Let me tell you about my August. It sucked. I was sick from one thing or another through the entire month. Bronchitis, viral, which went into pneumonia, then sinus and ear infections, then a very bad reaction to Bactrim that I was prescribed for those infections. And then vertigo as a result, probably of both the ear infections and the Bactrim reaction. Oh, and 3 doctor appointments and a total of 7 different prescriptions. Oh yes, yes indeed...
Cha-freakin'-ching!
I also missed work for most of August, which is horrible. Too busy to miss that much time. So now I'm backlogged at work, and also at home... coz I got nothing done there either.
And my head felt terrible, and flattened, from laying down so much. And I am still not back up-to-speed with stamina. (I could use a nap right now, for example.)
But that old "every cloud has a silver lining" has come into play. 'Bout damn time, too.
August ended with my going to work on Monday, the 23rd. Wore me out, so I was in bed before 7:30pm. Woke up at 4am, and on my way back to bed from the bathroom (coz anyone with a lick of sense and a 50-year-old bladder knows darn well why I woke up at 4am) I sneezed hard. And my world began to wobble.
I've had vertigo since the end of June 2008. It is awful to have a vertigo attack... thankfully in all this time, I've only had 1 vertigo attack out in public, with the rest occurring while at home. It ain't pretty, so home is best. There is usually vomit involved. And moaning. And of course with me, also much cussing. (Sorry, Mom!)
So I made my way back to the bathroom, and I took an Anti-Vert tablet and a Valium. Then I slowly made my way back to bed where I hung onto the edge of my inner balance for roughly 4 hours. Usually, an Anti-Vert and a Valium will zonk me out within 20 or 30 minutes, but not that morning. Finally though, I fell asleep, and I slept hard for several more hours.
When I woke, I did not feel any vertigo symptoms. My right ear still hurt, though. And you know how you feel like you just can't move when you sleep that hard? Like life is in slo-mo?... That's how I felt. Got up and around, started to feel better, and I yawned. I mean I really yawned. A great big yawn. And I heard a CRACK! deep inside my right ear.
And my life changed.
I hadn't realized how much the vertigo has affected me the past two years... how much a feeling of constant wobbling, of peripheral dizziness, of almost-nauseated was part of my every-day existence. Getting vertigo was like a giant slap in the face, but living with it and adapting to it was a slow enough progression that I failed to comprehend how much it had changed me.
And now it seems the big yawn cured me. No more vertigo. As much as August sucked, it was worth it. I'd opt to go through 2 Augusts like that to be done with that pesky vertigo. So worth it.
And that there is my silver lining. Kinda matches my hair color.
Showing posts with label neck_injury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neck_injury. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Officially Hillbilly
Not that it makes much difference in my life or the way I live it, but on my dad's side, I'm half Dutch and half German, on my mom's side, I'm pretty much hillbilly. Her folks are from the hills of West Virginia. Irish or Scottish... there's a McClure in there somewhere, or something like that.
And now, this is my old LeSabre, the car I adore and treasure:
She's a 2002 with over 180,000 miles on her, and I am still planning to drive her until she can drive no more... drive her into the dirt. But I sure wish that dang deer hadn't dove head-first into me the other morning. He was a big-bodied deer, huge really. Mike and Joyce came and picked him up, and Kev butchered him... could only use less than half the meat, but it was still a good amount of venison.
So now I drive a crappy looking car and eat road-kill. I'm a hillbilly. It's official.
And of course, the impact, which drove me off the road and nearly into the ditch... that buck was moving when he plowed into me!... anyway, now my neck is one huge PAIN. Nice. One step forward, 2 steps back... we hillbillies know how to do the 2-step...
And now, this is my old LeSabre, the car I adore and treasure:
She's a 2002 with over 180,000 miles on her, and I am still planning to drive her until she can drive no more... drive her into the dirt. But I sure wish that dang deer hadn't dove head-first into me the other morning. He was a big-bodied deer, huge really. Mike and Joyce came and picked him up, and Kev butchered him... could only use less than half the meat, but it was still a good amount of venison.
So now I drive a crappy looking car and eat road-kill. I'm a hillbilly. It's official.
And of course, the impact, which drove me off the road and nearly into the ditch... that buck was moving when he plowed into me!... anyway, now my neck is one huge PAIN. Nice. One step forward, 2 steps back... we hillbillies know how to do the 2-step...
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
It's science fiction
2010. For a child of the 60's and 70's, 2010 sounds to me like science fiction. I start thinking about all the stuff we have now, and it is truly mind-blowing. I was trying to explain again to my kids about how much easier grocery shopping was when I was I kid. There just wasn't much to choose from, and salsa... we didn't know the word here in rural Michigan way back then, let alone have 30 different ones for our selection pleasure conundrum. And TV, 4 or 5 channels. Yes, I am seriously old.
And lately, I have felt a lot older than I am. I have spent the past few months trying to get off from pain meds, which I was still taking for pain from the surgeries I had almost 2 years ago. A sucky situation. Turns out, I can live without pain killers, but it ain't pretty. I believe I have an above-average or actually high pain tolerance, and I believe one can get used to a level of pain... eventually. But meantime, I found the level of pain was making me tight as a ton of knots, which triggered Vertigo again. And on my job, it's full-on, heavy-duty 4th quarter and year-end close time... So, yeah, back on the pain meds for now. Shit.
I've not had the oomph to do much of anything, not blogging, not cooking or baking, not pottery... if Joyce hadn't been running the Christmas show for our family this year, I dare say it would've been a flop. We did not send out Christmas cards this year. I was shopping for presents right up to Christmas Eve, and that is not like me. And Joycie wrapped most of the gifts for me.
So, though I am not making a New Year's Resolution, because I do not believe in those, I have decided to try to blog more often. I have so many family milestones, events and just plain moments that have gone undocumented in my blog since early 2008. I write this blog truly mostly for myself. It is like a journal of our family events, and I like to go back to older posts and read and look at photos, and remember. So that's my decision... post more on my blog and catch up on events in our lives over the past 2 years. I'm not deciding to Post Every Day and I'm not deciding to cover Events in Chronological Order. Whatever will be, will be.
I think that if I make an effort to write a blog post more often, other things in my life will, well.... fall into place. Blogging gets my creative juices flowing, and that feels good.
Oh, and I've also decided that Salt is the Enemy. It really, really is. Caffeine comes in a close 2nd, but no freakin' way am I going without coffee. That's just inhumane.
Oh, and I've also decided to free myself from post titles. You'll see what I mean.
And lately, I have felt a lot older than I am. I have spent the past few months trying to get off from pain meds, which I was still taking for pain from the surgeries I had almost 2 years ago. A sucky situation. Turns out, I can live without pain killers, but it ain't pretty. I believe I have an above-average or actually high pain tolerance, and I believe one can get used to a level of pain... eventually. But meantime, I found the level of pain was making me tight as a ton of knots, which triggered Vertigo again. And on my job, it's full-on, heavy-duty 4th quarter and year-end close time... So, yeah, back on the pain meds for now. Shit.
I've not had the oomph to do much of anything, not blogging, not cooking or baking, not pottery... if Joyce hadn't been running the Christmas show for our family this year, I dare say it would've been a flop. We did not send out Christmas cards this year. I was shopping for presents right up to Christmas Eve, and that is not like me. And Joycie wrapped most of the gifts for me.
So, though I am not making a New Year's Resolution, because I do not believe in those, I have decided to try to blog more often. I have so many family milestones, events and just plain moments that have gone undocumented in my blog since early 2008. I write this blog truly mostly for myself. It is like a journal of our family events, and I like to go back to older posts and read and look at photos, and remember. So that's my decision... post more on my blog and catch up on events in our lives over the past 2 years. I'm not deciding to Post Every Day and I'm not deciding to cover Events in Chronological Order. Whatever will be, will be.
I think that if I make an effort to write a blog post more often, other things in my life will, well.... fall into place. Blogging gets my creative juices flowing, and that feels good.
Oh, and I've also decided that Salt is the Enemy. It really, really is. Caffeine comes in a close 2nd, but no freakin' way am I going without coffee. That's just inhumane.
Oh, and I've also decided to free myself from post titles. You'll see what I mean.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tdap
Tdap, Tdap... Tdap, Tdap, Tdap... Tdap, Tdaaaaaaaaaaaap. TDAP.
Don't know why, but that's what happens when I think "Tdap" in my head. It becomes Pink Panther theme music.
If you do not know what a Tdap is, then FOR SHAME. Get thyself to thine doctor (or reasonable facsimile thereof) pronto and get it. It's a shot. Yes, it'll hurt. Ya big baby.
