Day 108 - Another ER Visit & Florida Healthcare Changes

Back on April 21st, I made an initial visit to the ER with chronic sinusitis (sinus infection.) At the time I was written a script for a 5 day Azithromycin regimen and was expected to make a full recovery. Two days later, I was back in the ER again over a case of conjunctivitis (irritation of the eyes) which was directly related to my sinus issues. On May 6th, at roughly 3AM in the morning, yet again I had to made another trip back to the ER for swollen glands in my neck. The pain had become so intolerable that I couldn't swallow food or even drink. My mouth was pooling with saliva as it hurt so bad to swallow from the swelling of my throat. I was seen yet again, and was told by the doctor there that the Azithromycin may not have been a long enough treatment regimen for 5 days, that I need a more powerful 10 day Amoxicillin 875mg tablets bi-daily. It's been a crazy month, that's for sure, and knock on wood, the swelling is gone, the medications are working and I'm feeling a lot better. Perhaps this sickness has grounded me from doing other things I normally would have, but I find it a blessing in midst of any suffering. Why? It humbles us, makes us seek patience, humility and compassion. In those moments in the ER, all I wanted was relief, to eat, sleep and be back to normal, but I had to endure long awake nights, tossing and turning, light meals, headaches, swollen glands, infections, irritated eyes and a plethora of other randomness. But I'm doing fantastic!

Florida Initiates HMO Plans for Medicaid Recipients

The state of Florida effective May 1st, has officially done away with it's former programs to treat specialty diseases like Hemophilia, HIV and Hepatitis C and instituted new plans for patients with now with an HMO. I typically don't go into much detail about my healthcare coverage because those things are generally very private for me. But this time, I think it's worth being open about. I've been on the MediPass program since I've moved to Florida back in March 2009, and it's been good in some spots, but bad in others. Example: It doesn't cover dental cleanings, just emergency dental procedures. It did cover annual eye exams, but on the flip side, I could never choose which doctor I wanted to visit, it was always predetermined. If you click on the image to the right, you'll see The Florida Agency For Healthcare Admission or AHCA has issued a statement about the removal of MediPass statewide; "Effective October 1, 2014, the MediPass program will sunset statewide." Now the upswing of this new wave of healthcare options is that now I can choose from over 20 other companies to manage my healthcare at no cost. I chose to go with Clear Health Alliance CHA because their strong coverage on infectious disease and treatment seemed to outshine the other options. This new plan also offers me annual dental cleanings, eye exams and I was able to choose which doctor I wanted to be my Primary Care Physician or PCP. The only hiccup I've encountered in this new transition occurred this past week when attempting to order month 5 of my Sovaldi and Ribavirin liver therapy. My claim was rejected, and I was a little on edge for a couple days. Having only a 5 day supply on hand of Sovaldi+Ribavirin, and knowing I couldn't miss a single dose given the overall importance of this liver treatment, I was a little concerned about this new healthcare HMO, CHA non-MediPass ordeal. But, come to find out, all that CHA required was a pre-authorized form for the continuation of the treatment for my final two months. One quick fax, and month 5 was delivered safely in my hands yesterday morning. During this transition of healthcare coverage here in Florida, I'll be sure to blog about pros or cons about the new system. Time will tell, so we'll just have to wait and see how things go.

May is Hepatitis Awareness Month

The American Liver Foundation declares every May to be Hepatitis Awareness Month, and in honor of May 2014, I have created some awareness wrist bands that you can buy to show your support for Hemophilia, HIV and Hepatitis C. These bands are only $5 each, and showcase our web site address on one side, and my favorite Christian saying "Too Blessed 2 Be Stressed" on the other. As an added bonus, in the inside is engraved with "Hemophilia, HIV & Hepc," so you can show your support for friends and family. All proceeds from these bands will go to help fund cost of this web site, blog and the "I Strive 2 Thrive" campaign to raise awareness for Hemophilia, HIV and Hepatitis C. Get yours today!

Day 100, Recovery & Moving Forward

Since my two ER visits last week, I have since completed my antibiotic therapy and am recovering slowly from the sinus infection from last week. Some lingering after affects from the ordeal have left me with sore lymph glands under my chin and neck area near my throat. Even today, it hurts to swallow food and water, but I must press on and continue with the daily fight. My wife, the RN, is keeping a close watch on my tender and aching glands under my neck, as it's typical for those areas to become tender considering the trauma I've went through the past week. I'm no stranger to glands swelling up by the way. It's not uncommon for someone like myself to experience these types of occurrences after an infection has been sited. When I lived in Kentucky, during the Spring, my glands would swell so bad, they were visible from just looking at my neck and jaws. Spring time in Kentucky I do not miss at all. Florida is green all year around, and we have mild Springs in January through February. Yet another reasons why I love the sunshine state.

I can't believe today is officially day 100 of treatment. It's been such a journey just getting here, and now, next week, I'll call the pharmacy to order bottle #5 (month 5) of therapy. I had a follow up doctor's appointment with my liver doctor this past Monday the April 28th, and my CBC labs looked great. No decline in white blood cells, and my immunity is at an all time high since I've been keeping track. My liver enzymes were also at an all time low, ALT-14, AST-15. I guess with the swollen glands, I take that as a good sign, not a bad. If my immune system was compromised, I would not and could not have the bodily defenses to attack and fight back. A doctor at University of Kentucky once told me, "...swollen glands, though scary and painful, for you are not a bad sign, it's a good sign that you have immunity and that your body's defenses are doing their job." My liver doctor whose treating my HCV asked to see me next month for follow up and labs. I asked her before I left, given my unique case, what is her protocol for calling me cured post treatment? She told me given my complex medical background, a viral load would be taken at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year post treatment. The true definitive gold standard in her eyes is I'm still undetected at 1 year post treatment, that would be the declaration of a cure in her eyes.

