Sarcoidosis - not enough care and attention given to sufferers

Hi all

didn't quite explain my consultant's comments properly. She too says the link between sarcoidosis and hypercalcaemia has been know for a long time, so has the link between calcium levels and vitamin D. The thing she hasn't seen written anywhere is that these 2 facts mean that people with renal symptoms of sarcoid (for instance) are more likely to see a flare in those types of symptom and others related to high calcium levels during sunny weather - like during the summer in the unlikely event that we have one in the Glasgow area.

Nasal congestion - yes! Suspect I may be be going back to 10 mg prednisolone because since I dropped to 7.5 mg I've noticed that coming back and giving me almost permanent sinus headaches.

Overall I've been lucky with the consultants I've seen as far as empathy is concerned. Same with my GP who admits that I probably know more about the condition than him now. He's been a GP for about 20 years and I'm only the 2nd person he's ever had in the practice with the condition. If a doctor said the kind of things of you guys have said to you, I'd probably lose the rag and give them a piece of my mind. Meanwhile hugs to all of you who have had to put up with things like that!

Oh Helen, you poor thing! My God you are suffering aren't you? It seems like your Sarcoidosis is really bombarding you with every symptom at once.

Your doctors need putting up against a wall and shot and that's putting it mildly. Seriously, you have a very good case of mal-practise there and if I were you I would go for it. Your condition would not have deteriorated had they sent you for the right tests and given you the right treatment. How on earth could they dismiss you the way they did? No matter what was wrong or the fact that they didn't diagnose you properly, it must have been clear that you were very ill. It's just so horrifying that they signed off on you. I know there are several law firms in England that would happily deal with your case such as Leo Abse and co. Your doctors have left you with irreparable damage because of their neglect. It's so shocking!

Please, please ask to be sent to another hospital and consultant. Your GP cannot refuse your request and make sure he tells them it is urgent. Please tell me that you are at least on steroids at the moment.

You GP needs a good kick up the bum for his attitude. My GP changed his attitude when the hospice doctor wrote a letter saying that I had complained that I was being ignored and that nobody cared how I was feeling. As it turned out the locum GP read the letter and sorted everything out for me but it should never have come to that.

I think you should throw a nice hissy fit next time you are at the doctor and tell them you are going to write a letter of complaint to the BMA (British Medical Association). You can also complain to the practise manager of your GP's clinic that you are not receiving the proper medical attention that you need. I also did this and amazingly they were falling over themselves to help me. Unfortunately they have short memories and the help never lasts but I'd give it a try anyway.

It's absolutely appalling that they said you look okay and therefore must be okay!!!!! What Dickensian era did they fall out of?

Please do not apologise. You are not burdening us at all. The whole point of my starting this forum was because of the shocking way people with Sarcoidosis were treated and also I wanted to build up a support group of people who knew what it was like to suffer from this multi-symptom disease that Sarcoidosis is. We can only get to see our doctors when and if we get an appointment but here we can chat to each other and off-load when things get too hard to handle. It doesn't just knock you for six physically but mentally too and therefore we all need the support of other sufferers from time to time. I think we would all agree that sometimes it is hard enough just getting through the day but we are all here for each other. I don't want you to never mention your symptoms again I want you to feel that you can come and off-load anytime it's getting bad for you. I'm sure there will always be someone on-line to reach out a supporting hand. I think you have had more than your fair share of suffering with no support whatsoever and I can only admire you for getting through it the way you have but now you have us lot to offer support so you don't have to face it all on your own.

You keep your chin up Helen and don't be scared to pour out your feelings whenever you want but please remember you don't have to put up with any more nonsense from the hospital.

Big hugs, June

I woke this morning and realised that I hadn't said something very important and that is, if you have new symptoms please get yourself checked out because it may not be due to your Sarcoidosis! This also goes for on-going symptoms that have not been attributed to Sarcoidosis. We all know that Sarcoidosis is a multi-symptom disease but it also mimics other diseases to.

There is a lot to be said for "Show me the patient and I will show you more than one illness!" (It was a rule that my colleagues and I worked to) When I was nursing many moons ago, I found that doctors were a little guilty of labelling a patient with one illness only and overlooked other symptoms that clearly pointed to other problems being there too. Now I am not slagging off the doctors. A lot of them were junior doctors and were drowning under a sea of too many patients per doctor. They were expected to pick up on things missed by the high and mighty consultants (who were usually to be found on the golf course). Little wonder that they would try and fit the symptoms around the one illness rather than realise that the patient had other things going wrong too.

