Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Post Election

Wow.

I shut off the television for less than 10 minutes last night so I could say goodnight to my daughter and when I turned it back on, they had declared Obama to be the 44th president of the United States.

I am blown away at the lengths people went this election to make sure their vote was counted. Oregon conducts its elections by mail only, which I personally love, but I wonder if I would have been dedicated enough to wait hours (sometimes in rain and other poor weather) just for the chance to cast my vote. Honestly? I'm not sure I'd be dedicated enough. Back when I lived in states with in-person voting, I don't think I ever had to wait more than 45 minutes or so for my chance in the voting booth.

And I was happy to see the old McCain I remember from the 2000 election with such a gracious concession speech. I was amused, though, by the change in his body language toward his running mate. At the GOP convention when Palin was announced as McCain's choice, they looked like they liked each other. I didn't think it looked that way last night.

Well, it will be interesting to see what the next four years bring.

*******

I saw my internist today and she scolded me for not starting antibiotics over the weekend. So I'm officially back on Avelox for what we're pretty sure is a sinus infection.

I see my gastroenterologist tomorrow to discuss whether he thinks there's any chance I'm having absorption issues based on my low Vitamin D and ferritin levels. I have my doubts, but what's another specialist in the mix? At least he's an old friend. I saw him regularly for about five years (2000-2005) due to repeated peptic ulcers caused by anti-inflammatories.

Meanwhile, I should find out soon the details of how our health insurance will change in January. I'm hoping for better coverage rather than worse, but you never know. We will change carriers, from the regional Providence Health Plan to an Aetna plan.


3 comments:

SharonMV said...

Hi Aviva,
It's me again, urging you to see the immunologist & finish your testing if you haven't already done so. People with primary immune deficiencies can have absorption problems & other GI problems. And of course the frequent sinus infections (I still have them almost constantly). And quite often we also have joint pain, autoimmune symptoms & diseases. I'm living proof as I have both CVID & Lupus and a few other conditions too.

Hope the antibiotics help with your sinus infection.

Sharon

Aviva said...

Hi SharonMV! Thanks! I've actually been trying. I had to cancel an appointment with the immunologist that I'd scheduled for a couple weeks ago because my lungs were/are junky again and he won't do the allergy testing for the vaccine unless I'm clear. As soon as I get over this bug, I'll get on his schedule again. I have to admit that I've come to believe this is my main problem, although time will tell when I finally get all the testing done.

Thanks again for all your encouragement and support!!

Anonymous said...

It's interesting that my endocrinologist tells me that many people are being found deficient in Vit. D now. I was one of them - it was his idea that I be tested. It's also interesting that I have no trace of B6 in my blood - apparently (this is my opinion) an hereditary problem. As I understood it from the neurologist, I do not have the enzymes to process/absorb it from food or most over the counter vitamins. I take a prescription vitmain called Metanx (B6, B12, folic acid) although I understand there are other preparations that can be absorbed better also. I think there was a tad less body pain with the Rx vitamin and with both of them maybe a tad less body pain.

I have chronic sinusitis, allergic asthma, inflammatory arthritis and fibromyalgia. Also IBD. Those are all the non specific diseases that doctors don't really know what to do with and don't like to deal with much. If you do turn out to have significant allergies there is a new drug on the market called Xolair - a monoclonal antibody that helped me while I was on it. (at least with the allergy part)

Do hope the info starts rolling in for you - sometimes it's easier to deal with when it has a name.