Go forward!--Christopher Reeve

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Hahaha! It's not that bad. I had my appointment with the new doctor yesterday. First of all, I like him. He's Libyan, speaks very good English, and NICE. He listened, and took his time with this crazy American woman who has her own ideas about how to treat her sarcoidosis. I wanted to try the Marshall Protocol and stay away from prednisone. He agreed to read the materials I gave him and do some research. He even wrote me the prescription for Olmetec. Unfortunately, they don't carry it at Hamad Hospital and I can't get the quanitity I need OTC in Doha (at least not today). And it would cost me about $500 for a summer's worth. So, that's on hold for now. I go back in two weeks and perhaps I can still do the antibiotic portion of the protocol. If not, I am looking into natural antibiotics like colloidal silver and olive leaf extract. The olive leaf extract sounds really promising and isn't very expensive either. I think I can buy olive leaves at the souqs here and make tea (God, I hate olives...I wonder what the leaves taste like!). We'll see what happens. I do believe Dr. Marshall has something in his theories about inflammatory diseases being caused by bacteria. It makes a lot of sense to me, especially when you consider the overprescriptions of antibiotics for years which has resulted in superbugs galore! I am so worried that I may have passed some of these critters to my children and grandchildren. I am going to educate myself and my children. We have all experienced too much illness. Something isn't right. Something has to change!

Now, how is life in Doha? Well, annual leave is coming up fast! I can't wait. I'm hoping that if the doctor agrees to let me start the cycline treatment and, if it's available, that I may be able to get medical leave and go home a week or two early to get started. I do not want to feel crappy while traveling (it's hard enough!) and the antibiotics will cause a die-off of bacteria that may make me very sick. Not infectious sick, but feeling crappy. I don't need to get quarantined for H1N1 at an airport somewhere because I have a fever! :) LOL Yesterday was the last day of classes for the spring semester! Tomorrow is the final exam. Sunday is the gradeathon of exam essays. The following week is finishing up, submitting grades, etc. My IELTS prep course did not go forward (not enough students registered). But that's ok. I need a break!

Today we are hanging out, may head to the souqs later when it's cooler. It's getting hotter and hotter here in Doha. Oddly enough, I'm tolerating it very well. I stood outside waiting for Nelson to pick me up yesterday and realized I could not have done that when I first arrived. We keep our AC set at a much higher temperature than when we first arrived.

Anyway, that's my quick update for now. I'm hoping to do a little bit of touristy stuff that we haven't taken time to do here in Doha, so I'll update more until we leave! Later!