Today, we get 5 minutes if we are lucky to tell our GP what is wrong and it's just not long enough. GPs are like triage nurses in A&E. They treat what they can and refer patients onto consultants for the things they cannot treat. GPs nowadays have a budget to work within and every test and consultation costs the GP practice so it's not surprising that a multi-symptom disease like Sarcoidosis has them running for cover when we present them with all our ailments.

However once diagnosed with Sarcoidosis it is really up to us to be aware if new symptoms appear and don't really tie into the Sarcoidosis' book of symptoms.

One could be forgiven for thinking "if it looks like Sarcoidosis and acts like Sarcoidosis, then it's Sarcoidosis" but are we giving other illnesses a free pass to invade our bodies? My feeling is "better safe than sorry". Write down your new symptoms and go visit your GP. Explain that you really don't think this has anything to do with your Sarcoidosis for whatever reason you feel that it is different. There are very few doctors who will look at a list of symptoms and attribute them to several ailments. They are looking for the one thing that covers all so it's up to you to convince them otherwise or to at least get them to refer you on.

One last thing,don't forget that the medication we take carries with it side effects and health issues when taken over long periods of time so while we are shovelling down our pills and telling people we will be alright once the drugs kick in, it could just be that they are the reason we are feeling unwell. Read the medication leaflet and be aware of side effects and problems with long term use of each of your medications and if you spot any problems then talk to your GP. Remember he is seeing hundreds of patients a week, writes hundreds of repeat prescriptions and does not have the time to note which medications should be monitored more closely. Personally I think it is a dangerous loop-hole in community medicine but with the government wanting the GPs to extend their hours on-duty it frightens me to think people are going to pay the price with their lives if something isn't addressed soon.

Right I will get off my soapbox yet again ha ha!

Hope you are all managing to cope with the stormy weather and flooding. Stay safe, June

Hi June and all. Thanks so much for all the information you have posted on this forum. I have spent the last hour or so looking through this and it has helped me so much as I haven't had much contact with people with sarcoidosis since I was diagnosed some months ago. I do know a couple of people at work with it which I find a bit strange as it is supposed to be quite rare.

My main symptoms are being constantly short of breath, and having several patches of reddish raised inflammation on my skin. One of these was on my head and was removed about 18 months ago as they thought it was skin cancer. The biopsy showed inflammation and that was what led to the final diagnosis of sarcoidosis. I am still waiting for the results of blood tests to see if I have damage to kidneys, liver etc. I do also suffer from blurred vision and seriously dry eyes.

One thing I have suffered from for several years that has never been attributed to the sarcoidosis is constant ear infections so bad that the ear canal in my left ear has narrowed so much that I have very little hearing left. I do think it is related to the sarcoidosis though as I now have the skin blemishes both inside and outside that same ear.

Breathing and cough particularly bad at the moment as I have a cold.

I am not on any form of medication right now as I think I am In a phase of 'watch and see' to see if it improves on its own. I am not too hopeful though as I think I have probably had it for more than 4 years already. One of my colleagues who has it has recently had to take early retirement at 54 as he cannot work with the symptoms any more. He has been told that he will be on steroids for life. I am trying to avoid being put on steroids as my late husband had strong steroids a few years ago when he was being treated for a brain tumour so I saw all the side effects at first hand.

I feel quite lucky compared with some of the people posting here though so will try not to complain too much. I do relate to the depression that comes from having your life restricted though and I know that stress in my job makes my sarcoidosis symptoms much worse as does too much time spent in the sun.

Thanks once again for the wealth of information you have here.

Diane

Hi Diane and welcome to the group.

I too only found this forum recently and I also have pulmonary sarcoidosis. Steroids do have a vast range of side effects so it's always a balance between what help they give in terms of suppressing symptoms set against the known long term damage they do. I tried coming off them a few years ago and everything was fine for six months or so, but then my symptoms reasserted themselves and after a year I could barely make it across a room. The consultant I was seeing at the time got 'heavy', and said he "would not be responsible for the outcome" if I didn't go back to taking steroids.

