Beware The Ides Of March

It's been a rather rough week -- there have been a lot of personal events recently which have taken the wind out of my sails.

I was completely stunned when I learned that the wife of one of my co-workers was diagnosed with amyloidosis last week. Any time I get an e-mail or phone call from a new patient I take it personally, but this news hit a little too close to home. For such a rare disease, I have been hearing a lot more about it lately. And to think -- what are the odds of that?

The results of the lipid tests I took earlier in the week are in. As I wrote last week, my cardiologist wanted my to retake my lipid test because of my unusually high amount of bad cholesterol. Unfortunately, the results of the retake were similar. Actually my numbers were much higher than the original, which totally freaked me out this morning.

As a result, they have added a sixth drug to my daily regimen -- Crestor. This is to get the cholesterol under control. I am now on three different lipid-lowering drugs. My poor liver. It is very disappointing to get on yet another drug. I thought that I was supposed to be getting off of the drugs by now, not getting on more of them! Unfortunately, it seems that as long as I have protein leakage, I probably will be on some type of medication.

My cardiologist didn't believe that the increase was significant, and as long as it was maintained at relatively low levels, he wasn't too concerned. I will need to come in to Boston Medical in a month to see how the drugs are performing. I would be interested in finding out if there was any relation between my higher numbers and my modified diet, which is heavier on fat and carbohydrates. While I'll still be taking the protein shakes, I will tighten up the other portions of my diet just to be safe. That means no more trips to Starbucks for a while.

Someone mentioned Benecal as a potential calorie supplement. In response, I went on to Amazon and bought a case, which came in the mail the other day. Benecal is tasteless, has a thick, white, coconut oil-like consistency, and comes in 1.5 oz containers. One and a half ounces doesn't seem like much, but each cup packs 330 calories. It works well in my protein shakes, and I don't even notice it. So far, it looks like a good thing.

Of course, not everything has been bad recently. I'm pleased to report that the edema is still under control. No water pills for nearly two weeks and counting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.