"Through my heart's work of writing, I share with you my complex journey a top the mountain, sliding down, crawling up, & living through the realms of Autoimmune Arthritic Illnesses. Taming "The Wolf" Thru each Day... One Step at a Time … Together We Are Learning to Survive. Please follow along, to New Beginnings - looking Thru the Window Pane of Pain in life where we shall find our journey leading us to - New Perspectives
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Horror & Meanness Thrives - "Life" matters not to so many these days...
Texas Shooting Leaves 5 Dead and At Least 21 Injured Near Odessa
The attack began at a traffic stop, the authorities said, and the gunman is dead. At least five people were killed and 21 injured in Midland-Odessa, Texas, after a routine traffic stop triggered a deadly shooting rampage that ended when the gunman was slain by officers, police said.
You are NOT safe anywhere! Evil seems to Thrive each and everyday - whether, young, old, couples, families, and no matter where you are, your'e never "safe"from harms way...wherever a restaurant, at the movies, the mall, church asleep in your bed...
I have loved ones who live in Midland... & my daughter, son in law & 2 couples headed for San Antonio for the weekend.. yet as I mentioned to them, grown, in a group it matters not, if they want to hurt you... they will
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/31/us/odessa-shootings.html
Saturday, August 31, 2019
More on Bullying....
A Perfect Example right now going on right there on FB!!! I went for months and months with NO people asking to "friend" me. Over the last 2 months I bet there has been 40 or more, BUT when you look at their page, heck they just gotten on FB in the past month or less.. they have NO posts, barely a profile, NO other friends OR they are now "inviting" women especially to friend them. They "show" to be from other country's some I don't even recognize the country....I have "friends" from over the world, and that is great BUT not when they have no "affiliation" to any type of community, or do not have any friends that are mine also. These are the type that you never know whether they are "real" or up to trying to scam someone, or hurt someone, or do something that is not legal.... no telling what they are up to. That is why I feel it is SO CRUCIAL we let our kids going back to school, to be careful, keep a watchful eye out, and remember as hard as it is to fathom, right in our own communities large or small, people are immoral, mean, looking for a way to hurt someone, or do something that can destroy a life in one way or the other.. BULLIES can look like you or I, they can come from the "house next door", or down the street... we may work with them, go to school with them, or church with them. They can be standing next to you at the market, or in the bank.. We just never know anymore what someone could be thinking or ready to do...It is difficult to think your own neighbor may have a house full of guns ammo, poison, bomb making stuff (which thy can get innocently enough if they want or heck just or just order it online ... make their own guns! With the money for the right type of printer & proper plastic printing material , they get the directions right off the internet to make one without any type of serial numbers or way to identify it.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
"STOMP OUT Bullying!"
#BLUEUP
STOMP Out Bullying™ is the leading national nonprofit dedicated to changing the culture for all students. It works to reduce and prevent bullying, cyberbullying and other digital abuse, educates against homophobia, LGBTQ discrimination, racism and hatred, and deters violence in schools, online and in communities across the country. In this diverse world, STOMP Out Bullying promotes civility, inclusion and equality. It teaches effective solutions on how to respond to all forms of bullying, as well as educating kids and teens in school and online. It provides help for those in need and at risk of suicide, and raises awareness through peer mentoring programs in schools, public service announcements by noted celebrities, and social media campaigns.
School starts and so does the bullying!Stand up as a kid, a parent, a teacher, someone who wants to help... I was bullied in school...back then there was really nothing to do, but keep your mouth shut...NO MORE! Now you can SPEAK OUT!
Monday, August 26, 2019
Letter to Dr Blair about Cellulitis 9/21/2019
Hello Dr. Blair,
... on the 16th of August they were to do the pacemaker surgery. Now the doctor's schedule was full so they were going tp TRY to get me before anything els happened...Wednesday the 15th day before the surgery my left leg felt 'odd" and warm on my back calf and then I felt lump coming up on the calf...and the ONLY thing I can fathom is that we have had so many "bugs"spiders, all kinds of spiders, wasps, something had to have bitten ,stung, something in the night, because I was fine when i went to bed!!! This time they did a sonogram to make sure it was not a DVT etc which all came back fine. SO NOW I have to wait till Sept 16th, unless they have a cancellation, then i may get in sooner.
