LOTS of things going on... here is just a bit of an update on some of my Ordeal! Cars, Taking care of a Home, with you are "disabled" and by yourself, warranties, doctors, lab tests and you name it!

I've not said much about what all has been going on over the past 2 weeks... I had several "decisions" I really needed to make, especially after getting "scammed" over the whole having my home painted, boards repaired and so forth, and yet he got away with MUCH MORE money than the job was worth for sure. I am in the process of filing a "civil suit" against him, but I am sure I probably won't see a dime of money, nor any more work done... so I've been doing "as much as I can" to get it finished, plus I've got trees that are still in desperate need of getting really pruned back or I fear I will lose them, and I have no 2 or 3 in a row in the back on the same fence line that have all died. One of them in the past 2 weeks or so suddenly, what I thought was just "winterizing" itself, no, a huge portion of it is dead I believe, and I am not sure what the heck is going on. There is a huge one that died and i still don't have it all down... 

right beside it, then another smaller one, plus the "neighbors" on one side of me put up a "privacy fence" and I know "why" but I will keep quiet at the moment, BUT, it was further into the "back lot" so I didn't know about it, which is fine, BUT THEY EITHER KILLED A TREE, OR SOMETHING AND IT IS ON THEIR SIDE OF THAT FENCE, BUT THE ENTIRE TREE THAT IS DEAD FELL ON MY PROPERTY ON THIS SIDE OF THE FENCE! I WAS so pissed, but the other is not much better. They built the HUGE GARAGE, that now with no rain, the "foundation" has pulled away from the ground all around it, which really does not matter to me, 

BUT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO AWAY WITH ALL OF THE JUNK, that was in the two "sheds" and i mean LOADS AND LOADS OF JUNK, they hauled away flat bed trailers full several times, yet rather than get rid of it all, HE BUILT THE GARAGE THEN STILL HAS A HUGE PILE OF NOTHING BUT JUNK BEHIND IT! Well in the first place, he was supposed to get rid of all of that, and in the 2nd I NOW SEE IT, SINCE THERE IS NO FENCE, AND THOSE OLD BUILDINGS THAT WERE KIND OF THE FENCE ARE GONE, and part of those dead trees are on his property line, so now I think that is where lots of the problems are coming from with mice, and Lord knows snakes and everything else, piled within and under all of this "stuff" that I cannot fathom to even wonder about... anyway I got "rid" of Leasing and "bought" my car permanently, a good move since the interest rate was .9% (less than 1 %)!!!! and now I don't have to worry over when this one is paid for, no more "leasing" or decisions, it's mine, and that is just how it is... 

anyway, more money than I really wanted once again to have to think about dealing with, but a good move in order to avoid either paying "out the lease" in 24 more months OR leasing again and so forth... my ceiling fan (new one) new enough I put it up I believe last summer before I fell and broke my hip... I thought it was a $6.00 part and I ordered it, replaced it, even had my son "recheck" to make sure I was correct, and THE DAMNED THING HUMS, BUT WON'T TURN THE BLADES, so I had to buy another damned ceiling fan, this time, I got it from Home Depot and got an extended warranty on it... I usually never do that, but now with my situation as it is, and I no longer can put the thing up myself, and besides they are much more expensive than the others I bought, so at least the thing is covered for 5 years or more... so if something goes out, at least it will be replaced, without me being out another load of money again.... and I didn't go to the "GI' doctor today... the weather is horrible, and we are supposed to have rain at any moment, and with it being Halloween, and terrible weather moving in, and I already am not feeling very well. In fact, I "thought" I may have "pneumonia" or some type of sinus infection or something.. This weather is really causing many people to get sick all of a sudden...

I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless top not a week ago, and yesterday it was a beautiful day, but the wind was so cool, that it makes me have problems breathing to get in that cold wind, and today, now it looks like it is going to come a flood at any moment, dreary and really cool, not as windy but the wind is also almost cold, with it cloudy like it is.... so we know TX weather, burn up one moment, in an hour be freezing... so here is my 2018 Prius C - this one happens to have everything but the "kitchen sink" in it, but I was not thrilled with the "black pearl" color.... any "darker" color cars in hot TX weather, just really suck... but it was almost less expensive than the 2016, and has a lot more things upgraded, even the rims and wheels, it has a GPS system, back up system, it tells me if I "get out of my lane" high beams that will "dim" on oncoming traffic themselves, and even has XMsirus radio I noticed, and "Gracenote"... and with that I will NOTE, I BROUGHT THE MANUALS IN FOR IT YESTERDAY, AND NO CRAP THEY ARE ABOUT ALL TOGETHER 5 INCHES THICK! It would take a "law degree" LOL, to read and understand all of the crap these cars now days do..... so I am somewhat "under the weather" but not just physically, more also emotionally and mentally, with all that has happened in the past about 4 to 6 weeks... I've been upset with myself because I've not been keeping my blog up and so forth. I never allow myself NOT to keep the blog and my newspaper current, but I've been so busy outside everyday trying to finish up as much as I can on the house, that most everything else has been on hold...

