Tag Archives: health

That Was Spinal Tap: This Is Brain Shunt

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The last we spoke we had learned via a spinal tap that the removal of some cerebral spinal fluid caused a notable improvement in walk and gait. So on to the neurosurgeon, a brilliant young man and assistant professor whose specialty is brain tumors. Thankfully, that is not what we are contending with, however, I know of two people who are making progress in dealing with tumors of different types at this very hospital. It seems to be THE PLACE for New Yorkers to get cutting edge medical care. In the middle of the month, surgery to install a brain … Continue reading →

Health and Hope: This is Spinal Tap

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This blog picks up where this one left off. We met with a lovely, young, brilliant neurologist at New York Presbyterian Hospital who is also an assistant Professor and doctor of pharmacology. She went over the MRI’s and deemed them “abnormal.” The recommendation was a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to withdraw cerebral spinal fluid for evaluation and to assess pressure. This is what Dr. H recommended except he wanted to do this in his office and Dr. V. wanted this done in the hospital under radiological guidance. It was obvious we were in the correct place. In addition, she wanted … Continue reading →

Red, White and Blue in Black and White: a nonpolitical blog on aging

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For those of you who know me, you know I maintain a level of personal privacy. This blog will be different; it will serve to illustrate why my health has been a bit bizarre. I am not allowing public comments on this blog but feel free to get in touch and share your feelings via email. (SansSouciBlogs@gmail.com). As many of you know I have been on a journey, a relationship journey with my elderly mom who is now ninety-eight, whose mind is pretty much intact, who stands up for herself (at about 4′ 8″) and who continues to be one … Continue reading →

1. From the Nipplemania Newsletter to The Eyeball Update: Gray Matter, Matters

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They’re after me! every Pokémon creature that exists is hiding out in my head.     In October 2004, in an attempt to maintain my sanity when it was discovered that I had breast cancer, I started writing my NIPPLEMANIA Newsletter. (The series is within this blog, Index here) For about five years now I have been experiencing strange visual disturbances and as prolific and annoying as they are they resolve within a half hour, usually painless but downright annoying,  As of last Thursday evening the usual game changed and another kind of visual stuff began that never resolved.  THIS … Continue reading →

Blank. I Was Going Blank. When a Migraine Looks Like a Stroke

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I think my life got to me.  Just go to me. People all around me are aging…myself, included. Just to rewind a bit, my mother was found to have macular degeneration by my ophthalmologist who sent her to a retina specialist. It was a long, tough day which lasted a good four hours. During that time, interviews took place, photos were taken and diagnosis were made. And the diagnosis was that my mother is now legally blind in the worse eye, and in need of treatment in the better one. Treatment for her better, “wet-macular-degeneration-eye” is a shot…in the eye. … Continue reading →

Fascinating: Links to Articles

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  It’s time for some interesting articles and videos I’ve come across in my daily travels.     Art:   Exhibit I would like to see: French photographer, JR, brings back ghosts to Ellis island. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/arts/design/jr-brings-ellis-islands-abandoned-hospital-to-life.html?ref=todayspaper  http://www.saveellisisland.org/artist-jrs-ellis-island-southside-project/     Cute:   Adorable video.  Never knew wombats were so darn cute!       Food:         I could go for this right about now: The Gefilte Fish Line: A Sweet And Salty History Of Jewish Identity http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/09/24/351185646/the-gefilte-fish-line-a-sweet-and-salty-history-of-jewish-identity?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140924     Security:     What Happens to Your Stolen Credit Card Data? A Glimpse into Underground Markets http://www.hotforsecurity.com/blog/what-happens-to-your-stolen-credit-card-data-a-glimpse-into-underground-markets-10205.html?utm_source=SMGlobal&utm_medium=SMGlobal&utm_campaign=H4S   Health: … Continue reading →

What a Headache

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  I have suffered with headaches since I was a child. I have had sinus headaches that pounded at my face and teeth, cluster headaches that latched onto my head like a pit bull and that wouldn’t let go for days, tension headaches that made me feel like a tourniquet was going to twist so tightly I’d snap, migraines that made me want to jump off bridges. There were days when I would work in my dusty, Board of Education windowless and airless office and have to take six Extra Strength Bufferin in a day to survive. In later years … Continue reading →

To Your Health: Pits, Seeds, Rinds, Pulp, Laughs, and Coconuts

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    I decided it was time I jumped on the juicing bandwagon. I used to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables and just don’t have it in me to chow down a ton anymore. My mother’s aide asked for a juicer so I bought her one.  My mother decided she wasn’t interested in what it could do. When the aide returned to Florida I took the juicer and decided it was time to turn over a new leaf. Or fruit or veg. I had purchased what I later found out was a “young coconut” from the local HMart. … Continue reading →

To Your Health: Don’t Teas Me

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Now and then I will post an interesting or informative article. Here is a link about tea. We have come to know tea as being an ancient, healthy drink sometimes with medicinal properties. Sadly, there are properties that can be just the opposite: toxicities due to pesticides, additives and the material of the tea bag itself can be unhealthy,   Here’s an informative article for you tea drinkers.  Do You Know What’s Really In Your Tea?  

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The Aura Continues…Blame It On The Mafia

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      Curiouser and curiouser.  I am going back to the topic of ocular migraine aura. (see this blog) I have been keeping track of the episodes and becoming disconcerted. After a significant lessening of occurrences for a few months, and the taking of Petadolex which appeared to be working, the auras are coming back in full force. Sometimes two, three times in a day or in an hour! I consider a good day just dealing with gold lights zooming through my field of vision. It is the strangest feeling and the strangest event. What I think is so disconcerting … Continue reading →

Part 18b: The Aura

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                       The weirdness of ocular migraine aura Since September, around the time my mother began to become unstable, I have been having episodes of ocular migraine aura. Almost all of the “episodes” have been in my home and most seem to have a light trigger. It has been triggered as well by computer screens and cell phone screens. The “aura” usually begins to present as a small blind spot that grows into a black C-shape with gold zig-zags. it starts out tiny and then expands, so that perception is that something from afar is approaching. The C-shape can face … Continue reading →