I came to Dr Blair's Office and you happened to be gone for the afternoon. So, my other option, was Urgent Care. I decided togo there rather than do nothing. They drew stat labs, and sent me to the hospital for a doppler & another test to make sure I didn't have a DT or DVT. All were CLEAR!!! Thank Goodness!
Yet, it left me with this issue, which we figured as I said something must have bitten me in the night that I did not feel.
So, they gave me a bag of IV antibiotics, and sent me with a script for another antibiotic to take every 6 hours for 10 days clindamycin. It began to get better quickly this time... but I still was left the pacemaker that was supposed to be the next day! So, I had no choice but to call, and reschedule it again.So, we try again but not until the 13th of September (a Friday).
I told Dr. Rao's Assistant I was going up there no matter WHAT!
So, if Urgent Care have not sent you those records and the labs, and doppler tests, please let them knw you want those.
I would like to have a discussion about this & as to why "suddenly" I keep getting this, and never did I have this before. AND can we do ANYTHING to try and get it under control?
Thank you,
Pam Steele
... on the 16th of August they were to do the pacemaker surgery. Now the doctor's schedule was full so they were going tp TRY to get me before anything els happened...Wednesday the 15th day before the surgery my left leg felt 'odd" and warm on my back calf and then I felt lump coming up on the calf...and the ONLY thing I can fathom is that we have had so many "bugs"spiders, all kinds of spiders, wasps, something had to have bitten ,stung, something in the night, because I was fine when i went to bed!!! This time they did a sonogram to make sure it was not a DVT etc which all came back fine. SO NOW I have to wait till Sept 16th, unless they have a cancellation, then i may get in sooner.
I came to Dr Blair's Office and you happened to be gone for the afternoon. So, my other option, was Urgent Care. I decided togo there rather than do nothing. They drew stat labs, and sent me to the hospital for a doppler & another test to make sure I didn't have a DT or DVT. All were CLEAR!!! Thank Goodness!
Yet, it left me with this issue, which we figured as I said something must have bitten me in the night that I did not feel.
So, they gave me a bag of IV antibiotics, and sent me with a script for another antibiotic to take every 6 hours for 10 days clindamycin. It began to get better quickly this time... but I still was left the pacemaker that was supposed to be the next day! So, I had no choice but to call, and reschedule it again.So, we try again but not until the 13th of September (a Friday).
I told Dr. Rao's Assistant I was going up there no matter WHAT!
So, if Urgent Care have not sent you those records and the labs, and doppler tests, please let them knw you want those.
I would like to have a discussion about this & as to why "suddenly" I keep getting this, and never did I have this before. AND can we do ANYTHING to try and get it under control?
Thank you,
Pam Steele
Sunday, August 18, 2019
ONGOING SAGA between the PACEMAKER & CELLULITIS
WHATIS THERE SAY BUT THIS SUCKS!!!!! And I wished my BODY would get well and star well so I can get this pacemaker in and go on with my life!!!! The entire ordeal is getting way to old... I am so tired of cellulitis, infection & having to wait to get over this mess.... This is like the 3RD time we have had to cancel and reschedule it!!!!
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Infection in Left Knuckles Infected & on another round of antibiotics Still with me, along with more issues, now the city and my road a mess they have made!
