Mo Betta

Tired? Achey? Quickly deteriorating memory? Libido nonexistant? Gaining weight? Want something other than old age to blame this on? Getcher thyroid levels checked!! I work 12 hour night shifts. 4 nights on, 1 off, 2 on, then I get 7 days off.... mini vacation every 2 weeks. Sweet, right? Yes, very much so, until I found myself not recovering from my work stretch until just 2 days before I went back to work. What a waste!! Especially with summer coming up, and access to a river, 2 pools, RV park with good friends to enjoy my life with. This nonrecovery manifested itself much more dramatically than you would expect with the normal aging process. I was also getting extremely cranky and intolerant, which is not a good thing when you are in charge of a bunch of brand new nurses who are in a delicate self-confidence balance to begin with. I started to get a little scared. My Dad's side of the family has a high Alzheimer's count. One uncle, one aunt diagnosed, and I'm sure my grandfather was afflicted, just not diagnosed. He would go out for a walk and get lost..... My grandmother was diagnosed with ALS, which is a disorder of the nerve cells in the brain and spine, which affects the voluntary movement, and eventually, the involuntary as well. Can't swallow, can't move, and end stage, can't breath on your own. A frightening prison to be in, as your cognitive abilities remain intact for most of this progression. Related? Not sure....but pretty crappy DNA on that side, wouldn't you say? So, when I began to notice that from the recliner to the kitchen ( all of 6 steps), I was forgetting what I got up for, when I got in the shower twice in one week with my glasses on, when I walked out the locked front door without my keys two days in a row, I got scared!!! I began to make a list of all the physical complaints I had accumulated, and went to my doctor. When he walked into the exam room, he stopped short, looked at me and said, "Okay, what disaster brought you in?" Nurses come in 2 types....the ones who go to the doctor with every little twitch, and those who don't go until they are half dead. I fall in the half dead category. I laughed and told him that my list had gotten too long, and handed it to him. Time for colonoscopy, check (argh!), especially since my DNA in that category is also crappy!! Mammo, Pap smear (argh!argh!) check. Follow up chest xray to evaluate the spot they found on the last one that was determined to not be an immediate concern, but follow up was encouraged,check. PFT's to also follow up since 34 years of my life was spent smoking, check. Sinus and allergy diagnostics as my symptoms were increasing in severity, check. Podiatrist for the neuroma I had developed in my right foot, check. Busy girl. Blood drawn that very day...fortunate to have been fasting long enough to count, and to get to the lab before the runner picked up that day. This was on a Friday....Monday I got the call to go pick up my prescription of Levothryroxin, low dose, and to reschedule blood draw and primary MD appt in 2 weeks. Wahoo? Hope!! 2 weeks later, I am feeling better than I have felt in a very long time, I am not in constant achey pain, my memory has improved, I'm not as cranky, and my husband is very cute again!! So easy. Another pill to swallow...yeah, but the benefits are enormous!! You gettin old? Yeah, so what? You don't have to feel or act old if you can get as easy a fix as I did!