In terms of moving forward, amazingly as I literally knock on wood, haven't had any major side effects to report in the past 2 weeks while on liver treatment with Sovaldi and Ribavirin (800mg). Sure I have the afternoon waves of lethargy, moments of zoning off into Neverland, but overall, everything can easily be managed with drinking lots of water, eating right, and taking my Ibuprofen as needed. I give credit for all of this to God in Heaven. Truly He's looking over me during this whole treatment process, and I know for sure His Mighty hand is orchestrating this entire journey to mold me into something far more greater. It's time for the Slayers to awake, it's time for our dragons to die, it's time for lambs to become lions and lead the pack. We're on the cusp of this exciting new era in liver treatment, and I for one don't fail to give God all His rightful deserved glory daily!
I thought I'd never hear the words Hepatitis C and cure uttered in the same breath, but truly these are remarkable times we're living in. Stay fruitful, and strive 2 thrive in everything you do daily! #IStrive2Thrive

Day 91, A Visit to the ER

Saturday night, my wife and I attended our church's Easter events, and upon entering the service, I knew something wasn't right about my body. I felt off... An hour later, my head began to throb again, my eardrums were pulsating, pressure behind my eyes, I was have a recurring non-stop dry cough as well. I must have went through 4 Ricola within 30 minutes to combat my coughing. By the time service had ended, my whole body again to feel like I'd been tossed off a 15 foot roof face first. Thank God for hot coffee from our church, it was the only thing that soothed my hurting throat and mouth.

I arrived back at home around 7PM on Saturday night, and my wife boiled me a steaming hot kettle of water to put my head over and inhale to break up my sinuses and give me relief. It only gave momentarily relief and provided no long term benefit. My wife being very concerned over me, more so over my white blood cell counts from my previous liver treatment in 2006, urged me to go to the ER and get checked out. I know with her being an RN, she always will know what's best, so I always listen to the nurses orders. We then went to the local ER and were checked in. To my amazement, I was in a room, checked in and seeing a doctor in less than 25 minutes. I guess everyone could see my suffering, and hear my deep congestion when I talked. The headache was so bad, I could barely open my eyes to look at the nurses checking me in. Before I left the house, my wife gave me 600MG of Ibuprofen to relieve my headache. I checked in with another low grade fever at 99.8. My cheeks were on fire, and I was burning up, I felt a lot hotter at times than 99.8. I didn't feel the relieving effects of the Ibuprofen until almost an hour and a half later when my headache slowly began to subside.

I told the doctor all my symptoms, and of course being in the ER, you have to tell the doctor everything, all the meds your on, so he/she can make the best decision based on own body needs. After I told the doctor my life story basically, I told him the current issues I'm having. He was very concerned about me, and ordered a full lab panel of blood work, a chest X-ray, head CT Scan, strep throat swab, urine analysis and a lactic acid panel. The doctor went as far to say if these labs show nothing, he may order a spinal tap to check for meningitis, I was like EEEEK! After doing all the tests, the results came back within about 30-40 minutes and to my surprise everything was normal ranges! Even my liver enzymes, my WBC was 9.0, and my hemoglobin was all normal range. The chest X-ray didn't show any signs of pneumonia. The urine cultures were all negative and the lactic acid test was normal as well. The CT Scan, however, showed my right cheek sinus cavity complete filled with mucus, I had a chronic case of sinusitis.

I was discharged roughly around 2AM from the ER early Easter morning, and given two prescriptions for a Z-pack and codeine cough syrup to help me sleep at nights. Fast forward to yesterday, Easter Sunday, and I woke up with this weird eye irritation. My eyelids were almost completely crusted over when I awoke in the morning, and all day yesterday, this white mucus was slowly secreting from the inner corners of my eyes near the tear ducts. I didn't think much of it as I had a bad sinus infection and was taking antibiotics. When I awoke this morning, the left eye had gotten a lot worse, and my eyelashes were crusty with this nastiness. I called my doctors an hour ago and asked to speak to the nurse on call today and I am currently waiting on a call back from her to tell her about this new issue with my eyes. My gut instinct tells me I have a case of Conjunctivitis, but I'm not doctor. Hopefully I can either be seen, or get some eye ointment medication ASAP today to stop this itchy, burning eye pain. Feels like my eyes have been ran through some sort of cleaner or chemical. Not sure if I picked this up at church, in the ER or just luck of the draw. Needless to say, the week that will never end continues on.

I'd like to send a special thanks to the amazing staff at South Lake Hospital Emergency Room for their stellar promptness and swiftness in helping me. I'd also like to thank my amazing wife for encouraging me, and being a voice in many storms that I stop and listen to. Also to my friends John Durham and Mike Pitt from my church and men's group for coming to the ER at 11PM at night to check on me and pray with me. Truly, I don't worry about any of this nonsense I'm going through with sinuses, eyes etc... I love a good challenge and prefer to be in the battle than living a life of no challenges and always stuck in rhetoric moments of dullness, numbness and desensitization of one's own emotions. I am literally thrust into the front lines of an ongoing battle of good and evil, life and death, and in the end, this body will not win! I will always triumph over my own body, because in the end, Christ gave me the power to overcome. Whether it's in this life or the next, frankly, God's got this! I just need enough sunshine peering through the clouds above this storm to reach out and prevail, and I will. and in a few weeks, I will be back to normal and rally in God's amazing healing power and awesomeness. My Boss is good and on time like that. Just imagine what kind of stories I get to share down the road while I've been on this liver therapy. It's going to help A LOT OF PEOPLE!!!