I thought I had thrush, but it was very resistant to all thrush meds. I finally saw my internist when I asked for a refill on my meds. "Stop the meds and see me." He said he was an expert on thrush and he said I didn't have it and said I should stop taking all vitamins and supplements and re-introduce them one at a time to see which one was causing my troubled mouth -- oily. So, I thought, what is the one thing I am taking that I never took before? A prescription iron capsule from the cancer specialist I saw during the search for a cause of my anemia. Some side effects that were obvious (too gross to write about here) that I was told were common with this pill and I was told not to worry. So, I have stopped the iron, and also calcium, C, D, E, flaxseed, pine bark and C ribose. Don't ask me what they all do. I knew when I started and have forgotten. I have continued turmeric since it is an anticoagulant and is better for me than baby aspirin which produces enormous bruises and terrifies me because that's where blood clots come from. I also have continued magnesium since it is a regulatory aid that has solved all digestive glitches. And I have continued hyaluronic acid tablets that take 10 years off my face and my friends who take it report the same.

Sol, our dear friend who is thrilled to have achieved her R.N. degree and is now working in a Naples hospital, scolded me for picking and choosing what to stop and I told her I knew myself better than he did and historical experience with doctors has taught me when to resist. So we had one of our very few fights and then made up, hugs and kisses and apologies.

I also micromanaged my late husband's overdosing on senior meds and got him off stuff he didn't need any more. I won all fights with the hospital. They learned to fear me and I became a legend after I got Jay home with nurses rather than warehousing him in a nursing home. There was a time when just mentioning my name at the Linsky bldg. at Beth Israel in New York would send the social workers running for cover. I was known for tutoring family members of other severely compromised patients on how to get them home. FYI, the social workers are trained to resist home care because it is more expensive for the insurance companies.

As for medical imperatives (don't get me started on the one size fits all colonoscopy prep) when I was recently hospitalized with a high fever and severe chills, they wouldn't cover me up saying it would interfere with getting rid of the fever. So I was allowed to shiver myself into oblivion. This onset was so bad that I didn't think I could handle it at home so I had to endure their solution. One thing that has never failed me in such situations is a hot bath but the night I got sick we had a hot water heater glitch. Later when I saw the nurse practitioner, she agreed with me. I wish they'd all get on the same page. Anyway, it's good I went in because I needed the antibiotics.

xx, Teal