Health... Lab Work... and Issues about different doctors', tests and so forth...

Now quickly, I have "developed" a couple of "new issues" that I was NOT thrilled with from the lab work i had done before my appt yesterday. I have never had "thyroid" problems, and they have checked it every 3 months for a long time, but yesterday I do have "High above normal" on my TSH, which I think means my body is "making not enough" or it's not coming from the gland as it should. So, they did another blood test yesterday. We shall see how it comes out. 

My Grandmother and my Aunt on my Mom's side both had thyroid problems, and both took medication for many years. Then my Vitamin "D" levels were very low, which in a way does not make sense. All of the things in my diet that I eat on a regular basis "should" have it up but it's not, and that could be from the RA, Lupus, and/or medications I am on. Plus my Calcium levels are very low, which really does not make sense because i eat low fat cottage cheese, or fat free, yogurt, I use Almond Milk all of which contain lots of Calcium, plus I eat not all the time, but I do eat Sharp Cheddar Cheese when I eat cheese, and I buy the lower in fat on it also, it comes now in 2% milk fat. 

I also have lower Protein levels which again, I am not a "meat eater" but I do eat peanut butter, I made my FIRST BATCH OF MIXED NUT BUTTER OVER THE WEEKEND! It turned out awesome! It will cost me about 50% LESS to buy the nuts, and make it myself, with no added sugars, salts (if I buy unsalted nuts", plus no preservatives, and nothing in it, but NUTS! I did a mixture of Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Macadamia nuts, Pistachio nuts, a few pecans, Brazil Nuts, and I think one other one, but no Peanuts in this one, I eat Peanut Butter so I didn't want peanuts in the "other nut butter" as I call it. So, I will probably make both my own Peanut butter and other nut butters from now on. It's easy, and does not take but a few minutes in the food processor. I have to refrigerate it, since it has no preservatives, but I have been doing that anyway.

Then of course my Anemia is still "with me". It is still there, but as my doctor said, it seems to kind of be finally "holding steady" so rather than "set up" something else other than my B-12 injections, we are just watching it. The RA and Lupus cause that also. Then my "Parathyroid" tests were very "High" above normal. I didn't realize that they have a great deal to do with kidney functions. But, Vitamin D (which I am low on) has an effect on the "parathyroid functions" and of course Calcium and Vitamin D effect one another. 
Your body does not absorb "Calcium" as efficiently if the Vit. D is low, I believe. I knew they effect 
one another. So, I am getting a "prescription" strength Vitamin D, and he called in the Calcium also, But, I feel like insurance will not pay for the Calcium, and I remembered that Humana actually pays for like 50.00 in "over the counter" meds if I order them through their mail order service. So, I can get the Calcium through there since I have that allowance I can use to pay for anything that the insurance as far as prescription does not cover. 

He said I show "very, very mild and early" kidney function issues, but again, nothing to worry over, and probably the RA has a great deal to do with that problem. The other thing and it's been going on for a while now is that my "bracycardia" (slow heart beat) was REALLY SLOW YESTERDAY! 49 beats a minute, which is very slow. I know medication they can cause it, but it concerned me. One of my medications for my heart that is a factor in that issue also. I've cut back, way back on one of my medications, because it also causes the heart rate to be slower.
 
The "Barrett's Esophagus" he wants me to see a GI doctor! Dammit, I don't want to have to go to yet another new specialist. I am already up to my ears in specialists and I am sick and tired of having to get a new one for every little thing that comes up. When I had the endoscopy done and they found the Barrett's, my doctor just sent an order over to one of the general surgeon's and I thought that would be enough. THEN if the "Barrett's" shows signs of dysplasia or changes, THEN SEND ME to a specialist. 

#WHATTHEHEALTHCARE - Your "pet peeves" or worse with Doctors and the Medical System

#whatthehealthcare

HOW MANY OF us have dealt with wrong diagnosis, doctors with NO bedside manner,having tests we did not need, dealing with labs done but you don't get results until weeks and weeks later, doctors who make you wait 4 or 5 hours or more when you had a scheduled appt, not getting things billed properly to insurance...

