Painters and Panic

I'd planned to be in bed unwinding by now for an early start to tomorrow in prep for when the painters arrive at 7am.  There is more to do.  There'll always be more to do but the garage is full of stuff I have cleared out of the house and the TV is in there for something to do when I wait out the next 2 days.  If it is hot like today was, I will want to get out of the garage and go out somewhere.

I had it all pretty much planned and it was happening OK despite a flare up of my heart racing and shakiness.  And plenty of toilet problems which is a worry for tomorrow too but I've done it except for one small detail which came along and wrecked everything.  S.  That boy of mine, arrived on my door in his work clothes half an hour ago saying he has been kicked out.  I asked him what happened and he said he didn't know.  It's night time for goodness sake.  I had to give him the car again and tell him not to dare to come back tonight but bring back my car at 8:30am so I could get out of a hot garage.

Now it's raining so things could be really messy tomorrow when more rain is expected.  He is going to ruin everything.  I don't even want him seen here.  What will tomorrow bring? - you can bet it is going to be more trouble.

I am going to take a tranquilizer - goodnight.

MyNetFone Speeds

Broadband Speed Test Results

Test run on 19/03/2012 @ 03:04 PM

Mirror: Optus
Data: 9 MB
Test Time: 5.28 secs
Your line speed is 14.31 Mbps (14311 kbps).
Your download speed is 1.75 MB/s (1789 KB/s).

Broadband Speed Test Results

Test run on 13/04/2012 @ 07:21 AM

Mirror: Internode
Data: 9 MB
Test Time: 13.74 secs
Your line speed is 5.5 Mbps (5501 kbps).
Your download speed is 688 KB/s (0.67 MB/s).

Graph

More Scanned Photos

There will not be any more photos coming for a while.  My Kodak printer is rigged.  It won't even perform a scan function when all the ink has been used and the cartridges are empty.  I will leave you to guess who used up most of the ink while they were here.  I try not to use it for printing unless I am trying to educate a doctor by bringing along an article about ME or fibromyalgia.  That is what my ink is for.

The Painters Are Coming

I was in tears after the painter came a couple of days ago to inform Flora and I that our units will be painted on the inside next week.  It all seems too much - having to get everything off the walls and windows and shelves and out of furniture (eg.  the large glass display cabinet) that has to be moved before next Wednesday.  Anything that I don't want wrecked ideally should be gotten out of the way and most of the gear that has to be moved or removed also needs dusting, cleaning, de-spidering.  Consequently, I have been pushing myself to do what I can.  Unfortunately that also means that I won't have any energy left over for healing.  Life is just an endurance but I am lucky compared to some.

On Sunday Emily Collinridge, author of The Essential Severe ME Handbook died and the news has cast another black mood over the ME and CFS communities. Other than ME, I have never heard of an illness so painful and so neurologically damaging that life itself feels like death for decades.  How do bodies survive this kind of punishment yet remain alive despite the woeful treatment the medical profession provides?  The medical neglect and "head-in-the-sand" attitude by the very people who you would reach out towards for help has to be the most frightening aspect.  My latest rheumatologist says that ME does not exist and that symptoms can be explained by some other condition (which is never diagnosed).  Consequently he is looking for something else but so far the tests have failed to reveal anything abnormal.

I have received an appointment with a public hospital specialist - a gastroenterologist named Van de Bogarde - and it is scheduled for the afternoon of my birthday.  I must change that.

Nice Girls and an attack

S moved his gear out on Saturday - St. Patrick's Day aka Jan's birthday. He used my car so I did not have to be involved. I was not well enough to risk going out with Jan to the RSL for her birthday lunch and it was pouring with rain that day. Yesterday he came back for another load and reported that things were going well there so far. They seem to be very nice girls. Girls who go to church. The older one is the owner of the house which is reportedly very nice and new. It is in Brightwater but this time I have not asked for the address and I have not looked it up on Google Maps street view. Let's see if it is going to last.

