A couple of things are scheduled

While this is moving very slowly, it IS moving.

Last week, I set up the appointment for a liver biopsy.  That's this coming Thursday.  With BIG luck, this will give us some indication of what happened, medically, and ... what -- if anything -- needs to be done about it, or what lingering damage/symptoms there may be.

I'm starting to re-orient MY personal bet, toward ... Anticonvulsant Hypersensitivity Syndrome:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/564608

In October, I was put on Trileptal (Oxcarbezapine) to treat neuropathic eye pain.  

Trileptal IS an anticonvulsant, and -- though I had a serious reaction to an anticonvulsant (Neurontin) once before -- the Pain Clinic docs assured me we'd start low enough, and ramp up slow enough, that I'd be okay.

But I wasn't.  

A pretty wicked dermatologic fungal infection showed up, as did three different Herpes Simplex "cold sores" or "fever blisters," in three different locations, around my mouth.

[The cold sores went away.  I'm still battling the fungal stuff, though.  Can't treat it with systemic antifungals.  WAY too risky for the liver]

Within only a few days.  I stopped the meds, but ... it's quite possible that -- even 2-1/2 months later -- this IS what caused the liver problem ... maybe in conjunction with the other meds I was on.  It would only take a TINY bit of extra tweaking of my (already dysfunctional) immune system.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, my beloved corneal neuropathy ophthalmologist has suggested that I be tested for Mitochondrial Disease.  I think I mentioned, before, .... you don't want that.

But I DO have an appointment with the UC Irvine Mitochondrial and Genomic Clinic in May.  Guess I'll have to stick around for that AND the April Immunology appointment.

I need to know.  Too many things that this COULD easily be ... must not be ignored, and would have a significant impact on any future planning.

So ... the apple corer to the liver on Thursday (I'm guessing ... results by next Monday or Tuesday) ... Immunology in about 3wks, and ... Mitochondrial stuff in mid-May.

I'm considering moving into an efficiency (kitchen-equipped) hotel, much closer to the hospital.  It might make a LOT of things simpler.

Meanwhile ... the minutes pass like hours, and the hours pass like days.

That's the news ... from... the Awfully Damned Tired offices of ... The Gulag.