AAAAAAARGH!!! (long... woe is me... LOL )

[Guest guest]

,

I don't believe Dr Epstein needs a referral but you can call them and ask. Eye

caps come in blue, red and yellow. You want the red ones to stop the eye aging

process but I think I'd wait to check with the doctor first and if he does not

reccommend them, ask him about them. For your particular eye needs, perhaps a

different formula is in order. Dad has the same diagnosis as you but not for the

same reason. I think there is about a 2 month waiting period to get in because

he is that busy and that good. Tell them I sent you. He and I are friends. He

loves my " spindles " and says that in my particular case, " eye disease is not

only beautiful, it's spectacular! " He alwaysshows my great spindles to any of

his new staff, like he is a proud dad or owner of a gold mine. LOL . They (My

Krukenburg spindles, in my eyes) are very rare and almost never seen. Lucky me!

LOL

Yes, I am still with this crazy virus. I turned " green " a couple of days ago

and the wheeze in my chest is horrible. Even after using a double shot of my

inhaler every 4 hours, I still " squeek " , even after I stop exhaling. Squeek,

rattle and roll. LOL Wierd. Doc put me on a different inhaler today called

Zopomax, it's one that won't wig out my heart and make it beat crazy. Also put

me on

Doxicycline since I am allergic to the Z-Pac. 10 days worth. I have sinus

infection, chest infection complicated by asthma. Eee-haw! Just what I wanted???

Also found out today that my cholesterol has shot through the roof on the new

diet (We added Crestor) My blood sugars have gone bizerk and are back " out of

control " thanks to the addition of only 2.5 mg more of steroids, so I am

trying to cut back to 5 again. I can only cut about 0.5 mg at a time so it will

take at least 6 - 8 months to get off them again. =( Oh, and lets not forget

that I have added inhaled steroids to the mix too. Just one more thing to mess

with the bones and glucose, teeth too. OH Joy!

Oh, oh.... and my hormones are " in the crapper " according to my doctor. Her

words. If they had not just added Actonel last week for the bones taking a nose

dive into Osteopenia zone, she would have put me on HRT today. However, we did

up my glucose meds, add an inhaled steroid, a different asthma fast acting

inhaler and an antibiotic plus a caugh pill and a cholesterol pill. Now there

seriously won't be room for food by the time I get done eating my meds at meal

time. I've never been a big eater to begin with, used to even be anorexic years

ago and being this sick, who's hungry. How can my glucose be out of whack when I

eat less than a bird at the moment?

I guess I am so out of whack that I don't even know where to begin to fix

myself. And lets not forget my teeth are falling apart. BUT, don't I look great

for the multitude of invisible illnesses I don't have??? I mean, honestly...

how can I be sick if I look so good??? LOL I'm really frustrated but

striving to work harder to take better care of me, like that's possible and I

have energy to do any more. Being off the Kineret for a week now, I am beginning

to really feel the " pain " and I'm sure that's getting my attitude a bit too. My

body aches all over like somebody ran it through the " ringer " (you know, the old

wringer type washing machine women in their 80's used to use?) I guess if my

health has been through the wringer, the analagy fits.

I wish I knew someone who could come and help me clean my house so I could

just rest. Clutter and messes stress me out and I need every ounce of energy to

try to pull this body together. Now just where did I put that magic wand of

mine??? I WISH I could delete some of my medications but I just don't know what

I could live without. All of them fix a big problem and I face dire consequences

if I stop them. So, I'll admit that I need them all but it's costing me a small

fortune every month to stay sick, not to mention what it's doing to my poor body

with toxins and side effects. This, from a girl who wouldn't even take tylenol

for pain 6 years ago, didn't eat processed food, drink alcohol or smoke. WOW!

Look at me now! ! ! Some 15 - 20 perscriptions a day. . .

Ok, enough poor me's. I'm going to go get totally engrossed in some movie so I

don't have to obscess about how I am going to " fix " this. Maybe we need to do

lunch sometime, just to get away from ourselves? Hard to believe we live in the

same town, go to the same church but never see each other. Gotta love disease

and the wonders it does for your life sometimes. LOL

Please feel better, and I'll attempt to do the same. Kamari has marching

competitions again this weekend. I have never missed a single event in 4 years

and I've missed the past 2 weekends and it's beginning to look like I'll miss

this one too. =( I really love watching them. At least I could help by making

costumes / uniforms for the 4 color guard girls. Part of me will be there. =) My

heart will be there too and she knows that. She's a great kid.

Smiles, Caroline

Empress of CUS (still chronic, still unique, still a " CUS " LOL)

PS: I am forwarding this on to the group so I don't have to type it again. It

was too depressing the first time.... LOL

Dktalbott67@... wrote:

Caroline,

Thanks for the information. I'll check into this. I too have been diagnosed with

macular degeneration--early onset but I always felt it was related to RA since

there is no family history of this disease in the family line.

Do you know if he needs a referral? My health insurance doesn't require me to

have one but some Dr's do.

Thanks again.

Are you still struggling with this virus? It just sits in my head and lungs. It

doesn't seem like it's in a hurry to leave anytime soon. Bummer.

Hugs,

I see Dr Epstein in Ashland at the Siskiyou Eye Center. I have been seeing him

for 20 plus years. He is very knowlegeable and personable. I really like him. I

took my dad to see him this summer and he put him on red Eye Caps. They are an

over the counter eye vitamin that slows down the progression of aging and

macular degeneration, which my father has. He is an Opthamologist,

Love is Kind. What a profound statement!

(Beautiful Southern Oregon, USA)

We may not be able to change the direction of the wind, but we can adjust our

sails.

May you have enough happiness to make you kind, enough trials to make you

strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

---------------------------------

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+

countries) for 2¢/min or less.

[Guest guest]

Empress wrote:

" Please feel better, and I'll attempt to do the same. Kamari has marching

competitions again this weekend. I have never missed a single event in 4 years

and I've missed the past 2 weekends and it's beginning to look like I'll miss

this one too. =( I really love watching them. At least I could help by making

costumes / uniforms for the 4 color guard girls. Part of me will be there. =) My

heart will be there too and she knows that. She's a great kid. "

WoW! I remember the long weekends at Marching band contests! All those long

rehearsal days in the summer heat all the way to the freezing fingers because of

either early morning pre compettion day rehearsals or late nite rehearsals.

But I do miss the fun of being there to watch the band and color guards

excitement rise and rise even further. Now, I have to go to homecoming to see

them because she graduated and I have another 2 years before the next one heads

to marching band contests...

Hope you feel better soon, as I am sick too with the crude . I came down with

it enroute to home, but was sick before I left so I was exposed and had

hoped I would not...

Have lots of chicken noodle soup, honey tea, along with a comfy couch, tv

remote, a few good books and a huge box of extra soft tissues...

Love and hugs,

Tracilyn