The consultant at the Brompton, where I am now being treated, said I will never get off steroids but at least I know I need to take a low dose in order to be able to function. I also see a consultant at the Hammersmith as a follow up to having had an embolisation there to stop severe haemoptysis. I had an appointment there on Monday and all is currently well. I was told by the interventional radiologist who carried out the procedure that the blockage he created in my pulmonary artery can break down. Fingers crossed it holds for a few more years!

I also asked about taking Vitamin D and that threw up another issue. The consultant said she felt the evidence about sarcoidosis and Vitamin D was unconvincing and she was happy for people with sarc to take Vitamin D. Another doctor might well give the opposite opinion. I am taking fish oil with glucosamine and am fine on it.

I also asked about whether there was any given time limit for chronic sarcoidosis and she said no, but that it can "just burn itself out", which is the good news. The bad is that whatever damage it has is done, is done.

Di

Hello Diane and a huge welcome to the forum. I'm sorry for the slight delay in answering you just a little under the weather right now.

I'm really quite shocked that they didn't put you on steroids after finding the inflammation and even more shocked that they did not do a bronchoscopy and lung biopsy when they determined you had Sarcoidosis. Not all Sarcoidosis attacks the lungs but you are suffering with breathlessness so it doesn't take a brain specialist to work out that you have pulmonary Sarcoidosis. Much as the steroids do carry side effects, not everyone suffers from them and they would have at least given you relief from your breathlessness and pain in glands and ears.

Not everyone has to remain on steroids for the rest of their life either. I think the unfortunate people who were not diagnosed before they ended up with scarring in the lungs and or heart will have to stay on a maintenance dose of steroids because the damage is irreparable and therefore every effort needs to be taken to prevent further damage and keep the tissue from becoming inflamed.

For your dry eyes you can ask your GP for artificial tears like Celluvisc (Carmellous 1%. Just make sure he prescribes one that does not have any preservative in it as long term use is definitely not advised for the drops that do contain preservative. The one I mentioned is a good one. I keep mine in the fridge because I found that it was far more soothing when I needed to put them in. I have a Sarcoid lump in the corner of my right eye. It used to feel like I had a pin sticking in it but now I don't even notice it so long as I keep my eyes lubricated.

I have always thought that Sarcoidosis is not as rare as they say. I think that it so closely mimics other diseases that it is often misdiagnosed as something else. It is supposed to be 19 in every hundred thousand but just looking at how many has joined this forum tends to dispel this figure.

Your ear infections are almost certainly are to do with your Sarcoidosis and are probably made even more painful because of the swelling in lymph glands around the neck. The pain I think is akin to having mumps. I get the spots around the outer ear and have only had one inside the ear (that I'm aware of). The one inside the ear bled a little, (which obviously means that you should never poke your ears with a Q-tip) as do all the spots I get. The one in my ear made my ear crackle inside. It felt like an insect had crawled in and was setting up home. It was horrible and made me freak out. At the moment I have spots/rash symmetrically across my face, on my arms, my back and both legs below the knees. The spot pattern on my face is so weird because it is identical on both sides of my face. I've had them for a couple of months now and am waiting to get an appointment for the dermatologist (for a skin scraping apparently!)

I would say that your doctor needs a kick up the bum for his 'wait and see' attitude. He is allowing problems to get worse and to cause damage. There would be no harm in starting you off on a lower dose of steroid to calf the inflammation. Has he not even sent you for a straight forward chest X_Ray? You can request tests be done and they can't refuse you. I would at least request to see the respiratory specialist. Your doctor may be thinking that things will clear up on their own but equally they could get a whole lot worse.

For sarcoidosis sufferers even getting a cold is a big deal and should be addressed straight away as it can so easily become bronchitis or pneumonia. Constant coughing in an already weakened lung can cause you to spit up blood and can even cause the lung to collapse. I'm not trying to scare you but I am trying to show you that Sarcoidosis is a nasty disease to have and where some people are lucky enough to have only mild symptoms which don't require treatment, they do still need to be monitored as things can change very quickly. Considering that little is known about the disease, that there is no cure for it and although you can go into remission at any time and equally the disease can come back at any time (sometimes worse than before, sometimes just mild) it is vitally important that each individual sufferer pays attention to what is happening, keeps a note of symptoms (remembering that all that appears to be Sarcoidosis may not necessarily be Sarcoidosis) and goes to their GP when things flare up.

