does anyone remember that old song by roger miller called King of the Road? well i wrote some lyrics which follow, and you can sing along using that tune. or if you are not as old as i am, you can just read them.

zumba shoes for sale or rent,


belly scarves, fifty cents.


health membership for free,


you see, i've got this busted knee.


they say," no pain and you get no gain",


but did they mean you get hit by a train?


i don't want to be a big old slouch,


QUEEN OF THE COUCH.


this blog kept me awake  last night. well, that and my knee pain. i was having a blog attack as my husband likes to call them. what really got me going was some news that i got yesterday. you see, a friend of mine has been dealing with some thyroid issues for a little while now. her regular doctor told her, that despite a TSH of 4 and many symptoms of hypothyroid disease( hair loss, feeling cold, weight gain when she eats like a bird- really, like a little bitty sparrow,  extreme tiredness,etc, ) she was in the " normal" range. i wonder what planet he came from! and i would be willing to bet that if he had a TSH of 4 and the symptoms she has been having that he would get help ASAP. i advised her to buy a couple of good books on hypothyroid disease( to review, by two favorite ones are: The Thyroid Sourcebook, 5th edition by M. Sara Rosenthal, and Mary Shomon's Living Well With Hypothyroidism, revised and updated edition) . and i am also trying to help her locate a doctor near by who will take her problems seriously and will help her..nothing makes my blood boil quite so quickly as someone having hypothyroid symptoms ( i.e., suffering,) and not be able to get their doctor to help them!!ARRG!!!

getting back to her  TSH level.  her doctor said that the " normal range" was up to 5. in Ms. Rosenthal's book, she said that the old standards were values collected from a group ( study) of  men, some of whom were actually hypothyroid themselves. she recommends treating at 2.5. the new standard is 3.0. either way, my friend needs to be treated. i am on a mission, and i will do everything in my power to help her. why am i such a gorilla warfare  fighter in the land of untreated elevated TSH and hypothyroid symptoms? well, i myself went untreated for several years. that is a whole other blog, but i do not want to see it happen to anyone else. i will keep everyone updated on my friend's progress.

in the meantime, i am seeing my rheumatologist on wednesday and will let him review my MRI. i will probably have the dreaded " needle" ( aka, cortisone injection) if he thinks that it will help. at this point i am ready to try just about anything to get better. and i need to get  back to zumba before i really do have to sell my dancing shoes.