Thursday, November 9, 2017

3 Reasons the Opioid Crisis is Getting Worse!

This is such a great article and SPEAKS MY MIND EXACTLY! "chronically ill pain patients" are NOT the ones causing the issues for the most part, those that use ILLEGAL DRUGS, OR GET THEM ILLEGALLY, are the problems.... and it's not fair for us that DO what we are supposed to, get "dinged" for those that are the ones who are abusers!

3 Reasons the Opioid Crisis is Getting Worse: By Roger Chriss, Columnist The opioid crisis is now a public health emergency. The CDC reports increasing rates of fentanyl overdoses. And The Economist warns the crisis is entering “a new and deadlier phase.”

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Trying to "find a new path" and Easier "lifestyle" for me, because i simply am not able to do all the stuff around my house I need to...

Lots going on, and much of it to do with my house, the lease on my car, and trying to "cut down" on my stress level, on my expenses, and get myself where I can spend more of my time doing the things I want to do, rather than drive myself insane with worry over "fixing" something every week at my house, and my own health, and pouring money into it that it is getting out of hand..

I never thought I would "want to live" in an apartment agai, BUT with the ways things are, the expenses of trying to keep a house "together", painting, roofs, inside work, floors, putting walls up in the laundry room, MANY trees that either need to be cut down or trimmed, and more.., the list is endless, and I have to face the fact I can no longer, "hang ceiling fans" and stand on a ladder to paint, or buff hardwood floors, fix a dryer again that has gone out, try to "fix" what the "scam artist" made a mess of with the repair and paint "job" he was "supposed to do on the outside of my house, and again, everyday there seems to be more, that keeps me away from my writing, my blog, my advocacy work, spending time doing the things I "want" to do, rather than a never ending realm of "repairs"..... so after the holidays, I am selling my home, and moving probably closer to my daughter around the Corpus Christi area, in an apartment, where I am no longer having to do ALL OF THE UPKEEP, MAINTENANCE, AND EXPENSE OF LAWNS, AND SUCH!!!

Well Hell, Just AS I THOUGHT! The dryer had the thermostat for some reason "short out" I think by the looks of it... so it (I can see) it "burned one of the tiny connections on the heating element... the element looks "okay" but with that piece damaged, I didn't take a chance. I ordered the ENTIRE ORDEAL, thermostat, the thermo fuse, heating element, and then the wires that go onto the thermostat and heating element. This is just about what happened before. I looked it up and it was in mid 2013 that we replaced all of that before.

Thank goodness for AMAZON and keeping up with orders. I could go back and see exactly what I ordered then and so I knew exactly what I needed!!! It does piss me off that in 4 years it has gone out again, BUT when I MOVE, if the apartment does NOT have a washer and dryer, I am leaving mine to go with the house, or selling them and will buy a new washer and dryer. I bought them 2005, or early 2006 when we first moved back to Ennis, so they have served their purpose. We did have to replace the parts before 4 years ago just like this in the dryer and then I know there was also the front "button" in the door that broke, and we replaced that, and I "think" something on the washer had also gone bad at one time and we replaced it also.,, SO ON THIS DREARY VERY COOL, RAINY CRAPPY DAY, I'VE been pulling the back off my dryer in that very TINY damned laundry room that has NO light worth a damned, so I was trying to hold the flashlight and the the damned hex screws loose from the back of the dryer, LOL..."Tis done and I've put the order in for the parts, which will come in on Friday! But, of course I may not get them early enough to put it back together until Saturday...

I was SUPPOSED TO ONCE AGAIN GO TO THE CASINO ON SUNDAY! But, now I am not sure if I will, Bella has surgery next Wednesday bless her little heart...I had to postpone it from this past Monday, I've been under the weather with a headache, sore throat, very hoarse, and my right shoulder and elbow are about to drive me nuts. I guess I've been using it painting outside and putting down that edging that I have to use a rubber mallet to drive the stakes into the ground that hold that edging down... plus cut more tree branches down and still need many more. but today I "think" I am just about through for the day..., I got up again very, very early and didn't sleep worth a damned, and I am exhausted honestly.. it seems to be non stop worry over this house, the yard, how many trees need to either be trimmed or cut down, and I am just no longer able to do even with the "cordless" mower, weed eater, chain saw, and so on...

If my neck and shoulder specialist "knew" what I've been doing he would probably have a cow! I am really taking a chance with much of what I have been having to do myself, between the hip fractures last year in December to the 4 month ordeal getting over neck surgery this past April, along with my lower back, now the shoulder that has been replaced and that elbow on the right side just giving me hell with pain, and the weather does NOT help for sure...,

I "PROMISE" to get back TO YOU GUYS, MY READERS, AND THOSE THAT FOLLOW MY BLOG, MY NEWSPAPER, MY FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND SO FORTH... AS SOON AS I AM OUT OF THE HOUSE, IT'S SOLD, AND I AM SETTLED INTO AN APARTMENT, MY HOPES ARE THAT I CAN ONCE AGAIN FOCUS ON THE THINGS I WANT TO DO, BLOG, WRITER, BE WITH MY TWO FUR BABIES, AND SPEND MORE TIME ON MY ADVOCACY WORK!!!!

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

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.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

FM/CFS/ME and it's Original Story... I decided to post this for those who suffer from "FM" and the other related illnesses, syndromes and so forth...

