Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

[mlooney 3,417]

I hope they finally find what is wrong with your legs and can fix it. Also hope that your headaches go away.  I can sympathizes with random headaches a lot.  If they have you on NSAIDs to treat them, make sure they check you kidney function.  Of course with all the pain meds your currently on, I suspect they aren't going to add an OTC or even prescription NSAID for headaches.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Update: There is a light at the end of the tunnel. My swelling has gone down, as has my redness. My infection markers are clearing, but they're going to keep me on Vancomycin while I'm still hospitalized. That may not be for very much longer, however; I've been given a tentative discharge date of Thursday, February 2nd (yes, Groundhog Day). It'd be sooner, but we're iced in here in the D/FW Metroplex and there's no way Mrs. Prof would be able to make it to the hospital. In any case, I'll be right back up at the Wound Care Clinic on Friday for a new wrapping on my legs. I'm going to have to be careful once I get home, however, or I could end up right back in the hospital according to the doctor.

[mlooney 3,417]

1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Update: There is a light at the end of the tunnel. My swelling has gone down, as has my redness. My infection markers are clearing, but they're going to keep me on Vancomycin while I'm still hospitalized. That may not be for very much longer, however; I've been given a tentative discharge date of Thursday, February 2nd (yes, Groundhog Day). It'd be sooner, but we're iced in here in the D/FW Metroplex and there's no way Mrs. Prof would be able to make it to the hospital. In any case, I'll be right back up at the Wound Care Clinic on Friday for a new wrapping on my legs. I'm going to have to be careful once I get home, however, or I could end up right back in the hospital according to the doctor.

Good luck and be careful!

[Don Edwards 548]

1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

we're iced in here

I endorse the decision for everyone to stay put.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 hour ago, Don Edwards said:

I endorse the decision for everyone to stay put.

Absolutely seconded.

Get better, Prof. Please do take care.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Good fortune, Prof. Glad to hear you are getting a break.

[Don Edwards 548]

I have driven in ice storms in three states. I don't recommend it - if you have a viable alternative, do that instead.

That said: it's worse in areas that rarely gets such things (such as Seattle where I lived for 30+ years, Portland OR that I was driving through during one, and Dallas where the Professor is) than in areas where they are fairly common (such as Indiana where I went to college).

There are several reasons why the areas that rarely get them get it worse. Three big ones:

1) Almost nobody knows how to drive in them

2) Almost nobody - not road maintenance crews, not emergency services, not electric line crews, not city buses - has specialized equipment to deal with them. (Seattle buses typically need chains for one 24-hour period, or less, every five to eight years; guess what they usually aren't carrying when that time arrives, particularly if it starts in mid-afternoon.)

3) Ice at 31.5 degrees Fahrenheit is much slicker than ice at 0 Fahrenheit.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

15 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

I have driven in ice storms in three states. I don't recommend it - if you have a viable alternative, do that instead.

My firm preference is to shelter in place.

15 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

3) Ice at 31.5 degrees Fahrenheit is much slicker than ice at 0 Fahrenheit.

So much this. These things happen rarely in Copenhagen. When they do happen, the entire city becomes a bollocking skating rink.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Had a chance to discuss a few things with the hospitalist while I'm waiting to be discharged today. Found out that I was presenting with a kidney injury when I showed up at the hospital, thanks to a creatinine level of 1.8. I'm down to 1.2 now, so the injury has been resolved. However, I'm now in Stage III Chronic Kidney Disease. Not the worst diagnosis (there are 5 stages), but not something I wanted in the first place.

[mlooney 3,417]

That's what I'm at.  Biggest change for me is daily blood pressure checks (logged) and no NSAIDs for migraines or body aches.   

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I'm home from the hospital. The schedule is a bit delayed - I won't be going to wound care until next Friday. I'm going to have home health come in, potentially 3x a week, potentially as soon as tomorrow. In the meantime, I get to settle back in, preferably with some different lifestyle patterns, and become a functional human once again. Thanks for all of your messages of support during my hospitalization. I do appreciate them.

[mlooney 3,417]

15 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

preferably with some different lifestyle patterns

I hope those are good lifestyle changes!

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Sounds like a much better situation than what you had.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

49 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Sounds like a much better situation than what you had.

More or less. I'm not 100% back to normal yet. I still get dizzy if I stand up too long. My weight is still fluctuating, albeit on the downward side (a nice surprise, but slightly troubling - it's kind of sudden). My legs are weak, especially my left knee. I wonder if the edema was holding it up or something. And I've been having PVC heart flutters all damned day long - very annoying. Still, it is better than what I had, I must admit. When a doctor looks at you and his first thoughts are to stick your ass in the hospital, you know you're in a bad way.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Keep us posted on progress.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Yesterday was rough. I couldn't stay awake for some reason, unless I was standing up or in active conversation with someone. I wasn't overmedicated by comparison to any previous day. No extra antihistamines, nothing like that. My blood pressure wasn't low to my knowledge. I just couldn't stay awake.

Caffeine was no help in staying awake. Food was no help either.

