So glad to hear from you Judy. I was just thinking about you today and wondered how the surgery went.

I'm glad rehab was good. Hospitals are the worst place to get any rest or get to feeling better. When I needed something nobody could be found but just let me doze off to sleep and they were all right there to check my BP or pulse.

I'm glad you have helpful neighbors. Hope you continue to improve and feel better.

this was your back surgery?
I am glad to hear that you are home, safest place to be but I understand sometimes we have to stay else where.
You know to eat well, make yourself eat 3 times a day and lots of protein. Shoot for at least 60 grams a day, 20 at each meal use protein supplementals to make smoothies if you are not up to "eating" that much protein.
I use a pea protein powder to mix into a kale blueberry smoothie. it tastes great! I sweeten it with liquid stevia, use about 15 drops for the whole smoothie.
I hope you are pain free as soon as possible!

bizi

thanks biz and kitty,

unfortunately i have no problems with my stomach, or eating. in the hosp we got 3 squares a day and the portions were reasonable. i lost 4 lbs.

i'm trying very hard to do the same here.

J

happy new year everyone.

i was sort of hoping i'd be home free this yr in the medical dept.
now 2 things have popped up.

when i had my back surgery the neurosurgeon had a cardiothoracic surgeon help him. they went in thru the front (of my abdomen) to move aside bowel and important blood vessels. then, finished thru the back. so, the cardiac guy thought i was high risk enuf and he placed an IVC filter in my inferior vena cava (the largest vein in your body).

i have some drs who don't think the filter needs to come out and some who do.
there are risks both ways. i hate having to make these should i or shouldn't i decisions. so, i've decided to have it removed. it's a foreign object. it could shift or damage the vessel (very bad news) or several other things. i'm hoping to do it next month. it's not surgery. they go in thru the groin vein and snag the top, collapse it and pull it out. any problem and he'll stop.

then i discovered that i have one foot that's warm and one that's cold. along with slightly less blood perfusion and pulses in the cold foot. the dr said it's something arterial but can't say as yet. in 2 wks i'm having an US (ultrasound). then i'll know what needs to be done. i can't afford circulation problems in my feet because of the diabetes.

so, i may not be as home free as i'd like.

wow this is a lot going on.
bizi

Judy I always admire how you take charge of your medical issues as they arise. I hope you got clarity with your ultrasound and that everything goes smoothly from here on.

Take care,

C

carol,

how nice of you to say that.

i worked as an RN for 35 yrs in ICU settings and think i know the inside scoop.
but, i've learned that as prepared and knowledgeable as i think i am things can and do go wrong. i can't stress enuf how we all should have an advocate with us in the hospital. even someone who's not medically trained can help us. they just have to have "a mouth" on them and be assertive.

thankfully the US of my leg was normal. no arterial problems. now it's on to getting the IVC filter removed from my inferior vena cava (from my back surgery). i made the decision to remove it. i hope this too will go in my favor.
i go in tues the 10th. just outpt but general anesthesia.

how are you doing?

So glad to hear about the US. I'll keep you in my prayers for an easy road on Tuesday. My mom was an RN, so growing up, our house was triage central. I don't have the stomach to be a nurse but I grew up with the lingo so am pretty good with medical speak. (I can talk the talk but that's the extent of it!) I greatly admire nurses for all the things they do. A good nurse is an angel in a uniform.

I hear you about needing an advocate. My mother in law has been in the hospital more than she's been out this past six months (CHF, end stage COPD, A-Fib, ITP) If it wasn't for family she wouldn't have made it a couple of times.

My MS has been behaving nicely in spite of chaos. I take LDN and for me it was life changing. Took away the heat intolerance, which was my longest and worst symptom. A little over a year ago, Grave's Disease came to visit, but once diagnosed, (waited until I literally couldn't function before going to Dr - T4 Free was 82). That is also behaving and expected to go away entirely. Lesson learned... Did I mention I hate going to Dr's and hospitals?

There was a period of a few months when I was only taking LDN sporadically. That's when the thyroid problem came up so I'll always wonder if that's what let it creep in. Life got super hectic and I was falling asleep before I remembered to take the LDN more often than not.

Let us know how it goes with your procedure.

C

welcome to NT carol,

when were you dx'd?

i was on copaxone for 10yrs and then stopped because i was so stable. i use a cane and can drive because it's my Lt leg that's weak. i'm lucky. in the beginning things were very hard. i had to quit working and was very symptomatic and very heat intolerant.

i learned the hard way to listen to my body and stop when it said so.
live and learn is a moto for a reason.

i was dx'd late, 53. resigning my position was the best thing i ever did for myself. i think stopping work saved my life. my BP was thru the roof from all the physical effort just to do those 12hr days. i'm so much calmer and have retired with friends. my best friend of 56 yrs is 3 houses away now. i have a lot of support and we help each other.

hope you're doing well. best to you.

I was diagnosed in 2006 at the age of 49. First attack was in 2000. I'm one of four in my family with MS. My mother was diagnosed at 22 but was still walking (barely) when she passed away at 85. There is a first cousin and then the son of a different first cousin also with MS. Two women, two men. Weird, eh?

My main symptoms have been heat intolerance, numbness & tingling, some fatigue issues on occasion and very mild spasticity in my legs in the colder weather.

I've been very fortunate and I credit it to a mild course and taking LDN for the past 7 or so years. Thank you for asking. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow.

C