Happy Thanksgiving!

Going to work while sick...

This morning I looked outside and it was sooo windy and the temperature was in the low 30's and I had a smile on my face and felt happy.  

No, I had not experienced a miracle cure and was suddenly pain free and and all better. 

I realized I was smiling because I was not out side struggling to get to work.

Winters were the worse for me when I went to work because I would need someone to help me in my coat,  my right arm would 'stick' to my side in the cold, my right knee and ankle would hurt more and I would sometimes 'burn up' indoors with my coat on because I was too embarrassed to ask someone to help me get it back on.  

At work I had to concentrate harder to get tasks done and interacting with staff and colleagues because of the pain.  I couldn't take anything heaver than Advil to cope during a typical day at work, so I had to dig really deep to make it through the day.

I would have to call in sick sometimes twice per week and I hated that.  In the end I had zero sick, vacation and personal time left. When I took off from work it would be without pay.

 I did work from home a lot but it wasn't enough in the end.  

I loved working and wish I were healthy enough to do so again. I was very good at my job and was able to increase my budget every single year even in a bad economy.  A challenge was always what I needed to get motivated to meet and surpass the goal! 
I guess that attitude is what has kept me going through these past years.

My friend Gilda who was in her 80's when I met her, always says "honey you have to fake it 'till you can make it"  

  

I am going to look for a volunteer job for a few hours per week.  I know it may be difficult to get one since it has to me close to my apartment (walking distance, since I do not want to depend on anyone to shuttle me back and forth)  and I may not be able to get to the volunteer job on the days I am sicker.

It goes to show that we have to be grateful for all our blessings ...large and small. My life is definitely not what I imagined, but I feel blessed because I am still here.

Lasers Could One Day Detect -- And Destroy -- Brain Disease

A new technology that uses only light could one day detect and annihilate disease-causing proteins in the brain, researchers say.

The method involves using lasers to distinguish between normal brain tissue and the abnormal tissue found in people with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (which is referred to as the human form of mad cow disease, although in most cases the two conditions are not related). The laser technique -- which has not yet been tested in animals -- might one day be able to treat people with these diseases, researchers report.

Research UPDATE: Preventing Hydrocephalus in Premature Infants

Very premature infants are at high risk of developing post hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) as a complication to intraventricular hemorrhage(IVH).  Most often these infants will need permanent ventricular shunting to regulate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow.  However, shunting has a high rate of complication that frequently requires multiple revisions resulting in a child having multiple brain surgeries.  For this reason, a therapeutic method to prevent PHH is crucial and highly desired. In a study published in Brain, researchers, investigate the potential of the molecule, decorin, in preventing PHH.  The results are exciting and show great promise in the work to develop a preventive therapy for the development of hydrocephalus. Dr. James P. (Pat) McAllister, member of the Hydrocephalus Association (HA) Medical Advisory Board and an HA Experienced Investigator grant recipient, was one of the primary researchers in the study.



Read more here:

http://www.hydroassoc.org/ha-updates/research-update-preventing-hydrocephalus-in-premature-infants/

Let's be grateful...

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." //
Marcel Proust via SoulPancake

Adult Hydrocephalus and the Development of a Research Network

Hydrocephalus affects a wide range of people, from infants and children to young, middle-aged and older adults as well as those children transitioning to adulthood. The symptoms and challenges faced by adults are vastly different from hydrocephalus diagnosed in infancy and early childhood.  When hydrocephalus is diagnosed in adults aged 60 and older, it is typically referred to as Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus or NPH. When it’s diagnosed in young and middle aged adults it is called Syndrome of Hydrocephalus in Young and Middle Aged adults or SHYMA.

Read more here:http://www.hydroassoc.org/ha-updates/adult-hydrocephalus-and-the-development-of-a-research-network/

The mind's eye...

Tuning the Brain...Deep-brain stimulation is allowing neurosurgeons to adjust the neural activity in specific brain regions to treat thousands of patients with myriad neurological disorders.

DEEP-BRAIN STIMULATION (DBS): Electrodes implanted into targeted brain regions deliver electrical stimulation to either excite or inhibit activity in a neural circuit of interest. DBS patients are also fitted with battery-powered implanted pulse generators, typically placed subcutaneously below the clavicle and connected to the electrodes via insulated wires. These pulse generators can deliver electrical stimulation from 20 to 200 times per second.




Read more here:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38047/title/Tuning-the-Brain/

Health Update

My Endocrinologist doc called me this morning pretty early and it turned out to be great news! The biopsy I had last week was negative...cancer free!!! I am on a "watch list" and have to see my doctor in 9 months but I am good right now!

Over the last few weeks when I was faced with the possibility of having thyroid cancer I had began to feel a little hopeless... asking the proverbial questions why me?? What have I done to deserve ALL this pain and suffering??   I have been kind and good to everyone ... so why me???  

But I knew I had a choice to keep feeling sorry for myself or to fight on..

I chose to fight on, and luckily I did because here I am doing "OK" again and I am happy with "OK" because it could be worse!  I will make the very best of "OK" and carry on.   

This is useful...

"I shut my eyes in order to see" Paul Gauguin (via SoulPancake)

This week is National Radiologic Technologist Week!

This week is National Radiologic Technologist Week. CELEBRATE our radiologic techs who provide ourselves and/or loved ones with the x-rays, CTs, and MRIs we/they need to manage #hydrocephalus, #chairi malformations, #syringomyelia and other health issues . Thank you!!

Opinion: Predicting Perfect Storms ... On embracing technology and collaboration to tackle brain disorders

Brain disorders like multiple sclerosis (MS) are “perfect storms.”
Trying to predict the course of MS—or any complex disease—based on a few kinds of disconnected data is like trying to track a hurricane by measuring air temperature and wind speed alone.
Can we come to predict them and their severity just as meteorologists are able to do for perfect storms like Hurricane Sandy? 
Check out this opinion piece featured in The Scientist on embracing technology and collaboration to tackle brain disorders -





Read more here:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38058/title/Opinion--Predicting-Perfect-Storms/