I am expecting everything to start going back to normal today when I get the car returned. I've been looking forward to trying to get out of the house again but I feel pretty gross this morning because during the night/early morning I had a bowel attack. The kind of pain and near fainting that I associate with a partial bowel obstruction. I haven't had one of those since last year and maybe then only twice a year so it was getting to be a rare occurrence to have this happen. I do not know why it happened but the low gut pain and cramps was nothing like the upper right pain and hardness I have been having of late. Luckily there was not much delay before a bm so the pain did not escalate for long. It still reminds me of labour pains. But the tendancy to feel faint with it is more pronounced than in the past. I am having a set of cramps right now actually. I get very warm and feel faint with it and a ringing in the ears. I am not having heart palpitations with it. It seems this is going to continue until I am empty and energy depleted or until I lie down and keep very still.

The only thing I have done differently that I can link to this attack is taking a teaspoon of psyllium husks in yoghurt twice in the last three days and a similar amount of raw oat flour. I have been looking for alternatives to Movicol. Maybe it is the gluten in the oats? I have been eating 1 slice of spelt bread every couple of days but it did not seem to be causing problems. I don't really know what it could be but I could do with body messages that let me know whether I am constipated or not because the messages I am getting are not clear to me at all. I am very bloated now which is not unusual whether I am having loose motions or none. Once upon a time when I had active Crohn's disease, these episodes would be blamed on the contractions of the muscular wall of the intestine being so strong that it almost closes over. Others say that the faecal matter is blocking the way. It is not hard and dry but I still seem to get pain when contents move past my newer upper quadrant sore spots. Just for the record.

I've been scanning a few photos with the view to tossing out a few photo albums.  Most of the photos have been pretty faded but some software restoration has helped.

Leaky pipe fixed under square of new concrete

Rescue by RACQ

It is pouring with rain right now.  He phoned just before it started.  He was at Warana on the side of the road in my car because he does not "live" here any more (except during the day time).  He seemed to want to do this stunt every night.  I'm too shell-shocked to care.  I am still sick you see.

As the story goes my car has a flat battery because he left the lights on so I got the phonecall via his near-flat mobile phone to rescue him via RACQ.  I have phoned them and they will get there sometime over the next hour.  I just got my RACQ bill for the year and was lamenting that yesterday.  I was also thinking that I had not even used the roadside service for many years.  Can't say that now can I?

I wonder how much rain we will get today because the plumbers are supposed to come and dig up a slab of the driveway and repair the water-pipe that is running.  Yesterday someone came to locate the leak.  It is not just a little leak either.  I was surprised how tired I got from just going outside to watch the gadget he was using and then back inside again.  I should have known I still needed to sit on a chair instead of stand but with Flora and all the conversation going on out there I let it slide.  Consequently I crashed in bed without eating tea which I had spent the last of my energy on making - a mini casserole.

x marks the spot

Here he comes - just got back here he did.



How I Help CFS/ME Patients in Canada - Byron Hyde, MD from ME/FM Action Network on Vimeo.

New Developments in Possible Causes of ME/CFS - Anthony L. Komaroff, MD from ME/FM Action Network on Vimeo.

That did not last long

I no sooner finished that post yesterday when he pulled back in the driveway.  I was just starting to relax but not any more.  I don't know what to do.  Even the caravan parks are $210-270 a week for a site.  It's 300 for a cabin a week just down the road and it is shoulder season and none are available.  I've been phoning.  I can't pay him to leave because I have not got it and he would prefer a backpackers but at the same time he is worried it will lead to his undoing.  They are around $27 a night in a dorm setup.

I really wanted him gone last night so I had no conscience about saying that he left Friday.  The car was packed with his gear and indeed he slept in it until after midnight but I woke up to find him here at 12:15am and it turned out he only slept in the car in my driveway so does that count?  He is still here.  He does not get another pay for a fortnight but still has money - enough to last out in a back packers for a few days but he is so uncomfortable about it and I am an anxious, cranky mess about it.  Maybe he could pitch a tent at Coochin creek state forest camping ground and take my car nightly to get there but that is petrol on top.  He won't though.  He won't go to his father's place either.  Am I supposed to call the police to get him out of here?

He interferes with my life so much - today he has already been to Brian's place next door to discuss the fence because S decided he wants the asbestos one gone.  I was still in bed and I hate it when he does things behind my back and interferes with what should be my decision.  He even started a letter he was going to write to the local council about it and I had to scream at him to get it through that I did not allow him to send it.