There are some that had either some types of dental "surgeries" or procedures, and then developed "some symptoms" of FM, CFS and so forth. When the 1st FM/CFS was "diagnosed" in Colorado(it was in "Lake Tahoe", by a doctor(s) there in a small town that "suddenly" MANY of that small town "developed" symptoms, that at first they felt that there was a new "outbreak" of a disease never seen before here. Many of the residents suddenly who had been very healthy became lethargic, had joint pain, the ran a very slight fever, some had "rashes" but many of those symptoms are now known as FM/CFS. That doctor if I am correct still runs a clinic there and I read the (book) I believe there is a book he wrote about it. It was almost "insane" how all of these so called been healthy residents suddenly could not walk, or could not do their jobs, were not able to leave their homes, because the horrible fatigue, and other symptoms were so bad, they could not function. I recall one was a mail man that had been doing his job for many years and he went into the clinic there, and again he almost could not work, because of suddenly being so ill. They tested the ground, water, thought maybe that had been "poisoned" or some type of "something" had just "hit" that town, due to the many who were becoming ill. Not long after that, then they began seeing patients with the same symptoms in California, and states other than Colorado and that one town. So, that is when these 2 doctors began a clinic just FOR FM/CFS and I believe it still exists and they are still one of the huge establishments trying to figure out why people suddenly come down with these illnesses... anyone out there who knows about this and I know many of you do, please jump in and help out if you know more. I will look up the name of the clinic there and the town and post it in a moment.

Here is some about the original story of CFS/ME which now I believe are all "connected" as FM...

http://www.apta.org/PTinMotion/2017/9/Feature/ChronicFatigue/

Okay I am incorrect IT was in Lake Tahoe actually when this all first happened and it was "Peterson" that began seeing these patients..I believe the "Peterson" clinic is there still and larger... they are still continuing their own "journey" to figure out what it is... It was first known as ME...they thought it could be some type of "flu" they even at one time called it the "yuppie flu" Here is a link to a portion of the story

The clinic I think is Peterson-Whitman or something like that.. it "was" the "Whittmore-Peterson" institute and I know there were issues so now it is actually called http://nvcbr.org/ They have changed names and do research on neurological problems, which these illnesses/syndromes are all "inter-related"...

This was a very interesting story (true) in how all of the entire ordeal with ME/CFS/that I believe now is "rolled into "FM"... above... I didn't realize that the "Whittmore-Peterson" clinic is now the

but I do recall there being some controversy over the original physicians, and the clinic that became the above. So, here is the new to that clinic, and the story is really interesting. Anyone who is either diagnosed with FM/CFS/ME OR just wants to know more, should delve into the story... I really learned a great deal from the two original physicians, whose town "Lake Tahoe" "suddenly" without notice the almost entire town became "ill" with many symptoms and so forth, that caused them much distress and up until then nothing was known about it..... Until two doctors began seeing SO MANY otheriwse very healthy, young people become so suddenly and terribly ill... whittemore peterson institute chronic fatigue syndrome

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

"National Pain Report and a New Book about FM and CFS....

FIBROMYALGIA and New Book You maybe interested in.....

http://nationalpainreport.com/new-book-gets-to-the-underlying-cause-of-fibromyalgia-8834612.html

Since I really LIKE what National Pain Report says, here is a new book they are talking about, and it's in regard to FM, (Fibromyalgia) which I know MANY of you have, have been diagnosed with it, or told you "may" have it or what they also referred it as, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"... I know MANY years back when I was trying to find answers to my "nightmare of several times a month migraines" I had several physicians tell me they thought I "may have" Fibromyalgia, or then also they referred to it as, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...

back then it was so NEW, they really had NO CLUE about it at all what it was, what caused it, or EVEN IF IT WAS A REAL DIAGNOSIS... I know MANY women continued to "hear" it as a diagnosis, when doctor's did not KNOW what was wrong, with WOMEN especially so it was either you have FM, CFS, or you are "stressed" or "depressed".... which aren't we ALL those things, whether we are "chronically ill" or NOT... plus being stressed or depressed it NOT just for women, but MANY men now days also... but since I realize that IMOP (which my opinion is not really a matter here) but I THINK that FM is an "autoimmune illness" just as any other like Lupus, RA, Sjogren's, JRA, and the

Thursday, October 12, 2017

WORLD ARTHRITIS DAY!

#CureArthritis‬ CureArthritis.org/WAD

PLEASE DO YOUR PART TO HELP SOMEDAY ERADICATE ARTHRITIC ILLNESSES FROM OUR NATION AND WORLD... YOU TOO CAN PLEDGE, SHOW YOUR SUPPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND HELP TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THESE HORRID ILLNESSES, THAT TAKE A QUALITY OF LIFE COMPLETELY AWAY FROM ITS VICTIMS!

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Brand New Clinical Trial By Cure Click Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Mild Cognitive Impairment, New Clinical Trial brought to you by Cure Click

#memory #memoryloss #forgetfullness #Alzheimers

Mild cognitive impairment causes cognitive changes that are serious enough to be noticed by the individuals experiencing them or to other people, but the changes are not severe enough to interfere with daily life or independent function. Local doctors are enrolling research studies to develop potential new medications.