My niece, Chelle-Belle, was very, very sick recently. Thankfully, she was home from college for the weekend, so her parents were able to get her to our local ER very late one evening. Her struggle to breathe was painful in many ways... painful for Chelle and painful for my sister and brother-in-law to watch. Michelle did not have pneumonia; a day later it was confirmed she had Whooping Cough.
Michelle received a medical checkup and the shots required before she began her first college semester, including a Tetanus shot. But for some reason, though I believe the Tdap shot was available back then, Chelle got only the T. (Michelle is in her final semester of her 4-year college program, pre-med.) Tdap is Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis. We all greatly wish she had received the "p" along with the "T", and what the hell, the "d" too for that matter. She has it all now.
Pertussis, aka Whooping Cough, is extremely contagious. Since it's now been discovered for young adults, and us old adults, that the vaccinations we received as children have worn off, we all need to be sure to get re-vaccinated with the Tdap shot. Unfortunately, many parents are recently deciding not to vaccinate their children. So between these 2 factors, Whooping Cough is on the rise in the U.S.
Dreadful.
I say "unfortunately" because I am pro-vaccination. And yes, I know this is a big ol' can of worms (I listened to the Momversation on it recently). I'm totally Old School. Shoot 'em up, baby. Coz I agree with 2 statements on that Momversation: 1) Vaccinations are one of the best medical breakthroughs of our generation, of recent generations, and 2) parents who decide not to vaccinate their children are relying upon the rest of us who do... otherwise, we would be back in epidemic city Big Time on many diseases. Also, I have a niece, Sara, who teaches Special Education, and Sara is certified in MI, MR & Autism (MI is mental illness and MR is mental retardation - I think, though I'm not sure if that is still politically correct). I have such awe of Sara, choosing that profession; I am so proud of her. I talked with Sara not too long ago about the relationship that seems to be made between vaccinations and autism. She explained one thing I hadn't thought about, which was that years ago, children were not diagnosed as autistic where they would be diagnosed as such now... it is not so much a situation of an increase in autism as an increase in diagnoses of autism.
I am not saying there are no risks associated with vaccinations, because of course there are risks. But, I believe that vaccinations have allowed my children to be free of the danger of many diseases that plagued children of my father and mother's generation and the generations before them.
Right before Michelle became so sick she had to be taken to ER, I got to visit with her, and since we're such a huggy/kissy family, I was hugging and kissing her. Thankfully, last May when my physician checked me out from attic to basement, I got the Tdap shot. I have no recollection of that, so I had a scary bit of hours between learning I was exposed and learning I was vaccinated. Whew. I wasn't up to another round of any kind of antibiotics.
Also thankfully, Kevin just got a Tdap shot at work at his recent physical. Kev has to undergo a very thorough annual exam due to his new job at work, and the Tdap shot was not optional; get it or don't keep the job. Not that he wouldn't want it. And even more special for Kev was that his employer provided it, made the pain on his shoulder for the next 4 days that much more bearable... at least he didn't have to pay actual money for the shot. (Kev can be so cheap!) Joycie and Sammy also have had the Tdap shot within the past 2 years, so we are all good. But our Mike needs his Tdap shot, which he will get pronto. He needs the Tetanus anyway, because of the job he has now, where he works around older homes and buildings.
Remember: Renew your Tdap shot every ten years.
Don't know why, but that's what happens when I think "Tdap" in my head. It becomes Pink Panther theme music.
If you do not know what a Tdap is, then FOR SHAME. Get thyself to thine doctor (or reasonable facsimile thereof) pronto and get it. It's a shot. Yes, it'll hurt. Ya big baby.
My niece, Chelle-Belle, was very, very sick recently. Thankfully, she was home from college for the weekend, so her parents were able to get her to our local ER very late one evening. Her struggle to breathe was painful in many ways... painful for Chelle and painful for my sister and brother-in-law to watch. Michelle did not have pneumonia; a day later it was confirmed she had Whooping Cough.
Michelle received a medical checkup and the shots required before she began her first college semester, including a Tetanus shot. But for some reason, though I believe the Tdap shot was available back then, Chelle got only the T. (Michelle is in her final semester of her 4-year college program, pre-med.) Tdap is Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis. We all greatly wish she had received the "p" along with the "T", and what the hell, the "d" too for that matter. She has it all now.
Pertussis, aka Whooping Cough, is extremely contagious. Since it's now been discovered for young adults, and us old adults, that the vaccinations we received as children have worn off, we all need to be sure to get re-vaccinated with the Tdap shot. Unfortunately, many parents are recently deciding not to vaccinate their children. So between these 2 factors, Whooping Cough is on the rise in the U.S.
Dreadful.
I say "unfortunately" because I am pro-vaccination. And yes, I know this is a big ol' can of worms (I listened to the Momversation on it recently). I'm totally Old School. Shoot 'em up, baby. Coz I agree with 2 statements on that Momversation: 1) Vaccinations are one of the best medical breakthroughs of our generation, of recent generations, and 2) parents who decide not to vaccinate their children are relying upon the rest of us who do... otherwise, we would be back in epidemic city Big Time on many diseases. Also, I have a niece, Sara, who teaches Special Education, and Sara is certified in MI, MR & Autism (MI is mental illness and MR is mental retardation - I think, though I'm not sure if that is still politically correct). I have such awe of Sara, choosing that profession; I am so proud of her. I talked with Sara not too long ago about the relationship that seems to be made between vaccinations and autism. She explained one thing I hadn't thought about, which was that years ago, children were not diagnosed as autistic where they would be diagnosed as such now... it is not so much a situation of an increase in autism as an increase in diagnoses of autism.
I am not saying there are no risks associated with vaccinations, because of course there are risks. But, I believe that vaccinations have allowed my children to be free of the danger of many diseases that plagued children of my father and mother's generation and the generations before them.
Right before Michelle became so sick she had to be taken to ER, I got to visit with her, and since we're such a huggy/kissy family, I was hugging and kissing her. Thankfully, last May when my physician checked me out from attic to basement, I got the Tdap shot. I have no recollection of that, so I had a scary bit of hours between learning I was exposed and learning I was vaccinated. Whew. I wasn't up to another round of any kind of antibiotics.
Also thankfully, Kevin just got a Tdap shot at work at his recent physical. Kev has to undergo a very thorough annual exam due to his new job at work, and the Tdap shot was not optional; get it or don't keep the job. Not that he wouldn't want it. And even more special for Kev was that his employer provided it, made the pain on his shoulder for the next 4 days that much more bearable... at least he didn't have to pay actual money for the shot. (Kev can be so cheap!) Joycie and Sammy also have had the Tdap shot within the past 2 years, so we are all good. But our Mike needs his Tdap shot, which he will get pronto. He needs the Tetanus anyway, because of the job he has now, where he works around older homes and buildings.
Remember: Renew your Tdap shot every ten years.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Odds and ends again... mostly odds...
Meryl Streep is my favorite actress ever. (Or am I supposed to say "actor"?... seems like I heard or read somewhere that actor is to be non-gender specific and thus more PC. Whatever.) She's amazing. I have loved every movie I've seen with her in it. Meryl Streep has more talent in her little finger than most of the actors (actresses) out there. Seriously. For one thing, this:
I loved that movie. And I can't imagine doing that move at my age, let alone her age. And speaking of age, she is aging better than any other actress also. I greatly admire that woman. No, it's not a crush... well, maybe a little... Anyway, I bring this up only because she must have somehow been featured in a dream I had last night or something, because I woke up thinking of her. (Hey, gotta be a good day when you wake up thinking of Meryl Streep, right?) And thinking how she has more talent in her little finger than, well, you know.
And then I thought of her little fingers... Have you ever noticed how Meryl Streep has very small little fingers? I mean, her little fingers are small... they're half the size of her ring fingers (or 3rd finger or whatever the technical term is for the finger between your little finger and your bird). I noticed it years ago and now look for it on occasion in her movies. (Ever do that? Notice something and then can't help but look for it over and over. Yes, you do.) So I've been scouring via Google images for Meryl Streep and her extra little, yet still gorgeous, little fingers. And it's been amazingly difficult. Most photos I've found don't show her hands very well, or if they do, she's doing something like this...
But I did find these...
So, that's what I find interesting at 4:30am.
This week is our son's school's spring break week. If we were normal, we'd be on a nice vacation somewhere with our son, leaving his hard-working older sister home to attend her college classes. But, we are not normal. I am not, anyway.
Fortunately, Sammy was lucky. And Lucky Sam has some good friends... A good friend, Austin, who invited Sammy to go with him and his family to the Kalahari Resort in Ohio. Sam is half fish, and I'm sure he is in heaven right now. I miss him, but am oh so happy for him. Austin's family and 2 other families all went there together, so there are lots of kids. Some younger kids, but Sammy likes little kids. I'm so happy that Sam is getting to do something so very, very fun for spring break. And they're staying in the "Village Suite" at the Kalahari... pretty freakin' awesome.