I don't know what to do and I am too spent to talk about it any more.

He's left but not right

 He left at around 3pm to check out some rentals (up his way) and he said he would be staying at a Backpacker's tonight.  He probably won't get settled somewhere until next week so I expect him back but not to sleep here.  He can stay in the car down the road for all I care but he can't live here.

Even the department said I should think twice about having him if he is likely to leave me carrying the burden of paying a quarter of his income in additional rent.  It is still cheap rent but not with the backpay on top of it and not when it is going to mean more stress.

He was starting to settle in.

Nice sunset the other day.  Different colours in different parts of the sky.

Underground Springs?

I phoned Maintenance a couple of days ago but no-one has called or visited.  I will have to call again tomorrow . Update: they said it would be next week before it is inspected.  It was spurting upward the next day after the photos but by Friday it was only near the car and not running all over the place so it may well be dried up by next week.  The rains have stopped for the last couple of days.

Flora said that there were no water pipes under the driveway. She was here when they dug up the whole house.

Video Convo with Condog

Teaching Connor about Video Conferencing

Using a little program called imessage which is a built-in app on Apple devices.  Connor had his ipod touch and I had my ipad 2 and the funny part is that it was done in the same house because we had to share the wireless Internet connection.  If he was allowed Internet access from home we could do it nightly...but I guess that won't happen or they do not even know how they could make it happen.  I could do that still but I am getting a bit slow.  

And it proves he has a good memory for conversation and is quite opinionated

Here is the picture he said was "quite dumb"  or maybe he meant dumb of me to send it via this messaging program.  My next reply was to point out this dumb picture was one he made.  But I thought the video was long enough already.  It took a lot of effort to get them off the ipad after stitching them together and upload it via youtube because it was not accepted directly by blogger.  Here's Connor's collage picture anyway - also done on the ipad but last time he was here.  Maybe he forgot.

It seems he did not think it was nice that I read "your" book but I have been going to send it to you for over a year now but haven't and I am not sure if you want the other gardening mag renewed for your birthday Mum.  You had better let me know. They are asking already.  I'll keep the book for you regardless :)  Probably see you some time this year?

I can't imagine what we are going to do when Zena turns into a gay retiree and we haven't got access to this "getting updates from Queensland to Victoria" messenger service.  It is easier for me than speaking on the phone but I've been pushing it tonight.  

I am taking Movicol again tonight trying to shift this pain.  I really think something gets stuck there.  I also thought it must have been my gall bladder a while back so all I can do is keep guessing until someone can actually do something that helps.  So frustrating, everything is.

Talking is Exhausting

Talking is exhausting when I am already in a crash and today there was lots of it.  I find myself exhausted sometimes just talking to the son but there is a large emotional component of that exhaustion but when it is just plain business - in this case with a Telco - then it is not so impactful on the psyche so the exhaustion is more likely to be explained by depleting energy stores.  That's what it feels like and there is plenty of recognition of it in the M.E. Community.  The friend who is in hospital and being exhausted by having to answer so many questions so many times a day when he would barely speak to anyone 5 minutes a day if he were at home.  I'm like that when my son is not around and when someone steps into your life it is a bit of a shock to the system.  Today there was a long chat with Jan on the phone and the dealings with S as well as having to deal with the Telco twice via the queues on the telephone.  It all seemed too much today.  I've been in a lot of body pain with the low pressure system and I still have not recovered from the Short Synacthen test and the visit from Connor on the weekend.

Anyway, the Internet went off around 9am.  Yesterday a free new modem arrived because I signed up with my voip company for ADSL2+ during the promotion period.  They use the Telstra lines but for some reason are cheaper and I was annoyed with Bigpond for forcing shaping on everyone at the exchange because they allowed it to become so over-congested.  I guess I am going through the same congested lines but so far I see an improvement on Facebook.  Have not had a chance to really try it.  Even if the speed is just as bad, I am still better off because I will get more quota for the same price.  I don't understand how they can undercut them and I did not know Telstra had leased out lines to anyone who was not going to charge double what Telstra charged.  It seems like something happened in November and they let them in, hopefully leasing out the least congested lines.  I can only hope.