SO! I STILL HAVE AN INFECTED "HAND" joints, whatever! I have been through hell this past 10 days or more. Between this hand, worrying about having to postpone the pacemaker AGAIN! (no way they will do a pacemaker when I have an infection still going), then the city had FRIGED UP MY ROAD! I found out THEY SCREWED UP, HAVE HAD US HALF WAY BLOCKED IN AND WE NEVER KNOW IF WE WILL BE ABLE TO GET IN AND OUT OF OUR DRIVEWAYS -
they did this AND NEVER WARNED ANY OF US! I talked to neighbors yesterday and found out they did NOT get the materials in they needed so now they are "stalling". They keep putting truck loads of gravel type almost a sandy rock mess and if it were not bad enough, rolling that down, and then if it is not wet from rain they come along and wet it. So, either it is WET AND MUDDY! OR it's dry and the dust flies everywhere!!! No one "SEES" that they are driving and kicking up mud, dust, rocks everywhere driving over it. I blame the city for that also, they should have SIGNS UP WARNING THESE IDIOTS NOT TO DRIVE FAST OVER IT.
Then they have "built up" the road so high (my property already has water that runs on it if it rains very much, because they have the other side of the road high enough, so all of the water runs to my side and into our ditches and under my carport, and my back yard looks like a landslide has happened. I know they can't help the rain BUT they dug out "some ditches" but like mine is full of water it needs to be dug out and the culvert is so old, it's bent down and won't allow water to run thru so now it's standing in water, causing mosquito's (but they gripe at us) for letting water stand if we have anything ti can stand in....
and now they are running I guess mice into my laundry room... and (suddenly I had the bars out just disappear 3 times now since this began) and then something (which could be a possum etc or a stray cat we have and so forth) run under my house and die! For the 3rd time in 2 weeks I woke up now to my laundry room with a stench worse than anything else you can imagine! I have every hole blocked, but they can weasel their way under anything if they are desperate! I am in the process of trying to type an email (I can barely type my left hand hurts so bad).. to the guy over this mess of a road they have made, and give him a piece of my mind... who is going to fix this mess, details our cars covered in dust and grime? Who is going to get that water out of those ditches... I hate to sound prejudice but I "live on the wrong side of town"... if I had a 500,000 dollar home, I bet it would be concreted, with a walkway, and they would have the water properly running out and away from the homes.... I am just so fed up. I pay MY TAXES ON TIME! Believe me if I didn't they would FINE ME 10 or 20%!!!! I should tell the city each day this is a mess they owe us on this road back a portion of the taxes we pay! Anyway, so keep me in your prayers... I NEED this hand well, so I can get this pacemaker in and go about my life... why is it that it is ALWAYS SOMETHING WITH ME?????"
I have to wonder if the pain in my hips that I still have after the injections, is not also something to do with this infection. both hips especially the right one still hurt. I was at the market on Monday, and when I was trying to finish up and get checked out, my right hip and side started to hurt. It scared the hell out of me. I came home with a LOAD of groceries, since they had my road so messed up I could NOT get out of my driveway all week last week! So, my groceries were in about 7 bags (the reusable ones) plus 4 gallons of water. I did not think I would ever make it in with it all, and get it put up.... but I managed.
I worry my RA and Lupus could be getting worse, or something else is going on, and they have not found it yet. My labs they did a couple of weeks ago when they found the infection, were really all messed up. My white blood cell count was at 15. But, there were other labs that were also really "off" that usually were not that bad, so I have to wonder.
they did this AND NEVER WARNED ANY OF US! I talked to neighbors yesterday and found out they did NOT get the materials in they needed so now they are "stalling". They keep putting truck loads of gravel type almost a sandy rock mess and if it were not bad enough, rolling that down, and then if it is not wet from rain they come along and wet it. So, either it is WET AND MUDDY! OR it's dry and the dust flies everywhere!!! No one "SEES" that they are driving and kicking up mud, dust, rocks everywhere driving over it. I blame the city for that also, they should have SIGNS UP WARNING THESE IDIOTS NOT TO DRIVE FAST OVER IT.