In light of Sam being gone most of this week, he and I made plans for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I took Monday as a vacation day to spend with Sam. We started on Saturday with a tanning session for Sammy. (I let Sam do about 4 or 5 tanning sessions... a local tanning joint has a deal where you get 6 free to see if you like it, then you can sign up if you want. Awesome.) Then on to the Hollister store at the Saginaw mall.
Words cannot express how much I hate Hollister stores. I am far, far too old for them. They play the music too damn LOUD and they spray far too much perfume EVERYWHERE. And they sell cheap stuff at ridiculously high prices. But, words cannot express how much I love my son, so... to Hollister we went.
Sammy and his friends are what Joycie (lovingly) calls "label whores." Joycie and her friends would happily hit the local "Salvo" for t-shirts (Salvation Army store). And since we live in a town that has many world travelers, they'd find some cool, like-new t-shirts from places like Belize, Ireland, Australia, China... Sammy wouldn't be caught dead in anything from Salvo. Even if no one could possibly know it came from Salvo, HE WOULD KNOW. And since we were not spending any money on a family vacation once again this year, I agreed to Hollister. What will $230 buy at Hollister? 1 pair swim trunks, 2 pair of shorts, 3 t-shirts, 1 t-shirt with a collar and 1 bottle of Jake cologne. Yes, $230. (Kev, if you're reading this, I know you're croaking right now, so get over it.) This desire of Sam's to wear The Name Brand clothing is definitely not something he got from me or his Dad... we got home and Kev met us in the garage... and Kev had on a black t-shirt that I got free from my employer back in 1979. Yes, 1979.
Sunday, I took Sammy back into town for another tanning session, a hair cut and then a "date" with his girlfriend, Julia. We picked Julia up and went downtown where I stayed at a local coffee shop, using their super fast free wi-fi to get some work done, while Sammy and Julia just walked around together. I managed to hack it out... I say that because I felt awful. When we got home Saturday, I felt awful... Sam was afraid our Sunday plans would be cancelled, but I stuck it out. Not easily.
Because once again, I caught some damn bug. Been sick again since early Saturday, with a stomach flu or something, reminiscent of April '08. Ugh. Ever since I had that Augmentin reaction, I have felt weird and/or sick. Weirdly sick. Sickly weird. Vertigo is crazy. Also, my sense of taste is greatly diminished. Very odd. I have been putting more salt on things lately without thinking about it, because I can't taste it until it's too much salt. And salt doesn't help with vertigo (I read that somewhere, I think). Too much salt doesn't help a person's body at all. So I've been trying to be aware of it, and not use it. It's like food is so-so and coffee is simply hot. Today, I can taste coffee more, so I know my sense of taste is returning, slowly though.
Monday, Sammy needed an allergy shot, and then we had plans to go out to breakfast and then a bunch of other plans. I did get him to his shot, and then to breakfast as promised... to an iHop (allergy shot in one town, iHop 30 miles away in a another town, oy!). Sammy wanted iHop because he loves their cornmeal pancakes. Guess what... the cornmeal pancakes are no longer on their menu; can't get 'em. He was disappointed, and I was like, "OMG, I drove 30 miles for this and I feel like CRAP." And then we had to cancel all the rest of the day's plans because I had to hurry home, and then I spent the rest of the day pretty much between my bed and my bathroom. What a sweet way to spend 8 vacation hours. I was telling my best friend, Sandy, all about my troubles, and she said, "It's like they said in that movie The Bucket List, 'never trust a fart'!" That's my Sandy, she can still make me laugh even when I don't feel like it.
And now I've been up and done with my shower since before 5am, sitting at our dining room table with all my work spread out - it's all staring at me! Been writing this blog post all that time, on and off, with several interruptions... But also having enjoyed the coffee Kev made this morning, talking with him before he had to leave for work, and enjoying what I can see of a gorgeous sunrise down our long hallway, past the kitchen, through our small window...
I loved that movie. And I can't imagine doing that move at my age, let alone her age. And speaking of age, she is aging better than any other actress also. I greatly admire that woman. No, it's not a crush... well, maybe a little... Anyway, I bring this up only because she must have somehow been featured in a dream I had last night or something, because I woke up thinking of her. (Hey, gotta be a good day when you wake up thinking of Meryl Streep, right?) And thinking how she has more talent in her little finger than, well, you know.
And then I thought of her little fingers... Have you ever noticed how Meryl Streep has very small little fingers? I mean, her little fingers are small... they're half the size of her ring fingers (or 3rd finger or whatever the technical term is for the finger between your little finger and your bird). I noticed it years ago and now look for it on occasion in her movies. (Ever do that? Notice something and then can't help but look for it over and over. Yes, you do.) So I've been scouring via Google images for Meryl Streep and her extra little, yet still gorgeous, little fingers. And it's been amazingly difficult. Most photos I've found don't show her hands very well, or if they do, she's doing something like this...
But I did find these...
So, that's what I find interesting at 4:30am.
This week is our son's school's spring break week. If we were normal, we'd be on a nice vacation somewhere with our son, leaving his hard-working older sister home to attend her college classes. But, we are not normal. I am not, anyway.
Fortunately, Sammy was lucky. And Lucky Sam has some good friends... A good friend, Austin, who invited Sammy to go with him and his family to the Kalahari Resort in Ohio. Sam is half fish, and I'm sure he is in heaven right now. I miss him, but am oh so happy for him. Austin's family and 2 other families all went there together, so there are lots of kids. Some younger kids, but Sammy likes little kids. I'm so happy that Sam is getting to do something so very, very fun for spring break. And they're staying in the "Village Suite" at the Kalahari... pretty freakin' awesome.
In light of Sam being gone most of this week, he and I made plans for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I took Monday as a vacation day to spend with Sam. We started on Saturday with a tanning session for Sammy. (I let Sam do about 4 or 5 tanning sessions... a local tanning joint has a deal where you get 6 free to see if you like it, then you can sign up if you want. Awesome.) Then on to the Hollister store at the Saginaw mall.
Words cannot express how much I hate Hollister stores. I am far, far too old for them. They play the music too damn LOUD and they spray far too much perfume EVERYWHERE. And they sell cheap stuff at ridiculously high prices. But, words cannot express how much I love my son, so... to Hollister we went.
Sammy and his friends are what Joycie (lovingly) calls "label whores." Joycie and her friends would happily hit the local "Salvo" for t-shirts (Salvation Army store). And since we live in a town that has many world travelers, they'd find some cool, like-new t-shirts from places like Belize, Ireland, Australia, China... Sammy wouldn't be caught dead in anything from Salvo. Even if no one could possibly know it came from Salvo, HE WOULD KNOW. And since we were not spending any money on a family vacation once again this year, I agreed to Hollister. What will $230 buy at Hollister? 1 pair swim trunks, 2 pair of shorts, 3 t-shirts, 1 t-shirt with a collar and 1 bottle of Jake cologne. Yes, $230. (Kev, if you're reading this, I know you're croaking right now, so get over it.) This desire of Sam's to wear The Name Brand clothing is definitely not something he got from me or his Dad... we got home and Kev met us in the garage... and Kev had on a black t-shirt that I got free from my employer back in 1979. Yes, 1979.
Sunday, I took Sammy back into town for another tanning session, a hair cut and then a "date" with his girlfriend, Julia. We picked Julia up and went downtown where I stayed at a local coffee shop, using their super fast free wi-fi to get some work done, while Sammy and Julia just walked around together. I managed to hack it out... I say that because I felt awful. When we got home Saturday, I felt awful... Sam was afraid our Sunday plans would be cancelled, but I stuck it out. Not easily.
Because once again, I caught some damn bug. Been sick again since early Saturday, with a stomach flu or something, reminiscent of April '08. Ugh. Ever since I had that Augmentin reaction, I have felt weird and/or sick. Weirdly sick. Sickly weird. Vertigo is crazy. Also, my sense of taste is greatly diminished. Very odd. I have been putting more salt on things lately without thinking about it, because I can't taste it until it's too much salt. And salt doesn't help with vertigo (I read that somewhere, I think). Too much salt doesn't help a person's body at all. So I've been trying to be aware of it, and not use it. It's like food is so-so and coffee is simply hot. Today, I can taste coffee more, so I know my sense of taste is returning, slowly though.
