Thanks for dropping by. I've been missing you! Been here at home since October 2nd.
Well ... where do I begin? I was born .. um .. I was diagnosed with PBC while in the hospital for a life threatening episode of Atrial Fibrillation ("A-FIB", as it's called. More about AFIB later.)
Please Note: If I ramble .. blame in on "fuzzy brain syndrome" .. a consequence of having PBC.
What's PBC? Oh! PBC is a form of autoimmune hepatitis (non-contagious). Affects the bile ducts of the liver. Basically, a type of chronic liver disease. My PBC was diagnosed via a liver biopsy (it hurt). I am a rare case -- men usually do not get this disease. It is also NOT caused by alcohol or drugs ... it's auto immune. A worse case scenario: even if I need a liver transplant and it's successful, the disease can return because my body is attacking the organ, not an external force. :-/
Check out : http://PBCers.org/whatis.htm for some detailed information about the disease.
Anyway, most important : the purpose of my blog will be to keep everyone informed on how I am doing and to share information about the disease. Keep sending me good "vibes".
Oh, a lot of you have been asking : when will Robert be coming back to work? I don't honestly know when I can return .. a lot will depend on results of tests that are coming up on October 19. Keep checking in .. I will keep you posted. I appreciate your concern.These past two weeks have been real rough : starting with internal bleeding beginning on September 30 for 4 days, then profound fatigue, itching, bruising, headaches, memory loss, foot cramps, depression, joint aches and pains, stomach cramps, nausea, violent vomiting of bile, jaundiced ... PLUS a number of A-FIB episodes including an INR level of 3.9 (not good! Mine should be 2.0-3.0. The average person is 1.0).
I have appointments scheduled: October 15, 19 and 25 plus November 19 and 27. The hard part now is getting to them ... since driving is becoming difficult as well as risky.
So, until I post again .. enjoy this video I posted at :
A couple of friends of mine (Tim and Robert) made this little video a few years back. And in memory of them I want to share it with you.
;->
Feel free to comment or email Robert at:
