A really big mistake

So I was stupid (and testing my boundaries) and skipped my pills for two nights. I will never do that again. Ever.

Yesterday I went to the gym and had a lot of pain. My left hip gave me enough pain that I thought I would have to go home. But I took a break and was okay. But I did cut my workout short because of pain issues. Then when I came home, I took it easy (mostly - but did move some furniture around) and made a point to rest some.

But then I started thinking (being dangerous again) about all the assorted pains I have been having, which are not necessarily what I expected. I had expected some fibro pain, back pain, and RA pain. However it doesn't make sense to me that my left hip has given me so many issues.

I have had bursitis in my hip but that has been under control for along time. So why am I now having so much other pain there? This is a new kind of pain, not bursitis pain. Is there something else wrong? No there can't be. I just don't have time for other ailments.

I will discuss it with my doctors at my upcoming visits but am not going to rush in for a new appointment with any of them.

Today I have nothing planned. I don't need to go anywhere. I can stay home and take care of me and continue the unpacking/reorganizing process. We now have a deadline - house guests arriving in ten days - so I have to get moving. As much as I can without causing more pain.

And I will never intentionally skip pills again.

Another stupid political idea

I am fed up with all the presidential candidates already. I have no comment on many of the ideas they have raised, except for one.

Ted Cruz has decided that the FDA moves too slowly and proposes that if the FDA can't approve a drug fast enough, that Congress should step in and make the decision.

"The presidential aspirant from Texas, along with fellow Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, recently introduced a bill called the RESULT Act that would drastically overhaul the process for approving drugs and medical devices.

Under the proposed law, the FDA would have to approve “life-saving” products for which is there an unmet medical need if those drugs or devices have already been endorsed in “trusted, developed countries,” including European Union member states, Canada, Israel, Australia, and Japan. The agency would have only 30 days to make a decision. And Congress could override an FDA rejection with a majority vote." 

What do politicians know about safety and efficacy of medications? Nothing. And just because a drug has been approved for use overseas, doesn't mean it should automatically be approved here.

"If the bill becomes law, Americans will likely find themselves treated with medical products that were approved with varying, and quite possibly, lower standards elsewhere. In effect, his legislation stands to jeopardize — not improve — public health."
I agree with the principle here that the FDA moves slowly. But it is to our benefit that they do not rush to make decisions on drugs that could kill or cure you. We don't want decisions made fast. We want decisions made correctly, not politically or financially.

"To be sure, the FDA review process is not perfect. What is? But the agency is still considered the gold standard by which other regulators are measured. Rubberstamping an approval that was made in, say, Japan or Romania may speed access, but may not always ensure a medicine is safe or effective. Americans may want to ask themselves if they want to rely on regulators in other countries."

If the FDA moves too slowly, perhaps they should read more funding so they can have more staff and make decisions faster.

"Another problem with the bill is that the FDA would likely be hard-pressed to make decisions in 30 days. Given its workload, the agency would need more money to meet such a goal. Right now, companies pay fees to help cover review costs. Would industry pay higher fees? Would Congress appropriate more funds to cover shortfalls? Is it realistic to think an FDA review can be comprehensive that quickly?"

Think about it this way. We would then be putting our faith in drug approvals systems which are completely beyond our control. Congress would simply being agreeing with a process of which they know nothing.

"Perhaps the most troubling provision in the legislation is the notion that Congress should be permitted to override any FDA decision not to approve a product. Such a move would politicize the review process, especially as more patients and their families clamor for new treatments.

“You can just imagine the first time that Congress overrides an FDA decision and there are bodies in the street because of it,” said Robert Pollock, a former senior FDA official, who is now a senior advisor at Lachman Consultants. “It simply doesn’t make sense. Congress is not trained to do that work.”"

Okay, I'm done complaining on this, for now.

Good intentions gone bad.

The heights of stupidity are being reached for pinktober.

