Ok, ok, ok... so I got a little carried away with the first robin of Spring
stuff. To punish me, the wind chill factor was below zero today...Delaware
never does weather that bold. And yes, as far as I am concerned, a hawk does
count. I often think I see them with that soaring, swoopy flight...but my
friend says they are only turkey buzzards! I prefer my more "romantic
vision." They're so high up, who can tell? What I really want to know is:
where is Tonawanda, and what is the weather doing there? It must be something
awful, the way people write.
I never did write in detail about my onset(maybe I'll save that for my 1 year
anniversary on April 12.) But I had a number of risk factors that might
interest you:
1. Worked 50+ hrs. per week with overtime.
2. High stress job 3-11 as an OR tech in a Level-1 Trauma center.
3. At high risk for exposure to blood and body fluids, and all the viruses and
bacteria that might be present. (They did do an infectious disease profile
that showed I didn't have any of those diseases, but I still had the exposure
to the organisms, and my immune system might have reacted to it.)
4.Overweight, diabetes type2, high blood pressure, not enough exercise, Type-A
personality.
5. Shingles in 1988.
6. Exposure to X-rays during orthopedic and vascular surgeries.
That ought to do it. And who knows what else...spider bites, lyme disease,
etc. They did about 5 MRIs because the neuro was desperate to find something
that they could operate on. But the final diagnosis was idiopathic...for what
it's worth. A course of Solumedrol and 1 of Prednisone didn't have any
effect. So the real upshot is...they're clueless.
What we really need is a whole lot of money for research. So if anyone has
any ideas about who we can talk to, I'll be glad to address my big mouth to
the task. Take care all, and keep looking for that robin.
Barb J.