Prednisone | WEGGIEBOY'S BLOG by Doug Thomas

My first Internet exposure was on YouTube in April 2009. I had this notion I’d vlog my way to notoriety as a retirement activity that’d keep me off the streets yet encourage some small brain activity…so I didn’t die a slow, stupid death over however much time I had on this side of the divide.

I’ve set aside those early videos, much as I refocused this blog as one about “surviving retirement with two cats”. Cats are much, much more interesting and entertaining than some old fat guy chatting. Let’s be honest here! Yet those old videos pop up when people discover the older videos, recognize some value in them, and attach comments to them.

YouTube re-invented their channel format awhile back, and the new format allows viewers a sample of whichever videos the poster choses to feature. I feature current videos, most viewed videos, and favorites by others on my channel. Before the improvements, a viewer had to dig to find earlier videos people posted or call them up with tags. Most of the “most viewed” videos are early efforts at establishing a presence on YouTube. Apparently, people still find them worth a look.

Here are my five “most viewed” videos plus my favorite Andy video of when he was a very young kitten, upset with me for reasons I never learned:

NUMBER 1 ~

NUMBER 2 ~

NUMBER 3 ~

NUMBER 4 ~

NUMBER 5 ~

And, finally, Andy at two months old:

The Prednisone videos are hard to watch again, though people dealing with the effects of that drug periodically leave comments and questions on these. Doctors take heed: You put people on the drug, but you fail to really, really explain possible side effects, like you can suffer psychosis on the drug or develop diabetes. No small matters!

The Louie videos are fun. [“Lucy” is Louie before I learned how to tell the difference between a female and a neutered male cat. Ha! Seriously!]

FACT: I’ve been in remission since April-May 2005.

Life can take on teeth: I’ve had a few symptoms the past few days. They bear watching. This is the world of the weggie. “Symptoms” may suggest Wegener’s granulomatosis, but it mimics many other diseases, making it a difficult disease to diagnose or live with.

A symptom can result from nothing more than over-doing a turn in the garden; many ordinary, non-threatening things such as colds or flu; or a full-blown Wegener’s granulomatosis flare.

I’m hesitant to mention specifics, as if that can put the “hoodoo” on me, assuring a flare.

(I found this on “Stumble”. I don’t know who to attribute it to other than “Russelljo”. The little guy starts down the hill on his own. This is how I feel today!)

http://studenthome.nku.edu/~russelljo/flash/dudefalling.swf

Yes, if symptoms persist, I will make an appointment with my pulmonologist to review symptoms, to give blood and urine samples for analyses, to establish which direction my immune system is headed.

If it a flare, there’s the “Duo from Hell”, Cytoxan and Prednisone: there may be less toxic therapies available now, but they still seem to be the old reliable combo, the one recommended by most rheumatologists.

Yet, I’ve had these symptoms before, and they turned out to be a false alarm. I’m counting on that again.

In the end, hope and faith are what every weggie needs. That and an understanding that there will always be a “new normal” down the road, where you take pause, assess what body parts are still attached (just joking, sorta), and come to grips with what the next medical plateau in your life will be.