Thursday, September 22, 2016

Equinox !

At this early stage of autumn - we're barely through the door - the trees have yet to change into their Fall finery. Here's a link to a map of the USA set to indicate autumnal changes in foliage, week by week. So far, even the highest and most northerly regions are showing only "patchy" Fall color foliage, at best.

When we were out doing errands this week temperature was 99 degrees here, in South-west Oklahoma. Not much chance of Fall color here, for quite a while.

16 comments:

mike said...

We've had high temperatures here, too, with the accompanying humidity. A nice respite today, with rain which we haven't had for some time. Weatherman says we may have our first cool front move through next Monday! Hooooooooray!!! It won't amount to much and will be short-lived, but that's OK...it's a start.

Happy birthday to you, Sabina...yours was sometime in Virgo. And I think LB's is in a couple of weeks, so happy birthday to you, LB, ahead of time.

Happy Sun-in-Libra and fall equinox to all!

Twilight said...

mike ~ We're going the right way now, at least - towards cooler rather than hotter.
Hope those tests go well today. :-)

I'll add my good wishes to yours, if I may, for birthday girls Sabina (celebrating during last few weeks) and LB (during coming weeks). Carpe Diem y'all!

mike (again) said...

I cancelled my appointment for the upper GI series, Twilight. It was for 8 AM today and we have rain, so glad I cancelled. I'm following the doctor's plan, two Zantac daily for thirty days and no naproxin. Nothing evident by ultrasound of gall bladder, so the doctor moved-on to the naproxin as possibly causing ulcers, to be confirmed by the GI series, but he mentioned that I may require CAT or MRI, should the GI series be negative.

I've now had three "gall bladder attacks" in the past year and each has been text book. I've not experienced any problem between these attacks like indigestion or reflux. I have elevated ALT liver enzyme, which is caused by some injury to liver, including bile duct injury, and can be caused by naproxin. So, there's nothing clear-cut. I can't keep putting money into this. I strongly suspect the issue is with my gall bladder, but I understand the gastroenterologist's logic. There are a number of possible problems with the gall bladder that will not show-up on an ultrasound. One possibility is that I actually passed a stone, which would provide a negative sonogram.

My last attack was September 7th and it knocked me for a loop. It was just a week ago that I started to slightly recover, but additional recuperation hasn't occurred. I'm still feeling peeved, chilled, lacking appetite, slight pain in upper abdomen. I've lost about ten pounds and I'm trying to increase my daily calories.

I have Sun-Mercury-Venus combust in sixth house of health, at the midpoint of my Mars-Saturn square. I'm typically very healthy, but the few times in my life that I've had some problems, doctors haven't been of much help, unless it's very clear-cut, like an overt infection or torn knee meniscus. We've had Virgo-Sagittarius-Pisces transits that activated my Mars-Saturn square, therefore my Sun-Mercury-Venus in 6th. Mercury in Virgo just stationed direct early this AM, so maybe a solution will be forthcoming.

mike (again) said...

Way off your Libra topic, but here goes...a weird quinky dink. A neighbor had copious amounts of blood in her urine about the same time as my last attack. She's fully insured and has had extensive diagnostics performed the past two weeks. At first, the doctors found a small growth on one of her kidneys, then another on her liver. Many images later, they concluded the growths are benign and of no concern. Her problem is a small gall stone located between her liver and gall bladder, causing bile back-up into her liver. She's having the stone removed today by gall bladder ERCP, then her gall bladder will be removed next week after the backed-up bile clears. The blood in her urine is caused by the stone cutting-in to the duct and seeping down into her urinary bladder. Weird, eh?!

Twilight said...

mike (again) ~ You are likely to know your own body and its way of coping better even than the doctor - but if, after a month of the Zantac and no naproxin, you are still feeling much under-par, maybe re-consider further tests? Or try to see a different doctor, or even the Emergency Dept if possible to get there, if and when another attack occurs. Maybe in Emergency they'd be in a position get a better view of what's going on. I know the cost is a put-off, but it might be possible to drag out payment over many years, tiny bit by tiny bit.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Many thanks for kind birthday wishes, Twilight and mike.

mike (again) said...

Twilight and Sabina, thanks for the words. I'm a trial and error experiment right now...LOL.

Sabina, the opioid epidemic is rampant here, too. It cuts through all social classes and ages. The drug naloxone is used to reverse opioid overdose and saves many lives. The naloxone manufacturers are cashing-in on this epidemic. Naloxone costs less than $1 per dose to manufacture.
"The list price of Kaleo Pharma’s auto-inject version – specifically approved for a people without medical training to use in a life-threatening crisis — soared from $575 to $3,750 per two-dose package in just two years, according to Truven Health Analytics."
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/drug-prices-addiction-223192

LB said...