Let me count the ways. First of all, an NFL player who lost his mother and four aunts to breast cancer is being fined for having the words 'Find A Cure' and a pink ribbon on his eye black (those are the stupid little black rectangles of paint under their eyes, in case you didn't know - like me). He has had these for the past five seasons and now it is a problem for the NFL, which covers itself in pink each year. So they fined him $5775. Really? Everything else can be pink but he can't express himself?

Talk about a double standard - the league can be pink but he can't show his support. I wouldn't have a problem if the NFL didn't go pink every year.

What about 'Knitted Knockers'? Yep, a bunch of knitters in South Carolina create them for breast cancer patients to wear after surgery. These foobs are made out of soft yarn and stuffed with cotton to wear after mastectomies against the skin.

So what if they are the wrong size? Its a nice idea on some level but on most levels its just wrong. Especially the name.

Finally, pink beer. Yep, a brilliant bar has decided to serve pink Michelob Ultra to raise awareness for breast cancer. It is not clear if any extra money is being raised through this. So do the drinkers of pink beer think their purchases help raise funds for anything related to breast cancer? I think we have trained people to think if something is specially labeled or colored its purchase is helping the cause, not just awareness.

Good intentions gone bad.

I can tell its Pinktober

Yes I admit I can be a news junkie. I also like to follow information on my (many) ailments. I get daily Google Alerts for most of them so I can be one of the first to know about the latest treatment options.

I can tell its Pinktober. All my breast cancer news includes the words 'awareness', 'pink', the s-word, or other related terms. Yesterday's alert included these items:

"Harford observes breast cancer awareness month"
"Breast cancer survivor finds comfort in delivering flowers to other patients at Texas hospital"
"WATCH: 29 year old beats breast cancer, gets featured on Pink Ribbon Connection"
"Breast cancer awareness chili cookoff Saturday"
"Breast cancer survivors event"

This drives me crazy. Please stop spending money on pink and spend the money on more important things like research.

So I wasn't that smart

I admit it. I wasn't that smart. My husband gave me a hard time too. I probably deserved that but I did get him to cook dinner.

What did I do? Something bad to my knee again. So at the end of July, I fell and my knee bent sideways. I ended up at the doctor who took x-rays and ended up at the knee doctor who said nothing but sent me for PT and gave me a knee brace. I have been going to PT but stopped wearing my knee brace last week because its just too hot and uncomfortable and my knee has been feeling  better.

Yesterday I was out on our side porch trying to move stuff around and pushed things sideways with my foot. DAMN. That made my knee bend sideways again. And its swollen and hurts again this morning.

So I wasn't that smart. I am going to skip the gym today and maybe wear my knee brace again (if I can find it). Damn. But I'm not going back to the doctor. And it was healing so nicely. Triple damn.

At least I can easily blame myself for this instead of being a politician and blaming the other party.

A big step back in the flabbiness fight

Unfortunately I had a big step back in the flabbiness fight. I really did some damage to my knee (and forgot to blog about it) when I was only trying to water the plants in the back yard and fell when (or because) my knee bent sideways. I didn't break anything but I am now the (not so) proud owner of a lovely knee brace to prevent further sideways movement.

The knee doctor gave me the lovely brace and sent me for PT and said come back in two months and we will see what's going on then. On the good side, I can do my PT at the gym for dilapidated people where I go and not have to bombard my schedule with three times a week appointments for PT. I can go once and get my exercises and then do them when I want, there or at home.. On the bad side, if I don't wear my brace, my knee keeps giving out and I have to wait until I could get an appointment with a physical therapist at the gym.

I will go for my first PT appointment shortly and hope to be able to get back to some exercising. I haven't been exercising and am very concerned about the flabbiness fight. I can't just go for a walk these days. I haven't dared to go to the gym until I saw the knee doctor. And now after speaking with the gym about my knee, their advice was to wait until I see their physical therapist and set up knee exercises before trying too much.

So I am sitting around on my ass too often. I am also closely watching my food consumption to prevent further flabbification. And my knee gives out way too often if I am not wearing the (stupid) knee brace (will I get tan lines from it?) so that I got a second smaller knee brace to wear in bed.

Okay its not cancer, but its a royal pain in the ass. Do I get some sympathy? I can just start whining?