So please Diane, go make your GP refer you to the respiratory clinic and tell him you want it as an urgent referral not a 16 week wait. Don't take no for an answer. It is your right to receive the medical attention you need. You can always threaten him with a letter to the British Medical Association for his lack of care. Most of them are only trying to save money in their GP Practise but at what cost to the patient?

Please feel free to moan, complain or stamp your feet as much as you like here. We welcome people who just want to off-load how miserable they are feeling and there is always someone who will listen and respond here. If you don't complain then we won't be able to pick up on any new symptoms that the rest of us either don't have or haven't thought it was anything to do with Sarcoidosis. Plus you might have found something that eases a certain symptom and that could be invaluable to one of the other members who has been suffering with no relief.

I'm really sorry to hear about your husband. I also lost mine too and although it was nearly 14 years ago it still feels like it happened yesterday. So, if you are finding it hard to cope please feel free to talk about that too after all stress can make your Sarcoidosis worse and it's better to get it off your chest than sit feeling alone and upset.

Anyway I hope you will feel free to contribute (or moan!) now that you have joined us.

Big hug,

June

Hi all I am sitting waiting in the eye hospital and just had. Very long read to catch up

I was going to respond accordingly to each post but can't see me getting around to going that

So thought I would just let you know that I have had some very interesting reading

Best wishes to all

Hopefully I will get called soon at been here an hour and half already

The fact u am here us due to Sarcoidosis and that Tb medication ruining my eyesight

Oh Di, you poor thing. I totally get why you wanted to come off the steroids and I'm really sorry to hear that you will be on them for life. However, as long as there is the possibility of the disease burning itself out then there is the possibility that one day you will be able to come off them. Never say never as the saying goes!

I had dreadful side effects the first time I was on steroids and then had the worst side effect - a psychotic break when I was first put on 60mg a day. It was terrible and I had to be weaned off them but a year later, things became really bad again and I had to be put back on them even though I didn't want to. I knew I would feel physically better if I went back on them and at least this time my consultant started me on a small dose and increased it very slowly. At the moment I'm on 10mg daily as a maintenance dose and when my Sarcoidosis settles down a bit it will be reduced to 7.5mg as that is the dose his other patients are kept on.

I remember when I first went to see him he spoke about it taking 3 years to get me into remission and now he talks about 10 years to get me into remission! It certainly gives you a shock I think as you just think about illnesses taking weeks or months to get better.

You are absolutely right about weighing up the benefits of certain medication against the downside of side effects. The last thing I wanted to do was go back on steroids after suffering a psychotic break. I really was terrified it would happen again but having said that I didn't want to gamble with my life either by not taking them and risking damage to a heart that already has problems or scar lungs that have already been damaged. Having read through so many research papers regarding taking Vit D I haven't found one that says it is okay. Everyone has been against it. However I think if you get Vit D from natural sources in your food then that is fine. I read recently about how unnecessary it is to be popping vitamin tablets daily if you are on a balanced diet. I have always thought this myself. I remember my mother shovelling cod liver oil, multi vitamin tablets and extra vitamin C down our throats every day when we were young children. It obviously did me no good as I had many bouts of chronic bronchitis and 3 episodes of severe pneumonia. One bout was so bad I was in my bed for 7 weeks and told not to put a foot out of bed not even allowed to get up to go to the toilet! Now I am talking about 50+ years ago and the house we lived in was cold and damp but no amount of vitamins ever warded off anything. I caught everything that was going and then some!

I was also told Sarcoidosis can burn itself out but also that it can come back at any time. It's always there whether active or in remission and until they do more research and find out what causes it there will be no cure. Sadly what Chronic Sarcoidosis leaves in its wake is scar tissue and there is no way they can hack away scar tissue from the heart. They could possibly remove a lobe from the lungs depending on where the scar tissue is but all I read was that a heart lung transplant is the only real option for someone with severe damage caused by Sarcoidosis. I sometimes think that the GPs and some of the hospital doctors only see the part that says it can burn itself out or that it can go into remission and they attribute that to every patient's outcome, never realising that although very, very rare Sarcoidosis can kill.