Then they have "built up" the road so high (my property already has water that runs on it if it rains very much, because they have the other side of the road high enough, so all of the water runs to my side and into our ditches and under my carport, and my back yard looks like a landslide has happened. I know they can't help the rain BUT they dug out "some ditches" but like mine is full of water it needs to be dug out and the culvert is so old, it's bent down and won't allow water to run thru so now it's standing in water, causing mosquito's (but they gripe at us) for letting water stand if we have anything ti can stand in....
and now they are running I guess mice into my laundry room... and (suddenly I had the bars out just disappear 3 times now since this began) and then something (which could be a possum etc or a stray cat we have and so forth) run under my house and die! For the 3rd time in 2 weeks I woke up now to my laundry room with a stench worse than anything else you can imagine! I have every hole blocked, but they can weasel their way under anything if they are desperate! I am in the process of trying to type an email (I can barely type my left hand hurts so bad).. to the guy over this mess of a road they have made, and give him a piece of my mind... who is going to fix this mess, details our cars covered in dust and grime? Who is going to get that water out of those ditches... I hate to sound prejudice but I "live on the wrong side of town"... if I had a 500,000 dollar home, I bet it would be concreted, with a walkway, and they would have the water properly running out and away from the homes.... I am just so fed up. I pay MY TAXES ON TIME! Believe me if I didn't they would FINE ME 10 or 20%!!!! I should tell the city each day this is a mess they owe us on this road back a portion of the taxes we pay! Anyway, so keep me in your prayers... I NEED this hand well, so I can get this pacemaker in and go about my life... why is it that it is ALWAYS SOMETHING WITH ME?????"
I have to wonder if the pain in my hips that I still have after the injections, is not also something to do with this infection. both hips especially the right one still hurt. I was at the market on Monday, and when I was trying to finish up and get checked out, my right hip and side started to hurt. It scared the hell out of me. I came home with a LOAD of groceries, since they had my road so messed up I could NOT get out of my driveway all week last week! So, my groceries were in about 7 bags (the reusable ones) plus 4 gallons of water. I did not think I would ever make it in with it all, and get it put up.... but I managed.
I worry my RA and Lupus could be getting worse, or something else is going on, and they have not found it yet. My labs they did a couple of weeks ago when they found the infection, were really all messed up. My white blood cell count was at 15. But, there were other labs that were also really "off" that usually were not that bad, so I have to wonder.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Happy Father's Day TO Each if you - Dad's, Grandad's, step-dad's those who raise you like they are your Dad & More!
TO ALL of the INCREDIBLE DAD'S, FATHER'S, SONS WHO WILL SOMEDAY BE DAD'S, GRANDFATHERS, & the list goes on.. no matter how old we are "Our Dad will always be" Our Dad and "Bestest Fishin' Friend!" Happy FAther's Day! And Dad even after this much time has gone by, I STILL miss you! I seem to "still use some of your sayings" almost everyday of my life! LOL!
Okay, here it is in a "short version"... I was scheduled for the pacemaker this coming Monday morning in Dallas. The week before Memorial Day my left hand around my knuckles "started in my thumb" began to "look odd, kind of swollen, and reddish"..I thought I just over used it doing something. By the next morning, the knuckles next to it did the same, and so on, so forth. I STILL felt it was a Lupus/RA flare BUT I HAD NEVER HAD THIS TYPE OF ISSUE WITH MY LEFT HAND AND KNUCKLES..I researched, asked 2 pharmacists, and decided it maybe "gout arthritis", and I would need a special med called "Colchicine" (it helps to dissolve the uric acid crystals in the fluid around the joints).
So finally I went to Urgent Care, I believe it was about a week ago LAST Wednesday, so almost 2 weeks ago. They felt the same either gout, OR possibly some type of "infection arthritis" in the knuckles. Well, I went into panic mode. I KNEW NO PACEMAKER IF I SHOW ANY TYPE OF INFECTION! I was now on one antibiotic, higher dose of prednisone, & they did lab work to find out if they could see what was causing the problem. I DID NOT GET to even know until Thursday (so over a week or more)
Monday, June 10, 2019
Infectious arthritis? Has anyone ever been diagnosed with this????
THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!
HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH INFECTIOUS ARTHRITIS IN ANY JOINT ON THE BODY OR JOINTS????