Flora my duplex Neighbour pointing at our underground spring

This business with the Department of Housing and S being here came to a head yesterday. "You know who" caused the problem.  He told Centrelink that he paid me $100 rent so that he could get some rent assistance and then to cover his tracks he wanted me to ring Housing and tell them he was here which I had no choice about then.  He said he was going to leave on Friday so I told them that too.  The big hiccup came when I assumed that from Feb 10th he would be allowed to stay here rent-free.  You know the 3 week rule.  If they are here longer than 3 weeks they must be declared.  Some say it is 4 weeks.  It seems that is not the case for people who have lived here on the tenancy agreement.  They get no grace period if they return after leaving.  All this meant that I, me and myself (since I am the primary tenant) was responsible for the back pay.  The woman I was speaking to did suggest that if he was leaving on Friday then they would let it slide.  That is tomorrow.  I think I was so cranky that S got the message that he had dobbed himself in but I doubt if he can leave by tomorrow.  He does have a couple of places to check out tomorrow.  Maybe I will have to let him sleep in the car till he finds a place???  There is just not enough money around to fix this with the double electricity bill and B not paying me so that is all I can think of.

You can see our underground spring on this one too

I did not get around to telling you that the outside of the house got painted sometime recently.  Don't ask me to tell you when exactly.  It was a busy time I remember.  I just wanted to show you a photo of the place now.  I am glad the lime green is gone but they forgot to paint the door so it is still lime.  It will probably get done when they do the inside which I am dreading.

Short Synacthen Stimulation Test

 The Short Synacthen Stimulation Test took an hour and a half from start to finish including talk time, form signing and the wait time in between blood tests.  I was there early hoping that the doctor would be early.  He wasn't.  I do not know where he is stationed but he was due to arrive at my appointment time.  His name was Tim McNamara and he is the doctor associated with phlebotomy at Nambour.  I could not talk him into coming to Caloundra hospital.  This test cannot be performed by those who usually take our blood who are not doctors.  He had to be the one to give the injection but only after the initial blood test was taken by the nurse.  He said, she was better at it than he was.  I'd believe that.  The needle hurt like a B12 shot prolonged.  It did not stay sore for long but before that had eased off, I started to feel light-headed, wondered if I was going a bit out of it, but not quite woozy until my tum started feeling nauseous in sympathy with my head sensations.  I am sensitive like that now with motion sickness which has never been so bad since I was a car-sick kid until the last few years.  I knew I was no good with spinning around waltzing probably 9 years ago but roundabouts are a more recent problem.  So too can the sensation I get from the things moving past while using a mobility scooter.  It is also one of the possible symptoms of M.E.(Myalgic encephalomyelitis) and Lyme disease. Nevertheless I do believe that the injection brought this reaction on.

As an aside, you may like to check out the Lyme Symptom Questionnaire used in the article linked to above.

The good thing about getting whoozy was that I got to lie down after that.  I read a short story on the Kindle called The Scary Chair after the doctor stopped chatting.  He was keeping me 'occupied instead of fainting' or assessing my reaction to the needle but I was fine again within about 15 mintues or less in that I no longer felt woozy but I left the place today feeling that internal shakey feeling that I get and maybe you could call it imperceptible tremors.  Still got it now.  That means I have crashed from today.  The flu feeling.  Joints were fired up by this afternoon but I had been in air conditioning which is often a culprit.  My aircon rarely goes under 26-27 degrees C unless S has had his hands on the control.

Anyway, the doctor left and popped back in again later but mainly it was the nurse from here on.  She took blood at 30 minutes and 60 minutes post stimulation. I have bruises to show for it - bleeding under the skin.   Addison's is very rare so I doubt if I have it and the doctor himself said it was unlikely and he also told me when I suspected he had a bit of an attitude about the frequency of Dr N requesting these tests, that yes indeed he does tend to refer people for this test a bit.  Then he jokingly said that they had an "arrangement".  Despite its rarity, I am interested in the results because even a mild adrenal insufficiency (assuming it detects such) would be a reason for me to take a low dose of cortisol which has the potential of making me feel a whole lot better until I start worrying about my weight gain (if it is anything like prednisolone).

