UCLA Medical Center Referral

I have struggled with Sarcoidosis for thirteen years now, and in fact moved to the desert from Chicago almost ten years ago to extend my life in the dry climate. My Disease is in my lungs, and my Chicago Pulmonoligist gave me two years to live if I stayed in the Chicago climate.
In October of 2001 I pulled out of my driveway and relocated to Las Vegas. Sarcoid causes an immune system to be overactive, turning my immune system into an organ killing machine. My immune system has been attacking my body since 1997, and prescription steroids were used to suppress my immune system an slow the progression of the disease. Now, thirteen years later, I have damage to my system from thirteen years of steroids, which have surpassed the damage from the sarcoidosis. Steroids were never designed to be taken for this long. Up to a year at most, but after thirteen years, my connective tissue and bones are soft, my muscles are susceptible to tears and injuries, and my adrenal glands have shut down. I am sentenced to a life with steroids, since my adrenals no longer produce the hormones required to keep me in balance.
Sarcoid also causes your body to produce too much calcium. My body produces four times the amount of calcium needed. So where does all that extra calcium end up? If you were thinking kidneys, you'd be only partially right. Both of my kidneys are full of stones, ranging in size from seven to nine millimeters in diameter. Think of a nine millimeter bullet, and imagine trying to pass something that size...
There's one other place the excess calcium is deposited...in my arteries! Although I have kept my cholesterol within the safe levels, the calcium has deposited in my systemic arteries, including my heart. I was recently tested to find that I am in the ninety-seventh percentile of men my age for a risk of a heart attack or stroke. That means that I have more calcium than ninety-seven percent of the other men my age. It is not a matter of IF I will have one, but when!
My doctor recently tried me on a new immunosuprescent medication, which had dangerous side effects, including cancer of the lymph nodes, confusion, severe joint pain, and irritability. I had extreme fatigue, to the point that I could not stand, and up until today, was extremely ill over it. Due to the side effects, my doctor felt that there was nothing he could do but refer me to UCLA for treatment from physicians with more experience with Sarcoidosis.
I asked if there was anybody in Las Vegas that could help...his only response was "You're looking at him." This doctor has done all within his power to fix my problems. So now I must wait for SSD medicare to search for something else to block my attempts at prolonging my life and giving me some resemblance to a family.

Scruffy dog, I miss you...

I love my little scruffy dog. He brings me joy and gives me love unconditionally. I wish we all could give and receive unconditional love. We should love each other because of who they are, not who other's think they should be.

Unconditional love means that you love someone, regardless of whether or not you agree with them, or they with you. It is based upon loving the person, their soul, not their words or actions. It means you love them even if you don't agree, or understand every nook and cranny they inhabit. You love them because you know them intimately, because you are blessed to have them in your life.

What that means to me is that you show concern for them, even asking them how they are doing on a somewhat regular basis. You love them because they are there for you to look them in the eye and pour your heart out to them, and they for you if the need arises. If it is all one sided, then it is not shared unconditional love, and to allow it to continue can make you feel as if you are being used.

We need to listen, really hear what our best friends, our loves are telling us, not shut them out when they don't say the things we wanted or expected to hear. There are ALWAYS two sides to every story, if not more. You cannot say that one side is correct and the other not, just because it wasn't what you expected to hear. And you certainly cannot base unconditional love on those things, because that, my friend, is not truely unconditional love.

Scruffy dog, I really appreciate your unconditional love.

The little white scruffy dog

We now have a little white scruffy dog. We named him scruffy. He has green eyes, with scruffy, wild hair. He is a terrier mix. He was a rescue dog, but he was just what we wanted, although we didn't know it at the time.
At 15 pounds he's jus the right size to set on our lap, which he loves to do, almost as much as he loves to chase our two cats. Scruffy has wiggled his way into our hearts one lick, beg, wag and snuggle at a time. We love our little white scruffy dog.