A moment of gratitude and acknowledgement for modern medicine

• I still have pain in both hips, but the operated hip hurts a lot less than it did before and hurts a lot less than the unoperated hip.

• Insulin. Even though the 3/4 doses of short acting insulin have been a bit much these past few days, it keeps our wee boy alive, healthy, and mostly happy. How awesome is that? [post script: the boy is fighting off the cold and now needs 1 1/4 doses to start addressing the high sugars. Like I said, though, I'm grateful we have something at hand and we are learning how to use it to keep him happy and alive].

• Statins. Matty and I are fat bastards. Even when we are in our thinner summer incarnations and exercising like the devil, we have high cholesterol. It runs in both families, and I don't see us taking up vegetarianism to address it. So, we are now on statins (Vytorin for him and Lipitor for me). Dr. Beck, who was Matty's pediatrician and now allergist, prescribed the Vytorin to Matt after ordering up his lipid panel. (Matty doesn't use a GP). Beck's own father died from a heart attack in his early 30s. Yes, there is controversy surrounding the use of statins and whether cholesterol even contributes to heart disease, but with the cards genetically stacked against us, we figured it was time to
  try to stick around a bit longer in this mortal coil.
  

• Hormones. I am using Yaz, the same birth control pill I was on BC (before child). Yes, yes, I am a bit on the old side to be using birth control pills, but I was at the end of my tether. After only a few days, I feel that many of the things that have plagued me (namely, perimenopause - all the things you went through as a teenage girl, but even worse), are being addressed. It's not a long term solution, but it will help me get over this hump of being in nowoman's land.