Health - Discussion

We had a good OT discussion going on in the Pet Thread we decided to open a Health thread, and will also create a bereavement thread. Post any health related issues weather it be for yourself, friends, family or a news article!

Moving some posts over.

Sprite wrote:Our little club is keeping me entertained at the moment. Yes, heart disease is big on my mom's side of the family. Both her brothers passed away after having heart attacks and my grandmother after a stroke. Mom had a massive coronary 28 years ago and we were told she wouldn't make it then. Clearly she did and her physician used her as a case study for years. She is stable at the moment and seems to be getting better. They need to put in a pacemaker, but she is still too weak to withstand that. We are hopeful.

Kashathediva wrote:@Sprite prognosis sounds very positive and hopeful. Continue with the hope, pacemaker is ez and hopefully soon and will help.

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Sorry for the double post but I wanted to share something I've been dealing with. I'm so sure I have this.

BALL OF FOOT PAIN
(METATARSALGIA)
https://www.footsmart.com/health-resource-center/foot/ball-of-foot-pain-metatarsalgia

It started a couple of months ago, quite suddenly. It got worse, very painful not to mention uncomfortable to wear any kind of shoes. I've been icing it every night with a frozen gel pack that's been helping but only for several hours.

Last week, I remembered (don't know how I could forget) that I have tried magnetic bracelets and rings for another injury I had and it worked so well. I loaded up my fingers with rings, and three bracelets. Within a day it started to feel much better. I'm on the fourth day of wearing them and it has improved drastically.

I can't wear all this stuff to work without looking like a goofball, so I wear two rings on my first finger, and the bracelet. As soon as I get home I load the rest on and wear it all night. You're suppose to wear them on the same side of your body where you're aching. Or if you have sore joints, arthritis etc, you can wear them on each hand/arm.

This is what mine look like. I have a whole package of these you can buy on Amazon with a variety of sizes.



source

Mine is similar to this. The little round circles on the bottom side are magnetic.



source

I also have several similar to these. I didn't pay that much for them.



source

Hey everyone....I know I made a cryptic post in the bachelor forum about not being around much for a bit.  In light of some news, I think I am ready to share.

We were hit with some really bad news a month ago.  My nephew who has down's syndrome, is 22.  He is our heart and love.  He had breathing problems since Oct, and dr's were treating him for pnemonia, sinus problems, etc.  By this time, he now had to sleep sitting up so he didn't stop breathing.  Well they finally decided it HAD to be severe sleep apnea which is known to cause more problems for Down's  people than the average population so felt bad for the kid that he had to suffer as long as he did, yet now the problem was solved....or so we thought.....WRONG.  In the process of detecting what type of machine he needed, they had to do an xray----why that hadn't been done during his pnemonia diagnosis, who knows.  BUT it hadn't.  

When the xray tech looked at it on the Friday, he knew that something was wrong so a CT scan was booked for the Sunday.  When it was done, it was found that he had a mass in his chest 8" by 9" by 6".  He was told immediately to head to the cancer clinic in the next biggest town.  That was Jan 6.  They put him in the hospital there where more tests happened.  We were told that the dr's were about 95% sure it was cancer....what type, they didn't know.  By the placement and growth pattern they thought it was a lymphoma of sorts as it had invaded one of his major blood vessels in the chest and as such is inoperable.  A biopsy was performed on the Monday.  It wasn't until Friday that they finally got the results back.  It was cancer for sure, but the type of it is Serinoma Carcinoma.  As it turns out, it is one of the most curable types of cancer there is with a success rate of 95% when treated by a certain type of chemo.    The difference is.....that type of cancer is a testicular cancer but because he is down's, 15% of those cases set themselves up in their chests.  Most are found a lot smaller than his though.

His treatment is done in 3week installments.  The first week is 5 days of chemo, the second week is 1 day, the third week is one day.  The first week was done as an inpatient status as they got rid of the bloodclots in his lungs, solved some of the swelling and liquid in his lungs.  Then the one day installments for the next 2 weeks were done as an outpatient.

He has completed his first installment and his blood levels are satisfactory so the second - 3 week installment has been decided as he will do it as an outpatient.  

Through all of this, he has shown us how to be optimistic and love.  That kid of ours....wow is all I can say.  He is 22 with the mentality of an 6-8 yr old and a heart of gold.  I don't know if I could be more proud of him if he was mine....that nephew is my heart and we had a special bond right from day 1.