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Friends, Illnesses, Friends passing away, A young friend (43) with Breast Cancer & the Pacemaker going in for me on the 17th.. Life
Friends passing away - and Friends with Breast Cancer (young she is 43) and the Pacemaker for me going on on the 17th
I just found out a friend of mine I worked with right after Jason was born, and then all my life I had known her We used to see each other frequently in HEBm and I had noticed I had been missing her. She passed away over the weekend. She was the most hard working woman in the world. And funny as heck... lots of things went on in her life, but she was always still rockin' it, no matter what was happening. I know she will be missed... (Audrey Minatrea) I am sure many of you in my hometown knew her and her family.
Then another friend of min, that in fact was my "home health nurse, that came by weekly for a good while through my insurance having them do it, and in fact I got Bella from her, My Doxie, I just found out she has breast cancer and has been fighting that only 43, I felt badly I did not find out until this morning... things have been so nuts for me, that I have missed things here especially on Facebook...so IF I miss something or happen to NOT answer PLEAE send me a private message, I don't want to miss anyone, or anything that is important. Love to you all, and prayers for all that are facing their own emotional, and/or physical, or life's illnesses and hardships....
Updates.....
Thanks everyone for your thoughts, your information an your prayers... I am so blessed to have family and dear friends here who listen, help, hope and care. I KNOW they are the ones with the mixed up phone numbers. I had went back and rechecked ALL of the messages I left, and not one message contained BOTH numbers that I gave her, which were correct. I DO KNOW since she (Amy) is the doctor's assistant who lines all of this up in the Dallas Hospital Heart/Pacemaker Office, that part of the issue is that they are all having to "train" on a brand new computer system, doctors included so they are "behind" on everything. I figure that is also one part of phone numbers and messages NOT getting to the proper person. My doctor told me the day I was there my first visit with him, to MAKE SURE I GET through, either AMY calls me within 4 days or so, OR I had her number that HE gave me, and that I call until I get her to answer me. That was also the holiday weekend, so between new computers, training, I know that office (which contains several different types of heart specialists, had new patients even like 7 of them the day I was there... not all for my doctor, but as I said all of them are in different heart special fields, so I figure it is one big mess, training, all those new patients, and in fact, they were supposed to give me "special towels" to wipe from head to toe with the morning before I go to the hospital but they were out of all of them there in the office -
so I asked Amy about it yesterday, & she said she made notes and there were notes on my chart. The nurses will take care of all of that after I get to the floor. She told me if they did not mention it, then for me to remind them, and I am sure they will. Usually the nurses who are on the surgical floors are extremely good at their jobs, especially when it comes to being cautious with bacteria etc... ANYWAY, I GO IN ON THE 17TH OF THIS MONTH, so a week from this coming Monday... at 8AM at the Jack and Jack Hart Hospital at Baylor Hospital in downtown Dallas.... That is my check time so I figure they will have me lined up 1st surgery, at probably around 10AM... he told me to expect 2 hours or a bit less, if it is a 2 lead surgery, if they hav to go to a 3 lead then it may be 2 1/2 hours.
Since I am an "early" patient I should get to go home that afternoon, if everything is doing okay. I know INFECTION of the wound itself is one of the main things they watch for, which makes sense... because I go in a week after the surgery to the office for a recheck, and even my regular heart doctor wants to see me about a week after the surgery. She had called me actually the day of my appt and told me to let them know the day I am scheduled for surgery, and that she wanted to personally see me also, once it is over with, and I can come in to her office here in town also. So, we are "set" it sounds like, and as I told Amy on the phone yesterday the sooner the better. I want this over with and done, so I can quit worrying about all of it. I am still going over information at Medtronic's website, there are so many different types of pacemaker's - just those alone, not including other types of heart devices etc... I will keep everyone informed as things get near, or if anything changes..... :)
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I really have SO MUCH to try & catch up here on, so I am going ton"Post"n some of my ongoing chronic health issues, things abo...
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I finally made a trip to Urgent Care with what I feel is a very bad Lupus and RA flare, but there are several "symptoms" strange t...
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How can our kids feel safe when WE as adults don't???? I fear Wal-Mart or just walking across the parking lot at HEB in my small lo...