Chrissy

[Guest guest]

Chrissy,

Thanks for the informative reply. I mentioned to the GI that the molars were so

bad that they couldn't be saved, but they hadn't started hurting when we

talked. He asked how soon the dental work was planned, and I told him

a.s.a.p.....but now with all of his physical, x-rays and lab work requirements

prior to the dental work it will be at least three weeks before anything can be

done. The one molar hurt so badly last night that I couldn't even chew and

any pressure or biting down on that side of my mouth brought tears to my

eyes. Today, though, it doesn't hurt at all and I had no trouble eating, so I'm

totally perplexed about that.

I was at the GI's today for the DEXA scan, but the doc takes Friday off, so I

couldn't talk with him. Monday I'm in there again for x-rays and the EKG,

Tuesday is an appointment with my Pain Management doctor, Wednesday

back to the GI's office for a physical being done by his P.A. If I can find him

Monday or Wednesday I will explain to him about the pain and fear of

infection. I may just ask the dentist to pull out the painful molar this coming

week with just novocaine, but do think some antibiotics might be in order now,

not later. Of course, now it's the weekend and I can't get anything done until

Monday.

My new sister-in-law missed the wedding because she was in Intensive Care

up in NY with Endocarditis, which has since deteriorated to the point that

there was a large amount of fluid build up around her heart. The antibiotics

she's been given keep quitting on her and she's continuing to run high

temperatures. So instead of waiting 6 weeks for additional antibiotic

treatment, they had to get in there to take care of the fluid, and went ahead

and did the heart surgery today and found her heart valve completely

destroyed. She came through the surgery okay, and is now on a respirator,

but things do not look good. Since she had both dental cleaning and a

colonoscopy done in May, the doctors don't know which is to blame. When

my brother (her husband) found out I was having this dental work done he

nearly freaked out. I need to be sure that this all gets done right.

The first 13 sets of CT films are my personal copies. The last 3 were taken in

Savannah and are still at the hospital. I took my copies to the GI myself when

he first started treating me back in April 2003, and he's been keeping them in

his office. I can hand carry them - I'm afraid if they get sent off in the mail

that

I'll lose control of them and next thing you know they'll be telling me that

they

aren't mine, but the hospitals, etc. When they were given to me at Hilton Head

Hospital back in the beginning the woman said to hold tight to them because

it would cost over $700 to get them a second time. I probably shouldn't even

have let Dr. Northup keep them as long as he has, but it seemed convenient

at the time to let him store them at his office, instead of me lugging them

around. We will be driving down to Jax, so I could carry them in the Jeep

without difficulty.

Costa Rica is one the places we've always wanted to go, but this trip has to be

somewhere US Airways flies to and since Bob's passport is presently in the

process of being renewed, we may not have it back in time to go out of

country except for Canada or Mexico. Perhaps Cancun or Cozmel?

Everything in the Caribbean's been blown into matchsticks.....those poor

people have suffered such losses this year that who knows how long it will

take them to recover? We'll figure something out.

Too bad Billy couldn't just cool it and not worry about the car being in long-

term for three days. It really seems like it should be the least of your

worries,

ya know? Men can obsess about the strangest things sometimes....LOL!!

Maybe if you still have your garage parking pass at MUSC you could park the

car there and have a friend from the hospital take you the rest of the way to

the airport. Would that work? I wish I lived in ton so I could help you

out.

No doubt some of that additional pain may be the result of the stress you're

going through right now. There's no way you couldn't be stressed up about

this trip to Cinci, the meeting with the doctor and finding out his fix on your

whole situation. About now I'd be so tensed up about it I'd be just about

worthless for doing anything requiring reasonable thought. My back would

have tightened, with neck and shoulders stiff as a board and my tummy

burning like fire. That's what happens to me when I get wound up about

something like what you've got ahead of you. Once I get that way I stay like

that until everything's all resolved. I sure hope you can be more relaxed

about it than I would be!

You'll just have to keep us informed the best you can. Do the zoo again, and

anything else that will keep your mind happy and untroubled. Maybe

someone in the area will be doing some Octoberfest festivals or something

that you could go see.

My bone density results weren't too great. The lumbar is still only rated as

" osteopenia " , but the score for my hip was the beginning edge of

osteoporosis. The score was 2.53, not much past the cut-off rate of 2.5, but

still enough to make me feel some real concern. I won't know until next week

whether that means medication or what. I haven't had a chance to see if the

Fosomax is contraindicated for CP, but will look it up as soon as I finish this

novel. Because of my earlier phlebitis and blood clots, I can't take the other

medication that's normally recommended.

Well, I didn't mean to ramble so long. Just keep us up to date when you can.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep., PAI

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or opinion

only, and should not be substituted for consultation with a medical

professional.