Sunlight and Surgery

Every day I'm out walking, enjoying the sunshine, exercising, building up stamina and endurance and happiness... because in two weeks I'm losing a bunch of reproductive organs that I don't really need anyway.

Here are some little known facts about Lady Issues and ICL:

ICL is weird. I have crazy mood swings (which you may have noticed, if you read the back and forth posts on this blog) which are actually clinical and hormonal, and only last for a couple of days (aka PMDD, which is unrelated to ICL). But ICL helps to limit my options for controlling my hormones. Not being able to use an IUD (infection) or Lupron (drug interactions) is annoying. This also interferes with controlling my weeks-long periods (For the record, the other factors are blood clots and migraines).

ICL (with low CD4) can also give you a really significantly increased risk of cervical cancer. High enough that my doctors just recommended we take it out (apparently you can also have pap tests every 6 months, if you really want to keep it). Also important, is that getting cervical cancer is not as trivial as in the general population. It's more serious and generally more fatal in ICL patients with low CD4 counts, even if you catch it early. So cervix =/= happiness. 

ICL-related meds like Septra and fluconazole, and really a lot of broad spectrum antibiotics and antifungals, have QT prolongation as a side effect. So do certain long-term Lady Issue meds, like Lupron. Since it probably won't be the same doctor prescribing both types of medications, it's a good thing to keep in mind. Also, since many broad spectrum antibiotics aren't compatible with pregnancy (except dapsone), you should consider making sure you (or your ICL patients) are on long-term birth control or have a good pregnancy plan. 

Why am I even posting this, because I am not a doctor or a nurse or in any way qualified to give health care advice and please don't listen to what I'm saying without consulting your own physician/ if you are a physician I have total confidence that you are going to verify what I'm saying just in case I'm totally wrong? Well, because Rare Disease that Usually Strikes Males Over 65, that's why. And because, despite having access to the massive wealth of HIV information out there, I didn't actually find out any of this until we were making a surgery decision. 

In the meantime, I'll be spending time walking in the sunlight and lifting far, far more than 10 lbs and eating whatever the heck I like. Hopefully this time I will not get a 7 day paralytic ileus which is finally resolved by a case of C. diff. 

That's what I call an.. 

*puts on sunglasses*

opportunistic infection. 

Oh, yeah. 

*Walks away*