Monday, Sammy needed an allergy shot, and then we had plans to go out to breakfast and then a bunch of other plans. I did get him to his shot, and then to breakfast as promised... to an iHop (allergy shot in one town, iHop 30 miles away in a another town, oy!). Sammy wanted iHop because he loves their cornmeal pancakes. Guess what... the cornmeal pancakes are no longer on their menu; can't get 'em. He was disappointed, and I was like, "OMG, I drove 30 miles for this and I feel like CRAP." And then we had to cancel all the rest of the day's plans because I had to hurry home, and then I spent the rest of the day pretty much between my bed and my bathroom. What a sweet way to spend 8 vacation hours. I was telling my best friend, Sandy, all about my troubles, and she said, "It's like they said in that movie The Bucket List, 'never trust a fart'!" That's my Sandy, she can still make me laugh even when I don't feel like it.
And now I've been up and done with my shower since before 5am, sitting at our dining room table with all my work spread out - it's all staring at me! Been writing this blog post all that time, on and off, with several interruptions... But also having enjoyed the coffee Kev made this morning, talking with him before he had to leave for work, and enjoying what I can see of a gorgeous sunrise down our long hallway, past the kitchen, through our small window...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Analogies & words of wisdom
This past week, while in the middle of an activity at home, a mild activity, I had to stop, drop to my knees and put my head on the floor. Vertigo is such a fun thing.
After I few minutes, upright and onwards again. Answering the question, "are you alright?" several times, yes, yes, yes... So I tried to explain...
A vertigo attack is like when playing an album, yes on a record player, the old vinyl... and if there is a scratch or a bad spot on the album, the record player's needle will react... it will skip or play the same part of the album over and over... it will not just smoothly keep playing music. If you pick up the arm and move it forward a little bit, away from the bad patch, voilà!, smooth sailing and sweet music again. [In my book, mixing of metaphors in an analogy is totally ok.]
But... going through the bad patch on the album does affect the needle. So the needle is no longer perfect, and to a keen ear, that will affect how the needle plays the rest of the album's music.
That's kind of like a vertigo attack. Depending on the severity, that is... and lately this past week and half, my vertigo attacks have been primarily quite mild (in comparison to those I had last autumn). Once the episode is over, I'm back to normal... pretty much. May take a bit to get my needle all sharp and pretty again, but still... One could say that my being at less than 100% capacity, say at 98%, is not a good thing. But I could say that my 98% is arguably better performance than some folks' 100% performance. And yes, of course, the reverse is true... my 100% performance is not, I'm sure, as good as, for example, "Mrs. B's" 80% on one of her bad days. (There is always somebody better!) But still... ya get my drift, eh.
And that's what dealing with vertigo is like. Like most (all) life experiences... I believe that a person who has never experienced a vertigo attack is truly unable to completely empathize. Recently, Kev had that mild experience with vertigo due to his inner ear infections, and since then he has been so much more understanding and sympathetic with me. And he was understanding and sympathetic before his experience! (I love that man!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
My sister, aka O Wiser Sister, and I had a conversation recently, and as is often the case, she had words of wisdom to share. I was quite moved by her analogy, and will share it with you, though I'm sure I will botch it somewhat...
On dating and relationships...
When you meet a person in whom you are interested in dating, you show them your interest. So you date, and you like the person. Date some more, and then without any truly deep analysis, you jump in. You jump in emotionally and physically, and get into a relationship with that person. This is a common scenario. The common scenario.
But what if you Stop And Think...
Think. Value yourself. Think, for example, that you are made of all these wonderful pieces of gold. The finest gold that exists. When you jump into a relationship, you are giving that person some of you... some of your valuable pieces of gold that make up who you are. You are investing in that person. You're investing pieces of yourself. If the relationship fails, you invested pieces of yourself that you won't ever get back. You've given away some of your pieces of gold.
I love this analogy. The point is to stop and think. Can you ever know from the moment of meeting someone that your investment is going to be worthwhile? Of course not. Well, not usually... I do believe in Love at First Sight... Kev and I are living proof of that. And our 26th wedding anniversary is coming up soon. (Did I mention I love that man?!)
Stopping to take the time to think can be a difficult thing to do, because sometimes when you meet someone, your feelings are running high, hot and heavy. Not exactly the formula for analytical thinking, or caution.
But if you decide to make a conscious effort to take things slowly, you are more likely to make a wise investment. What you get for your investment may simply be a learning experience, an education to apply to future investment choices. What you may & should also get for your (slower) investment is increased self-respect. Pride in yourself for being so dang smart with your pieces of gold, for your investment savvy.
Everything seems to go so fast nowadays. And if that statement doesn't make me sound like an old fart, I don't know what would! But it's true. Warp speed. Friending people on Facebook and myspace, etc. Hooking up. Zoom, zoom, zoom.
Taking the time to stop and think doesn't mean you should absent yourself from opportunities. It just means realize the value of your precious pieces of gold. Value yourself.
And this is true in not just romantic endeavors, but also in simple friendships. The older I get, the less time I seem to have. It's true... ask any older person you know, and they will confirm that the older you get, the faster the days fly by. Life's too short to spend it on people who don't value your pieces of gold.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
End of wisdom. Off on tangent...
What is it lately with the return of the record album? I'm seeing and hearing references to albums everywhere lately.
Back last summer, when we painted our basement, Joycie found our boxes of albums. She and Mike looked through them and were impressed with our choices in music. The old farts were not always so uncool.
For Valentine's Day, Joycie got Mike this really cool portable record player... so they could listen to all our old albums. Though it was pretty funny, because the first thing they did was forget to lock the arm in place, so the poor needle was jumping all over the place inside the case. Kids! But they forgot; they have little experience with turntables.
The other day, Kev and I were watching an episode of "Without a Trace" where the main guy's daughter returned to live with him, and she found his old albums. She also determined he must have been pretty cool in his younger years, and in the show, she went out and bought a turntable so she could listen to her dad's old albums. She also made a comment that his albums could make some serious cash.
There were also some references to albums and turntables on some HGTV shows I've watched lately... album references abound!
Last week, Kev set up his old stereo system, including the turntable out in the pole barn. So now he's listening to his old albums out there. Rock on, baby!
After I few minutes, upright and onwards again. Answering the question, "are you alright?" several times, yes, yes, yes... So I tried to explain...
A vertigo attack is like when playing an album, yes on a record player, the old vinyl... and if there is a scratch or a bad spot on the album, the record player's needle will react... it will skip or play the same part of the album over and over... it will not just smoothly keep playing music. If you pick up the arm and move it forward a little bit, away from the bad patch, voilà!, smooth sailing and sweet music again. [In my book, mixing of metaphors in an analogy is totally ok.]
But... going through the bad patch on the album does affect the needle. So the needle is no longer perfect, and to a keen ear, that will affect how the needle plays the rest of the album's music.
That's kind of like a vertigo attack. Depending on the severity, that is... and lately this past week and half, my vertigo attacks have been primarily quite mild (in comparison to those I had last autumn). Once the episode is over, I'm back to normal... pretty much. May take a bit to get my needle all sharp and pretty again, but still... One could say that my being at less than 100% capacity, say at 98%, is not a good thing. But I could say that my 98% is arguably better performance than some folks' 100% performance. And yes, of course, the reverse is true... my 100% performance is not, I'm sure, as good as, for example, "Mrs. B's" 80% on one of her bad days. (There is always somebody better!) But still... ya get my drift, eh.
And that's what dealing with vertigo is like. Like most (all) life experiences... I believe that a person who has never experienced a vertigo attack is truly unable to completely empathize. Recently, Kev had that mild experience with vertigo due to his inner ear infections, and since then he has been so much more understanding and sympathetic with me. And he was understanding and sympathetic before his experience! (I love that man!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
My sister, aka O Wiser Sister, and I had a conversation recently, and as is often the case, she had words of wisdom to share. I was quite moved by her analogy, and will share it with you, though I'm sure I will botch it somewhat...
On dating and relationships...
When you meet a person in whom you are interested in dating, you show them your interest. So you date, and you like the person. Date some more, and then without any truly deep analysis, you jump in. You jump in emotionally and physically, and get into a relationship with that person. This is a common scenario. The common scenario.
But what if you Stop And Think...
Think. Value yourself. Think, for example, that you are made of all these wonderful pieces of gold. The finest gold that exists. When you jump into a relationship, you are giving that person some of you... some of your valuable pieces of gold that make up who you are. You are investing in that person. You're investing pieces of yourself. If the relationship fails, you invested pieces of yourself that you won't ever get back. You've given away some of your pieces of gold.
I love this analogy. The point is to stop and think. Can you ever know from the moment of meeting someone that your investment is going to be worthwhile? Of course not. Well, not usually... I do believe in Love at First Sight... Kev and I are living proof of that. And our 26th wedding anniversary is coming up soon. (Did I mention I love that man?!)
Stopping to take the time to think can be a difficult thing to do, because sometimes when you meet someone, your feelings are running high, hot and heavy. Not exactly the formula for analytical thinking, or caution.