Unfortunately test results showing mild adrenal insufficiency are not always reported back to patients because lab results are designed to detect Addison's disease.  Wikipedia reports how the results are interpreted :

Cortisol stimulation

In healthy individuals, the cortisol level should double from a baseline of 20-30 ug/dl within 60 minutes. For example, if the serum cortisol level was 25 ug/dl before the stimulation, it should reach at least 50 ug/dl.

Interpretation for primary adrenal insufficiency and Addison's disease

The baseline cortisol level in people with adrenal insufficiency is usually near 15 ug/dl. An ACTH stimulation test that raises the cortisol concentration to 20 ug/dl would support the diagnosis of primary adrenal insufficiency. In Addison's disease, baseline cortisol is well below 10 ug/dl and rises no more than 25 percent.

Interpretation for secondary adrenal insufficiency

ACTH may dramatically stimulate cortisol from the low baseline value encountered in patients suffering from secondary adrenal insufficiency. Stimulation resulting in a greater than 14-fold increase in serum concentration over 30 minutes has been reported, although more typically serum cortisol levels will double or triple from baseline. The lower the baseline cortisol, the more likely it is that the patient's cortisol will increase by a large amount.^[14]
In some instances, a second test can suggest primary adrenal insufficiency (cortisol value less than doubled). The diagnosis may be changed from secondary to primary adrenal insufficiency or to include primary adrenal insufficiency. In secondary adrenal insufficiency, if the adrenal glands lack ACTH for enough time, cortisol production can atrophy^[15] and fail to rise to a value at least double the base cortisol value. It is proper to continue with the diagnosis of secondary adrenal insufficiency.

If secondary adrenal insufficiency is diagnosed, the insulin tolerance test (ITT) or the CRH (Corticotropin-releasing hormone) stimulation test can be used to distinguish between a hypothalamic (tertiary) and pituitary (secondary) cause, but is rarely used in clinical practice.^[15]

Now I will tell you what events prepared me for today.

The whole idea of the weekend was to ensure that I had enough energy in reserve for the unavoidable trip to Nambour General Hospital Pathology Department today.  It did not happen the way it was supposed to.

I told you that Rob came for coffee on Saturday but I did not tell you that S bought Connor back here, telling Connor that he couldn't come at first because Nanoo had screamed at him not to let him come over and that is why they were playing basketball.  OK or not, I cannot judge. It seems Connor does not like playing basketball with his Dad - that's what he told me.  He told me that he wanted to come and see me but I wonder if he was coached to say that?  It was only going to be a couple of hours.  It turned into from then until after lunch Sunday.  I knew it was zapping energy out of me and I actually sat down a lot .  I just sat there and played on the ipad, the exact same game that he was playing.....Dragonvale.  We set each other up as neighbours so we could visit each others lands and we sent video messages to each other from different rooms just for fun.  Actually I think he sat there longer than me by miles playing on his ipod or doing a switcheroo with my ipad.

I guess we both had fun because he did not want to go home and I did not mind doing Ange a favour keeping him longer because there is some trouble dealing with him at home.  I wonder why.  He is about to be using a different surname for the third time.  He's been a Jenkins at the school ever since he started despite his birth name but it will be changed again when Ange marries.  It is a bit of a mouthful to remember.  Swedish maybe?

Apart from anything else the reason Connor was here was because Esha had a cold but no-one was likely to tell me until it was too late.  You know how I hate inviting viruses into my house even it if means pushing away people.

Consequently I was already not firing on all cylinders before I even went to Nambour.  I knew S was driving so I relaxed more than I normally would if I had had to do it all myself.  He had planned to do a bit of work there but it was pouring with rain and threatening floods everywhere.  We saw plenty of water lying around and not too far away from being a problem.  It rained and rained but I was dropped off right at the door and got picked up after a warning phone-call at the same place so I did not get wet, wet.  Just the splashes.  S decided not to get wet either - just a coffee and driving around scouting for signs of potential solar sales.

On the way home we called into Forest Glen Organic Foodstore and I picked up some spelt bread which you are allowed to eat on the low FODMAP diet.

Saline Treatment Options for ME and POTS

I am trying to collect some information for future carers that I may or may not have so from time to time I will include some treatment protocols which I would be willing to try.  Saline Treatments are proving helpful to some people with ME and there is also a salt/vitamin C protocol advocated by some for Lyme Disease.  I mention Lyme Disease because there have been many ME sufferers who have been eventually found to be suffering from chronic Lyme Disease.

