rarely, leukemia. Let's recheck the lab in 2 weeks. If still present, we'll refer to hematology to work it up.

I pretty well fit all of the first three indications for myelocytes. I've been stressed out of my gourd, I've had an epidural steroid injection, and my podiatrist suspects an infection in the toe on which he operated. I've had the false positive for leukemia before, and I'm guessing this is another false positive. I'll just go back for a lab-only appointment on June 8th and hope that the myelocytes have gone back to where they belong.

As for the high white blood count, I've had that for years. No one's figured out why I have that, but it doesn't seem to be causing any life-threatening problems. Yet.

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18 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I pretty well fit all of the first three indications for myelocytes. I've been stressed out of my gourd, I've had an epidural steroid injection, and my podiatrist suspects an infection in the toe on which he operated. I've had the false positive for leukemia before, and I'm guessing this is another false positive. I'll just go back for a lab-only appointment on June 8th and hope that the myelocytes have gone back to where they belong.

I highly recommend destressing if at all possible. Your stress has been through the roof for a while, you need to find a way to relax, old friend.

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11 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I highly recommend destressing if at all possible. Your stress has been through the roof for a while, you need to find a way to relax, old friend.

I'd love to, but I can't touch the Belgian-style ales I cellared away before I got really sick and injured.

I really wish I knew the answer to the relaxation equation. I really do.

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4:54 p.m. CDT 20170530. Mrs. Prof was unwell yesterday, so I've gone a whole day without my metformin. It's not like I'm taking much at a time—I'm cutting a tablet in half to get a 250 mg dose for morning and evening—but I'm a bit afraid of what being without it is going to do to me. I'm going to miss a third dose this morning, since she'll be off very soon to report for Jury Duty (no lifetime medical excuse for her, sad to say), so I won't have my metformin until tonight. Of course, she reassures me that it won't do me harm to miss a few doses. My anxiety is spiking over the issue.

Meanwhile, yesterday was a "sine wave" day. I'd feel okay for a little while, then I'd suddenly feel like crap for a couple of hours. I'd respond by sleeping. I'd wake up below zero, but on the upward curve. Then I'd peak for a while, like nothing was wrong with me. Lather, rinse, repeat. I think I spent more time in negative territory than positive (can you tell I've forgotten my graphing math?), and I don't know exactly why. I'm guessing it's got something to do with my elevated white blood cell count, plus one or more of the underlying causes (stress and infection, most likely, but my toe isn't throbbing from infection). I'll probably spend most of the day with my foot elevated (i.e., asleep on the sofa), but I do have some Scribophile Moderator business I've got to be vertical to handle.

I also have a conundrum—I've got to take a stand-up shower again before the podiatrist gets here Wednesday, and I'm not sure how I'm going to do it. No two ways about it—sponge baths are insufficient. However, my last attempt at a stand-up shower was not only painful, it got water all over the bathroom because I was trying to hang my left foot outside of the shower stall (the wall is on the left and the opening is on the right—picture that). Mrs. Prof is going to go in to CVS and do a bit of searching for waterproof stuff, including waterproof tape for this attempt (not present at the last attempt). I'm going to try wearing just a blue foot-only orthopedic boot instead of my full calf "moon boot" (I wore neither last time), and she's going to look for a "cast cover" that might fit over the blue boot. Barring that, it's down to roll-your-own with plastic trash bags and waterproof tape over the boot.

Another thing that caused such a big problem last time was that I started the shower with me sitting on a shower stool in the center of the stall. This time, I'm going to have to start with the stool out of the way at the back of the shower stall so I can stand, get everything (skin) beyond sponge-bath clean, then move the stool to the center of the shower and sit to wash my hair. I did that back before I had a must-keep-dry bandage on my left foot—that's the real problem here, isn't it?—so we'll see how the above waterproofing plans work this time around.

It sucks to have to do this much planning just to take a smegging shower. There is a part of me that wants to give up. I'm fighting it.

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2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

It sucks to have to do this much planning just to take a smegging shower. There is a part of me that wants to give up. I'm fighting it.

We can only hope that things will improve from here on. :/ At least your orthopodist is kind enough to give you that house call. Getting the stitches out will be good and he will be able to tell if the injury is behaving (i. e., healing) properly.

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20 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

We can only hope that things will improve from here on. :/ At least your orthopodist is kind enough to give you that house call. Getting the stitches out will be good and he will be able to tell if the injury is behaving (i. e., healing) properly.

... and whether or not it is contributing to the "myelocyte problem" my PCP is concerned about, possibly. One thing I'm not looking forward to is him removing the pins. Those things are implanted into my bone and are protruding through my skin. I don't know if I want to be conscious when he pulls them out.

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3 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Meanwhile, yesterday was a "sine wave" day. I'd feel okay for a little while, then I'd suddenly feel like crap for a couple of hours. I'd respond by sleeping. I'd wake up below zero, but on the upward curve. Then I'd peak for a while, like nothing was wrong with me. Lather, rinse, repeat. I think I spent more time in negative territory than positive (can you tell I've forgotten my graphing math?

Just in case you were wondering a nominal sine wave that has varied high and low points is called "Amplutude Modulation."  Yeah, as in AM radio.

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