But if you decide to make a conscious effort to take things slowly, you are more likely to make a wise investment. What you get for your investment may simply be a learning experience, an education to apply to future investment choices. What you may & should also get for your (slower) investment is increased self-respect. Pride in yourself for being so dang smart with your pieces of gold, for your investment savvy.
Everything seems to go so fast nowadays. And if that statement doesn't make me sound like an old fart, I don't know what would! But it's true. Warp speed. Friending people on Facebook and myspace, etc. Hooking up. Zoom, zoom, zoom.
Taking the time to stop and think doesn't mean you should absent yourself from opportunities. It just means realize the value of your precious pieces of gold. Value yourself.
And this is true in not just romantic endeavors, but also in simple friendships. The older I get, the less time I seem to have. It's true... ask any older person you know, and they will confirm that the older you get, the faster the days fly by. Life's too short to spend it on people who don't value your pieces of gold.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
End of wisdom. Off on tangent...
What is it lately with the return of the record album? I'm seeing and hearing references to albums everywhere lately.
Back last summer, when we painted our basement, Joycie found our boxes of albums. She and Mike looked through them and were impressed with our choices in music. The old farts were not always so uncool.
For Valentine's Day, Joycie got Mike this really cool portable record player... so they could listen to all our old albums. Though it was pretty funny, because the first thing they did was forget to lock the arm in place, so the poor needle was jumping all over the place inside the case. Kids! But they forgot; they have little experience with turntables.
The other day, Kev and I were watching an episode of "Without a Trace" where the main guy's daughter returned to live with him, and she found his old albums. She also determined he must have been pretty cool in his younger years, and in the show, she went out and bought a turntable so she could listen to her dad's old albums. She also made a comment that his albums could make some serious cash.
There were also some references to albums and turntables on some HGTV shows I've watched lately... album references abound!
Last week, Kev set up his old stereo system, including the turntable out in the pole barn. So now he's listening to his old albums out there. Rock on, baby!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Really big shew
This has been a heck of a week... I had mentioned that I had a bad reaction to the most recent antibiotic I was taking, and that I had gotten yet more meds to help that situation.
The meds to get over those other meds caused problems, too, so I've had to take... yep, more meds. [Insert scream here.]
Basically, I've been dealing with feelings of vertigo in varying degrees of intensity for the past 9, 10 or 12 days or so. And it sucks. To help calm down those awful feelings, I've had to take Antivert and Valium, as well as more Vicodin than usual.
Some young folks out there might be saying to themselves, "Whoo hoo! Party on!" To them I say, "Youth is wasted on the young."
Ha!
I just wanna feel normal again.
And the dreams. Oy! I've had some really strange dreams...
Remember the Ed Sullivan Show?
When I was little, I remember watching that TV show a lot. I remember once there was a guy who came on the show, and he kept plates spinning, plates that were placed on top of long poles.
The guy would rush, rush, rush from one spinning plate to the next, giving them a spin to keep them going. That plate spinning thing was kind of popular way back then...
I remember being quite fascinated with the plate spinning. And these plates were china plates, none of those plastic plates like they have nowadays. What crap! Cheaters.
The plate spinning has been embedded in my brain forever. On days when I feel particularly hurried or stressed, with too many irons in the fire, my mind goes to spinning plates. This, of course, always occurs at work. With the week I've had, which required I work from home, since the meds I've been taking this week aren't recommended for driving (duh), I guess I've been feeling a bit stressed out. I woke this morning to a very vivid dream that included spinning plates. I kept trying to keep them going, but they kept breaking. And when they broke, they would somehow end up in my lap, not on the floor. But they must have broke on the floor, because I remember the noise they made falling and breaking. So, anyway, I had my lap full of all these broken plates, but I still had to keep the plates not yet broken spinning and spinning so they wouldn't break, but somehow not lose the pieces in my lap. And the broken plates in my lap were really heavy, and they hurt. I had dark bluejeans on, so I knew the blood wouldn't show that much, and I was so relieved that the blood wouldn't show.
And then I woke up. My heart was racing. And of course, yes, the first thing I did was check for bleeding wounds. And then I was like, "What? Huh?"
And then, "Whew!" And then, "Ah, noooooooo......." [Insert vertigo here.]
Yeah, and I don't think ya hafta be Sigmund Freud to figure this one out.
The meds to get over those other meds caused problems, too, so I've had to take... yep, more meds. [Insert scream here.]
Basically, I've been dealing with feelings of vertigo in varying degrees of intensity for the past 9, 10 or 12 days or so. And it sucks. To help calm down those awful feelings, I've had to take Antivert and Valium, as well as more Vicodin than usual.
Some young folks out there might be saying to themselves, "Whoo hoo! Party on!" To them I say, "Youth is wasted on the young."
Ha!
I just wanna feel normal again.
And the dreams. Oy! I've had some really strange dreams...
Remember the Ed Sullivan Show?
When I was little, I remember watching that TV show a lot. I remember once there was a guy who came on the show, and he kept plates spinning, plates that were placed on top of long poles.
The guy would rush, rush, rush from one spinning plate to the next, giving them a spin to keep them going. That plate spinning thing was kind of popular way back then...
I remember being quite fascinated with the plate spinning. And these plates were china plates, none of those plastic plates like they have nowadays. What crap! Cheaters.
The plate spinning has been embedded in my brain forever. On days when I feel particularly hurried or stressed, with too many irons in the fire, my mind goes to spinning plates. This, of course, always occurs at work. With the week I've had, which required I work from home, since the meds I've been taking this week aren't recommended for driving (duh), I guess I've been feeling a bit stressed out. I woke this morning to a very vivid dream that included spinning plates. I kept trying to keep them going, but they kept breaking. And when they broke, they would somehow end up in my lap, not on the floor. But they must have broke on the floor, because I remember the noise they made falling and breaking. So, anyway, I had my lap full of all these broken plates, but I still had to keep the plates not yet broken spinning and spinning so they wouldn't break, but somehow not lose the pieces in my lap. And the broken plates in my lap were really heavy, and they hurt. I had dark bluejeans on, so I knew the blood wouldn't show that much, and I was so relieved that the blood wouldn't show.
And then I woke up. My heart was racing. And of course, yes, the first thing I did was check for bleeding wounds. And then I was like, "What? Huh?"
And then, "Whew!" And then, "Ah, noooooooo......." [Insert vertigo here.]
Yeah, and I don't think ya hafta be Sigmund Freud to figure this one out.
Monday, March 09, 2009
I could use a hand
This past Thursday afternoon, I noticed that the palms of my hands were itching just a little bit. A little bit more on Friday, and then Saturday morning, on my way to the pottery studio, they were really itchy. So just in case, I stopped on the way and bought a Lottery ticket. (Waste of money, as usual.)
If you are taking Augmentin (Amoxicillin), and you begin to itch anywhere, STOP TAKING IT IMMEDIATELY.
I wish I had connected the dots. By Saturday afternoon, I was itchy, itchy, ITCHY. My hands, my ears, especially my ear lobes (weird, huh), my scalp, neck & shoulders. I called my doctor's office and spoke the doc on call who told me to stop taking the Augmentin. I had already taken some Benadryl, and that helped. But my hands were driving me nuts. I could feel little bumps all over my head, neck and shoulders...
My hands were starting to swell a little and turning red...
I used Benadryl cream on my hands, but the doc said to try a steroid cream such as Cortaid. I was able to get my rings off my fingers, but by 4am Sunday morning, my hands were swollen to twice their size and bright red. I couldn't bend my fingers, and it was very painful. My hands hurt so much that I wasn't really paying much attention to the rest of the itchy pains. When I looked in the mirror, I noticed my ear lobes had swollen and turned red, too... I looked so strange. Like I had 2 small flesh balloons on each side of my head. Like I had grown a pair of testicles off my ears! I remember staring in the mirror, mesmerized... I don't know for how long, but then Holy Crap! I realized my ears hurt. And itched like crazy. But my hands hurt too much to use them to itch my ears. I washed my hands because I thought maybe it was all the creams I had used that evening, because it looked like I had burned my hands. So I washed and washed with Dove soap and cool water. That felt really good.
But the itching was crazy. I tried to find our tube of Vitamin A&D ointment, but couldn't. I found a really old tube of Desitin and put some of that on. Big mistake. Wash and wash and wash again. Then a brain flash. I went to my aloe vera plant and broke off a stem and opened it and rubbed it all over my hands. I also took some more Benadryl and went back to bed, rubbing the aloe vera every so often.
