Today is March 10, 2002, and I have decided that I have procrastinated long enough! I will try to finish this section before the end of the day.
Galli had made an appointment with a Cardiologist on the same day that I saw Ford, the surgeon. I don't know if any of the doctors in Mountain Home actually had enough sense to figure out the fact that I had an Aortic Stenosis, but I had mentioned the fact to both Cheney and Galli that I had had a tooth repaired in the spring on '2001.
Galli ran one more series of tests on my blood for Psittacosis and for some general IgG, IgE, and IgM antibody titers. The antibody titers were somewhat elevated, but I was also negative for Psittacosis. These titers were nonspecific for any particular antigen, so they proved nothing, and since I was negative for Psittacosis too, then the only thing he could think of was the "Gold Standard!"
Since I see a dentist about once every ten years, I had completely forgotten that David Kauffman, M.D., had discovered a murmur in 1996 when I got banged up in an auto accident (See Photo Section)! So, since I had never premedicated prior to a dental appointment before, doing so never even crossed my mind. Bill Curzon had fixed a broken tooth for me, taken an X-Ray, filled one more tooth under an old cavity, cleaned my teeth, and had me on my way in 30 minutes!
During that late spring and early summer, the thought dawned on me that I could have acquired bacterial endocarditis as a result of the dental visit. So, the day I saw Ford, I also had an echocardiogram run. The technician who performed the test did so with great skill, and she said that since I would not be seeing the doctor that day anyway, she would explain the pictures as she got them. Well, to make a long story short, my heart looked like Shit! Calcium Deposition is definitely a big factor in the malfunctioning of several valves, and the source of most of my present health problems!
I never saw the cardiologist; I cancelled that appointment also! However, I decided to go back to Dr. Kauffman, and did so several weeks ago. Tomorrow, he is going to test my carotid arteries with a Doppler. However, before I get ahead of myself, let me back up and return to the proper chronology.
Once Dr. Stirling told me about Allergic Alveolitis or Extrinsic Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis, I called Galli's office and told them to fax all of my stuff to Dr.Scot J. Snodgrass, M.D., 311 E. Monroe, Jonesboro, Arkansas, 72401.
December 31, 2001, Joan and I drove to Jonesboro, Arkansas to Dr. Snodrass' office. We had obtained quite a lot of data from the Internet on Allergic Alveolitis, so we brought everything that we had printed out for him to see. The first thing that I told him was that something was wrong with my total picture, and I was looking for someone to put the pieces of the puzzle in their proper place. I also remember telling him that I needed more than two minutes of his time! I got more than two minutes; I got three hours!
The first thing that he did was stick my arms 72 times with different allergens. I did not react very highly to any of the allergens, and by the time we had finished this he had become very curious about my pulmonary function studies. Scot Snodgrass is very proficient in his field, and he is a very affable young man! At one point, when everyone was quite relaxed, he told Joan and I that he had been in his office the Saturday morning prior to my Monday visit, and he reviewed the results of everything that had been faxed to him from Galli's office. He told us that after seeing the results of my pulmonary function studies, and the fact that I had been scheduled for an open lung biopsy, he sat back and wondered, to himself, "What in the Hell does this guy think that I can do for him?" He had the answers, but he just did not realize it yet!
After the arm sticking and lack of reaction, and my failure to elicit any kind of coughing, etc. He said that he wanted to repeat the pulmonary studies. He asked me what I had been prescribed, and I told him that I was given Albuterol and Flovent 220mcg Inhalers. He had one of his technicians to repeat the pulmonary function tests. When she had finished he returned to my exam room and said, " This is a Miracle", your pulmonary fests are normal! He continued as though he was puzzled, because, as he said, orally inhaled steroids cannot possibly reverse the pulmonary function! He had been reading through the material that we had brought with us, and finally he said, "It's got to be that pigeon allergy!" He had never before had a case of "Pigeon Fancier's Lung", so he did not know what specific test to run or where to have it run. I showed him the Doctor's phone number in Scotland, but he insisted that would not be necessary! By this time it was 5:00 P.M. on New Year's Eve, and everyone (especially me) was ready to go home!
