Greetings and salutations!

[pilvikki]

Nope, not dead yet, but as i am older than Gary...
It's been a very strange time over here, in the s c sunny Languedoc. First off, i locked myself out of my laptop for a year, could not remember/find the p/w.
Then we had to move real quickly - and i lost the laptop. Had back surgery, so couldn't sit with it anyway. Have since found both but now I'm on my phone and it's working fine.
The virus is being a PITA with some 30 000 new cases daily. People just don't get it! Not gotten my vaccination yet, need to call the doc and ask him about it.
Cindy's death was quite the shock to my system, she did have some nasty health problems, but i didn't expect her to depart at 59! She never even got to retire after working her ass off. So bloody unfair.
I see texas has defrosted. Good thing, too. Now put Cruz into a deepfreeze for a spell, it might enlighten him.
Ok, cheers!

[Flawless]

Hi! I guess we're just having a reunion all of a sudden!

[Kellemora]

Welcome back Pil, been a while! Sorry to hear of all the problems you had in the interim.
I'm no where in the pink anymore myself, and have aches and pains in places I never even knew existed until they began to hurt, hi hi.
I too had a major downturn of sorts. My lung capacity dropped from 55% all the way down to 22% between doctors visits.
So, even though I can't afford the medication he wanted me to take, so didn't, he now found one slightly cheaper that seems to be helping somewhat. At least I'm still on this side of the grass, for now anyhow.

[ocelotl]

Ermmm... ¿Hello?... Good to see you all are still kicking... Also waiting for the vaccine. Fortunatelly I've already registered my parents for early appointment so it's all a matter of staying put waiting. Hope it all turns better for all frm now on.

[yogi]

What kind of sorcery is this?

I don't remember the last time so many of my long time virtual friends were all in the same place at the same time. Even more amazing is the fact that they decided to meet here. I see the moon is at its Full Phase, so, perhaps that has something to do with it. Whatever the motivation is, it is a great pleasure to see you all here, alive and well ... alive, anyway.

It's particularly comforting to see Mz Vikki tapping away at her touch screen on her phone. I knew we were operational in that mode, but it seemed for the longest time that I was the only person to test it out. Thank you for proving we have attained "mobile" status.

Us old timers are noted for the ability to discuss our illnesses, surgeries, and funerals ad infinitum. The present pandemic has put us all to the test and it is indeed very disheartening to note the youngest (other than Juan) among us has become one of our Guardian Angels. Being a nurse she was exposed to the worst of it on nearly a daily basis. I'm very sad to learn of Cindy's passing, but I can't say it is surprising considering the work she was doing.

I'm probably the oldest guy on this website and am still enjoying the fresh, more or less, Missouri air. Believe it or not my vaccination eligibility was second only to healthcare providers, and I will be going for my second dose next Monday. The truly astonishing fact is that they called me with the invitation. I had some reservations about this whole vaccination bit, but since they went out of their way to put me near the top of the list I felt it would be tempting Fate to turn it down. At the moment I'm about 50% immune and a few weeks from now expect to be over 90%.

You people made my day by showing up for an unplanned mini reunion. As was always the case y'all are welcome here any time. Hope to be seeing more of you.

[ocelotl]

¿Youngest? At almost 50 it has turned not an often claim... Thanks for all of you to be around...

[Flawless]

Pretty sure I'm the youngest at 34

[yogi]

Oh yeah, right. Jared is certainly the youngest of our lot. My 76 year old brain forgot about that.

[Kellemora]

I wonder if I'll still be around to see 76, hmm, that's only less than three years away now.
My docs though I would be gone before I hit 70, so I'm doing better than expected I suppose.
Although last month I had a major downturn. My lung capacity dropped from 55% all the way down to 22%.
Shame I couldn't afford the medications that might have slowed that decline down.

[yogi]

Your misfortune with the lungs is devastating to be sure. It's also astonishing to know that a person can get by with only 22% lung capacity. I guess there is a lot of reserve built into our bodies. Then again, you are also getting some assistance from drug therapy even if it's not everything that could be done. Doctors make their best guess, but it is only a guess. They were certain my mom would never make it out of the ICU she was in when they pronounced her terminal. She lived nearly four more years after that. As they say, where there is life there is hope. Hang in there good buddy.

[pilvikki]

Gary, what are the drugs you're required to take? If you can give me the name, I'll go for comparison shopping here.
Things regularly are WAY cheaper.
2 epipens = 35 € for ex.

[Kellemora]

The one the doctor wants me to take is Perforomist 20 MCG it comes in 2ML vials, about 60 to a box.
But the main problem here is, although my insurance will cover all but 20% of the $1,514.09 price.
Along with my other expensive meds, it would drive me into the doughnut hole in 3 months time, then after that, nothing is covered.
I have another I am taking Budesonide 0.5MG in 2ML vials. It is 795.99 retail, I also get it for 20%, and this one will push me into the doughnut hole in about 10 to 11 months by itself, not counting my other medications.
This latter one, Budesonide, seems to work almost as good as the really expensive one. So that is what I'm taking now.
But from the time I was at 55% lung capacity, until I was down to 22%, I was taking neither because I simply couldn't afford them.
Still can't, but I have a couple of friends who have helped me with my co-pays.

Epinephrine here is very cheap as an injection, if you can find anyone who sells it that is.
Most places put it in a plastic pen and sell it for like 400 bucks. You are basically paying for the pen, not the drug itself.

One of the reasons I use the nebulized versions of the drugs is because I get like ten times more for much cheaper.
For example: 160 MCG of Budesonide in an inhaler costs $540.00 for 28 inhalations. Note that I'm using 0.5 MG that's the equivalent of 500 MCG I think. And the way my insurance works, I'm getting the Nebulized outside of my drug plan with the doughnut hole. At least I think I am, hi hi.

FWIW: On rainy days, or when the humidity is high, it is very hard to breathe, plus my lungs are always filling up with mucus which I have to cough up if I can. The feeling is like having pneumonia all the time, not fun for sure. O2 helps but not a lot if my lungs are full of gunk, until I get it cleared out. Plus I retain CO2 which means I have to do these very tiring breathing exercises several times a day.

In a nutshell - Getting OLDE is the PITTS, hi hi.