MAPPSG
Organized 1995

POST-POLIO SUPPORT
on the
Alabama-Florida-Mississippi Gulf Coast


PPPSG
Organized 2000


BEWARE!
MIXING PRESCRIPTIONS
CAN BE DANGEROUS!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 9:32 AM
     Well, in the wee hours of the morning I got my first ride in an ambulance. I was bleeding like a stuck pig because the pill I've been taking to help fight a fungus had increased the effect of the blood thinner I take by 2 or 3 times. I bled at least a pint of blood, and maybe twice that much. It looked like I was the unlucky victim in a slasher movie! By the time I agreed to go to the emergency room I was in the first stages of going into shock and we had to call an ambulance to transport me. I'm OK now I think, but it was a rough night for me and my wife. I'm sure glad to be back home, and I'm going to sleep a lot today. Be careful with the pills you take! Learn all you can about how they work and what they interact with!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 12:47 PM
     It began last night as I slept a few hours then got up to check my email, just as I often do. When I went back to bed about 3:00 and blew my nose because I've had a minor sinus drip lately. I didn't blow hard, but blood gushed everywhere! I tried to clamp my bandana that I keep beside the bed over my face and get to the bathroom, but I still got a lot of blood in the bed and on the carpet.
     In the bathroom I just hung my face over the basin and the blood ran in a steady stream for 30-45 minutes until I was getting a little shaky and decided I needed to sit down. My wife got me a pie pan with folded paper towels in it, and I sat at the table just soaking gobs of paper towels with blood. It just kept running in a steady stream, I don't mean dripping!
     I could not believe what was happening! Michelle wanted me to go to the emergency room long before I agreed to go, of course. Finally I began to show signs of going into shock and I gave up and said I'd go.
     By then I was not able to even get into a car. I told her to call me an ambulance. The crew and everybody in the ER took really good care of me.
     I've had some sleep now and still no more bleeding, so I guess I'm out of the woods. I plan to rest more. All this showed me again how important it is to know how drugs interact with each other. That was apparently the direct cause of all my bleeding. I'm just lucky it wasn't internal!

Do not delegate your health care to others!
Be responsible to know your body,
your medications and your limitations!

Thursday, July 12, 2007 5:19 AM
     I'm not ready to lick my weight in wildcats yet, but I'm doing pretty well so far. I got up early to write checks to pay bills. Then I'm going back to bed for awhile. I slept good last night, with no more bleeding. I'm still ASTONISHED at how much blood I lost from a "simple" nosebleed. I would find it easier to believe if I had been injured some way.

Thursday, July 12, 2007 9:43 AM
     Glad you are doing OK now. What were the symptoms which let you know you were going into shock?

Thursday, July 12, 2007 12:46 PM
     Yes, I'm lucky all the way around! The way I was bleeding I could have died if the bleeding had been internal.
     The symptoms of what I believe was shock setting in were

  1. sweating very heavily,
  2. weakness,
  3. blurring vision, and
  4. difficulty thinking or making a decision.
     I had argued with Michelle for close to two hours about going to the emergency room, until by that time I had lost too much blood to go without being in an ambulance. You know men! Dumb as a box of rocks sometimes! I just could not accept the fact that "a simple nosebleed" could possibly be that serious! All that time the blood was running in a steady stream, not just a drip.
     I'm still a little weak (I lost one or maybe two pints of blood), but I'm holding my own now and I had a much needed shower today while Michelle kept a close eye on me.


