A few things have happened since I last posted. Here are some thoughts on the events that have occurred in my life and in the world, and how they relate to FQ toxicity.

I went on a big hike in the middle of July. I hiked 75 miles of The Colorado Trail from Molas Pass to my hometown, Durango. I hiked ten miles a day for the first three days, and 15 miles a day for the following three days. It was beautiful and I enjoyed it and I am glad I did it, but it was also really hard. Everything hurt while I was hiking, and it took me longer than I expected to recover.

I hiked the entire ~500 mile Colorado Trail (from Denver to Durango) in 2010, a couple years pre-flox. I was 30 at the time. It was great, and even though I remember parts of it being really difficult, I also remember feeling really strong while doing it and after I finished.

The 75 miles I hiked this year (2020), at age 40, felt hard and exhausting. I’m ten years older, and I was floxed in the last decade – and I think both of those factors led to the pain and exhaustion I experienced.

BUT, I fully realize that I shouldn’t complain about pain or exhaustion from hiking 75 miles. I was, after all, ABLE to hike 75 miles in 6 days, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I couldn’t have done that through most of my thirties because of fluoroquinolone toxicity. For a long time my body was too weak to do a major multi-day backpacking trip. I have considered myself to be recovered for a while, and now my body is able to do really difficult physical activities again. It’s good, and I am grateful for the recovery I have experienced. I also hope that stories like this help those reading this to imagine the possibility of doing physically difficult things post-flox. Hiking 75 miles was hard, but my post-flox body was able to do it.

Here are some pics from my trip:

After returning from my Colorado Trail journey I adopted a couple kittens from the local Humane Society. Their names are Johnny and Bobby and they’re adorable and I love them to pieces already.

There’s a lot of angst in the world right now. I feel angsty and fearful and I am quite certain that I am not alone in those feelings. Kittens help. Not that I got them because of stress or politics or general angst – I got them because I love cats and my beloved Rickie-cat passed away at the age of 17.5 in late-June and I wanted/needed some kitty-love in my home. With that said, kittens are making my world a lot happier. I also think that the love of a pet is healing, and that it may even help with getting through fluoroquinolone toxicity (as it did for Gigi – you can read her story of healing with the love of a pet HERE).

Here are Johnny (tabby) and Bobby (black):

Of course, the big thing going on in the world right now is COVID-19. It sucks. Everything about it sucks. That’s my in-depth analysis on COVID (and probably all global pandemics).

I have posted a few things about hydroxychloroquine on my facebook page – some pro, some anti. My main opinion on it at this point is that everyone – EVERYONE – is subject to confirmation bias. The doctors who have used hydroxychloroquine “successfully” are subject to confirmation bias (even the non-crazy ones). Of course doctors are biased just like everyone else – that’s why double blind randomized controlled studies are necessary. The “peer reviewers” and editors at the Lancet, one of the oldest and most respected journals, are also subject to confirmation bias, as shown by the fact that they were quick to unquestioningly publish a study full of fraudulent data that showed that hydroxychloroquine was not effective and that it actually caused harm. Their confirmation bias made them unable to see obvious flaws in the study (“A first-year statistics major could tell you about major flaws in the design of the analysis”). The WHO halted all studies of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 based on the Lancet-published (fraud-filled) study – and the WHO decision-makers should have known better and checked their bias too. No one at the Lancet or the WHO bothered to check their bias against the drug, and every single one of them should have known better. The job of peer reviewers and journal editors is to question what they are given, and the Lancet reviewers and editors failed miserably at doing so. The article that I’m referring to has been retracted by the Lancet, and you can read all about the scandal around it by searching “lancet hydroxychloroquine article retracted.” Anyhow… double-blind randomized controlled studies are necessary to eliminate confirmation bias. The randomized controlled studies of hydroxychloroquine have shown that it is not an effective treatment against COVID-19. This will probably come as a relief to many floxies because many people who have had a disastrously awful reaction to fluoroquinolones are understandably hesitant to take a drug that has a similar chemical structure. Hopefully alternative treatments will be available to most floxies (and everyone else) who end up getting COVID-19.

Many of you already know this from the comments on the floxiehope home-page, but I should mention to those who just read the posts that our friend Henk Noordhuizen passed away on June 10, 2020. His loss is grieved by the Floxie Hope community as well as his friends and family. Henk was an outspoken advocate for victims of fluoroquinolones, and his advocacy and friendship are missed.

I am assuming that most of you would rather read posts that contain helpful information about fluoroquinolone toxicity rather than posts that update you about my life. I am sorry for not having the time, energy, or inclination to write those in a while. I encourage all my floxie friends who have something to say about fluoroquinolones to submit a post for publication on this site. I’m happy to put up posts written by other people. Also, this site was originally intended to be a place where people could share their stories of hope and healing from fluoroquinolone toxicity, not a blog for me. But it morphed into a bit of both, and I think that both have been good. As I get slower on the blogging bit (out of laziness, forgetting the pain of fluoroquinolone toxicity, other things going on in my life, etc.) I hope that this site is still a place where people can share their stories of healing from fluoroquinolone toxicity. I’m still publishing inspirational stories from brave and wonderful people who have recovered from fluoroquinolone toxicity. If you have a story of hope and healing, please reach out. Thank you!

I wish all my floxie community hope and healing! xoxoxo

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