Re: throat pain

[Guest guest]

After my transplant I had a lot of sores in my mouth, it was very painful but wasn't thrush. It was herpes -cold sores- in my mouth. I have taken Valtrex ever since and have never had another cold sore. It is my favorite med.

Update from Tom - Monday, March 30, 2009 7:29 PM, CDT

The old license plates have been put out to pasture.

For the last two years, I have had "Donate Life" license plates on my car to promote organ donation. To have a little fun, my plate was NDLIVR, for "need liver." When you're sick with a life threatening illness, sometimes you need a little lightness to keep from going over the edge.

Since I got my liver, I don't NDLIVER anymore. Kathy came up with a brilliant idea. (I certainly could never come up with something so good on my own. I haven't had a creative thought in 49 years!) She suggested keeping the Donate Life tags and changing them to THX LGW, to thank Larry for his gift of life.

For my birthday, Kathy presented me with those plates, and they made their debut on Saturday night when we went out with Larry and Debbie.

Of all the birthday presents I've received, this one is one of the best.

Shifting gears a bit, I was back at town today to complain about my throat. You could see Dr. Shetty's shoulders slump when I announced that the dreaded flareups are back. All we can do is start trying to solve the mystery again. We'll start by increasing the prednisone dose (not a good prospect) and once again working with Dr. Shanmugam in the rheumatology department to find another solution. Maybe going back on thalidomide will be the answer. It worked before. The bad part of that is that it puts me back on blood thinners, which have side effects of their own. Still, if I get relief, I can handle the bad parts.

I think the worst part of this is the emotional aspect. I thought that I was done with excruciating throat pain after the transplant. We did have a run of a few good months, and to take a big step backward like this is something I don't recommend.

But, God always seems to find a way to get me through things like this. I'll be fine. I'll just have to lean on him. He's used to it from me!

Tom

To send a message to Tom, Kathy and family goto;

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thomasbutler

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[Guest guest]

I had cold sores too – both inside my

mouth and outside. I took Valtrex once and it did nothing to help.

I used Zovirax Cold Sore Cream on the external cold sores and warm salt water

for the ones in my mouth. They were gone in three days with about 10% of

the pain and almost no scabbing. I later learned that once my Prograf

level was reduced to around 5, the cold sores almost went away. I still

get them occasionally around my mouth, but haven’t had any more inside my

mouth. The Zovirax takes care of any external one. I told my

Hep it was a miracle drug.

After my transplant I had a lot of sores in my mouth, it was very

painful but wasn't thrush. It was herpes -cold sores- in my mouth. I have

taken Valtrex ever since and have never had another cold sore. It is my

favorite med.

_

[Guest guest]

I had cold sores too – both inside my

mouth and outside. I took Valtrex once and it did nothing to help.

I used Zovirax Cold Sore Cream on the external cold sores and warm salt water

for the ones in my mouth. They were gone in three days with about 10% of

the pain and almost no scabbing. I later learned that once my Prograf

level was reduced to around 5, the cold sores almost went away. I still

get them occasionally around my mouth, but haven’t had any more inside my

mouth. The Zovirax takes care of any external one. I told my

Hep it was a miracle drug.

After my transplant I had a lot of sores in my mouth, it was very

painful but wasn't thrush. It was herpes -cold sores- in my mouth. I have

taken Valtrex ever since and have never had another cold sore. It is my

favorite med.

_