Annette and others

[Guest guest]

Annette,

Thanks for asking... life's going okay -- though I'm a bit swamped right

now. We're doing Neurology and Psychiatry and learning the neuro,

prostate, testicular and pelvic exams (yes, I can think of more exciting

ways of spending my Wednesday evenings, but guess it's gotta be done.

All I can say is, thank goodness they pay the subjects WELL for this

part, or I'm not sure I could -- almost literally -- fumble around " in

the dark " week after week. It gets easier as we go, fortunately).

School was really difficult from October through mid-December, though,

as I was pretty sick for a while with a fungal infection I just couldn't

kick, so I was on Amphotericin (aka " Amphoterrible " ) for months. I

would not wish this on anyone! The infection itself is nothing compared

to the treatment... but if you let it go, it can go systemic, and then

it can get really scary. So, I spent a lot of nights in a half-drugged

state, playing with various IV pumps and fending off nasty side effects

with a hefty supply of anti-nausea meds, Benadryl, and painkillers. But

it looks like we're moving past that (knock wood!).

Let's see... what else? I'm still together with ..... things are

going well there after nearly 18 months, despite the frustrating

long-distance aspects of the relationship. I just was in San Francisco

with him last weekend, after he filmed an interview for an episode of

Dateline NBC. Honestly, at this point, I don't remember what I've told

which list.... so briefly, in the fall, he went with his international

search and rescue team to Australia to search for an American who'd

gotten " lost " (explaining that statement would take two years and would

bore you to tears, so I won't even bother) in the Great Sandy Desert.

After 8 days of searching, they found the man, alive, after he'd spent

38 days in the desert, so they're all taping sequences for the " Survivor

Story " segment of Dateline, to be aired in March or April. So I've had

my 5 minutes of vicarious fame :-). I think that's about all I can

handle right now, anyway!

The adult group I run (like this one... in fact, inspired by this one

and one like it) has crossed the century mark -- over 100 members. This

is both very satisfying and very hectic. So usually, it's about all I

can do to skim all my other messages and pop in here and there. Half

the time, I'm a week or two behind on this group and one other, since I

try hard to keep up with the one I moderate (which generates between

100-130 messages a day.......<gulp>). :-) Let's just say I had a lot

of catching up to do when my computer went " on the fritz " for over a

week, a few weeks ago!

Annette, I'm sorry I didn't answer your question a few weeks ago, about

the cortisol level and tests -- actually, by the time I read the

message, Ursula had already responded with far more information than I

ever could have provided, and I think you and Alissa were going for the

test within a few days. Please keep us posted on the results, and how

the endo interprets them. I haven't taken endocrinology yet, so I'm not

really up on that part of the body, and likely wouldn't have been of

much (any?) help anyway! Sounds like you're keeping busy in Urgent Care.

I think the Flu here is backing off a bit here -- hopefully there won't

be a Round 2, because there aren't any open beds in the hospital.

They're using ER bays as hospital rooms until they can get people

discharged each day. It's just nuts, as I'm sure it has been for you.

I hope things slow down in your neck of the woods, too!

Briefly (as I'm still a bit behind)........

- doubt this will help you much, given the age/situational

differences, but I was right on time, 5lb, 11oz, and have gotten all my

immunizations (plus an extra measles because of vaccine issues in my

generation, and a few extras when titres were low), and will continue to

get all the ones that aren't live or live attenuated (basically anything

that doesn't pose an infection risk to me). I happen to feel really

strongly about immunization, even in PIDs, but I think I've probably

jumped on that bandwagon enough on this list in the past. I'd be happy

to " chat " more with you, but I don't want to put everyone to sleep! My

official diagnosis is CVID with an unspecified T-cell

deficit/dysfunction (low #s, low function), but at the time I got most

of those immunizations, I think I only had mild CVID or IgA deficiency

alone... the bigger problems didn't start until the teen years. I

continue to get the shots, though, even if they may be useless, because

at least in me, they haven't hurt me at all, and as Dale said, I believe

in trying for the one little T cell that might just help in a crisis!

The HBOT sounds like a true miracle for ... I hope he continues to

wow you all! What a trouper!

Dale - Congrats to Katy on her successful first day of School House

Rock. I hope all continues to go well, and that she doesn't wear

herself down (too much!). I always loved the story, The Miracle Worker,

so perhaps the Bye Bye Birdie thing was meant to be (this one certainly

has more meaning and depth, though I'd imagine Birdie's more fun to

perform). Is getting excited yet? I think I was totally excited

about leaving for college ----- until my parents dropped me off. Then I

was homesick for about 3 months! But I was FAR away! If you're going

to be visiting him at Wheaton, you may just end up driving or flying

through St. Louis sometime... please let me know if you head this way!

Ursula - Hope all goes well with the rest of the abx course, pulling the

line, and whatever comes next (hopefully nothing but peace and rest for

you guys for a little while!).

Capri - Did I remember correctly that is in the trial of the new

Baxter IVIG product? Or was it something else? There's a woman in my

group trying to find out more about it, and I wasn't sure if that was

the trial you had been working with for a while. If so, do you have any

written (or web-based) information on it? I hope you all are doing

well, and that is thriving on the new protocols.

Sorry, all... meant to write more, but I'm about to keel over and I am

still seriously indebted to a few other friends in the email department

-- I'm on about 18-20 hour days right now, trying to keep up with

pre-exam studies, deal with random health issues (arghhh), work shifts

in the clinic/hospital, hang out with friends, do social things when

possible, perform with singing groups, etc. This week was especially

hectic, as five medical students from our class and the one below ours

were returning from a road trip to Chicago on MLK, Jr. Day, when they

were in a horrible accident on icy roads, and three of them were killed.

So there were extra things to deal with this week -- grieving friends,

rescheduled classes (because we were given part of Tuesday off after

they informed us that morning), memorial service, arranging music for

the memorial, etc. Other than the tragedy, it's all been fun, but I

have a feeling I'm going to just fly to California over Valentine's

weekend, curl up on 's sofa with his cats, and sleep for 36 hours

straight. Maybe I could convince him to come here, so I could save

myself the trouble of moving from my sofa to his in the post-exam

stupor! Ahhhh, what a romantic....not! :-) Oh, well... maybe in about

a million and 12 years, I'll actually make some money and help a few

people with those silly two letters after my name (or so I keep

reminding myself!).

Off to read a bit more and hit the sack...

I hope that all of your pumpkins are doing well -- avoiding the flu (or

recovering, if they had it), enjoying their time back at school, and

having a blast in the recent snow!

Take care, all -