Unintentional Hiatus

I had no intentions of forgetting to update this blog. Things just happened quickly the past month. But before I get into that, I feel like I need to tie up some of the loose ends from the last vlog.

I'm sure Mr. 50 and I are now just friends. We catch up every now and then by meeting at a particular bar in Atlanta where we get comped drinks. Haha, there's an interesting story to that but I'll have to talk about that another time. We usually talk about podcasting. He's taken on the role of unofficial producer. I've done a few test podcasts with him giving me some feedback. For the most part, it's been well-received by Mr. 50. However, I haven't put in quite enough work the past few weeks as work has gotten hectic.

I went on other dates even when I was interested in Mr. 50. This was a good thing because Mr. 50 didn't seem vested in me. Maybe "vested" is the wrong word. I don't think he was ready to be dating or maybe I just don't fit his criteria. The bottom line is that he's still getting over his last ex-girlfriend. I didn't give up hope on him. I still found him attractive for his dry sense of humor, but also because he was so old-fashioned with dating. It's so rare these days for a guy to step up with asking you out, or even calling you instead of texting. Like I said though, we're friends now.

I won't go into details about the other guys I dated.

Because I'm seeing someone now.

More later.

:)

Mr. 50

I finally met Mr. 50 for dinner. I'm kinda cringing that I'm calling him Mr. 50 because it's not like we talk about S&M or anything (even though we did just talk about furries). It's mostly because we're only able to talk to each other either by email or by phone since he can't receive my text messages.

FYI, Pet Sitter is still in the game and I like seeing him, but I'm not sure what I'm doing with him.  

Video Launch!

This is because I'm lazy and I'm exploring other methods to share. Podcast demos, perhaps?

The Worst Eczema Ever

By this point, I think it's been the worst eczema experience I've ever had. My heart sank listening to the dermatologist that I need to increase the amount of prednisone I'm taking. I'll also be back on steroid creams and ointments for everything: face, neck and body.

It's just... never been this bad. My dermatologist wanted to give me the heads up of what other options are possible if this one last thing doesn't work: taking immuno-suppressants. It's scary to hear about the side effects of medication and even more so when the doctor has to mention "quality of life." You'd think I have some kind of terminal illness.

Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic.I'm going to snap out of this.

It was so difficult to explain to my mom over Facetime about my problems. Our family knows the consequences of longterm steroid use: primarily weight gain. I was already getting a suggestion from my dad to start walking on the treadmill. I started crying when my mom said I should exercise too. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Mom, I want to exercise. I just can't," I said. It's like I'm starting to fear sweat because I know it makes itchy. And how am I supposed to feel like I can exercise when the skin on my neck is so raw that I can't even turn my head? 

I'm in pain. I know that I've probably gained weight from 6 weeks of inactivity and as I'm taking these pills, I know my hunger has increased. 

I just want to have clear, normal skin. It's so hard to deal with health when my poor work performance speaks for itself. I'd say it's a lack of motivation when my life has been pretty, well, up and down. I know it myself that I get happy about small things and then my mood can make a turn because of health or bad news. It'd help if I was a more apathetic person instead of such an optimist.

Alright, I'm done whining. I gotta keep it together. I WILL TRY harder. I will try to control my appetite. I'll take better care of my skin. One small battle at a time. We've already battled MRSA, right? Let's keep at it. 

PICC Line, Out! Out I Say!

I've been looking extremely forward to this day. The PICC line is finally out! 

However, since the last post, my eczema got worse. Would you believe me if I said I had like 2 flares last week? I'm kind of at a loss. I don't know what happened. 

I went out Saturday for dinner with friends and well, maybe it's because Mini-van Mike frustrates me (thank god his wife Linda was there to keep tabs on him), but I suffered a flare the next day. Could going out be a trigger? Dry, red, uncomfortable skin on my face and neck. And damn... that sticky bandage for my PICC line was so itchy! For 3-4 straight days, my eyes were puffy and I had super double eyelids. I like to call it "troll eyes." It's rather uncomfortable that I decided to wear glasses the past few days. 

So now, I'm trying out Neosporin's eczema line. I'm using the Daily Moisturizing Cream on various body parts including my face. On the first day, it was fine on my face. The second day, not so much. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I guess we'll see what happens today since it's "proven to improve skin in 3 days use." I'm also switching to Protopic now that I've got the prescription. The Eletone sort of worked, but I'd like to see what Protopic would do. As I'm getting bouts of dry skin during the day, vitamin E oil seems to help. 

Oh, and I also got a prescription of Doxepin to help me sleep. I want quality sleep so badly, I'm almost excited to see what it will do for me tonight. 

Man...I can't believe 6 weeks have gone by. It's been a horrible month. Let's hope things keep getting better. 

One More Week

Even though my 5 1/2 weeks of treatments have passed, I was told that I'd have to keep the PICC line for another week. The good thing is that I don't have to do the IV antibiotic, but just keep the line in. Oh, and flush the line with saline and heparin. I can deal with that. 

