20201117 - Alopecia Update

 Yesterday, I received ginger shampoo (from The Body Shop) from my mom as well as mulberry tea.  I will be trying the shampoo and mulberry tea today.  I am supposed to drink the tea no more than once every 2 days.

Also, I received a prescription from the nurse practitioner (NP) at Wello for cortisone cream called betamethasone (0.1%).  I will be trying that today as well.  The NP said to try it out for 3 months before we expect to see any results.  I am supposed to follow up with an appointment in 3 months.

CC

UPDATE:  After 3 months, the hair had grown back.  Ginger shampoo was used regularly as well as betamethasone cream.

20201114 - Alopecia Areata

Today, CF noted that there was something up with my hair/scalp.  It turns out that I have a bald spot about 1" in diameter at the back/top/right corner of my head.

 

CF says that it is quite noticeable.  And since she cut my hair a couple of months ago, she would have noticed it.  It must have happened only a month or so ago.

It appears to be alopecia areata.  It may have been caused by stress, allopurinol, naproxen, or something else.  It may be hereditary, but it does affect people who have seasonal allergies more often (such as myself).  CF suspects that I do not wash my head enough.  I suspect that it is due to the allopurinol.  The small bald patch does not hurt but does feel a bit weird not to have hair there.  From what I read, the hair may take up to 12 months before it grows back (but it may not).  I think I am doing everything I can since I take multivitamins daily as well as calcium and omega 3 (fish oil).

I wanted to document this in case this is the start of my permanent hair loss or if someone else in my family experiences this.

CC 

20200313 - Novel Coronavirus COVID-19

In the last few months, the world has changed due to a new virus that originated in Wuhan China.  In an unprecedented move, the world has taken notice and everyone is concerned about the virus and being quarantined.   Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.

The stock market has fallen like 1700 points on the Dow Jones.  People are hoarding and stocking up on  food and essentials as the virus was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.   People are worried about being quarantined or having to self isolate.   You can not find surgical masks, hand sanitizer, or toilet paper.  It is also difficult to find canned foods, pastas, and rice.

Several closures include:
- Disneyland
- Disneyworld
- buffets in Vegas
- Effiel Tower
- Louvre Museum
- Sporting events
- Concerts
- Sun Run
- Gatherings larger than 100-250 people
- Private schools
- studio audiences on tv shows
- Science world

People are using social distancing and are not shaking hands.

People are asked to wash hands for 20 seconds, cough into a tissue or sleeve, keep distance.

Flights to China has been banned.  Flights to Europe has been banned.  The US has declared a state of emergency.  Cruise ships have stopped for a month.

Currently 64 cases on Vancouver.

Even the Prime Minister's wife has caught the virus.

Just about every company you can think of has sent emails to inform people how they will deal with the pandemic.

CC

20200219 - Notable Day

Today marks the first day that R was able to keep his ortho-K contacts in both eyes at the same time for 10 whole minutes.  It has been tough to get here.  R gas tried very hard to get the contacts into his eyes for the last few weeks, but was just not able to due to a bit of fear, his small eyes, and the large contacts.  A couple of weeks ago, R's eye doctor switched his contacts to a slightly smaller size (like less than a millimeter difference).  But we worked at it every night and he finally was able to get one contact in each eye slowly increasing the amount of time from 30 secs a day to 10 minutes - but only one eye each day until today.

I was probably not the best person to help him with the contacts though.  I yelled at him during the first few days since I was so frustrated that he wanted to give up early on.  Then, after trying so hard, he would end up moving away when I tried to get the contact close.  Later, we switched gears and I let him try by himself to put the contact in.  But he just could not do it.  He did relent later and just let me try exclusively.   After the first couple of weeks, I told him that he would not be allowed to have screen time if he could not get a contact in his eye.  Unfortunately,  this ended up in a few nights where he cried himself to sleep because he is addicted to screen time and especially Roblox.  I did not want to make him depressed about it, but it did give him incentive and drive to try harder to put the contacts in his eyes.

We made great progress over the last few days when R finally got a contact into one eye.  He was so proud of himself and we let him have a good amount of screen time the next day as a reward.  It has been less than a week now and I am happy to see that he can put both contacts on for 10 minutes.  I will try again for the next week and then check in with the eye doctor to confirm the fitting.

On a personal note, I have recently decided to go back on allopurinol after being off the drugs for over 10 years.  I went for a blood test today and also went to Costco for the first time to use their pharmacy.  I have to say that the Costco experience was not great as I felt like I was always just standing in line.  But the price was good with a low dispensing fee of less than $5.  My contribution came to only $1.38 for 30 pills.  Unfortunately,  I have to go back in 30 days to get my refill or else my benefits will not cover the costs.  I will start on allopurinol tomorrow and hopefully helps with the gout problems I have had since I turned 30.

CC

20200203 - First Period

Today started like any other Monday.  Groggy parents and kids trying to get ready for school and work.  But as I was in the kitchen getting things ready, CF comes downstairs and tells me that A got her first period.  ACK!  My smart little baby girl with the big eyes now has to deal with "bleeding and cramping issues" for the rest of her life.  So hard to believe it.  She's only 10 years old!  CF tells me that she had a similar early onset at the age of 11.  But oh my gosh, A is only 10 years old.  This might explain why she has been cranky (like all the time) or maybe it is just her personality.

 CF gave A a short talk and gave her a few pads.  I hope CF will provide further information and answer questions that A may have.  I do not feel well suited to address this issue.  I suggested that A stay home from school today, but A seemed to think it was ok.

I asked CF if A had any problems today.  CF did not seem to know, but just assumed that A was ok.  I hope so.

I still remember the early days when A was just a baby.  I would carry her around all over the place.  She was not the easiest child to take care of, but things did get easier as she got older.  She has always been a cute little girl.  Hard to imagine how fast she has grown up and that soon she will be boy crazy or something.

CC