Kev has been really sick, too, and he has gotten inner ear infections going now also. Saturday afternoon, he blew his runny nose and one ear painfully popped and then he had a vertigo episode. He was out in the pole barn at the time, and it took him a while, but finally he made it into the house to the sofa. It hit him hard, and he was really sick. I got him an antivert tablet and a Valium (while humming "Welcome to My World" inside my head), and he moved into the bedroom to the rocking chair. He was too sick to lay down (I know that feeling!). I shut all the blinds and got the room nice and dark, and he stayed in there, finally falling asleep, for about 4 hours. He's one tough guy, that's for sure. That would have put me out for the whole rest of the day. And all day Sunday.
But since he was sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to wake him up at 5am Sunday morning... so by the time we got up around 7:30am or so (sleeping in for us!), I was feeling a little bit better. The aloe vera plant really helped. I found a bottle of aloe vera gel that we had bought for sunburns and started using that, rubbing some into my hands about every 3 minutes. But the itching and swelling continued. Then I noticed my bottom lip, on the left side, started to swell. It quickly went from feeling funny to feeling like a big lump on my face. Weird. Then my voice changed, and I noticed my throat was really sore. This was probably about 11am. I turned to Kevin and croaked, "I think maybe something is really wrong." I started feeling like my throat was tightening, and it was a very strange feeling. We headed into the ER, and by the time we got there, I was having trouble breathing. They took me right back in and put in an IV and started pumping drugs into me.
Whew. They also gave me a shot of Epinephrine, not in the IV, but just under the skin. It's adrenaline. And, oh yes, it made my heart race. Not in a good way.
I also got a couple of prescriptions to fill and take for the next 3 days.
More drugs.
Oy! I feel shaky and sick and just plain yukky. But the itching is very much calmed down, and my hands are hardly swollen at all now. They're still itchy and very painful, though. The doctor at the ER said my hands will be the last to heal from the allergic reaction, and it will probably take 4 days before my hands feel better. I didn't go into the office today, instead I worked from home. I didn't feel like driving because I felt so shaky. But I had so much to do, and my hands are aching from all the typing today... which is why, of course, I'm typing up this blog post. Duh. Actually, Kev is sitting near me on the sofa, watching a hunting show on the tube, so I decided to look at the photos on my camera... and I saw the photos I had taken on Saturday. The doc on call that I talked to told me to take photos of my neck and scalp and my hands to take into my doctor on Monday. I actually had forgotten we took those photos.
I didn't see my doctor today - he was booked solid. He always is. The nurse said he could fit me in, but I may have to wait a couple of hours. No thanks. I already have an appointment scheduled with the PA tomorrow, and since my symptoms are better, I'm just going to that appointment.
What a freaky weekend. It is one thing after another with me. I deeply regret making up the saying, with Sammy last year, that "everything'll be fine in '09"... *sigh* That was either a major jinx or I did something really bad in a previous life. (Just kidding, Mom!)
At least it's staying Lighter Longer! Springtime's a-comin'.
If you are taking Augmentin (Amoxicillin), and you begin to itch anywhere, STOP TAKING IT IMMEDIATELY.
I wish I had connected the dots. By Saturday afternoon, I was itchy, itchy, ITCHY. My hands, my ears, especially my ear lobes (weird, huh), my scalp, neck & shoulders. I called my doctor's office and spoke the doc on call who told me to stop taking the Augmentin. I had already taken some Benadryl, and that helped. But my hands were driving me nuts. I could feel little bumps all over my head, neck and shoulders...
My hands were starting to swell a little and turning red...
I used Benadryl cream on my hands, but the doc said to try a steroid cream such as Cortaid. I was able to get my rings off my fingers, but by 4am Sunday morning, my hands were swollen to twice their size and bright red. I couldn't bend my fingers, and it was very painful. My hands hurt so much that I wasn't really paying much attention to the rest of the itchy pains. When I looked in the mirror, I noticed my ear lobes had swollen and turned red, too... I looked so strange. Like I had 2 small flesh balloons on each side of my head. Like I had grown a pair of testicles off my ears! I remember staring in the mirror, mesmerized... I don't know for how long, but then Holy Crap! I realized my ears hurt. And itched like crazy. But my hands hurt too much to use them to itch my ears. I washed my hands because I thought maybe it was all the creams I had used that evening, because it looked like I had burned my hands. So I washed and washed with Dove soap and cool water. That felt really good.
But the itching was crazy. I tried to find our tube of Vitamin A&D ointment, but couldn't. I found a really old tube of Desitin and put some of that on. Big mistake. Wash and wash and wash again. Then a brain flash. I went to my aloe vera plant and broke off a stem and opened it and rubbed it all over my hands. I also took some more Benadryl and went back to bed, rubbing the aloe vera every so often.
Kev has been really sick, too, and he has gotten inner ear infections going now also. Saturday afternoon, he blew his runny nose and one ear painfully popped and then he had a vertigo episode. He was out in the pole barn at the time, and it took him a while, but finally he made it into the house to the sofa. It hit him hard, and he was really sick. I got him an antivert tablet and a Valium (while humming "Welcome to My World" inside my head), and he moved into the bedroom to the rocking chair. He was too sick to lay down (I know that feeling!). I shut all the blinds and got the room nice and dark, and he stayed in there, finally falling asleep, for about 4 hours. He's one tough guy, that's for sure. That would have put me out for the whole rest of the day. And all day Sunday.
But since he was sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to wake him up at 5am Sunday morning... so by the time we got up around 7:30am or so (sleeping in for us!), I was feeling a little bit better. The aloe vera plant really helped. I found a bottle of aloe vera gel that we had bought for sunburns and started using that, rubbing some into my hands about every 3 minutes. But the itching and swelling continued. Then I noticed my bottom lip, on the left side, started to swell. It quickly went from feeling funny to feeling like a big lump on my face. Weird. Then my voice changed, and I noticed my throat was really sore. This was probably about 11am. I turned to Kevin and croaked, "I think maybe something is really wrong." I started feeling like my throat was tightening, and it was a very strange feeling. We headed into the ER, and by the time we got there, I was having trouble breathing. They took me right back in and put in an IV and started pumping drugs into me.
Whew. They also gave me a shot of Epinephrine, not in the IV, but just under the skin. It's adrenaline. And, oh yes, it made my heart race. Not in a good way.
I also got a couple of prescriptions to fill and take for the next 3 days.
More drugs.
Oy! I feel shaky and sick and just plain yukky. But the itching is very much calmed down, and my hands are hardly swollen at all now. They're still itchy and very painful, though. The doctor at the ER said my hands will be the last to heal from the allergic reaction, and it will probably take 4 days before my hands feel better. I didn't go into the office today, instead I worked from home. I didn't feel like driving because I felt so shaky. But I had so much to do, and my hands are aching from all the typing today... which is why, of course, I'm typing up this blog post. Duh. Actually, Kev is sitting near me on the sofa, watching a hunting show on the tube, so I decided to look at the photos on my camera... and I saw the photos I had taken on Saturday. The doc on call that I talked to told me to take photos of my neck and scalp and my hands to take into my doctor on Monday. I actually had forgotten we took those photos.
I didn't see my doctor today - he was booked solid. He always is. The nurse said he could fit me in, but I may have to wait a couple of hours. No thanks. I already have an appointment scheduled with the PA tomorrow, and since my symptoms are better, I'm just going to that appointment.
What a freaky weekend. It is one thing after another with me. I deeply regret making up the saying, with Sammy last year, that "everything'll be fine in '09"... *sigh* That was either a major jinx or I did something really bad in a previous life. (Just kidding, Mom!)
At least it's staying Lighter Longer! Springtime's a-comin'.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Odds and Ends
I’ve been sick with a flu or cold or whatever the heck it is for so long, and with the Seriously Quite Majestic Cough I’ve had, I have been staying home from the office and working from home. For some reason, instead of sitting at my computer desk, I’ve been settling myself quite comfortably in the much-loved recliner with my trusty wood desk and my laptop with a 50’ cable attaching to the router (cable is faster than wireless at my house, and yeah, my cable speed wouldn’t blow you away). I find I have been working on and off pretty much morning, noon and night. The downside... after 4 weeks of this, I have discovered this comfortable position supports my neck perhaps too much. I worked in the office all day this past Thursday, and sitting upright with no neck support whatsoever just about did me in. I am still recovering and my neck is hurting. And I’m sitting in the recliner as I type this... Oy!
For some reason, I have been using “Oy!” a lot. Probably too much. But I am trying to clean up my language. 2008 found me cussing much, much more than I usually do, and I was fond of cuss words prior to 2008, so... Oy!