Now please everyone reading this, I am talking about extremely severe Sarcoidosis that has caused such severe scarring that the patient can barely breath and who also has mitral valve scarring or other heart damage. This is honestly in very rare cases so please don't think that this is going to happen to any of you. Most of us are receiving treatment and some of us have been told we don't need any treatment and there are some of you still waiting for test results and /or diagnoses so don't start worrying unnecessarily I just wanted to make the point that some doctors are perhaps a little ignorant about the disease and have that" Oh you'll be fine. It's nothing to worry about" attitude because they see it as no more harmful than the common cold and until that way of thinking is changed, then Sarcoidosis is going to remain, little known and

incurable.

You keep on fighting Di. I'm sure there is a possibility of remission or better still burn out of your Sarcoidosis.

Hugs,

June

Poor Linda, another one of those blessed appointments. Way to start 2014 girl. Don't be making a habit of it this year.

Yes sorry I have been doing my marathon writing again haven't I? I think if one of you just hid my soapbox I might cut my ranting down by half ha ha!

Seriously, I hope you get some good news in this appointment. They are the only eyes we get so we have to look after them. I hope you're not kept waiting too long. There is that weighing up of medication alleviating symptoms versus side effects of said medication again. This time it's the price of your sight and how it might not have had to go like this if they had diagnosed you correctly the first time and not immediately treated you for TB without a concrete diagnoses.

Keep your chin up Linda. Hopefully they will have some better news this time.

Hugs,

June

Sorry for any weird spelling or paragraphs etc. Unfortunately Molly, one of my cats keeps pressing the keyboard when I'm trying to type. She's trying to get me to rest on my big chair so she can snuggle up too.

Hi June

We all love your soapbox please do not dismiss it

Well I have been told ow that the inflammation is still evident but it will never improve my eyesight will only

Deteriorate and I could be going to appointments for the next ten years. So I am only going back if I get a

Flare up

So that's one less clinic I have to attend

Oh Linda, you wee rebel! Don't blame you mind you. I got the shock of my life this week because I was seeing the practice nurse and she's the first medical person who actually understood what I was getting at when I said I'm fed up with specialists and clinics and most of all the fact that even though they all send letters to each other when you see them it seems like they haven't read the letters. So I get "Maybe we should do......" and I say "But such and such consultant doesn't think thats a good idea".

Also while at the practice nurse my GP has decided to be a rebel too. Mentioned to the nurse that I'd had blood tests earlier in the week and she discovered they results were in. So rather than doing what we're meant to and phoning the respiratory consultant my GP looked at the results and compared them with the last 2 or 3 sets. And seeing there was very little change with the last lot which were almost normal he's decided I can try going down a dose to 5 mg/day prednisolone. Its 99% certain thats what the resp consultant would say so we're just going ahead with it. Next blood test at the start of Feb anyway so it can always go back up after that if necessary.

Thinking of you all

Yippee! Morag. Great news with your blood results and getting to reduce your steroids. Way to go! I'm doing the dance ha ha!

Yes your respiratory specialist would almost certainly have reduced the dose although like mine he/she might have a certain maintenance dose that he/she likes to keep patients on, but I say if the 5mg seems to be holding you after a month or so then that's brilliant.

I bet you are so pleased and rightly so. You look after yourself and don't go overdoing it. Remember we are in that time of year when cough, sneezes and everything else germ related is on an all out invasion of any one's weakened immune system.

You know I often wonder why all the consultants and doctors who are treating a patient individually don't make better use of the computer system were they can find all the test results that have been reported on for that patient. It's almost as if they are afraid of treading on another doctor's feet or something. It's ridiculous and little wonder why a patient ends up getting repeat tests when they are not required or have to remember everything the last doctor said instead of them reading it for themselves. Weird eh? At the end of it all remember you have the final say and if you agree or disagree with one of the doctors not to do or to do something then you say so. It's your body and you know what it is telling you in the way of symptoms and how you are feeling. I'm a great believer in going with what my body tells me. For example, I think if you have a craving for certain foods then it is possible you are low on a certain mineral, vitamin or even food type (carbs, proteins, fats etc) For a while a couple of years back I just couldn't get enough sherbet and tomatoes (I had a really terrible craving for them both) and discovered I was really low in vitamin C and was craving the ascorbic acid in the sherbet and the vitamin C in tomatoes. At least that was the explanation I was given and I totally believe it because once my vitamin C was corrected I couldn't touch either. I'm really glad the craving for sherbet went (a very unhealthy craving to have).

