A New Book - and Our Immune System A New Look (and the drama of being a woman in her 50's)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/the-compatibility-gene-offers-interesting-insights-on-the-immune-system.html?ref=nicholaswade&_r=1

I found this article interesting and thought I would share with you. I am extremely busy this week, although I feel I have gotten nothing done. I  try to get here to post and dammit, there seems to be always something else to do, look up, and it just goes on and on.   With the weather changing I woke up to a "crick" in my neck and my entire left shoulder (OMG NOT THIS ONE!!!) in just a stage of almost hurting enough to make me cry! I feel like we must have a cool front headed this way. I have had such great success so far, so good (cross my fingers and toes if I could) since the 2nf Rituxan infusion, am I so prying I am able to continue to be as least that much free of pain, (never all of it is ever gone), but also some of the daily stiffness had diminished until this a.m. 

Of course the (OMG) above is because even though my left shoulder did have surgery on it,several years ago, I have been extremely fortunate that it has not given me much hell. Even my left elbow, which in MRI's show to be just a freaking mess (I had surgery on it in the late 090's for a severe tear, and it is torn again, but it quit giving me trouble,. So, I have just gone on without being concerned. Hopefully it will continue to behave, but with me you never know. None the less, I am not sure what this left neck/shoulder thing is but my hopes are it is just a "crick" and it will dissipate soon.

Other than that this week has been a conundrum of good and not good at all. I did finally go to the new "female" .... female doctor. I did really like her, so that is great news. Of course not that I want to have to see her again, but I do have a GYN now just in case I need one. I found out, that even though I had a basically complete hysterectomy in about 1995 or so, I was supposed to have an "annual" pap smear anyway. Of course I felt like a fool, because out of all the medical knowledge I try to keep up with, especially anything that involves something that effects me, I had no clue about this. Not one doctor had ever mentioned it to me. They ALL know I had a hysterectomy, and from day one, not one said that even though the cervix is all removed, that if you had any displasia from your previous pap's that you could have some cancerous cells develop where that has been taken away... that there can be a tad bit of tissue that may develop into cancer... NICE TO KNOW 20 years later!!!! And that is the "cut-off"... once it has been 20 years with all "clean" pap's, then no others are required... damned talk about embarrassed... out of all the stuff I TELL my doctors about and it seems they may not know... here I am walking around all these years and could have still gotten "cervical cancer" or even ovarian cancer (as far as I know I still have one ovary)... so guess what?? I got a damned pap smear yesterday... go figure! She said I probably would not need any more. If this one is "okee dokie" then I am probably good to go. 

Then she seemed to think that my bladder repair surgery has nothing to do with my problems now. She seems to think (this word of dread for ALL WOMAN-KIND) - that I am going through .............grrrrrrrr and I never really believed it could cause issues... Menopause.... damned not something any "girl" my age or any age wants to freaking hear!!! So here we go with "hormone" creams etc... as far as I know I cannot freaking take estrogen pills due to my previous heart attacks... but she did talk about a brand new pill out that "acts" like estrogen to help with the symptoms, but it is not supposed to be estrogen related as far as its side effects..... but before I even dare get a script (which a pill is so much better than damned creams---yuck)!!!! I have to talk to my cardiologist... no way will I risk having another MI = since I have had 2... don't need or want any other heart issues for sure... I already run enough risk with RA, Lupus etc.... all of the Autoimmune Arthritic diseases and their "mates" I have... thus adding something else to the fire, is not what I need to do. I am in the midst of looking up this new medication today... and I will post about it also.... more to come... freaking nine billion things to do today... and not enough "spoons" to do 3 of them :)  Rhia