The other evening while I was working on my laptop, sitting in the recliner, and Kev had the TV on watching football stuff... the college boys’ Combine 24-7, then lately all the free agent stuff... It’s all a blur to me. But I did see one guy, a free agent named Albert Hainsworth, talking about his deal with the Redskins for a hundred mil. The money I’ve been hearing has been making me gag. Whatever. And then during Hainsworth’s talk about the deal, Kev said, “Yeah, and let’s not forget he’s the guy that stomped on a guy’s head.” WTF?!! says I. I mean, What the Oy!... So I Googled him. He did stomp on a guy’s head, an opposing team player who did not have his helmet on at the time. Actually, Hainsworth stomped once and missed Cowboy’s Andre Gurode’s head, so he stomped a second time and connected with the man’s face... Andre had to have something like 30 stitches and had blurry vision from the stomp. Lucky that was all. Hainsworth is 6’6” and weighs well over 300 pounds. This happened in 2006, so Hainsworth was maybe 24 years old. I don’t care how much he apologized, how much “anger management” or counseling he got afterwards or how he made amends... If you’re 6’6” and weigh about 320 pounds, you know damn well how powerfully strong you are. In my opinion, Hainsworth should have been kicked out of pro football never to return. I bet Gurode’s family and friends would agree with me. If Andre were my son, for example, I would be angered beyond belief to hear about this one hundred mil deal. Hainsworth should be forced to give half of it to medical research or medical facilities for head injuries.
Speaking of injuries, my Mom had knee replacement surgery this past Wednesday. The surgery went well, and Mom came home from the hospital yesterday. She is so strong. She’s the strongest 72 year old woman I know. Heck, she’s stronger than a lot of people I know who are 20 years younger. I know my Mom has dealt with pain most of her adult life, having had back surgery way back years & years ago. She’s done so much with pain that would put many people down. The way she’s handled this surgery is amazing, and the hip replacement surgery she had last year. My Mom is amazing! I wanna be like my Mom!
Kev is finally my age again. He turned 48 on March 1st. Sammy made him a coconut cake, from scratch, recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. I was sick, and couldn’t really taste how wonderfully yummy the cake was, but Kevin enjoyed it very much. Joycie & Mike drove into town and got wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, so dinner was nice, too... Kev likes those wings. Now Kev and I are the same age for about a month, until I turn 49. I think 49 is like 39; it’s just not real. When you’re 49, eh, you’re 50. Just admit it.
I recently had a conversation at work about payroll and handling some things, and a person said something like, “...especially when we’re dealing with bargained-for employees...”. I hear this kind of comment pretty often working in a payroll setting. For some reason, there are a lot of folks who are anti-Union. For payroll, yes, Union employees are more work. But so are the other end of the spectrum, the special circumstances in a payroll system for the highly compensated employees also cause extra work. So why the negative feelings toward Union employees? I don’t get it. My husband is a Union member, so I am very pro-Union. I know Unions are not perfect. Is there politics? Is there corruption? Is there narcissism? Yes. Where there are humans involved in a group setting, those things exist. Become active in your local Little League board, and you’ll see all that. You can’t pin those negative characteristics on something as unique solely to Unions. Kev worked in a building where the building manager was a total asshole named Mark Wanus. If it hadn’t been for the Union, that jerk would have accomplished his goal of getting Kev fired. Wanus talked to the Union employees like they were trash, with total disrespect. If my boss talked to me the way Wanus talked to the Union employees, men and women, in that building, my boss’ ass would in the ringer with HR. So, yes, I am pro-Union.
It’s staying lighter longer. Lighter longer. Lighter longer. I love saying that. Spring is coming. I can’t wait. I go around humming sing-song “lighter longer” repetitively to myself, and it feels so good.
Reilly got a good brushing from Sammy yesterday, and it looks like he lost weight. The Furminator works so well. It’s funny, that dog adores Kev so much, and when Kev gets home from work, Reilly is beside himself with joy. But then, when Mike arrives, Reilly is overjoyed. Then Reilly follows Mike around like a shadow. He’s next to him or watching him constantly. He always sleeps with Sammy on Sammy’s bed... except when Mike’s here, then he sleeps near Mike. Reilly is totally in love with Mike. Just like Joycie.
For some reason, I have been using “Oy!” a lot. Probably too much. But I am trying to clean up my language. 2008 found me cussing much, much more than I usually do, and I was fond of cuss words prior to 2008, so... Oy!
The other evening while I was working on my laptop, sitting in the recliner, and Kev had the TV on watching football stuff... the college boys’ Combine 24-7, then lately all the free agent stuff... It’s all a blur to me. But I did see one guy, a free agent named Albert Hainsworth, talking about his deal with the Redskins for a hundred mil. The money I’ve been hearing has been making me gag. Whatever. And then during Hainsworth’s talk about the deal, Kev said, “Yeah, and let’s not forget he’s the guy that stomped on a guy’s head.” WTF?!! says I. I mean, What the Oy!... So I Googled him. He did stomp on a guy’s head, an opposing team player who did not have his helmet on at the time. Actually, Hainsworth stomped once and missed Cowboy’s Andre Gurode’s head, so he stomped a second time and connected with the man’s face... Andre had to have something like 30 stitches and had blurry vision from the stomp. Lucky that was all. Hainsworth is 6’6” and weighs well over 300 pounds. This happened in 2006, so Hainsworth was maybe 24 years old. I don’t care how much he apologized, how much “anger management” or counseling he got afterwards or how he made amends... If you’re 6’6” and weigh about 320 pounds, you know damn well how powerfully strong you are. In my opinion, Hainsworth should have been kicked out of pro football never to return. I bet Gurode’s family and friends would agree with me. If Andre were my son, for example, I would be angered beyond belief to hear about this one hundred mil deal. Hainsworth should be forced to give half of it to medical research or medical facilities for head injuries.
Speaking of injuries, my Mom had knee replacement surgery this past Wednesday. The surgery went well, and Mom came home from the hospital yesterday. She is so strong. She’s the strongest 72 year old woman I know. Heck, she’s stronger than a lot of people I know who are 20 years younger. I know my Mom has dealt with pain most of her adult life, having had back surgery way back years & years ago. She’s done so much with pain that would put many people down. The way she’s handled this surgery is amazing, and the hip replacement surgery she had last year. My Mom is amazing! I wanna be like my Mom!
Kev is finally my age again. He turned 48 on March 1st. Sammy made him a coconut cake, from scratch, recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. I was sick, and couldn’t really taste how wonderfully yummy the cake was, but Kevin enjoyed it very much. Joycie & Mike drove into town and got wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, so dinner was nice, too... Kev likes those wings. Now Kev and I are the same age for about a month, until I turn 49. I think 49 is like 39; it’s just not real. When you’re 49, eh, you’re 50. Just admit it.
I recently had a conversation at work about payroll and handling some things, and a person said something like, “...especially when we’re dealing with bargained-for employees...”. I hear this kind of comment pretty often working in a payroll setting. For some reason, there are a lot of folks who are anti-Union. For payroll, yes, Union employees are more work. But so are the other end of the spectrum, the special circumstances in a payroll system for the highly compensated employees also cause extra work. So why the negative feelings toward Union employees? I don’t get it. My husband is a Union member, so I am very pro-Union. I know Unions are not perfect. Is there politics? Is there corruption? Is there narcissism? Yes. Where there are humans involved in a group setting, those things exist. Become active in your local Little League board, and you’ll see all that. You can’t pin those negative characteristics on something as unique solely to Unions. Kev worked in a building where the building manager was a total asshole named Mark Wanus. If it hadn’t been for the Union, that jerk would have accomplished his goal of getting Kev fired. Wanus talked to the Union employees like they were trash, with total disrespect. If my boss talked to me the way Wanus talked to the Union employees, men and women, in that building, my boss’ ass would in the ringer with HR. So, yes, I am pro-Union.
It’s staying lighter longer. Lighter longer. Lighter longer. I love saying that. Spring is coming. I can’t wait. I go around humming sing-song “lighter longer” repetitively to myself, and it feels so good.
Reilly got a good brushing from Sammy yesterday, and it looks like he lost weight. The Furminator works so well. It’s funny, that dog adores Kev so much, and when Kev gets home from work, Reilly is beside himself with joy. But then, when Mike arrives, Reilly is overjoyed. Then Reilly follows Mike around like a shadow. He’s next to him or watching him constantly. He always sleeps with Sammy on Sammy’s bed... except when Mike’s here, then he sleeps near Mike. Reilly is totally in love with Mike. Just like Joycie.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
creepier
Finished the Z-pak on Friday, and Friday happened to be the worst day yet... clearly, Azithromycin not working for me. Coughing worse; hardly thought that could be possible. Also ears hurting. Burning probes into my skull. And little conversations going on in my head... wheezing. The first time I heard it, I thought my cats were having some tiff out on the porch. Then I realized it was inside my head and happened upon exhaling. Freaked me out.
Kev doing well... the Z-pak helped him.