Anyway I think if we tuned a bit more into what our systems were telling us we might feel a lot better.

I think the nurses are much more in tune with what a patient is going through as they get to see the same patient much more than the doctor does. You might find you see a different member of the doctor's medical team but you find it is the same nurse. They just seem to get far more information they talk to you in non medical language, and will always answer your questions. I'm very lucky in the sense that my respiratory doctor take ages with me and explains everything in detail to me and then asks me if I have any questions which is always 'no' because he has gone so in depth to explain. He is a very rare breed of doctor and I honestly don't know what would have happened to me had he not been my doctor. He sorted out much more than just my respiratory and heart problems. He even offered to try and sort out Social Services for me. He really is my hero!

Sorry Morag I've gone completely off the subject which is of course that I am so very happy for your latest health news. It's fantastic and I hope it continues along this path and soon you will be telling us that you are in remission and off the steroids. Anything and everything is possible. Oh Lord I sound like I'm about to break into song ha ha!

So on that note I wish you goodnight

Hug big hugs,

June

There you go Linda. You see all that yarn I wrote to Morag? I'm back on my bloody soapbox yet again. I just can't stop ha ha ha!

I'm really sorry to hear that you eyesight is no better and will in fact get worse over time. That's really horrible. You should maybe have a little chat with a lawyer if it is the doctors fault for misdiagnosing, taking too long diagnosing you or prescribing the wrong medication without waiting for a sound diagnoses. You have to look to the future and how it may affect you in the long term.

It could have been worse but it could have been prevented. Also you taking action may save someone else from going through the same problems. I think you should give it some thought anyway.

Have you ever tried using the Carmellous (Celluvisc) 0.5% or 1% eye drops I mentioned in my reply to Diane or maybe it was my reply to Di I can't remember. It really does help keep the eyes moist and therefore keeps the inflammation down and it is so soothing if you keep them in the fridge as it is then cooling and soothing at the same time. I really had terrible trouble with my eyes before I was even diagnosed with sarcoid and the ophthalmologist thought she was treating a cyst on the cornea and said that I had extremely dry eyes but didn't know why other than the fact I was not producing tears which she thought may be down to age (I was only 55 then!) so she prescribed the drops. She said I should always make sure the drops prescribed contained no preservative as long term use of drops with preservative would badly damage my eyes. The drops I get are basically false tears. The cyst is still there. I assume it is actually a sarcoid cyst because it came up at the same time all the other symptoms bombarded me. I was discharged from the ophthalmologist about a month after she saw me as she said the cyst wasn't causing a problem. That was easy for her to say, she didn't have the feeling that she had a needle stuck in her eye 24/7! The discomfort did subside (or I got used to it) but I think it was the drops stopping the terrible dryness that did the trick. You might want to give it a go. It can't do any harm as they are only artificial tears but it might give you relief from the dryness. I think if it was me, I might also be asking for a second opinion. Maybe another ophthalmologist would have a better outlook for your sight in years to come.

Right I'm off to bed as it is way passed my bedtime and even my two cats have given up trying to get me to go to bed!

Have a nice weekend all. Try and keep warm and dry. I hope to goodness no one is having to put up with floods or lack of electricity or heat with what the weather has been throwing at us all lately.

Stay safe, stay well. Big hugs all round,

Love June

Hi All and welcome to our newest members Di and Diana,

My apologies for not keeping in touch for past week. Back to work for full week has not been the easiest. I am still getting really tired and fatigue was unbelievable last week.. I have just got through an appointment amendment for my pulmonary specialist. First I got a cancellation letter and then another appointment to a different doctor. Although I was not very much in love with the initial professor, I have got to wonder if the new one is any good either.. Thankfully my lungs are definitely improved and much better from last year. It seem to be that my main issue is with joints and muscles ( quite a bit of pain in lymph nodes too), which is seemingly quite a rare variation of Sarcoid.. It all started from the joints, then it was lungs and lymph nodes, now it's mainly joints again. I wonder if there is any long lasting damage like Rheumatoid Arthritis... which the doctors first thought I had. I have done some research but there is nothing to suggest that there will be a long lasting damage, although the condition is pretty much like RA.. My hand are just getting worse and at times it is really painful to type and my feet, especially ankles are really sore.. Seems to be that the recent stormy weather has just made matters worse..

Wishing you all the health and happiness

MM