Category: In Which We Mock Our Illness

I was really surprised to get a letter from the Mayo Clinic, and even more surprised to see it contained a note thanking me for participating in their clinical trial. “Well, good for me,” I thought. “When did I do that?” I didn’t take a dozen tests for the Mayo Clinic like I did for…

Good lord. Missouri has high Covid wastewater activity. I wanted to leave the house and go see a movie, damnit. What defines “high” though? Higher than ever seen? Or high compared to others, which might be relatively low?

I have hurt my right rotator cuff three times. In addition to giving me shoulder advice, the new physical therapist lady corrected my work posture. I’ve been slouching and not putting all my weight on my “sit bones”. I know of my sit bones because they are tethered to my pelvic floor, which has taken…

I got two UTI tests in as many weeks. Both test came back clear, which made me wonder if I am some kind of UTI hyper-specific hypochondriac. Now I have decided I just wasn’t drinking enough water, which also contributed to my belief that the recent bladder botox was ineffective. It was effective, I just…

Actress Teri Garr has died of MS. She was diagnosed around the same time I was. I vaguely remember the TV guide article in which (I believe) she said she wanted people to know that it was okay, that you can have a mild case of MS. She did have an aneurysm a few years…

Well, I don’t know, but it certainly seems like the botox did not have as much of an effect on my bladder this time. The lack of urgency is still as good, and I am not waking up in the middle of the night, but the force and frequency seem to be back to one…

Bladder Botox Part Two I got some more botox last Wednesday, because what I got three months ago was effective but short term. At the end of the three month minimum I was back to my usually spotty self. Three things of note from this visit: So, let the countdown begin. I already have another…

I got the bladder Botox on or around June 28th, and in a month the check-up doctor said, “So, our schedule is busy, so if you start to see evidence that the effects are wearing off, call immediately so we can schedule the next series of shots well in advance.” Last week, I noticed effects…

All I have left of my SUPERNOVA clinical trial is just one phone call in November. I began to wonder if that meant I could see some early results. Just as with my last trial, the drug has passed through a progression of names: code name to trial name to brand name. Just as FTy720…

I had an MRI recently, and it was full of firsts. First MRI without contrast. I always get two passes through the MRI machine: pass one, and then they pull me out and push the “Contrast” solution through me so that — literally — the images of the new lesions will show up in higher…