Health Update
Sheila and I are still quarantined at home as Sheila continues to work from home and the numbers of people infected around us multiplies.
Even before this virus, we very rarely wandered from the house for social things anyway so this new quarantine and 'shelter in place' order hasn't changed our daily life much at all. By early to mid-January, it became abundantly clear to us that the virus was gaining a foothold in the US so we immediately stopped visiting restaurants, canceled all future travel plans for the foreseeable future and began cutting out our weekly shopping trips. (This is when the Federal government should have began a serious attempt at containing and minimizing the effects of this virus. We knew it was coming at this point so we immediately changed our behavior... the White House, well, this White House only helps the wealthy so it would have been silly for anyone to seriously believe they would come up with an effective plan to minimize and contain this virus for the people they were elected to protect.)
The only things that have changed for Sheila and me is Sheila is now working from home and now we are very uncomfortable doing any shopping for food or household supplies. There isn't much to choose from either so we wonder about the wisdom of these short ineffectual grocery shopping excursions even though they are now only once a week.
I'm certain we will run out of toilet paper. With my illness, Sheila and I go through more toilet paper than the average family of six. We haven't been able to purchase any in weeks either so I'm quite certain that we'll run out of toilet paper before long.
Produce, if you can find what you need, is difficult to preserve in times like this too. Fresh produce is also hard to find at times too. Frozen vegetables and frozen fruit are impossible to find. Cold medications are impossible to find. Even soap is impossible to find... and I'm not talking about anti-bacterial soap... just any plain old bars of soap are hard to find! Fresh meat has been hit or miss just like the produce. Pasta, boxed prepared foods (stuff like mac and cheese), rice and rice mixtures are impossible to find.
My health requires fresh food (no leftovers whatsoever) so this new diet of frozen, canned and prepared foods and then eating them as leftovers isn't helping my health at all. Eating this stuff, particularly leftovers, causes my health to crash. On the positive side, even if we stay healthy (aside from the illnesses we already have) and avoid this deadly virus, I should lose some weight.
My health crashed the other night. Most times I don't even write a thing about my health crashing because it happens so often. The other night was a bit different and at a level I would call "violent" so I figured I should probably write about it.
Typically (about twice a week), during these bouts, I experience nausea and even sometimes I get double-teamed by added anaphylaxis. On this night, I had the nausea and I just wasn't feeling "right"... which, in hindsight, could have been a sign of my blood pressure dropping. My stomach was gurgling and bothering me... then, rather quickly, the terrible explosive diarrhea developed. Saying I felt absolutely miserable would be an understatement.
Usually, after these bouts, particularly if anaphylaxis is involved, I experience deep chills and shivering. This time, however, the chills and shivering started before I even made it to the bathroom the first time. The shivering was so bad that I would classify it as "violent". I couldn't hold onto anything as my hands were shaking back and forth about six inches. My whole body shakes during these bouts and I feel like I am naked out in a frozen landscape. Just trying to lift the toilet cover and drop my pants was extremely difficult to accomplish with this violent shivering.
The other bad thing about this period of shivering is that the violent shivering makes it pretty much impossible to hold a glass of water and some extra medications. If I can't hold these things, then I can't take the extra medications I need. On this night, I went for extra medications sometime after Sheila helped warm me up. And again, in hindsight, I should have somehow tried to inject myself with epinephrine... although, I'm not sure if I could have done that with the violent shivering. I honestly could not hold onto anything. Sheila, however, could have injected me had I summoned her. She was already asleep in bed.
Anyway, after two nights and a day of extra medications, I'm feeling more like my new self again. So that is good.
Another concern I have is that sometimes I require medical attention. For instance, whenever things get bad enough to require epinephrine, I am supposed to get to the hospital until my body stabilizes. I have absolutely no desire to expose myself to this deadly coronavirus at a hospital so I truly want to avoid hospitals until this virus is under control.
Skin Cancer Update
I mentioned in a couple of previous blog entries that I am now in an experimental 90 day treatment to rid my face of some crusty and painful skin cancer. I am nearly at the 60 day mark and I'm happy to report that most of the problem areas have cleared up.
I have a couple of stubborn areas though. One area is so deep and painful that I don't think it will be cleared up in another 30 days although it does look and feel far better than it did when I started this treatment about 60 days ago. We'll see how it goes though. So far this treatment has been successful.
There are two things we hope for with this treatment... First, I hope that we clear up all the cancer. Second, we hope that it won't come back for a few years. Since there is no cure for cancer, we always expect it to come back at some point. If we can clear this up for a few years, then I'll be happy.
One thing is certain... I truly hate the sun today. I hate being hot because it negatively impacts my health problems and I hate the effects of the sun on my skin. Not only is the damaged skin a cosmetic and vanity problem but it is also painful. I've already had one surgery requiring 28 stitches to sew me up again after removing cancer and I don't particularly care to go down that road again. The sun is responsible for this so I'd prefer to direct my anger toward the sun and I'd prefer to just avoid the sun at all cost.
I hate the sun.
Eye Problems
A new problem arose this past Friday morning. I awoke with what looked like a severe case of floaters in my right eye and I was having great difficulty getting my eyes to focus on anything. At the time, the floaters were across my upper field of view. If I stayed still and didn't move my eyes, the floaters would calm down and not be all that noticeable. I was also getting flashes of light so I immediately put the signs together once the flashes of light started.
By Sunday evening, I was having difficulty with my vision in this eye. The floaters also expanded in my vision. I originally had floaters across the top of my vision resembling a line of birds flying over my head. By Sunday evening, I also had a big fat 'crack' in my vision down the outside periphery of my vision on the right side.
My vision seems to slowly change as I try to stay focused on something. I am now getting headaches behind my eyes. At times, I also feel slight pain in my right eye... sort of like the feeling that something is in my eye.
I'm fairly certain that I have a torn or detached retina. I have always had a fear of losing my eyesight but right now my biggest fear is visiting any medical facility. I do not want to risk picking up this virus and especially not by voluntarily visiting a medical facility. I want to avoid every human being on the face of the Earth right now. Needless to say, I have not yet sought any medical attention for this vision issue.
Potential Exposure to COVID-19
And, as if the above wasn't enough, we are waiting on news about a COVID-19 test taken by the grandkids other grandfather. We've been told that he had traveled to New York for work and developed symptoms of a cold. His doctor had him come in immediately to test him for the virus. That was Wednesday last week.
We also found that he had been caring for the grandkids since returning from New York. It wasn't until after we had the grandkids this past Friday... two full days after he had already known he was a risk and had been tested... that we learned that they might have been exposed to the virus either directly or indirectly through one more line of people. What annoys me and angers me is that we should have been informed of this before we had the kids on Friday! There is absolutely no reason for this lack of effective communication. There was absolutely no reason to expose the kids as well as these two high risk grandparents (Sheila and I).
This lack of effective communication is simply a sign of people who are negligent, selfish and simply don't care. If you think you may have this virus, you notify those you have been in contact with so they can self-quarantine! This is common sense but, as we all know, common sense eludes some people.
From everything I've read, this virus is passing through three and four lines of people before learning that someone back that far in the person-to-person transmission chain tested positive. By the time people find out they have the virus, they have infected another hundred or more people. Start talking to each other, people!
So, we are waiting on news of whether the kids' other grandfather has tested positive for the virus. That test was almost a week ago and he is still waiting on results which is a whole other problem. None of us (as far as I know) have developed any symptoms so I think we're safe... assuming none of us are asymptomatic.
What I do know for sure is that we'll never be able to contain this virus with testing being so slow! People not communicating with each other compounds this problem. These are problems that should have been resolved months ago in the US. The lack of professionalism, integrity and effective leadership is this country today is appalling.
Post Edit: We were informed that the COVID-19 test results we had been awaiting came back negative. So, that is quite a relief. That being said, if households do not stay completely isolated, this one negative test result means very little moving forward. I know that our household will remain completely isolated until Sheila and I feel safe... probably sometime in the June to August timeframe... Until then, it will be video-chatting only!
