Brief Follow-up

Last night I went to my doctor again. He could still hear some rattling around when he listened to my breathing (& coughing), so he put me on a 2nd course (7 days) of some stronger antibiotic called Avelox. I started it last evening, & during the night I could already tell it was drying me out because I was parched & experiencing dry coughing. So, by the time I got my chest x-ray, the x-ray tech said it looked pretty clear. YAY!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!

min zamaaaaaaaan!

Because of the combination of my ataxia (limitations in physical activity) & my hypoglycemia (need to eat protein consistently), I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never be able to lose the weight that I had been putting on. I hit my all-time high during the summer of 2008. Since then, I have managed to lose ***45 pounds*** .... 20-25 more to go! This is due to

1. DETERMINATION


2. celery


3. water & strong, black decaf


4. increased activity (walks with my rolator, etc)


5. 1 solid "square" meal a day


6. 1 liquid (diet shake) meal a day

Perhaps my square meals have not been square enough because at the beginning of this month I began experiencing a tickle in my throat. Within a couple days, I was frequently going into coughing fits. I often propped my pillows so I could sleep sitting up. I finally made time for a doctor's appointment on the 11th of December. I had pneumonia so immediately started 5 days of antibiotics. The pneumonia & infection has cleared, but the cough lingers on. I still often start the night sleeping while sitting up because the coughing is worse at bed time.

There, I *finally* wrote a long-overdue update.

Oh! And by the way, as of Guy Fawke's Day (the 5th of November), our family includes a lovable 11-year-old Keeshond named Silver.

*HUGE* answer to prayer

You are probably aware that I have been plagued by sporadic vertigo episodes for a couple years now. These episodes have typically lasted 2 to 4 days, & last summer 1 was so bad that I could not turn in bed with out becoming extremely nauseous & vomiting.

Doctors prescribed a medication which did not help the dizziness & just made me groggy. We were at a loss knowing what caused it or how to deal with it ... beyond simply coping.

But then a few weeks ago, my dear ol' dad suggested that my vertigo might be tied up with allergies. Whenever I felt the vertigo coming on, I was to take something with antihistamine. (Dad had experienced something similar several years ago, & dealing with allergies worked for him.)

WOW! Dad seems to have figured it out because a few times since our conversation, I have taken allergy medication when I felt woozy, it did the trick & my symptoms cleared up!

Learning Something New Every Day ...

Today I learned that ataxia is a symptom (i.e. imballance) & SCA is the diagnosis. I had previously thought that ataxia was a disorder & that SCA was a type of ataxia.