Health News And More Ike News

After the weekend, I'm going to have an MRI on the thoracic part of my spine. This part of my back was left out the first time because most problems originate in the cervical or lumbar areas. However, the bone spurs that are compressing nerves in parts of my neck could very well be causing the rather severe pain in the middle part of my back. I cannot straighten my back without major pain now. Bone spurs can be "scraped" away as they are jagged calcium deposits. But, there are risks with surgery, as with any procedure. Right now, we only know of the two in my neck that are compressing the nerves. By the end of next week, my regular doctor and I will know the whole scope of the nerve compressions which are causing the pain from my neck down through the thoracic spine. At the same time I have arthritis and these bone spurs on my spine, I also have hypertonic muscles in my neck, back, and shoulders. My gp, not knowing exactly what is causing this reaction, diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. It could be a side effect of any one or more or combination of the 13 drugs I am taking right now. At one point, I was taking 17 medications, so a reduction of four should be a good thing, but most everyone I know is saying 13 is too much, especially for someone as young as I am.

Several weeks ago, I believe my mental illness changed from one thing and went to another. My original diagnosis was schizoaffective disorder. Well, I haven't heard voices in a very long time. But, about two months ago, I was becoming predominantly manic, most of the time. Its intensity kept getting stronger to the point I felt crazed. Everybody around me noticed it. I was more "chatty" and more upbeat, but soon I was bouncing off the walls and didn't know if I could hurt myself or others. This was the first time in my life I felt like I could harm another human being. I had been suicidal in my life, but I had never been truly manic before, never to the point that I was about to snap. Luckily, I was able to get into my psychiatrist's office the very day I called, being I told them I could be either suicidal or homicidal. He looked into my eyes and knew this was no joke. So, one of my medicines was doubled in dose, a drug used for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and another drug was introduced, primarily used for mania. Within two days, I felt like my old self again. A few people missed my really sociable personality, but most were glad I stabilized and became the old me. Anyway, the main point is I think I am now more bipolar than schizoaffective. I am on that one drug that works for both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but if that medication was removed, I really don't believe I'd hear voices again. I would just be afraid of the mania returning. It's strange. Mania, in some ways, feels really good. It's like being really pumped up and excited in a good way. However, its harmful potential is too great to allow it to occur.

Well, I am glad to be back home in the air conditioning after staying at my parents' house for three days. The afternoon temperatures are rising to near 90 degrees F here at the end of the week, even though the nights have been cool. I feel so bad for my folks and my sister. None of them have had electricity since early Sunday. Today, I packed up my refrigerator and freezer. No, actually, I just got a few things to eat for the next few days. I can't afford to "stock up." I have extended an open invitation for any of my family members to come over and stay with me. But, my parents are sort of standing by their generator because it has problems internally. It was driving all three of us crazy while I was staying over there. It would tank and almost shut off then soar like it was about to take off. At least once, it was emitting flames. Unfortunately, my folks have hundreds of dollars worth of food that they are trying to preserve. This is the third time they have had to use the generator, of course the first two times were for relatively brief stints. My father talked to someone from an electric company working on power lines, and they told him that it may be next Tuesday before electricity is restored to the neighborhood... that's about ten days after the "Ike" event. My sister, husband, and kids will probably get power sooner. An adjacent building in their condominium complex has electricity. They are going to a military wedding this weekend, and I told my sister today that she and her husband could get ready over here where it's nice and cool.

As a comparison between two extremely destructive weather events, it was noted on a local news channel that this windstorm knocked out power to about 300,000 households around Louisville whereas the "super" tornado outbreak of 1974 caused between 80,000 and 85,000 households to lose their electricity. Wow! This windstorm, a result of the remnants of Hurricane Ike, was phenomenal!

A Quick Side Note

There is another thing to note about the effects of Hurricane Ike's remnants. It caused schools to be cancelled for an entire week in the Louisville area. This has never happened as a result of a windstorm, nor during the month of September. They plan to have classes resume next Monday with some certainty. Anyway, the last time in history schools had to be closed for such an extended period of time was as a result of a severe winter storm in January 1994 when parts of Kentucky and Indiana had between 15 and 18 inches of snowfall.

Hurricane Ike in the Ohio Valley

Today, electricity was restored to my condominium. It had been out since Sunday around noon. Hurricane Ike, which made landfall in the Galveston, Texas vicinity, made a track up through the Ohio Valley with hurricane force winds widespread in the Louisville area. The official peak wind gust was 81 mph. But, strong tropical storm force winds were sustained throughout the afternoon on Sunday, creating much damage and causing a 75 - 80% power outage for the local utility company, LG&E. In my parents' neighborhood, I saw many trees down, several falling onto housetops, others knocking down power lines. For a while, even telephone service was down. Now, it is four days later, and some businesses are just now getting power restored and opening up once again. LG&E officials have said that some areas might not get power for up to two weeks, 10 to 14 days after the onslought of the powerful windstorm. Usually, the remnants of hurricanes that reach this part of the country only bring torrential rains. But, this one made history! It was a windstorm, and not a rainstorm at all. In fact, little if any rainfall occurred. Unfortunately, Kentucky needs rain desperately. This is traditionally the driest time of year, but lawns are mostly brown and foliage is shriveling. It looks like this autumn season will bring a dry, far from spectacular change in fall color. Dull would probably be a good word to describe it. Well, I will report more about the storm later. There is much to be accomplished after four days without electricity.