I haven't been posting recently about my ECD journey because I am looking
for a new teaching job (don't worry I still have my current position I'm just
looking for a new challenge). I have been worried that a prospective employer
will read my Blog and decide I have way to many issues to take a risk on.
The thing is...I miss talking to you all and the truth is that I don't want to work for someone who would refuse to hire an excellent (though often grammatically challenged) math teacher because they have a rare disease.
So here is my health update. I have been prescribed a drug called Creon (a pancreatic enzyme) to help address my weight loss. I am not taking it! I know. I know. What do I think I am a doctor? The thing is I don't really want to be on a bunch of different medications because who knows what the long-term consequences of taking them for the rest of my life will be. I am hoping that with the right balance of diet and herbal supplements I will be able to hold my current weight. [My weight been stable for 6 weeks.]
I am still taking my daily shot of Kineret. It is annoying to have to tote the shots around with me on vacation and even more annoying to speak with express scripts every 30 days to reorder my prescription, but other then that the shots have become a regular part of my life. One weird side effect is excessive bleeding from the injection site; this seems to occur more often if I leave the shot out at room temperature for more then thirty minutes. I would ask if anyone else was experiencing this but the fact is there are probably only a few dozen of us on the drug…so what’s the point.
When I was at The National Institute of Health Dr. Estrada-Veras suggested I see a hematologist and an immunologist. I got that done yesterday. They suggested I get a blood test to look at my T cells (T cells or T lymphocytes are a type of lymphocyte (itself a type of white blood cell) that play a central role in cell-mediated immunity). Thank God for Wikipedia right! This blood sample is taken and then flown to California for testing, apparently it has to arrive within 24 hours or the test cannot be preformed. So…it is actually my fault that health care costs will be increasing next year.
One last thing. I am going to see Dr. Diamond at Memorial Sloan Kettering next week (He is reviewing all my records and testing to see if I qualify for a drug trial he is running). I’m nervous. You see…I desperately desire to find peace with my diagnosis. Yet so much about my future with ECD feels unresolved and if Dr. Diamond doesn’t figure it out next week it will stay that way.
Not feeling very brave right now.
The thing is...I miss talking to you all and the truth is that I don't want to work for someone who would refuse to hire an excellent (though often grammatically challenged) math teacher because they have a rare disease.
So here is my health update. I have been prescribed a drug called Creon (a pancreatic enzyme) to help address my weight loss. I am not taking it! I know. I know. What do I think I am a doctor? The thing is I don't really want to be on a bunch of different medications because who knows what the long-term consequences of taking them for the rest of my life will be. I am hoping that with the right balance of diet and herbal supplements I will be able to hold my current weight. [My weight been stable for 6 weeks.]
I am still taking my daily shot of Kineret. It is annoying to have to tote the shots around with me on vacation and even more annoying to speak with express scripts every 30 days to reorder my prescription, but other then that the shots have become a regular part of my life. One weird side effect is excessive bleeding from the injection site; this seems to occur more often if I leave the shot out at room temperature for more then thirty minutes. I would ask if anyone else was experiencing this but the fact is there are probably only a few dozen of us on the drug…so what’s the point.
When I was at The National Institute of Health Dr. Estrada-Veras suggested I see a hematologist and an immunologist. I got that done yesterday. They suggested I get a blood test to look at my T cells (T cells or T lymphocytes are a type of lymphocyte (itself a type of white blood cell) that play a central role in cell-mediated immunity). Thank God for Wikipedia right! This blood sample is taken and then flown to California for testing, apparently it has to arrive within 24 hours or the test cannot be preformed. So…it is actually my fault that health care costs will be increasing next year.
One last thing. I am going to see Dr. Diamond at Memorial Sloan Kettering next week (He is reviewing all my records and testing to see if I qualify for a drug trial he is running). I’m nervous. You see…I desperately desire to find peace with my diagnosis. Yet so much about my future with ECD feels unresolved and if Dr. Diamond doesn’t figure it out next week it will stay that way.
Not feeling very brave right now.