Even before this virus, we very rarely wandered from the house for social things anyway so this new quarantine and 'shelter in place' order hasn't changed our daily life much at all. By early to mid-January, it became abundantly clear to us that the virus was gaining a foothold in the US so we immediately stopped visiting restaurants, canceled all future travel plans for the foreseeable future and began cutting out our weekly shopping trips. (This is when the Federal government should have began a serious attempt at containing and minimizing the effects of this virus. We knew it was coming at this point so we immediately changed our behavior... the White House, well, this White House only helps the wealthy so it would have been silly for anyone to seriously believe they would come up with an effective plan to minimize and contain this virus for the people they were elected to protect.)
The only things that have changed for Sheila and me is Sheila is now working from home and now we are very uncomfortable doing any shopping for food or household supplies. There isn't much to choose from either so we wonder about the wisdom of these short ineffectual grocery shopping excursions even though they are now only once a week.
I'm certain we will run out of toilet paper. With my illness, Sheila and I go through more toilet paper than the average family of six. We haven't been able to purchase any in weeks either so I'm quite certain that we'll run out of toilet paper before long.
Produce, if you can find what you need, is difficult to preserve in times like this too. Fresh produce is also hard to find at times too. Frozen vegetables and frozen fruit are impossible to find. Cold medications are impossible to find. Even soap is impossible to find... and I'm not talking about anti-bacterial soap... just any plain old bars of soap are hard to find! Fresh meat has been hit or miss just like the produce. Pasta, boxed prepared foods (stuff like mac and cheese), rice and rice mixtures are impossible to find.
My health requires fresh food (no leftovers whatsoever) so this new diet of frozen, canned and prepared foods and then eating them as leftovers isn't helping my health at all. Eating this stuff, particularly leftovers, causes my health to crash. On the positive side, even if we stay healthy (aside from the illnesses we already have) and avoid this deadly virus, I should lose some weight.
My health crashed the other night. Most times I don't even write a thing about my health crashing because it happens so often. The other night was a bit different and at a level I would call "violent" so I figured I should probably write about it.
Typically (about twice a week), during these bouts, I experience nausea and even sometimes I get double-teamed by added anaphylaxis. On this night, I had the nausea and I just wasn't feeling "right"... which, in hindsight, could have been a sign of my blood pressure dropping. My stomach was gurgling and bothering me... then, rather quickly, the terrible explosive diarrhea developed. Saying I felt absolutely miserable would be an understatement.
Usually, after these bouts, particularly if anaphylaxis is involved, I experience deep chills and shivering. This time, however, the chills and shivering started before I even made it to the bathroom the first time. The shivering was so bad that I would classify it as "violent". I couldn't hold onto anything as my hands were shaking back and forth about six inches. My whole body shakes during these bouts and I feel like I am naked out in a frozen landscape. Just trying to lift the toilet cover and drop my pants was extremely difficult to accomplish with this violent shivering.
The other bad thing about this period of shivering is that the violent shivering makes it pretty much impossible to hold a glass of water and some extra medications. If I can't hold these things, then I can't take the extra medications I need. On this night, I went for extra medications sometime after Sheila helped warm me up. And again, in hindsight, I should have somehow tried to inject myself with epinephrine... although, I'm not sure if I could have done that with the violent shivering. I honestly could not hold onto anything. Sheila, however, could have injected me had I summoned her. She was already asleep in bed.
Anyway, after two nights and a day of extra medications, I'm feeling more like my new self again. So that is good.
Another concern I have is that sometimes I require medical attention. For instance, whenever things get bad enough to require epinephrine, I am supposed to get to the hospital until my body stabilizes. I have absolutely no desire to expose myself to this deadly coronavirus at a hospital so I truly want to avoid hospitals until this virus is under control.
Skin Cancer Update
I mentioned in a couple of previous blog entries that I am now in an experimental 90 day treatment to rid my face of some crusty and painful skin cancer. I am nearly at the 60 day mark and I'm happy to report that most of the problem areas have cleared up.
