Wednesday July 14 9:57am BREATHING

I was getting what I wanted – my doctor was listening. But I’m now freaking out a little at the outcome. Let me explain.

Myriad variables are tracked and managed with my condition. For example:

• Body temperature This tends to be below normal with CFS patients and in the last couple of months, mine seems to be making it’s way towards normal. Yay.
• Sleep Lots of room for improvement but much better than a few years ago.

What tends to happen is we work actively with a few symptoms at a time and then as they improve a new set percolates to the top for prime attention. And that’s how I found myself telling my doctor about something that was becoming increasingly noticeable. I had insisted he listen because I didn’t feel like I was getting his full attention at first.

Now, I’m trying to keep calm despite his ordering an echocardiogram. Even as I write this my breathing is starting to take a little more effort. Chronic Fatigue is bad enough. But my heart too?!

Bill is picking me up at 2:15pm to take me to Stanford. I’ll let you know how this turns out.

5:40pm SAFE & SOUND

I have just returned home. This means my fear that someone would say “Your heart’s terrible. You can’t leave the hospital!” did not materialize. Somehow I must wait to receive the test results. I tried but couldn’t read the technician’s face. She’s good!

Wednesday July 28 5:28pm NEW COURSE

My heart is fine! Well, physically. So now what do we do about the heart symptoms I’ve been experiencing? The answer apparently is aldosterone. It is a hormone produced by the adrenals in addition to cortisol and being depleted of it forces the heart to overcompensate.

Rose, who works for Holtorf, found a compounding pharmacy in Canada that has fulfilled my prescription. Now we wait to see how I respond to bio-identical aldosterone.

Breathe, breathe in the air.

Don’t be afraid to care.

Leave but don’t leave me.

Look around and choose your own ground.

- Pink Floyd