Thanks, mike and Twilight. Still a ways to go but I appreciate the good wishes.:)

mike, I'm sorry to read about your issues. Understand what you mean about doctors not being able to correctly diagnose your symptoms much of the time, mine neither (6H Chiron). I also understand your financial concerns.

Whatever it is, I hope you discover what's at the root very soon. Funny about your neighbor and how life so often 'rhymes' . . . hard to know what to make of the synchronicities sometimes. You didn't happen to have one of your attacks around May 20th of this year, did you? The reason I'm asking is because on that particular day, I kept picking up on someone having gall bladder issues . . . didn't know who or what to make of it. Still don't.

Anonymous said...

mike - To be taken with a grain of salt but thought I'd send you this -

http://altmedrev.com/publications/14/3/258.pdf

And also mention that my old Rodale home remedies has about six firsthand accounts of dealing with gallbladder issues and stones; all of them involve ingesting vegetable oil (most used virgin olive) in daily amounts of 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup at one go. Most but not all followed the oil with an acidic fruit juice or equivalent cider vinegar mixed with water. The author concluded it is the oil that does the trick. Some began with only 1 tablespoon a day and some began with the total amount. As it could/would normally have a laxative effect, one would want to plan to be home accordingly. My two cents worth is that it sounds like a fairly harmless experiment could be made.

I've got Pisces on the 6th - oh joy, oh rapture trying to get a diagnosis with tr Neptune in residence or is it all in my imagination?!

Maybe now Mercury SD some of our health issues will move towards resolution. Best wishes to you in that regard.

mike (again) said...

Twilight, I responded to a comment from Sabina on yesterday's (or maybe it was on Tuesday's) post and I don't see it there, plus her comment that I responded to is gone...??? Sabina supplied a quote from Madison.

Sabina commented on today's post with a link regarding Canada's opioid epidemic. I responded to that comment and discussed the yuge price increases of nalaoxone used for opioid overdose. Both comments have disappeared.

Am I hallucinating, no longer able to differentiate reality...time to be put-out to a distant pasture?

LB said...

Sabina ~ With Neptune transiting my 6th for a number of years now, I'd say no, it's not your imagination.:)

Lately, Neptune square Saturn has coincided with mysterious, hard-to-diagnose dental issues. And Neptunian dentists.

mike (again) said...

Thanks for the link, Sabina! Didn't realize that food sensitivities could induce gall bladder problems. Nor had I heard of Rowachol...I found it on the internet, but it's pricey considering the dosage. Better to increase the vitamin C. I don't really have a high-fat diet, other than my peanut butter sandwiches and 2% milk.


No attack in May 2016, LB. June and November 2015, then two weeks ago.


Re 6th house health issues...ditto for work conditions...LOL. My 6th house planets at the midpoint of my Mars-Saturn square have provided some interesting on-the-job concerns over the years.

Anonymous said...

Cripes! Neptunian dental issues! Egads, those gremlins have been at it for years now. I recall examining ex-teeth as in parrots and discerning no cause for excavation whatsoever. Major traumatic surgery. Pisces on the 6th.

mike - sorry, disappearing comment of mine must have triggered deletions. Had second thoughts about referring to health ideas just because don't know it all and don't want to presume to advise. Mostly feel like trying to help a friend, as I would if we were all together round a pot of coffee or a keg of beer. All for one and one for all!

Anonymous said...

Dear Twilight Annie - why are you so named? - thanks again for providing a forum so inspired as to let us all spar and sing when the spirit so rises in us. Here, I have also learned forbearance in criticism based only in ego or reactive anger - same dif, ain't it. When I strongly feel disagreement, now I always pause and ask myself why, for what reason. Yes, you bring out the dis-agreeable in me and trying to ken that has been an education. Well, Aquarius on the 5th, Jupiter cj Uranus: I like a feisty friend!

Twilight said...

mike ~ I've just found one comment in spam -it wasn't there earlier today -have rescued it. Blogger must be playing silly devils again.

***********************

Sabina ~ Oh dear.. well, I just write what I feel or feature what others write and with which I agree. It's inevitable that at times we'll not see things in the same light - our experiences and backgrounds are bound to have have shaped our ideas differently. It's all part of life's jumbled and rich pattern. :-)

My screen name? I was originally going to use "Crepuscule", a word I always like in school French lessons (translation: Twilight), then I decided I'd be less of a poseur to stick with the English. Name is partly due to my time of life, back then, when first on the internet. Now, 10+ years later I'm nearing Midnight, but I'll stick with Twilight! ;-)