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["Jeanne Driese" <jeanne13 AT earthlink.net>]

Bev,
Thanks so much for the update.  At least you have docs who will hold a 
conversation with you!  It sounds like you are doing a splendid job of 
getting things together.  
Doing the pedometer thing works for me too!  My goal is 5 miles per day, 
which includes the WATP DVD.  My resolution for 2009 is to get back to 
keeping track of what I do , for me it is a necessity as I am alway amazed by 
how much I think I do  and how different that is when I actually record what 
I do!
My PCP has been with me for over 25 years.  I love him because he actually 
listens to me  and will work with me to find a natural cure.   In our talks 
over the years he has told me how refreshing it is to have someone who is 
interested in their health and not just interested in a pill to quick fix 
every ache or pain!  He dutifully writes down all the things I do, such as 
the turmeric thing.  It has been an annual physical for me all of my life.  
It was required when I was teaching and I have continued.  Since I have no 
health insurance, except Medicare which covers less and less as time goes on, 
he is like a supplementary insurance policy to me :)))
You are getting it all together, and more power to you!
Jeanne
tnhillwoman
North East TN zone 6
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: EarthNSky 
  To: Homestead List 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 1:03 AM
  Subject: [Homestead] Dr. Dr. Give me some news....


  Evening y'all

  First, before I forget again, I have to correct something I wrote the
  other day.  I said "Last night they confirmed I have MRSA"  I meant
  confirmed my own suspicions, but I did not write that and implied a fact
  not in evidence.  The ER doc said that it was MRSA in his opinion.  He
  also said my 'kidney infection' was probably MRSA related since I had
  had no prior symptoms before the fever and pain...the paper work and
  diagnosis sheet I got to take home also says MRSA, however, to confirm
  it, you have to culture it, and it was not cultured at the ER...the ER
  doc just might be full of it...ok so anyway...
  First appointment today was the ophthalmologist...good news there-my
  pressures are at the high end of normal..yeah.. I got a new prescription
  for glasses, but the doc is an a-hole and was definitely in his a-hole
  mood today.  He was such a PITA that I am considering filing a report
  against him.  Long story short, I will have to pay an optometrist to
  make the measurements of my eyes that are needed to get my glasses via
  mail, as the one today refused to do it saying he is treating me for
  this and this and this, not so that I can get cheap glasses from a
  company he has never heard of.  And that was just the beginning.

  Finally, I got my follow up with the PCP, whom I love.  He is very
  thorough, very patient, and has helped me a lot over the years, and yes,
  he is also open to alternatives.
  He spent about 20 minutes reading my history and labwork for the last 3
  years, and he thinks that I don't have a kidney infection at all.  He
  thinks I passed a small stone, because I recovered so quickly...10 hours
  later I was fine-urine color almost back to normal.  He saw the first
  spider bite in his office last summer, and he says that he is not
  convinced that 3 or 4 boils/bites in 6 months means MRSA, especially
  since the first bite healed with 2 rounds of antibiotics, so he also
  lanced the boil and took a sample to culture.  Three days, but of
  course, with the holidays, who knows when... I hope he is right and that
  this is just plain staph that will be undone by the antibiotics I am
  already on now and hopefully not MRSA.  If it is MRSA, he will put me on
  another antibiotic and then after that, IV antibiotics if needed.   He
  is also starting up an entire battery of testing to try to figure out
  what is going on with my liver.  He wanted to repeat testing done at the
  ER just to make sure the medicine is working.  It works for me.  I
  talked to him about getting off Enbrel, and he asked if I had mentioned
  it to my rheumie...no...he suggested that when I see her on 1/6 that I
  discuss it.  He agreed that perhaps I have been on the meds too long,
  and wanted me to be sure and discuss it with her.  He also said that if
  my bilirubin and enzymes were still high on the blood they took today,
  that that would warrant him calling her for consultation and I would be
  seeing her sooner than 1/6.  I then discussed baseline testing and
  fitness evals...he ordered bloodwork for cholesterol, triglycerides and
  all of that kind of stuff, plus a mammogram, too.  Since my heart is
  doing good, he said shoot for target of 140 bpm, and stick with no or
  very very low impact exercise and to be careful with the weights.  I
  told him that I wanted to get off some of the meds I was on, a few of
  which he had prescribed, and he understood and actually agreed that I
  should try this this and this, blah blah blah...he did not suggest an
  alternative that I had not heard of, but I was glad to have a chance to
  talk to him.  That is 3 less prescriptions I have to refill now.
  As a side note, I got my pedometer and chin up bar today...(and also my
  rice seeds!!!) so I can carefully and objectively record my progress
  next year.  I did not think I would like a pedometer, but I borrowed my
  friends for a couple of  weeks last summer and I was hooked.  For me, it
  spurs me on to do more...8000, I can do 9000, 10000 is almost
  12000<g>...I found myself getting up and walking to someone's office
  instead of calling on the phone, just to run the stairs and add steps on
  the ped.  It a good motivational tool that costs about $5.  Mine was $8
  but it's got a calorie counter, a stopwatch and some other stuff on it.
    I figured the stopwatch would be good for taking my pulse.
  I can't even do one chin up or pull up, but I did put the bar together
  practically blind<G>, if that counts.
  Except for dealing with the a-hole, it was all pretty good news...
  I am really starting to get excited about getting healthy.
  I'm sharing a lot of personal stuff with you guys in hopes that maybe
  some of you will also take the time and spent the money on yourself.
  Even if you don't like western med, at least find someone to do some
  screening bloodwork so you will have an objective way to measure whether
  or not all that oatmeal you are eating is lowering your cholesterol or
  if you just feel better because you are getting more fiber.  If you know
  the facts, you can adjust what you need to adjust on your own.

  Bev



  -- 
  The true significance of Sacajawea's involvement in the Lewis & Clark
  expedition is that it was the first documented trip in history where men
  asked a woman for directions and followed them, allowing them to arrive
  at their destination.
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11:23 AM