PN, and trying not to become a one-trick pony …

Hi Ray, have been quietly following your “sepsis journey” as you’ve mentioned it in your posts and I’ve meant to write and say- you are doing an incredible job in beating back what can become deadly real quick. The Home Care nurses are doing their part, but the most important work is being done by you, with your partner’s support. Kudos for following the instructions and advice and in being careful. Each day is a step away and a step toward good health (despite the “battalions”).

I keep thinking of those old commercials on TV where a nosey guest sneaks a peek in the bathroom medicine cabinet and it goes crashing to the floor where everyone in the house can hear. Funny thing is how we’re all hiding our “stuff”! Lol, me too, but it won’t all fit in those old medicine cabinets, especially with 90-day supplies of things. Almost have to go to the linen closet and hide things under folded sheets and towels, then hope we remember where we hid them 😝

I’ve recently noticed the time involved as the nurse goes over my list of meds before the doctor comes in, both prescribed and supplements. (Even when I complete online pre-check in, they still do it.) The list also includes all of my diabetes supplies for my insulin pump, as well as skin and eye care. I’ve started commenting that I’m a high maintenance kind of gal. Lol. They just laugh. I guess I’m not alone in this.

Good morning, @centre

Yours was one of the most encouraging messages I have received in a long, long time. Thank you so very much! I especially appreciate hearing that you’ve been following my “sepsis journey.” I had debated with myself whether to include it; after all, this is the Neuropathy forum. I had hoped to ease my concern by showing how my recent sepsis attack had intruded upon my long-standing dealings with neuropathy.

I know many here on Connect have multiple maladies. Coming to understand that truly humbled me. For the longest time, I was a fellow with only one malady: my large fiber neuropathy. In my naiveté, I hadn’t imagined getting a second malady. But then along came my sepsis. I am pleased to say that my sepsis symptoms appear to be fading.

I still have some shortness of breath (something I’d never had when my one malady was my neuropathy). I’ve come to accept that I may have shortness of breath for some time, perhaps for the rest of my life. I’m okay with that. I still have balance “issues,” but whether they’re merely neuropathy hangers-on or a pre-existing difficulty that was made worse by the sepsis, I don’t know.

But I’m getting stronger every day, and that cheers me. I’m foreseeing the day when my posts here will have only to do with my neuropathy.

Thank you again for your bolstering words! They were much, much, MUCH appreciated!

To your good health!

Very best wishes,
Ray (@ray666)

Hello,@dbeshears1

What you’ve described fits my morning to a tee. I spent a portion of the past few days relocating my many medicines, so they’re not sitting out in plain sight.

Then, a few hours ago, I went looking for my bottle of Metamucil but couldn’t find it. I wasted a good half an hour looking. In the end, I decided that my bottle of Metamucil had been carried off into an alternate dimension.

Those kinds of things can happen, you know. 🙂

Ray (@ray666)

I keep a list of all my meds and supplements in word. Before leaving the house, I print it out and head off to my doctor appointment. When the nurse begins reading my current list of meds and supplements, I hand them my list, they go thru it, check it off to what is in their system. Done. In many cases, I pronounce the names of my meds wrong. So, I found it easier to just give them the list. My wife carries a list of her meds and mine with her, never know when you need to go to the ER. When an emergency takes place, it is often difficult to remember all meds and supplements. Our list has the name of the med, supplements, dosage, when it is taken. So, no....you are not alone.

I have a medication list on my computer, divided into prescription, over the counter, supplements etc. I also have my surgery history on there. I just hand it to the nurse. Most of the time they’re happy to have it, and we don’t have to go through the recitation together.

Funny!! But not funny...so much of life is like that now.

I do the same. Amazing how often I have to update things as different drugs, dosages etc. are tried and/or discontinued. I have connection (One Drive) with all my files including test results and imaging studies to my phone so everything is available where ever I am. I also keep a log or diary that I call My Story that helps keep track of details and time line. Several physicians have told me how helpful that document was to them when I saw them for consultation. I made sure they had everything well prior to any appointment I had with specialists, there were many. Still not sure what this is but being treated with IVIG as it covers several bases.

Good morning, Ed (@njed), @julbpat

I've always done the same thing, too: keep a list of my meds on my laptop, update it as necessary, and take a hard copy with me to all of my doctors' appointments –– until recently, that is. Since I've been recovering from my sepsis at my partner's house, and since she doesn't have a printer, I've had to bring my list in handwritten form. If you remember my post about handwriting and PN, you'll have a good idea of what that moment is like when I've handed my scrawl to the doctor's nurse. Over and over, the nurse will hold my list out to me and ask, 'What's this?' to which I'll have no choice but to answer, 'I dunno. Beats me.'

Ray (@ray666)