New Year's Eve was a Monday in '2001 so on Wednesday, January 2, 2002; Dr. Snodgrass called me and told me that he could not find anyone in Jonesboro who knew anything about this condition! It took several more days for him to find out what test to run and what reference lab to use that ran the test. This involved my going to another doctor, only because she was affiliated with St.Bernard's Hospital and its reference lab. So, in about a week, Scot called me at the pharmacy with astounding news! He said, "I am going to fax the results of this "Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis Panel" to you, but I can tell you right now it is definitely the pigeon droppings!"
When I received the results, the IgG for mixed feathers was about ten times normal and some other mold like organisms were appreciably elevated, but the pigeon droppings stuck out like a sore thumb! Normal on this test panel was considered to be <12.3ug/ml of whole blood, and mine registered >200ug/ml. How much greater than 200 is anybody's guess; this is just where they stopped diluting my blood since is high enough to make a definitive diagnosis! Remember, I had not been fooling with the birds for over a month; Joan had been feeding and watering them for me.
The following Saturday when I got home from work, Joan was in the process of giving all of my birds away when I drove up! While she was caring for the birds, she inadvertently trapped a falcon in the young bird loft! The damned thing killed many of my young birds before my son got the falcon! I vacillated between giving up the birds entirely and keeping some of them. I went and got six pairs back, then I took them back to a friend, and then I went to pick them up again!
The last time that I picked them up, I decided to keep them! I let them out for exercise, but they would not go back into the loft on their own! They were terrified of their Home because of the falcon's previous presence! It got cold and the birds would not come in, and I finally located them in a pasture not far from the house. However, even after following my truck home, I could not get them to go into their loft! Finally, my friend suggested to me, that I take several of the birds that I had give to him and lock them in the aviary where the other birds could see them. Damn, two minutes after I did this the other birds came right on Home! They were trying to tell me all along that they were not going into that loft until they were certain that it was safe! Stupid me, I just did not get the message!
So, I have decided against medical advice, to push the envelope just a little farther! I only have a few pairs of birds, and only two babies thus far this spring. I don't know, at this point, whether or not I will fly in competition, but we will see!
Several weeks ago, I got furious with Gary Meador with ADEQ (Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality). I stayed angry all night long, and I was up and down all night! This idiot had sent me an email stating that his last letter to Mr. Curtis came back to him with no forwarding address from the Randolph County Jail. After making several calls, he learned that Mr. Curtis (The man in the Fruit Truck) - (See Photos Page One), had been moved to Arkansas Department of Corrections at Brikey, Arkansas. This is also known as Cummins State Penitentiary. It was mid February by then, and I had known this since before Christmas! I emailed him that night using expletives that had ears ringing from Little Rock to Dallas! I have, in no uncertain terms, let him know that he is to have no contact with me unless it is through my attorney! I have a very low tolerance for stupidity, and he just crossed the line! The morning after my tirade, I awakened with something bothering one of my eyes. I rubbed the eye, thinking I had slept on it wrong, but quickly realized that I could not see out of that eye!
That morning I went to Dan Speir, and Optometrist next door to the pharmacy, and he said that I was hemorrhaging near the retina. He also said that there was no treatment for the condition! The next week, I went to J.Y. Massey, M.D.. J. Y. is an Ophthalmologist, and his diagnosis was as is follows: "Nasociliary Branch of the Main Retinal Artery Occlusion". He told me that vision is rarely if ever restored, and because the artery is so small that nothing can be done about the condition. I obviously threw an embolus the night before, and the clot or calcium deposit broke off and lodged itself in the artery.
As I said earlier, I am going to have my Carotids checked tomorrow. I am almost certain that I will need to have my Aortic Valve replaced, but tomorrow I will know more!
Health, page 1 | Health, page 2
| Health, page 3 | PIGEON FANCIERS' LUNG
