Mar 31: Lots of news!
-The rheumatologist has decreed that I am not just gluten intolerant, but a celiac. There is a high cross over with other autoimmune disorders, so this whole thing raised red flags. I've proven to be incredibly sensitive to gluten, even reacting to vodka, which most celiacs don't react to as the distilling process removes almost all the grain/gluten, yet I reacted. While the blood tests were negative when done several years ago they are not guaranteed. The definitive test is small bowel biopsy, but no one wants to do that on someone taking Coumadin. But with a real celiac diagnosis it means that ANY gluten is damaging my intestines, permanently destroying the tiny cilia that are in the lining and move things along. The treatment is the same, complete avoidance of gluten, but it makes me feel less as if I'm imposing on people when telling them of the need to accommodate me.
-Turns out the vegan is making a difference! After about 2 weeks of going vegetarian, adding dairy & egg, the lacrimal gland swelling got worse, waking up every night multiple times with painfully dry mouth--which kinda defeats the purpose of the CPAP in trying to have a full night's sleep. So, back on gluten free vegan diet and within a couple days I felt back to what has become baseline. It's going to be difficult, but at least I know for certain that all the work makes a difference. That leads to.....
-Seem to be reacting to something else. Currently trying to figure out, but the top of the list is tomato. This would stink, not the least of which would be eliminating most pasta sauces and making eating out even more difficult. But I'm wondering if this might have been why the autoimmune systems got worse? Maybe it wasn't the cheese & dairy? I was eating out a lot, and mostly pasta & pizza (easier to find GF versions now), so there was a corresponding increase in tomato/sauce. While I'd miss tomato very much, it would be much easier (and tastier) to have dairy & eggs back.
-Still waking 2x a night with the dry mouth, but after months on the eye drops they are much improved. Hoping that when I figure out the rest of the dietary issues it will lead to better sleep.
-The asthmatic exacerbation resolved nicely. It was never infectious, which helped. Not having to push myself to go back to work was a real relief.
-Beautiful weather and walked today, looking forward to spring finally being here. Thigh muscles and left hip were painful, and I know walking regularly will help. With all the ice and snow I just couldn't risk falling, even on the days the weather was better.
-I can work on the long term disability (LTD). This is terrific news on several fronts, but I wish it had been clarified before I cancelled being on staff at two hospitals, wrote a letter notifying the PA State Board of Medicine I was no longer going to be practicing, cancelled my DEA number with the DOJ and had all my shifts filled at work, which involved bringing back a PA that used to work with us and hiring a nurse already trained in cardiac stress testing. It probably won't make sense for my group to pay the malpractice for the amount of time I could work filling in covering sick or vacation time. So the hunt begins now to find something that doesn't require malpractice, which probably means no patient contact. Will see....
-I have been going into the office and doing charts, fortunately no one else has been able to replicate my abilities in that department. In exchange my boss has continued to pay my expensive health insurance. But between weather and illness I owe them about 61 hours! There may not be that many charts left to do, but it has saved me about 5-6 months of payments. I did not want to enter the fray of the new ACA with all the issues, felt it was better to stick with the expensive plan which is excellent. Maybe in another year or so I'll investigate other alternatives.
-My 'request for appeal' on the SSD has been received, no date given for the hearing, which will be before a judge. The LTD company will pay for a lawyer if it turns into an entirely new round #2. They have a vested interest, because once I'm on SSD then they only pay the difference between SSD and the private policy, dramatically decreasing their outlay of money.
-Mom told me yesterday that Tabitha's weight is down to 6 lbs, she used to be 11 lbs. She is still comfortable and as long as she is things will stay the same. I am so glad that Mom has had her for these last few years so that she could be the only cat that she always wanted to be.
-I have finally yielded to the monster: I joined Facebook on Friday, with a great deal of help! So you can now get to me by looking for Laurie Brooks. Warning: I didn't want to put my real birthday in with all the security issues, so made myself 2 years older--what woman does that?! It certainly isn't the right place for long updates like this, I look at it as superficial, so will continue to go on and on and on and on here!
