I'm back on planet earth now
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:07 pm
Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but I feel I need to apologize to those I have not returned email to, or have been unavailable to by phone for the past weeks, if not months.
It's a long story but I will try to keep it as brief as possible. To those who don't know me, sorry to waste bandwidth here, I'll probably remove this message in a few days when I figure all my shooting friends have had a chance to read this.
Two years ago my wife Denise was diagnosed with a rare and debilitating illness called Cushing's Disease. We found a leading endocronologist in Nashville who treated her, and she had pituitary surgery (2003), then radiation last year. Subsequent tests showed she did not get a cure.
We did a lot of homework and decided the best endo in the country for this disorder was at OHSU in Portland, Oregon. So Denise took a work assignment just down the road in Salem, OR, and we moved there for a few months from last November. I continued to work for Pilkingtons, but we did have a few teething problems getting phones worked out.
For the past two months, however, things have been a little crazy. We decided to move back to Denise's home town - Shreveport, LA, where she can recover with her parents nearby. We drove with all our critters (2 cats, a dog and parrot) from Oregon to Louisiana, then returned to Tennessee to pack up our 5 years' accumulation of junk in a 26' U-Haul (a fun-filled week I can't say I want to repeat soon) to bring back to Shreveport. We had just a few days before flying back to Portland, where we had more surgery booked. Her pituitary surgery again removed tumor, but unfortunately still did not cure her. So they scheduled another surgery, to have her adrenals removed, which they did Friday 3rd of June. We "escaped" hospital last Tuesday, and again drove back to Louisiana, arriving last night. While Denise is never going to be fully healthy, we've replaced the Cushings (which attacks the body with massive overdoses of cortisol) with Addison's Syndrome, which just means she will need to be on replacement steroids for the rest of her life - BUT 90% of the bad effects will diminish, and she can eventually get back to somewhat a normal life. She has to take it easy for the next few months, but we're extremely thankful to be past the worst of it all.
I can't begin to say how much I appreciate Scott and Rhonda Pilkington, and all of their support over the past months. We would have been in a very bad place without their friendship and understanding. And to all those who have kept us in their prayers, thank you.
And to all those who have sent emails asking for help and advice, I'm just starting to wade through them, and will hopefully catch up in a couple of days.
I'll also be available again by phone, hope to upload a new number in a few days.
It's a long story but I will try to keep it as brief as possible. To those who don't know me, sorry to waste bandwidth here, I'll probably remove this message in a few days when I figure all my shooting friends have had a chance to read this.
Two years ago my wife Denise was diagnosed with a rare and debilitating illness called Cushing's Disease. We found a leading endocronologist in Nashville who treated her, and she had pituitary surgery (2003), then radiation last year. Subsequent tests showed she did not get a cure.
We did a lot of homework and decided the best endo in the country for this disorder was at OHSU in Portland, Oregon. So Denise took a work assignment just down the road in Salem, OR, and we moved there for a few months from last November. I continued to work for Pilkingtons, but we did have a few teething problems getting phones worked out.
For the past two months, however, things have been a little crazy. We decided to move back to Denise's home town - Shreveport, LA, where she can recover with her parents nearby. We drove with all our critters (2 cats, a dog and parrot) from Oregon to Louisiana, then returned to Tennessee to pack up our 5 years' accumulation of junk in a 26' U-Haul (a fun-filled week I can't say I want to repeat soon) to bring back to Shreveport. We had just a few days before flying back to Portland, where we had more surgery booked. Her pituitary surgery again removed tumor, but unfortunately still did not cure her. So they scheduled another surgery, to have her adrenals removed, which they did Friday 3rd of June. We "escaped" hospital last Tuesday, and again drove back to Louisiana, arriving last night. While Denise is never going to be fully healthy, we've replaced the Cushings (which attacks the body with massive overdoses of cortisol) with Addison's Syndrome, which just means she will need to be on replacement steroids for the rest of her life - BUT 90% of the bad effects will diminish, and she can eventually get back to somewhat a normal life. She has to take it easy for the next few months, but we're extremely thankful to be past the worst of it all.
I can't begin to say how much I appreciate Scott and Rhonda Pilkington, and all of their support over the past months. We would have been in a very bad place without their friendship and understanding. And to all those who have kept us in their prayers, thank you.
And to all those who have sent emails asking for help and advice, I'm just starting to wade through them, and will hopefully catch up in a couple of days.
I'll also be available again by phone, hope to upload a new number in a few days.