Additional information is provided by
U.S. Food and Drug Administriation at
http://www.fda.gov

MOBILE AREA POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP
 meets the 4th Saturday each month
except November & December at 1 pm
West Regional Branch Mobile Public Library 		PENSACOLA POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP
meets the 3rd Saturday every month
at 10 am Baptist Towers
1717 North E and Avery Streets, Pensacola, Florida

Notes from the June meeting....Vera Moore reporting

     Sylvia Bern welcomed 14 people who joined her at the West Regional Branch of the Mobile Public Library on June 23, 2007. She congratulated Charles Gollott on his faithfulness to the support group even when Barbara was in the hospital. It was good for us to be able to hear direct from Charles that Barbara was doing nicely and it was she who had encouraged him to be with us.
      Several reported causing injuries by attempting to do chores which in the past had been routine to them. We were cautioned to be aware of our capabilities and not risk doing damage.
      Some expressed interest in Managing Post-Polio: A Guide to Living and Aging Well With Post-Polio Syndrome. Vera Moore will order 10 copies to take advantage of the discount and reduced mailing costs.
      All became irate at the report of a driver telling a handicapped child she must ride alone in the handicapped accessible bus while her classmates were transported on a school field trip in a second bus. It took a mother becoming very upset and demanding the school principal come and solve the problem. High praise was given to the principal who solved the difficulty by asking, “Who wants to ride with Melissa?”
      More that sufficient children raised their hands and the bus was filled with Melissa’s friends. While handicapping conditions cause us some difficulty, the stupidity of those around us causes us more hurtful damage.
It was reported one of our members has Morgellons Disease. While no one at the meeting had experience with the flesh eating disease, it was suggested a dermatologist should be able to properly diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment. If this fails to give desired results, the Center for Disease Control should be contacted. On their website - http://www.cdc.gov - we find the following:
      Inquiries regarding this condition can be sent by email to morgellonssyndrome@cdc.gov or phone 404-718-1199 for a pre-recorded message with voice mail options.
      It was decided our 12th birthday would be celebrated by having a Marble Slab Creamery provide a Sundae Bar at the July meeting.
      Please come help us celebrate!

Notes from the June meeting....Leigh Dethlefs reporting

     June is a very busy month for all of us. It was great to see everyone who came to the meeting. We had a new survivor, Mary C. Haack who came and spoke. We are always surprised at the new people that have never heard of us.

We are a support group who hold each other up through the bad and good times of our post-polio lives. Just to know you are not alone in what you and your families a going through.

We all have had polio but have been affected in different ways. What is no problem for some is a great difficulty for others. We all look for new ways to improve and look to our support friends for what has worked for them. There still are times when we feel alone in this process, since we are so different from each other. That is what our meetings are about. Hope to see you at the next meeting July 21st.

Attendance June 2007
George Dethlefs ~ Leigh Dethlefs ~ Mary Haack ~ Theresa Inge ~ Pat Kaderly ~ Ron Kaderly ~ Clara Norsworthy ~ George Norsworthy ~ Denise Phillips ~ Ed Waldroup ~ Gloria Waldroup ~ Mary Warneck ~ Bill Way ~ Sally Way.




MAPPSG Attendance June 2007
Patsy Adams ~ Sylvia Bern ~ Mary Ellen Blankenship ~ James Cheeseboro ~ George Fassig ~ JoAnn Fassig ~ Julie Ford ~ Rus Ford ~ Charles Gollott ~ Dorcas Howard ~ James Howard ~ Vera Moore ~ Clara Norsworthy ~ George Norsworthy ~ Ed Weller.

The next Mobile Area Post-Polio Support Group
meeting will be
Saturday, July 28, 2007
at 1 p.m.

The next Pensacola Post-Polio Support Group
meeting will be
Saturday, July 21, 2007
at 10 a.m.

Contact for additional information
 Vera Moore - 251-639-2189
or e-mail Vera Moore
Contact for additional information
 Clara Norsworthy - 850-944-5834
or e-mail Leigh Dethlefs

These Post-Polio Supports Groups are supported by
Goodwill Easter Seals of the Gulf Coast
In Mobile - Cyndi Thompson ~ 251-471-1581 ~ cyndi@gesgc.org
In Pensacola - Liz Cravatt ~ 850-434-0032 ~ liz@gesgc.org
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