I have had positive experiences with drinking electrolyte (salt) drinks at least a litre a day.  A recipe for a cheap homemade version without the added sugar is available online but I must admit I have enjoyed Staminade Blue, Gatorade and Powerade powder mixes and I do believe they help when I have a tendancy towards one kind of dizziness that I experience.  Intravenous (IV) Saline takes the idea one step further and this helps treat an often unrecognized condition called POTS - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.  The effects of intravenous saline are more immediate than drinking sports drinks throughout the day so it is important to have a little background knowledge especially with regard to the blood-pressure boosting effects of salt protocols.  This can be a good thing for people with predominantly low blood pressure but obviously it will not suit someone with high blood pressure.

Image Source:http://hopealways.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/a-good-visual/

There is some research to suggest that orthostatic intolerances like POTS are a result of low blood volume often found in people with ME and this in turn may be a function of small heart size.  This is further explained in Chapter 5 of a book edited by Christopher Snell called An International Perspective on the Future of Research in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In this chapter, Kunihisa Miwa considers a small heart to be a predisposing factor towards Chronic Fatigue Syndrome resulting in low cardiac output.IV Saline is used to build blood volume with the aim of minimizing the tachycardia, breathlessness and dizziness that patients experience.  If you want the nitty gritty on Saline IV's from the perspective of a sufferer then Sarah's World Blog has a comprehensive coverage of the important details.

It is interesting to note that Dr David Bell, the treating doctor at the Lyndonville ME/CFS outbreak, also inadvertently discovered that IV Saline treatment was helping many patients. Some of his patients were receiving intravenous vitamins and gammaglobulin in a saline base and the positive outcomes were not immediately attributed to the saline component because it was the norm to consider a saline drip as placebo in medical trials.  At the time of reporting his findings, Dr Bell did not think he was witnessing a placebo response and he stated that he had found the most effective treatment for severe ME/CFS in 21 years of looking.  It is important to note that PICC line infections are a risk factor during intravenous therapy and that the effects of saline treatment are only temporary and not a cure.  Therefore it becomes an ongoing treatment every few days and once the treatment is stopped, so too do the symptoms of orthostatic intolerance return.

Hijacked email

I have to set the record straight about not being able to make contact with my second son.  I have seen him in both away mode and online at his email address so I assumed he was ignoring me but I only guessed that if he was accessing it through his mobile then there may be an explanation.

The explanation was that it was not even him.  I was on the phone to him and he was not online in Hervey Bay (which was where he was last night) but he was showing up as online and when B told me that he gave out his email and passwords to friends so that they could access accounts he had paid good money for as a favour to them, it all clicked into place.  In fact it was probably Anthony I have been sending family information to.  He was living with B remember?  After St left?  And he moved to Roger's with him too for a week.  But only a week because that is all B would give him after he had let him down in paying his share of the rent.

Will have to finish this later, Rob is walking from Greg's place to here even though I said I was not well enough to see him.  He wants a cup of coffee so he is going make damn sure he gets it whether I say so or not.  S has taken my car so I cannot make a fast exit not that I really need to.  But I am not even going to brush my hair and its times like this I wish I could take out my dentures and flash him a sea of gaping holes.  I think I must be in a bad mood.  I did not know Rob was in Caloundra, but I never do.  I was planning on going back to bed because S is picking up Connor for a basketball game together.  I had to do a lot of talking to convince S that I did not need Connor here because I would overdo and jeaopodise my chances for Nambour on Monday.

Rob got his coffee and went again.  He does not look well but won't stop pushing himself until he crashes which I suppose is what I used to do but unlike him I would not like to do that willingly now.  Anyway I took a pain pill and will go to bed now and S is probably likely to return.  I guess every time I take a pain pill I will have to have a Movicol sachet that day until I figure out what is going on inside...that is an expensive osmotic laxative at $2.50 a pouch if you buy them singly.  Having to drink more water means not getting very long naps either thanks to bladder.

Does this look like me on a bad day?  Was going to send it off for a 'good day, bad day' promotion for ME awareness.

