Podcast episode (February 20, 2024) in which Derek Cole gives a personal life and health update. He recounts a recent six-month Duke medical checkup, notes an upcoming Ocrevus infusion, and reports recurring short episodes of nausea/vertigo/dizziness lasting about 3–5 minutes multiple times per day. He says an MRI is scheduled for August and that a brain lesion explains his speech difficulties. He discusses dietary and lifestyle experiments (removing dairy, avoiding pizza/gluten, walking, testing glasses/contacts), reluctance to add more medications despite being offered one, and promises to return to home-related content next episode.
Questions this episode answers
February 20, 2024.
A six-month follow-up at Duke (Duke medical visit).
Ocrevus infusion.
About 3–5 minutes each.
In August (year implied 2024).
Chapters
Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Derek Cole here. Thank you so much for listening. We're going to do the life part of the Home and Life Comfort podcast. Yesterday I had to go to duke for my 6 month checkup. Pretty vast in and out. The docs on me. Fast parking was fast, the visit was fast. I mean, it took a lot longer to get there and get back home than it took to be there. But no worries. Next week is my ocrevus infusion. But we went through a couple things. Probably the last six weeks or so, I've been having multiple times, multiple times a day, been having some kind of nausea, vertigo, dizziness. It lasts about, you know, four or five, three, four, five minutes at the most and then it goes away. But that's been happening multiple times a day. But so I tried to like everything, tried to, you know, take away foods, take away habits, see if it changes. When I walk my two miles, I thought was maybe when I get tired. So when I walk my two miles and relax, it doesn't happen. But like a Duke, I mean, once I got in there and, you know, I sat down, it kind of hit me for a few minutes and there's no rhyme or reason to it. It's just, it's a mystery. I took foods away. Milk, dairy products was causing kind of the first feeling of this. You know, a couple years ago I took away, you know, I stopped doing dairy and milk and it went away, but now it's back. So I've taken away a few things I thought maybe was gluten. So, you know, I took away eating pizza because that's when I started feeling bad too and took that away. But that really haven't, hasn't changed. So he gave me some medication. But anyway, that's, that's an update with that. MRI is going to be in August, going to see if there's any new activity. He did look at my scan from last year and kind of explained why I'm having, why I have the speech problems and some of that stuff going on. And you know, it's obviously where the lesion is in the brain that's causing this to happen. And, and by the way, the fact that you're listening to this even though I cannot speak clearly is amazing because it's a battle to speak clearly, to still shoot videos, to still put out content, which I love doing. I love educating homeowners, I love talking to homeowners. Last week I went to a few houses and that's what I love doing, man. And it's a little frustrating when you can't get your words out or can't say what you want to say, how you want to say it. But thank you for listening. Thank you for listening. Maybe one day if I write a book, I'll do the audio version too, which look to have some context, you need to listen to the audio version and hear me struggle. No, no, I'm just kidding. But thank you for listening to the podcast. It is a unfiltered life update. Life with Ms. It's, you know, a couple days are. Are never exactly the same. I'm wearing my glasses today to. To see if that helps any. You know, I'm. I'm trying. I'm. I'm trying everything to see if I can figure it out. Is doing my contacts. That is it my eyes. Is it what's happening with the. With the vertigo. But we'll keep plugging away. Like I said. Give me some medication. Haven't taken it. I take so many pills the way it is, so many supplements. I don't want to take anything else unless I have to. So seeing, you know, trying a few more things, seeing how it goes, and I might have to just take the medication, but it. It is what it is, right? Thank you for listening. I will get back to the home stuff next time, but thanks for listening. This is a life update for me. What is the day? February. February 20th. 2024. Thanks.