All we know is that he has a 3 installment of treatments and could be a fourth depending on how this goes.  If 4 installments doesn't work, then he needs 2 weeks off without treatments at all then start the whole process all over again.  All I know is that he is showing us all how to be strong, loving and optimistic.

I wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and considerations as you posted in the bach thread. Thanks again for the thoughts and will be back when this process gets figured out better. When the season is done, I will make changes to the filming schedule and will post if needed. Hope all of you are having a great new year so far.

AL

@Aunties_Love Thoughts and prayers for your nephew and your whole family.

People with Down's syndrome are some of the most loving and positive people you will ever meet. I work in the developmental field and have a cousin who also has Down's. I have never run across anything like that. You learn something every day.

Please let us know his progress. Hope all goes well.

Sprite wrote:@Aunties_Love Thoughts and prayers for your nephew and your whole family.

People with Down's syndrome are some of the most loving and positive people you will ever meet. I work in the developmental field and have a cousin who also has Down's. I have never run across anything like that. You learn something every day.

Please let us know his progress. Hope all goes well.  

Sorry, don't know if I clarified things in my post. Just meant that Down's is more susepttible to the cancer that shows up in the chest vs in the testicles. Mostly because of how small their vessels are and the difference in anatomy and scale in the Chest. I am looking forward to the end of the second 3 week session as that is when more scans and tests will happen so we can see the progression.

Sending love to you all.

I will keep him in my prayers

My 37 year old daughter has Down's Syndrome and while we have had some health issues with her, nothing compared to what your family is going through.

Keep us posted on his progress

Thanks everyone.....just keeping optimistic as the kid is a fighter for sure.

More foot problems for me. About a month ago, all of a sudden I noticed the top of my left foot was swollen. I don't eat salt because I'm prone to water retention but foods do have salt in it.

I've never had this before so I was pretty sure it didn't have anything to do with salt. Usually it's ankles that get swollen but after a day it's gone.

Went to the walk in clinic because I could't get in my doctor for three weeks. He sent me for xrays. During the doctor's appointment he didn't like the xray's, sent me for more, as well as an ultra sound.

He doesn't think it's arthritis or gout because it would look a lot worse and there would be pain, I have no pain at all.

I've googled the heck out of it and have come up empty. I was worried about the gout because apparently it's a build up of uric acid, and I did have uric acid kidney stones few years back. I did not hurt myself, I didn't fall or drop anything on it, it just suddenly got swollen. The last couple of mornings I noticed it's not as swollen, and I am able to stretch it a bit more, so I think it's getting better slowly, but I need to find out why??!!

I went for the new xray and ultrasound. They did the xray but said they'd have to call me for the ultrasound appointment because the person who does the ultra sound has to check the codes to see what type of ultra sound is needed. Ok, but regardless can't I make an appointment now that I'm here? No they'll call. This was Wednesday, no call yet.

I hope you get your appointment ASAP and that you still go see your regular doctor. Swelling in the feet could be due to heart issues as well. I am paranoid about things like that due to our family history.

Some people are "water carriers." My mom was one but she had no cardiac or renal issues. Spent many years with various specialists trying to find the cause. Everyone just threw up their hands. She took diuretics to try to keep the swelling down. I am also a water carrier, but now I have kidney issues and have to be careful of sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. Ya just gotta do what ya gotta do!! Elevating the feet is helpful but few of us have time for that on an extended basis.

Has anyone had an experiences with rosacea?

In 2008-09 I developed a rash on my chin and sides of my nose. After using many products I went to the doctor who said it looked like rosacea and gave me more cream which didn't help. Doing my own research what appeared to be food related I started testing foods. It was grapes strawberry's cherries tomatoes and watermelon. I was able to get it somewhat controlled. That same summer we were going on a family trip to Italy. I was not going to deprive myself of any food. I ate what I wanted including fresh grapes cherries watermelon and tomatoes. I had no issues in Italy and in fact it cleared up and never came back. (I guess I need to go back to Italy )

Feb/March of this year I noticed little patches starting to occur on my chin and sides of my nose. I thought it was due to mask wearing. By May it didn't get worse but it was still there and annoying. Ate my first watermelon of the season, and it definitely got worse. Which made me realize, it's not mask wearing. I ate cherries, to test it out, what a mess. I'm still watching what I'm eating to eliminate the culprits but in the meantime it's not better. Last time I had it I filled up on blueberries and blueberry juice. I just started doing that last week. Someone had suggested to me Oil of Olay Regenerist which I loved (expensive) but made a world of difference last time and I've used it everyday since. Neither of those two seem to be helping this time.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has had this issue.