Gallium Scan Results

It took three goes lying on this with the gamma camera going along the bed area in 2D mode and rotating around me in 3D mode.  You must lie very still or lay very still whichever one is correct.  I had three sessions of over 20 minutes on the first day which was not quite 48 hours after the Gallium injection - which is a radioisotope of a metal.  But the gallium had collected in my bowel contents so to be sure there was nothing in the tissue I had to come back the next day.  Despite taking Movical to move things along, there was still a collection where the pain in my side still is so I was asked to come back again on what was now the sixth day because there was a weekend in between.  It was then that I got the all clear.  I still have no explanation for the pain in my upper right side but I suspect that getting clogged up in that spot in my bowel is not an unusual occurence these days in between my normal state of loose motions and now I have a picture of it right under my liver.  Can you see the loop?  I got very sore throughout the bowel when I took Movicol to clean myself right out again and it stayed for a few days.  Then the burning started again so I am back on Losec generic again in full force.

Nevertheless, this loopy bowel apparently is no explanation for pain which I still have.  In fact my reaction to all these trips to Lakeview Imaging and the resulting stress has meant I've been in body-wide pain and having to take lots of pain killers or sleep to get through it.  Unfortunately I had another day of nerves going to the dentist on Wednesday but for the first time I left without a future appointment being made for me since July last year.  Yesterday and today are pain days with my glands also getting worse but I hope things settle over the weekend as I rest and take it easy.  I have to go to Nambour on Monday for the adrenal test called a short synacthen test which is a long shot.

Finally my first son has agreed to drive me there so that I do not have to walk a mile or more from where we can get a car park.  It is shocking up there.  If I had a scooter, I'd be using it at places like that.  Perhaps S can do a bit of door-to-door selling while I am in there for the 2 hours.  I hope he does not change his mind at the last minute because I don't want to relapse again.  I have to be there at 11am.

I did not go back to Dr Mark and unless I hear that he is running tests that I want done via another lady I know then I probably won't go back.

I still have had no replies from B on gmail or anything and no loan repayments either.  S has spent all his money for the fortnight again.  His car is out of the workshop because he paid for what was done but it does not go I assume and his Dad actually paid for a tow-truck to get it up to Kin Kin so he could work on it.  The bottom line for me is that S still cannot afford to move.  He ran around non-stop going to an exam in Nambour, Mission Australia in Maroochydore and Centrelink for a food voucher and door-knocking anywhere from Little Mountain to Currimundi locally and he has also been to Buderim mainly because he found a dentist that does credit via a GE Money Card which he already has a debt on for his last computer which did not even last out the loan.  This will mean an addition of $1800 to it.  And when he does get the cash he buys top-level goods from umbrellas to smelly personal products not to mention the oasics shoes he bought recently so you can't blame me for getting cranky when he does not pay his way here.

He also caught the train to Brisbane for a conference during the week for the QCAT hearing that is coming up in regards to his appeal against him not getting a blue card.  I hate to think how much the psychiatric assessment is going to cost.

I heard him saying that he was going to repeat one of the subjects he failed too so maybe he will not quit Uni after all.  Each subject costs $1000 on a HECS debt plus book fees etc out of his own pocket.  

He's been OK.  He went through another phase of complaining about his teeth shifting in his head but I have not heard any such nonsense in the last couple of days.  I am starting to understand that my health problems affect him too but if I collapse in bed before being able to get myself some tea, he doesn't exactly appear concerned to me and although he often cooks up a storm and there are often a lot of left overs, his food is not something I like to risk eating very often.  I avoid most jars of sauces and eat as plainly as I can these days.  This week has been a rock melon, (cateloupe I should say for you), grape and Brie week along with my whey concentrate shakes.  

I am starting to wonder if the weight I lose and then put back on is constipation coming and going every couple of weeks and I know taking codeine and such-like does not help in that department but there is more to it than that because I have to drink too much water for comfort to keep things moving.  I am only guessing really.  I get so much gut pain that I will blame anything.

Anyway, that's it from me.  Hope you are both well enough.  I think Mum has her wisdom tooth thing done on the same day I am in Nambour?  I don't like the sound of your blood pressure problems either and will be very glad to see you take holiday leave.

Isn't that the truth - pity I can't seem to stop it through sheer will.