What's interesting is when I go from doctor to doctor, telling them "he said this" and "she said that." I told my ID doc about my new derm saying elevated iGe levels are common for people with eczema. ID doc said, "That's true, but your level is much higher even for someone with eczema." Hmm. I'm a little stumped. Either way, I had my bloodwork done by the ID sent over to my dermatologist. I wonder what she'll say.

I forgot to ask my ID doc about stopping Nystatin - the drug for removing yeast in my body. The reason I'd like to stop is because I don't see how it's benefiting me. I mean, maybe it is removing yeast from my body or GI tract, but I don't think the yeast is what's causing my eczema. In fact, I'd say my skin got worse after a week of Nystatin. I also dislike how the past few days I've gotten crazy, crazy gas from taking the drug. Like, insane farts. 

My body is responding well to the 2nd day of Prednisone. My face is clearer and my skin still flakes, but at least it's less. When I had my vitals recorded at today's ID visit, the nurse noticed that my heart was beating fast. I had to say it must be because of the steroid.

On another note, just like I predicted it, my sleep was horrible. I just downloaded the Sleep Cycle app on my phone to track my sleep. Each morning, I can see how long I was awake - based on the tossing/turning movement recorded by my phone. I'm still trying to track a full week of sleep with the app before anything can be done, so tonight will be my 3rd night. I kinda miss being in deep sleep and feeling refreshed. However, I can still function throughout the day on little sleep. Thank you, Georgia Tech, for training me to run on minimal rest. 

Work is ramping up, so it is somewhat high-stress time. I find that I have to keep telling myself, "one thing at a time." Kinda like my health. 

I haven't lost hope. Just one more week. One day at a time. 

Goose Chase

I'm feeling so much better now and go figure, sometimes this happens right AFTER I make a doctor's appointment. I think today's nurse put it best when he said, "It's kind of like taking your car to the mechanic: once you get there, the problem is gone."

In my case though, the eczema wasn't completely gone.

As I mentioned before, I had my hesitations about this dermatologist because of a language barrier - she's Italian. She graduated from Emory University about 3-4 years ago. I was worried that I would get the eczema basic-care sermon when, considering that I've had eczema as a child, I know the do's and don'ts. Although, I have to admit that I've recently given up very warm showers and opted for lukewarm ones to keep my skin happy.

This derm wasn't too bad. She was very serious and she questioned a lot of what I was doing. "Why are you seeing all these specialists?" Then I had to explain that my original dermatologist wasn't able to help me since the MRSA/staph infection kept coming back. I explained that I sought an Infectious Disease specialist who advised me to see a hematologist, and now I've been advised to see a rheumatologist mostly because of an elevated iGe level in my blood. "But an elevated iGe level is because of atopic dermatitis [eczema]," she said, looking at my quizzically.

Y'know... I had my suspicions about my ID doc not being too bright.

She then went on to say that I pretty much fit the bill for having severe eczema and I'm going through a bad flare. She asked how many bad flares do I get each year. I'd say about 2 or 3, but it's only felt like more the past 6 months because I've also been dealing with MRSA.

She commented on my old dermatologist: "He's a great doctor." I agreed. I will kind of miss seeing that dermatologist because he's so knowledgeable and I know most of his staff. However, I need a doctor or a dermatology group that would be more available to see me AND that's closer to where I live.

So here's how we're going to treat this recent flare. I'm on Prednisone for the next 10 days. Instead of taking 30 mgs a day in 10mg increments, I'm doing 40 mgs every morning for the first 4 days. Then, the dosage will decrease the days afterwards. It's pretty much a given to decrease Prednisone gradually. I was advised to take my first dose after dinner tonight and I think I'm already seeing results. The only problem I foresee is getting sleep. Prednisone can make one alert and full of energy - it's a steroid.

I'm also prescribed Protopic, a non-steroidal ointment to use on affected areas AFTER I use the steroidal ointment Triamcinolone. I've been using Triamcinolone for some time now, but it does thin-out skin. Unfortunately, my Protopic ointment is still being approved by insurance (God, just another reason why I dislike Anthem California so much) so I couldn't pick it up today. I did confirm with my dermatologist that my samples of Eletone (another non-steroidal prescription, given to me by my old derm) could work too.

I'm seeing my ID doc tomorrow and I'm really hoping it's the day I get my PICC-line removed. I'm not too happy with this guy even though he was able to clear me of my MRSA boils with the IV antibiotics. He's sent me on this wild goose chase seeing different doctors, but I'm still seeing a rheumatologist. I have a high rheumatoid factor in my blood too. I had a blood test done almost 10 years ago which said the same thing, but it wasn't a huge issue. Now I'm going to get it checked out because I've noticed poor circulation in my feet and toes.

I'm feeling much better, but I've still got my fingers crossed that things aren't too serious.