OK, time to make tofu scramble for the morning. Thanks for checking in, Laurie
-Turns out the vegan is making a difference! After about 2 weeks of going vegetarian, adding dairy & egg, the lacrimal gland swelling got worse, waking up every night multiple times with painfully dry mouth--which kinda defeats the purpose of the CPAP in trying to have a full night's sleep. So, back on gluten free vegan diet and within a couple days I felt back to what has become baseline. It's going to be difficult, but at least I know for certain that all the work makes a difference. That leads to.....
-Seem to be reacting to something else. Currently trying to figure out, but the top of the list is tomato. This would stink, not the least of which would be eliminating most pasta sauces and making eating out even more difficult. But I'm wondering if this might have been why the autoimmune systems got worse? Maybe it wasn't the cheese & dairy? I was eating out a lot, and mostly pasta & pizza (easier to find GF versions now), so there was a corresponding increase in tomato/sauce. While I'd miss tomato very much, it would be much easier (and tastier) to have dairy & eggs back.
-Still waking 2x a night with the dry mouth, but after months on the eye drops they are much improved. Hoping that when I figure out the rest of the dietary issues it will lead to better sleep.
-The asthmatic exacerbation resolved nicely. It was never infectious, which helped. Not having to push myself to go back to work was a real relief.
-Beautiful weather and walked today, looking forward to spring finally being here. Thigh muscles and left hip were painful, and I know walking regularly will help. With all the ice and snow I just couldn't risk falling, even on the days the weather was better.
-I can work on the long term disability (LTD). This is terrific news on several fronts, but I wish it had been clarified before I cancelled being on staff at two hospitals, wrote a letter notifying the PA State Board of Medicine I was no longer going to be practicing, cancelled my DEA number with the DOJ and had all my shifts filled at work, which involved bringing back a PA that used to work with us and hiring a nurse already trained in cardiac stress testing. It probably won't make sense for my group to pay the malpractice for the amount of time I could work filling in covering sick or vacation time. So the hunt begins now to find something that doesn't require malpractice, which probably means no patient contact. Will see....
-I have been going into the office and doing charts, fortunately no one else has been able to replicate my abilities in that department. In exchange my boss has continued to pay my expensive health insurance. But between weather and illness I owe them about 61 hours! There may not be that many charts left to do, but it has saved me about 5-6 months of payments. I did not want to enter the fray of the new ACA with all the issues, felt it was better to stick with the expensive plan which is excellent. Maybe in another year or so I'll investigate other alternatives.
-My 'request for appeal' on the SSD has been received, no date given for the hearing, which will be before a judge. The LTD company will pay for a lawyer if it turns into an entirely new round #2. They have a vested interest, because once I'm on SSD then they only pay the difference between SSD and the private policy, dramatically decreasing their outlay of money.
-Mom told me yesterday that Tabitha's weight is down to 6 lbs, she used to be 11 lbs. She is still comfortable and as long as she is things will stay the same. I am so glad that Mom has had her for these last few years so that she could be the only cat that she always wanted to be.
-I have finally yielded to the monster: I joined Facebook on Friday, with a great deal of help! So you can now get to me by looking for Laurie Brooks. Warning: I didn't want to put my real birthday in with all the security issues, so made myself 2 years older--what woman does that?! It certainly isn't the right place for long updates like this, I look at it as superficial, so will continue to go on and on and on and on here!
OK, time to make tofu scramble for the morning. Thanks for checking in, Laurie
posted by Laurie @ 9:09 PM
2 Comments:
At 8:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
If you ever get down here again just let us know what food works and it will be here.
I am sure Sue will check out your Facebook page.
At 9:39 AM,
Anonymous said…
laurie, hope the new pt job is something new, out of the box and exciting!
Deneen
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