I have a couple of stubborn areas though. One area is so deep and painful that I don't think it will be cleared up in another 30 days although it does look and feel far better than it did when I started this treatment about 60 days ago. We'll see how it goes though. So far this treatment has been successful.
There are two things we hope for with this treatment... First, I hope that we clear up all the cancer. Second, we hope that it won't come back for a few years. Since there is no cure for cancer, we always expect it to come back at some point. If we can clear this up for a few years, then I'll be happy.
One thing is certain... I truly hate the sun today. I hate being hot because it negatively impacts my health problems and I hate the effects of the sun on my skin. Not only is the damaged skin a cosmetic and vanity problem but it is also painful. I've already had one surgery requiring 28 stitches to sew me up again after removing cancer and I don't particularly care to go down that road again. The sun is responsible for this so I'd prefer to direct my anger toward the sun and I'd prefer to just avoid the sun at all cost.
I hate the sun.
Eye Problems
A new problem arose this past Friday morning. I awoke with what looked like a severe case of floaters in my right eye and I was having great difficulty getting my eyes to focus on anything. At the time, the floaters were across my upper field of view. If I stayed still and didn't move my eyes, the floaters would calm down and not be all that noticeable. I was also getting flashes of light so I immediately put the signs together once the flashes of light started.
By Sunday evening, I was having difficulty with my vision in this eye. The floaters also expanded in my vision. I originally had floaters across the top of my vision resembling a line of birds flying over my head. By Sunday evening, I also had a big fat 'crack' in my vision down the outside periphery of my vision on the right side.
My vision seems to slowly change as I try to stay focused on something. I am now getting headaches behind my eyes. At times, I also feel slight pain in my right eye... sort of like the feeling that something is in my eye.
I'm fairly certain that I have a torn or detached retina. I have always had a fear of losing my eyesight but right now my biggest fear is visiting any medical facility. I do not want to risk picking up this virus and especially not by voluntarily visiting a medical facility. I want to avoid every human being on the face of the Earth right now. Needless to say, I have not yet sought any medical attention for this vision issue.
Potential Exposure to COVID-19
And, as if the above wasn't enough, we are waiting on news about a COVID-19 test taken by the grandkids other grandfather. We've been told that he had traveled to New York for work and developed symptoms of a cold. His doctor had him come in immediately to test him for the virus. That was Wednesday last week.
We also found that he had been caring for the grandkids since returning from New York. It wasn't until after we had the grandkids this past Friday... two full days after he had already known he was a risk and had been tested... that we learned that they might have been exposed to the virus either directly or indirectly through one more line of people. What annoys me and angers me is that we should have been informed of this before we had the kids on Friday! There is absolutely no reason for this lack of effective communication. There was absolutely no reason to expose the kids as well as these two high risk grandparents (Sheila and I).
This lack of effective communication is simply a sign of people who are negligent, selfish and simply don't care. If you think you may have this virus, you notify those you have been in contact with so they can self-quarantine! This is common sense but, as we all know, common sense eludes some people.
From everything I've read, this virus is passing through three and four lines of people before learning that someone back that far in the person-to-person transmission chain tested positive. By the time people find out they have the virus, they have infected another hundred or more people. Start talking to each other, people!
So, we are waiting on news of whether the kids' other grandfather has tested positive for the virus. That test was almost a week ago and he is still waiting on results which is a whole other problem. None of us (as far as I know) have developed any symptoms so I think we're safe... assuming none of us are asymptomatic.
What I do know for sure is that we'll never be able to contain this virus with testing being so slow! People not communicating with each other compounds this problem. These are problems that should have been resolved months ago in the US. The lack of professionalism, integrity and effective leadership is this country today is appalling.
Post Edit: We were informed that the COVID-19 test results we had been awaiting came back negative. So, that is quite a relief. That being said, if households do not stay completely isolated, this one negative test result means very little moving forward. I know that our household will remain completely isolated until Sheila and I feel safe... probably sometime in the June to August timeframe... Until then, it will be video-chatting only!
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