It's now 4:30am Wednesday. I'm up. Let's see what happens.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Had a rough patch overnight. Got hit by what I believe were some fibrillations in my heart. Woke up in the middle of the night to find that my heart was jumping around in my chest. Nasty fluttering feeling, wouldn't stop for about an hour no matter what I tried. Fortunately, I didn't have any shortness of breath, dizziness, or other symptoms to accompany it. If I did, I would have woke up Mrs. Prof and called 911.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Having a hard time with cardiovascular issues, especially on Sunday. I'd be going along just fine for a stretch, then I'd get hit with a bout of palpitations that would just sap all the strength out of me. They would go on for about 10-20 minutes and then fade away. After they left, I wouldn't have the energy to stay awake - I'd take a deep nap for an hour or so. When I woke up, I felt okay again, at least until the next round of palpitations hit. This went on for at least three or four sessions Sunday.

It's too early to tell if I'm going to get hit with the same thing today. If I do, I'll report back. In the meantime, I don't know what to do. My next cardiologist appointment isn't until sometime in July.

[mlooney 3,417]

19 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

It's too early to tell if I'm going to get hit with the same thing today. If I do, I'll report back. In the meantime, I don't know what to do. My next cardiologist appointment isn't until sometime in July.

I would think that your symptoms would get an appointment earlier than July. 

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

2 hours ago, mlooney said:

I would think that your symptoms would get an appointment earlier than July. 

If it keeps happening, I'm going to get an earlier appointment.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I have six years left before I'll need eye surgery to remove cataracts.

Or, so the optometrist told me today when I went to get new glasses. She said my left eye had a large cataract in it that prevented her from correcting that eye down any further than 20/25. In 5 or 6 years, she said it won't be correctible down any further than 20/40, at which point I'll need surgery. Sigh. At least I won't need surgery for it *this* year.

In other news, my prescription has changed drastically in both eyes. I definitely needed new lenses, and thanks to a pair of faceplant falls I've had, I needed new frames as well. The frames were covered by insurance, as were most of the extras for the lenses, but the bill still rang up at around $225 due to the part of the high-end stuff (high-end Crizal, Varilux X) that wasn't covered. This sounds exorbitant, but I've researched the Crizal/Varilux stuff and have worn both on my current glasses for years. These are a step up from what I'm wearing currently, and a sorely needed step up. The high-end Crizal will give me blue light blocking from my computer screen, and the Varilux X will give me a better field of focus while working at the computer. 

Mrs. Prof can stay pissed at me for spending $225. I know what I need. 

[Don Edwards 548]

11 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I have six years left before I'll need eye surgery to remove cataracts.

Or, so the optometrist told me today when I went to get new glasses.

An opthalmologist told our medical insurer "she has cataracts. She's almost legally blind."

And let them assume the two facts (both true) were related.

So my lady got cataract surgery, even though the cataracts were barely detectable. She'd been almost legally blind - extremely nearsighted - her entire life. (The opthalmologist had to special-order the new artificial lenses from a supplier he didn't normally use, because nobody else made them in the needed power.)

Several months of astonishment followed, with her seeing perfectly ordinary things she'd never seen before - supplemented by a few deliberate outings for extreme things to see, such as a stunt-parachute show.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

In other news, I have an appointment with the cardiologist on Thursday to figure out what's going on with these palpitations.

[mlooney 3,417]

12 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

In other news, I have an appointment with the cardiologist on Thursday to figure out what's going on with these palpitations.

Much better than in July.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

***The Edema Chronicles for Feb. 22, 2023

I'm going to start a sub-thread in here that is intended to do two things:

1. It will make public my daily battle with edema (swelling) in my legs and help me to track it.

2. It will make public, for the very first time, my weight, and will force me to own up to the consequences of that action.

I know I'm not going very public, since there aren't too many people reading this, but I run the risk that any one of you will take this information and run with it to a more public forum. However, I am not going to swear anyone to secrecy. Do what you will. Let ye olde Golden Rule be your guide.

With that out of the way, let's get to some disclosures. All weights will be given in Imperial Pounds. Sorry, but I can't do kilograms or stones.

My base weight, before this edema nightmare began, was 306 lbs. At its absolute worst, my weight got to 356 lbs, sometime in December or January, before I wound up in the hospital on January 26th at around 350 lbs (approx.). I left the hospital at 326 pounds on February 2nd, having lost 30 lbs of edema in the form of water weight that my doctor promised he'd take off of me when he admitted me. So, the baseline for this record starts on February 2nd at 326 lbs.

Today's weight, taken at around 5:30 a.m., was 313 lbs. That's without me wearing my customary light jacket. It's down 13 lbs from my baseline, and down 43 lbs from my worst at 356. It's also one of the lowest points I've reached since being discharged. The only lower weight came almost 2 weeks ago, on February 10th, when I hit 312 lbs.

Note that a fluctuation of less than 3 lbs either way per day is considered normal. Now, I've been *told* by my doctor to call my primary care physician if I ever fluctuate more than 3 lbs upward. However, my scales aren't the most accurate (they're CVS brand, for crying out loud), and what I wear changes from day to day. So, I'm not going to go screaming to Dr. Parker's appointment line if I ever have a 4 or 5 lb jump. Also, doctor's office scales rarely agree with my home scales - I think there may be a 4 to 5 lb difference. For purposes of these Chronicles, I'm going by my home scales.

I've also been told to take my weight first thing in the morning, preferably at the same time each day. For reasons too long to get into here (!?!), I get up at 4am almost every day and weight myself at that time. Today was an anomaly.

That's all for this initial entry in The Edema Chronicles. I promise you that tomorrow's entry will be much shorter.