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seawaspMEDICAL: It appears I probably do have gout. Uric acid levels were elevated; the X-ray showed some form of anomaly at the joint (could be arthritis). However, there were some other oddities such as elevated liver functions, so they've started doing more tests.
FAMILY: Both Vicky and Gabriel had their surgeries and have recovered nicely. On initial evaluation Gabe does appear to be behaving overall better, but it'll take a while to be sure. Kathy's pregnancy is causing her the usual plethora of Pain In The Ass symptoms (ranging from indigestion to exhaustion and nausea) but she's doing well in general and the baby is kicking in a healthy manner. Maria and Donny are scheduled to move out next week, I believe, which will give us two rooms back.
WRITING: I am at close to 70,000 words for Polychrome (AKA The Story That Made Me Write It Or Else), 45-50,000 words for Fall of Saints, and I just this morning had a revelation on how I can fix some of the problems I was having with Spheres of Influence, not that I'm going back to it soon unless GCA does well or Toni asks for it. I've been sent the current proposed cover by Stephen Hickman and it's BEAUTIFUL -- captures the spirit of the book and uses one of the actual scenes in the book (with some modification for artistic license, of course). I'm also planning on doing some personal publicity for GCA, and to that end a couple of kindly fans (you know who you are, but I don't know if you want me to blab it here) have been working on some images I can put into a YouTube video ad/trailer, and they're looking REALLY good. Alas that I can't get real animation (rather than what I'll have to do, which will be some artistic fades from stills), but that would probably cost more than any book I ever write would make. I *am* seriously considering a billboard ad in the local area, about a month before release. Billboards appear to be startlingly inexpensive, relatively speaking.
FAMILY: Both Vicky and Gabriel had their surgeries and have recovered nicely. On initial evaluation Gabe does appear to be behaving overall better, but it'll take a while to be sure. Kathy's pregnancy is causing her the usual plethora of Pain In The Ass symptoms (ranging from indigestion to exhaustion and nausea) but she's doing well in general and the baby is kicking in a healthy manner. Maria and Donny are scheduled to move out next week, I believe, which will give us two rooms back.
WRITING: I am at close to 70,000 words for Polychrome (AKA The Story That Made Me Write It Or Else), 45-50,000 words for Fall of Saints, and I just this morning had a revelation on how I can fix some of the problems I was having with Spheres of Influence, not that I'm going back to it soon unless GCA does well or Toni asks for it. I've been sent the current proposed cover by Stephen Hickman and it's BEAUTIFUL -- captures the spirit of the book and uses one of the actual scenes in the book (with some modification for artistic license, of course). I'm also planning on doing some personal publicity for GCA, and to that end a couple of kindly fans (you know who you are, but I don't know if you want me to blab it here) have been working on some images I can put into a YouTube video ad/trailer, and they're looking REALLY good. Alas that I can't get real animation (rather than what I'll have to do, which will be some artistic fades from stills), but that would probably cost more than any book I ever write would make. I *am* seriously considering a billboard ad in the local area, about a month before release. Billboards appear to be startlingly inexpensive, relatively speaking.
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Date: 2009-06-24 08:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 12:36 am (UTC)In addition, be careful with your calcium intake [as in, if you take a calcium supplement, I recommend dropping it]. My husband suffers from gout as a side-effect from blood pressure medication and he has also had several kidney stones. [these are pure -heck-.]
His doctor told him that there appears to be a link between calcium kidney stones and gout, so I pass along the advice, for what it's worth.
Gout
Date: 2009-06-25 02:06 pm (UTC)I, too, have gout. There are a couple of things to watch.
Drink lots of water. I try for at least 2 liters a day.
Soft drinks are good, believe it or not. I use either plain carbonated water or the drinks made with Splenda (Diet coke with Splenda tastes like *real* coke). Watch what you eat. Bacon is a major no-no. Gravies, meat broths, and meat concentrates are off limits. Avoid fats.
Drop me a line or drop in on alt.callahans. I have a spreadsheet with dietary purine contents.
I take allopurinol daily. No gastric side effects and my gout seems to be under control.
Re: Gout
Date: 2009-06-25 03:08 pm (UTC)Avoiding fats and meats would be more painful than the gout, however. I can barely maintain the focus to track calories, let alone change my diet so I don't eat any of the stuff I actually LIKE. (also, according to what I've read, it's a terribly idiosyncratic disease, which for some people is tremendously diet dependent and for others is not, or minimally so. I'll have to hope the latter is true for me)
They started me on allopurinol; one a day for the first week, then two a day afterward. Guess they like to ramp it up slowly.