Here We Are

Well friends, here we are. I've reached a conclusion and am ready to admit that I need to take a break from writing (or feeling guilty for NOT writing) here at Living Chronically. Lately, Jessie has been blessed with wonderful health. We are so thrilled and hopeful.

Here at LC, I feel as though it's a little silly to give updates for someone who is well. This blog will still be here because I love reading about and staying in touch with all the wonderful friends I've "met" over the past two years. So I'll be checking my blogroll daily and staying in touch.

Please stay around, too. I will be giving updates from time to time. But it's kind of like when you leave the doctor and say, "Hope I don't see you any time soon, doc!" Know what I mean?

Until then, here's hoping I don't have any updates to report. Take care. :)

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Another Brief Hello

Jessica is continuing to do well. We all hold our collective breaths and keep our fingers crossed and say our prayers.

I've made a little executive decision to cut back on her Lyrica. She's currently taking Lyrica, Pamelor, and Florinef along with a ridiculous amount of supplements. Pamelor is for insomnia and migraines. Florinef is for the neurally mediated hypotension. The Lyrica is for joint and muscle pain. She's been taking it in the morning and at night, so I've cut back to just one dose a day (25mg). We'll give it a week to see if she has any side effects, but I have a feeling she'll be okay.

I think that the lifestyle we've settled on for the time being is the best for her (schooling at home so that she can have a social life). I'm not sure how we'll handle college. One day at a time, right?

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Testimony from Annette Whittemore - XMRV Retrovirus

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I Choose Hope

Once you choose hope, anything is possible.

~Christopher Reeve

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Dr. Oz...CFS...Inaccuracies?...Read On

I'm posting a link to Sue Jackson's blog, Learning to Live with CFS. Sue posted her response to a recent Dr. Oz segment about chronic fatigue - interesting stuff. Read up and offer your opinion.

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X-Associated Neuroimmune Disease

Check out this interesting article in the NY Times

Looks like we could have a new name. What do you think of it?

A bit more legit than the last one, wouldn't you say?

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ABC News - XMRV Retrovirus

Click on the link below to view the new video.

Does a Virus Cause Chronic Fatigue?

Shared via AddThis

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What Were You Doing?

It was the first weekend of November, 2005. Jessie had recently finished fall soccer. At 12, she was becoming a much better player - aggressively chasing and maneuvering the ball. She was having a great time with weekly horseback riding lessons and occasional mountain biking excursions with her dad and brother.

On Friday, Jeff and I went away for the weekend and Jessie eagerly went to spend a few days with her best friend, Sarah. On Saturday, we got the call that Jes had become sick. Could it be the flu or mono? Another friend was at home sick with mono and Jessie remembered that they had recently shared a water bottle at school. Assuming that she had mono, we kept her at home. The following week, we took her to the doctor, where she tested negative for mono.

Two weeks later, her friend was well and back in school. Jessie's fever had finally subsided, but the headaches and flu-like symptoms were relentless. Two months later, confined to her bed or sofa and beginning physical therapy, we were told that Jessie had tentatively been diagnosed with something called Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. We were so happy to have a diagnosis! We knew so little then. We had no idea that on that first weekend of November, the course of our daughter's life would be changed.

For more information and to learn how you can help,

visit SolveCFS.org.

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