Jim's Place

I'm still here...

Geez! Haven't posted in awhile!

Been out-of-commission most of the last few weeks due to constant fatigue which I presume is due to the ongoing sinus/allergy/cold problems I've had pretty much since the beginning of the year. Of course, I'm sure I'm still recovering from the withdrawal from the cortisol medication. That and the allergy stuff is a real strain on the adrenal glands. Focusing on addressing the allergy situation - allergy shots and making my home more allergy friendly. Also will be checking on possible issues with my sleep apnea. I assume my CPAP machine is doing the job but need a new sleep study. Read that CPAP machine can aggravate sinus infections and I need to be more diligent about cleaning my machine.

I will also be seeing a neurologist because regardless of the underlying cause I fit the medical definition for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Perhaps its just that I'm still in recovery mode from years of having a pituitary disorder, but I have to admit I've been feeling a lot of frustration the last several weeks... I just want to be able to do my workouts, get back on my bike, get back in church and the choir, have a social life and even start making a living again... Guess I just have to stay with my original plan - do my best and trust God to do the rest...

My latest article for the PNA (Pituitary Network Association) newsletter...

August 2005

After completing the 50-mile 4th of July bike ride, I was anxious to keep improving my fitness and most importantly, my wellness. I wanted so much to believe that I was truly winning the battle against pituitary failure… But it didn't take long to be reminded that I wasn't quite out of the woods yet. I had expected that it might take a week or so to recover from the intense effort of the July 4th ride, especially since my Cortef dosage had been lowered from 25mg to 20mg, but I simply didn't expect to have such a hard time for the remainder of July.  It was that familiar scenario of feeling fatigued, catching a cold or sinus infection, and struggling just to get in a workout here and there. But my doctor had cautioned that with my condition intense exercise might cause problems.  Perhaps he was right. I suppose from a medical perspective it made sense to back off, but how many times over the years had I assumed that taking it easy would be beneficial, only to find that relaxing on the couch seemed no better than pushing myself on the bike or in the gym…

Although I still didn't feel up to it, I decided to start the second week of August by taking on my next big challenge - a 60-mile ride along the coast. I hadn't done more than a 20-mile ride in the last month, so I wondered if I was up to it. In some ways it was just another bike ride, but then again this particular ride held a great deal of significance. The last time I had completed this ride was in the summer of 1995. And just like the 4th of July event, I'd spent a lot of years on the couch dreaming about the day when I would again be able to do that long ride along the coast of northern San Diego County. What a feeling of accomplishment it would be, symbolizing not only that 2005 was the year I finally rebuilt my body, but also the year when I finally rebuilt my life...

Welcome to Jim's Place!

Glad you dropped by! I try to post every few days or so. You can use the subscribe feature in the left column to get an email when I post. I post video updates in the right column. Further down the page are photo albums, slideshows, archives of prior posts, etc. I write a monthly article for the Pituitary Network Association chronicling my many years of coping with a pituitary disorder and you can read them by looking in the PNA articles section in the right column. You can read the latest article by clicking on Summer/Fall 2006.

Hope you like the site and here's some of my current favorite music for you to enjoy...

Create a MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Live from Hollywood!

Went to Hollywood to see my pituitary specialist in nearby Beverly Hills. The lab results were a mixed bag. The good news is that they confirmed that the pituitary has indeed taken on the normal function of managing cortisol levels. However, some significant adjustments are needed in my thyroid and testosterone medications. And of course, the unanswered question is why were they so far off? Anyway, it does appear that the pituitary issues are a thing of the past...

I created an update in my hotel room. It started out serious, but then my whacky sense of humor took over...