Posted by linuxchic | Posted in Opinion | Posted on 22-03-2009
Since you have been asking, the doctor is making headway. Test results came back with answers and I am actually quite thrilled that after 7 years my random pain and chronic headaches are no longer a mystery to suffer through. They have put me on a regimen of medications and physical therapy and while they cannot cure what ails me, they can treat it. I am already seeing the benefits to the treatments and I am doing much better. The best part is using the computer, sewing, knitting, and driving is no longer a torture session. Yay!
Look for a geeky craft tutorial coming next week. Sorry to tell you that you have to wait one more week for it but it is a gift for someone’s birthday and if I post it before they get it they will know what it is. :)
Posted by linuxchic | Posted in Opinion | Posted on 08-03-2009
For the last three (going on four) weeks I have had limited use of my arms. From the top of my biceps to the tip of my fingers I have had constant pain and if I move just the wrong way I get shooting lightening pain. I have been to the doctor and now the neurologist and am hopefully on my way to some answers. It wasn’t anything I did to injure anything. I literally went to bed during the week and woke up and no longer had the use of my arms. The least painful way to use them has been to keep them pinned against my sides and only raise them from the elbow. We have named this my “dinosaur arms” because I look like a T-Rex with its little tiny arms.
It has really been stinky because I haven’t been able to do any task for very long without being in excruciating pain. By the time I get off work after sitting at a desk all day I don’t want to start typing at home. I can’t knit for long and projects that shouldn’t take more than a few days are going to take a few months. I am honestly about to go stir crazy.
This week the neurologist ran nerve tests and said I have damaged nerves in both arms. They are thinking a virus attacked them. I am being scheduled for an MRI just to be sure.
Anyway, I hate talking about my “private life” but I don’t know how much longer this is going to carry on. Wearing arm braces (like they have for carpal tunnel) on both arms has been pretty helpful. Yesterday was a good day for my arms, today not so much. It is really getting exhausting and I am missing things that I should be doing so I thought I would explain my absence.
Anyway, thanks for still stopping by and making comments on posts. I am glad you haven’t forgotten about me. Hopefully I will be 100% again soon. :)
Posted by Christa | Posted in Geekery | Posted on 28-09-2007
Of all the practical purposes for web 2.0 that have popped up, I am finding that the health industry utilizing it is one of the more interesting of markets lately. As an extreme Twitter fiend with my text messaging totaling over 10,000 SMS messages last month third party Twitter tools is nothing new to me. I was surprised to find however, that should I be diabetic, I could track my habits and blood sugar readings via Twitter and SugarStats.com.
Per their site, SugarStats makes it simple to track, monitor and share your blood sugar levels and other key statistics to help you manage your diabetes online. Having seen the effects of diabetes and the work that can go into maintaining your health I can see this service being very valuable to people that have busy or active lifestyles. If you use Twitter, you can also send a direct message to their service Twitter name containing your stats plus optional comments. The stats get imported into your SugarStats account along with the comments and the date and time the message was received.
No more forgetting what your glucose levels were, worrying about a dead battery in a blood meter whipping out your history, or having a pad and pen handy for jotting notes down. Most people carry their cell phones with them everywhere they go and by using Twitter and SugarStats they will also always have a place to keep their records. Especially handy is the comments for noting at the time exactly how you are feeling, eating, or doing.
SugarStats has also integrated a social networking type option within their service. You could share your stats, collaborate, and exchange messages with those you share with. At the very least this might be valuable for your doctor. Graphs and trends are created from your data so that you can easily visualize your history.
Not a Twitter fan? You can also send your stats to your SugarStats account via email or their mobile web through your phone or PDA browser.
