One Year & One month - Thanksgiving time

One year and one month - Post Lemtrada

November 30, 2020

I am really not sure how the weeks keep escaping me.  I was planning to do a quick update right after my last post when I got my latest blood work results but here I am a month later again.  The blood work was all within the normal range except my TSH which hasn't budged even though I've lowered my thyroid medication.  My Lymphocytes made a pretty decent jump though.  I've noticed I have a slight pattern.  Except for March/April when I did the steroids to slow down my Bcells; my Absolute Lymphocyte number stays about the same for two months then takes a good jump up then stays about the same for two months then takes another jump up. The pattern even stayed the same when I had my last UTI and was on antibiotics.  It's just something I noticed.

Tomorrow I have a telehealth appointment with the Endocrinologist.  She had me get another T4 count and it was still in the normal range.  So other than my TSH everything seems normal but of course I am taking thyroid medication already.  We will see what she says.

Other than that everything has been the same for me.  We stayed home and didn't have anyone over for Thanksgiving.  I was disappointed to see the airports packed this past weekend.  We are already in a massive spike of cases and the healthcare system in certain areas is already stressed.  I am really afraid of how things are going to look 2-3 weeks from now.  I have a friend and two family members who tested positive right before Thanksgiving.  Luckily, all three have/had mild symptoms but my mom has a friend who was very sick.  Her and her husband spent time in the hospital and she is recovering very slowly.  It's not a good situation here.  I know, I really know how frustrating it is to have to lock yourself away.  Hold on folks; there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Several vaccines look promising. The sacrifice now isn't just for you but our society as a whole.  Hang in there!

That's all I've got really. On an unrelated topic...I saw our Road Runner, a Spotted Towhee, a Robin and a Mockingbird in our backyard in the last month.  Robins are always a sign of spring in Michigan but I've never seen one in Texas although I know they pass through.  I now have 12 birds on my list who've visited our backyard this year. :)  A couple photos are below of a White Wing Dove & Titmouse and a Mockingbird.

Please stay safe and healthy.

ONE YEAR! plus 2 weeks - Happy Halloween

 1 year, 1 week Post Lemtrada

October 31, 2020

It's official, official - I've made it one year!!! 🥳

With the end of the year barreling towards us and this being such a bizarre year, I am sure that everyone is thinking about what they thought they would be doing right now.  We were already planning out when I would get my second infusion; how we would time it around the holidays.  Wouldn't it be nice if that was our only variable?  I've been making a mental list of all the crazy things that have happened.  The wild fires in Australia; seeing burned and dead koalas broke my heart.  I thought it would be this huge global story and I think it was for a couple days, maybe a week?  I believe I read that up to this point in the US, 2 million more acres have burned this year than last year and there are still 22 fires burning in California.  You actually have to look for that data because it's not even headlines.  Hurricane season in the US has broken a record with the most storms hitting the US since 1916 and the most storms hitting Louisiana since records were kept! This year is tied for most named storms in the Atlantic with Zeta being the last but 2005 had 28 "name-able" storms; I guess NOAA missed one.  We still have a month of Hurricane season to go and there is a disturbance they are watching. The next name would be Eta. This year deserves to be the king of hurricanes; it would be great to have a couple more as long as they just stay out in the ocean and don't cause any damage.  There is craziness in the US political arena but I'll leave that stress and nonsense alone. There's been small outbreaks of mosquito born and water born diseases that happen occasionally in a normal year but this year; you just think "stop. already.".  Meteors are always coming close to the planet but this year they are adding to the pile too.  My only concern is, why does it seem like amateur astronomers keep finding these things? Don't we all have space agencies for that?

Anyway, it seems to be the year that keeps on giving as the world seems to be heading for a second wave in virus cases.  Well, I am not sure the US ever came out of the first one; I think we've just been riding peaks and valleys in the first wave.

On to the health stuff...I did get my flu shot and 2nd pneumonia shot; no issues except for a sore arm. I asked my Neurologist about my lymphocyte/immune system strength question.  He said that I was right, my immune system won't mount much of an attack at this point but that he was happy with the level of my immune system recovery.  I am doing well but not out of the woods.  I was getting a little bit more comfortable with going to stores, at less busy times though.  Now that numbers in Texas and the US are spiking again, I am going to have to rethink things. So far my area is fairly stable.  

I had that Urodynamics test this past week, finally.  It sucked!  Apparently, I have an overactive bladder and I am getting additional ultrasounds this coming week...fun.  All other symptoms are the same; nothing better, nothing worse.

2020 is also the year of new hobbies or getting better at current ones.  I've never been a bird watcher but I've been taking pictures and keeping a list of birds I see in my backyard.  Here's my list:

• Humingbird (ruby throated and probably, black chinned)
• BlueJays
• Northern Cardinals
• House Finch
• Carolina Chickadee
• Carolina Wren
• Lesser Goldfinch
• Black-Crested Titmouse
• White Winged Dove
•  maybe a House Sparrow but they were moving too fast

I included a couple pictures of a Blue Jay and a Cardinal.

Stay safe out there, for real.