Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Shepherd

Last year, I wrote and directed a pretty decent short film called Shepherd. It's a simple story set around lost memory and found second chances. When it was finished, I had glorious plans to enter it into film festivals across the country. But, per usual, my inhibitions kept me from putting it out into the universe. I was then quite surprised to find out this week that Shepherd is screening at a special Filmed in Utah event tomorrow night at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Amazing.

Apparently, the universe gave up on waiting for me, and found the movie on its own. At least, that's what I choose to believe. :)

So, if you're free, the screening starts at 7pm. Now I just have to keep from breaking out in hives from anxiety until then.


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Serc

Serc, or betahistine dihydrochloride, is a special medicine developed to treat disorders of the inner ear. For some reason, Serc, is readily available in other countries, and is quite often prescribed in Europe and Canada for Meniere's Disease, but not so readily available in the US. Serc works by improving the blood flow to the inner ear, and also works on normalizing the way in which inner ear nerve endings respond to outside influences. 

My doctor let me try Serc for a time. I was surprised to learn that I had to have it formulated at a compounding pharmacy. In the US, a compounding pharmacy has the ingredients and capabilities to compound certain drugs and medicines that either aren't mass produced in the US, or need to be tailored for a certain patient. I was lucky to find a compounding pharmacy near me that could compound my betahistine. I was unlucky to learn that compounding can be, and was for me, very expensive. I think I stopped taking Serc because of the high cost. I'm not sure if I even gave it a fair shot of helping me or not.

In my continued effort to improve my health, I'm going to give Serc another shot. I will start tomorrow, and report my progress here. Fingers crossed.

Onward we go, fellow soldiers.

Friday, May 17, 2013

The Documentary

I'm very excited about this post. For almost a year, I've been in production on a documentary about Meniere's Disease. I've been fortunate enough to have the support and participation of Meniere's Disease sufferers around the world. My team and I are currently putting together applications for grants, building out our Kickstarter page, and have almost finalized the trailer. The goal of this film to is raise awareness about Meniere's Disease in order to further funding for research. As I mentioned in a past post, Meniere's Disease hasn't had much of a voice, but I'm happy to utilize my film education and training to give all of us a voice at long last.

I will continue to post updates to this project here. If you would like to participate or support this film in any way, please email me. Thanks friends.

skyecemerson@gmail.com

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Less Movies, More Meniere's

Less Movies, More Meniere's

Film school is officially finished, and now my focus turns back to Meniere's Disease advocacy. I will still utilize this site to post about films, but I've been neglecting my Meniere's Disease updates, so here is what's happening with Meniere's Disease and me:

The negatives: What the what? Hearing in my left ear continues to decline. Boo. My audiologist recommended a hearing aid. So, me being me, I had to get the mack daddy of hearing aids. It's a tiny little thing, barely noticeable. The cool thing is that it works just like a Bluetooth. I can program my IPhone to ring directly to it, and it will also play my Itunes. This could be very beneficial in boring work meetings. Only kidding. Sort of.

Now, if only I can start remembering to wear it more often. I'm pretty terrible at this. I blame the Meniere's Disease brain fog.

The vertigo and dizziness have been hit and miss. I was very hopeful that the VNS surgery would have completely quelled these spells. Alas, the vertigo has found a way to break through on occasion. I'm now considering an alternative therapy that, if I do undertake, I will discuss further here in a month or two.

The positives: I continue to work, live and play. I am happy. I am functioning. I refuse to let this illness ruin my life. I have great family and friends and loved ones who support me and help me when needed. I am never going to give up fighting this illness. I continue to travel and enjoy life its fullest, and if Meniere's Disease thinks it will take that away from me, it has another thing coming.