... having a doctor make you wait, then the nurse comes in and says there was "an emergency" and you have to reschedule. go to:

http://whatthehealthcare.info/?spMailingID=16126899&spUserID=MTQwOTExNTk2OAS2&spJobID=921335017&spReportId=OTIxMzM1MDE3S0

WE KNOW HEALTH CARE CAN BE FUNNY AND EVEN FRUSTRATING AT TIMES…

LET’S HASH THROUGH IT!

 

 

Talking about "enduring" ALL of the "complications" & Nightmares of being in the hospital after breaking my hip, surgery, Rehab and "conflicts" of other illnesses #WhatTheHealthcare

 #WhatTheHealthcare

To understand this, I fell and broke my right hip n 2 place the Tuesday before Christmas. I am STILL in the Rehab Hospital and everyday there is some kind of "kink" or some complication, and guess who suffers for it???? ME, the PATIENT!!! Here is the latest example.... besides being Anemic and having 3 UNITS of blood before, during and after surgery.... I've had a ROUGH 24 HOURS AGAIN!

They decided to do that liver sonogram and I didn't know I could not eat, drink or even have meds (which I was told they would come somewhere around 3AM or so do to the scan. Well, 3 passed by, then 5AM passed by, then 6AM and nothing to eat, drink, no medications, and by 6:30AM I was about a basket case... well over time for pain meds, my Valium, my muscle relaxers and so on. So, everyone was checking to find out why the scan was not done sometimes in the early morning.

He FINALLY SHOWS UP about 11:00AM.... now this is like 20 HOURS SINCE I've had anything.... the sonogram did not take long, and I was "buzzing" for ALL OF MY MEDS, and some orange juice as soon as he got through. So, thank goodness I got lunch, and of course my stomach is so "small" that I can't hold a great deal of food or drink at a time.

But, I got my meds, and drank the juice, then ate some of my lunch, and now I am just worn out from lack of sleep, and lack of meds on time.... so it's been a heck of a day and night before.... I gather he did the sonogram of my spleen, liver, kidney's etc...so if anything is causing the blood work to be "off" hopefully they will find out.

Day 4 - #HAWMC WEGO Health Writer's Blog Challenge - for the Month of November 2016

Day 4 - #HAWMC - A Letter to "Myself" at the time I was diagnosed knowing now what I did not know then....

 

 

Dear Rhia (self),


You had already "figured out" that something must be wrong with your immune system. You had been through enough doctors, tests, had so many symptoms resembling Lupus, RA, and several others like Sjogren's and Raynaud's that you really did not know much about.

When the 1st round of labs came back, from my own PCP (who diagnosed me at first), he knew that you needed to see a specialist. Although you come to find out your PCP has been more beneficial with the Lupus and Lupus Flares, that the Rheumatologist, who concentrates more on the RA than the other Autoimmune diseases.

You now can recall the first Rheumatologist, even though he was quite elderly, had just came back to work after a stroke himself, but his diagnosis, just after a thorough examination gave proof enough to show not only did I show signs of Lupus, RA, Raynaud's, Sjogren's, but had findings of probable MCTD, and that was almost more frightening than the Lupus and the others.

My moments that now I wished I had realized that ALL RHEUMY"S are NOT THE SAME, is something I wished I knew when I was first diagnosed. That caused me going through at least 7 specialists, each of which had a different "edge" and look on my diseases, or lack thereof. Most of them were only "blood work" driven. Not anything to do with all of the symptoms I had for years and years.

I could have saved myself a great deal of stress, worry, and getting nowhere, had I known to search for the "proper" Rheumatologist from the beginning. I've also come to find out my doctors here at my local Urgent Care know more about my conditions, than my Rheumy's for the most part. Plus if I am in a severe flare, there is no way I could get into my Rheumy in Dallas quickly. With those at Urgent Care I can be in and out, have the medications I need, and be hopefully on the road to curving the flare, without having to drive 40 miles each way, and maybe not getting what I need.


When I found out that I had 2 or 3 other 1st cousins, all on my Mom's side with RA, then we each began to piece together that this could very well be "genetic".

I wished I had known more about Sjogren's, for one. Maybe had one doctor done more about the Sjogrnen's I would not have lost ALL OF MY TEETH WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS, requiring severe pain, and many dentists visits, to have all of them pulled that were left, and then try to deal with dentures, and the expense of over 15,000.00! Now I am still left with "pretty straight" teeth, BUT "fake" in nature.

So, I also wished I had more knowledge of how I could have been a volunteer and advocate before I myself had been diagnosed. I think had I been involved in some ways with the organizations who help us I may have felt "better" about myself, and not so ashamed of what these illnesses can do to us, our minds, bodies and souls... plus relationships, friendships, and the way people "see" us after we are ill.


#HAWMC

WEGO HEALTH

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