So... we got up very early Saturday morning and made it to Urgent Care upon opening. I have a viral influenza... and also bronchitis, sinus infection and ear infections.
Mucus R Me.
Got a different antibiotic to try this time for my ear infections. Doc said I will have problems finding antibiotics that work well for me due to my issues last year and all the antibiotics I had then. Likely the reason the Z-pak didn't work for me this time. Doc also gave me an albuterol inhaler for the wheezing. He also suggested taking Robitussin DM plus a Vicodin for cough control. And that truly worked. I have finally gotten some sleep.
The ears feel better today, so it appears the Bactrim is working. The Urgent Care doc suggested not driving for 3 days and following up with my family doctor on Tuesday to make sure the ears are improving. Problem is, of course, with the vertigo I’ve had... doesn’t mix well with ears full up of crap. And vertigo doesn't mix well with driving.
The inhaler isn’t doing much for the wheezing. The sounds being made inside my air tubes are odd. Quite early this morning I woke up from a dream about people arguing, and I realized my wheezing sounded like people arguing. Is that progress? From coughing keeping you awake to wheezing waking you up...? Yes, I think that's progress.
Then later I kept hearing E.T. in my head. And then little aliens. It’s really not as entertaining as it sounds. You know how it is... once you’re aware of something, you really, really notice it. I’m tired of listening to the wheezing to try and determine what it sounds like now. Sick and tired of it. Ha!
Speaking of dreaming... I took a “short” nap this morning at 10:30am, and I woke up about 2:30pm... which comprised some of the deepest sleep I’ve had in 5 days. Nice. But I also had a weird dream. And... I’ve had this same weird dream 3 times now in the past year. I don’t know if it’s the drugs or what...
Here’s the short version... In this dream, I am at home, with Kev, Joyce & Sam, and I suddenly remember that we had put our 3 cats away in the basement with the door shut, which we had done because some company we had over was allergic to cats... And we had forgotten to let the cats back out... forgotten for weeks. Weeks. All 4 of us forgot to let the cats out of the basement for weeks. And the basement... creepy, dark place, not like our basement at all. We rush to the basement, and the 3 cats are the feline equivalent of concentration camp survivors or starving children in Africa. Joyce and I had trouble getting the cats to come to us, but when they finally did, they were affectionate. We fed them, and they ate and ate and ate, and they drank a ton of water.
That’s pretty much it. Except that one of the cats is Taffy, a Siamese mix I had for years who died in 1992 (of a heart attack... old age). I wake up feeling so bad, so ashamed of myself for forgetting the cats for so long and feeling so sad, like crying. Poor, poor starving cats.
Very weird.
Let the analyses begin.
(Hint: pain killers + dextromethorphan and guaifenesin.)
Kev doing well... the Z-pak helped him.
So... we got up very early Saturday morning and made it to Urgent Care upon opening. I have a viral influenza... and also bronchitis, sinus infection and ear infections.
Mucus R Me.
Got a different antibiotic to try this time for my ear infections. Doc said I will have problems finding antibiotics that work well for me due to my issues last year and all the antibiotics I had then. Likely the reason the Z-pak didn't work for me this time. Doc also gave me an albuterol inhaler for the wheezing. He also suggested taking Robitussin DM plus a Vicodin for cough control. And that truly worked. I have finally gotten some sleep.
The ears feel better today, so it appears the Bactrim is working. The Urgent Care doc suggested not driving for 3 days and following up with my family doctor on Tuesday to make sure the ears are improving. Problem is, of course, with the vertigo I’ve had... doesn’t mix well with ears full up of crap. And vertigo doesn't mix well with driving.
The inhaler isn’t doing much for the wheezing. The sounds being made inside my air tubes are odd. Quite early this morning I woke up from a dream about people arguing, and I realized my wheezing sounded like people arguing. Is that progress? From coughing keeping you awake to wheezing waking you up...? Yes, I think that's progress.
Then later I kept hearing E.T. in my head. And then little aliens. It’s really not as entertaining as it sounds. You know how it is... once you’re aware of something, you really, really notice it. I’m tired of listening to the wheezing to try and determine what it sounds like now. Sick and tired of it. Ha!
Speaking of dreaming... I took a “short” nap this morning at 10:30am, and I woke up about 2:30pm... which comprised some of the deepest sleep I’ve had in 5 days. Nice. But I also had a weird dream. And... I’ve had this same weird dream 3 times now in the past year. I don’t know if it’s the drugs or what...
Here’s the short version... In this dream, I am at home, with Kev, Joyce & Sam, and I suddenly remember that we had put our 3 cats away in the basement with the door shut, which we had done because some company we had over was allergic to cats... And we had forgotten to let the cats back out... forgotten for weeks. Weeks. All 4 of us forgot to let the cats out of the basement for weeks. And the basement... creepy, dark place, not like our basement at all. We rush to the basement, and the 3 cats are the feline equivalent of concentration camp survivors or starving children in Africa. Joyce and I had trouble getting the cats to come to us, but when they finally did, they were affectionate. We fed them, and they ate and ate and ate, and they drank a ton of water.
That’s pretty much it. Except that one of the cats is Taffy, a Siamese mix I had for years who died in 1992 (of a heart attack... old age). I wake up feeling so bad, so ashamed of myself for forgetting the cats for so long and feeling so sad, like crying. Poor, poor starving cats.
Very weird.
Let the analyses begin.
(Hint: pain killers + dextromethorphan and guaifenesin.)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
neck update & what I'm lovin'
Here is a photo, taken this morning, of the scar on the back of my neck...
Thought I'd share one with you since I haven't taken a photo in a quite a while. I think this is pretty much what it's going to look like from now on. You can't really tell from the photo, but the scar is indented, quite a bit. The scar isn't sensitive, I mean, I can kinda feel it when someone touches it, but not really. Toward the top of the scar, like in the middle of my neck, when I touch it, it feels like skin on top of bone with nothing else between. It feels strange. I can't really tell if I'm feeling the scar tissue or just the bone... I'm pretty sure there is no feeling left in that scar tissue area. Bottom line, it feels strange.
I've been going to physical therapy, and it has dramatically helped with my vertigo. The problem is that when my neck begins to hurt, which is like all the time, my muscles tense up and that makes the vertigo act up. PT has shown me exercises to relax those neck and shoulder muscles and how to build up the strength in them.
Then one day at PT, when I was very, very tense, big knots in my neck and shoulders, they put a tens unit on me.
Oh. My. Heck.
I fell in love. That felt so very, very good. And the good feeling stayed with me for hours afterwards. It really, truly helped. I could not wait for my next PT session, and getting the tens unit at the end of the session was worth all the pain of the exercises.
Then one day I said, "I want one!" I was joking. I don't know why I was joking, because yes, I could get one, and the PT said I was an excellent candidate for it. So this is what I'm lovin' Big Time...
I select "shoulder" and crank that puppy up to 6.0 or more, depending on the day, and it's heaven. Heaven, I tell ya.
If you followed the Wiki link above, you know now that tens stands for "Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator," and I had to look up transcutaneous... an adjective meaning by way of or through the skin. The Wiki article also mentioned some history on this type of pain treatment, which I found very interesting...
Meet Scribonius Largus, a Greek physician who lived about 47 AD...
Word is this guy reported to all his pals that pain could be relieved by standing on an electrical fish at the seashore.
I even found this New York Times article from November 2006, "It May Come as a Shock," by Amanda Schaffer that discusses Scribonius Largus and tens units. Interesting reading. For me, anyway, since I'm using one. And in love with it.
I tried to find information on using a tens unit in conjunction with my neck situation, i.e., rods and screws. The physical therapist I see told me to keep the electrodes away from my neck where the metal exists. I know she explained to me why, but I can't remember. And I couldn't find any good information on it via a 'net search. I'll see the PT again in a month or so, as a follow-up, and will get the scoop then. Meantime, I'm following her advice, and the tens unit is helping me so very much. I am hoping to be completely off Vicodin soon. I still take a half of a 7.5mg tablet each morning... mornings are still the worst time for me, with my neck being stiff and sore from the night's duration. I also sometimes take another half tablet late afternoon, depending on the day. Usually if I'm in the office working, I need the afternoon dose.
The only problem with the tens unit is that I cannot place the 4 electrodes onto my shoulders myself, not where I want them. I can put them on the top of my shoulders, but the twisting and turning wrenches my neck a bit, and it's not the ideal location for the electrodes anyway. The other morning when I went into the office, I had my daughter put the electrodes on me, and then I wore them all day. I have to admit, they were driving me a little bit crazy after a few hours. But it was worth it. Anyway, last week is not a good example, because I was so sick with the flu bug I had, that pretty much everything was driving me crazy. Yuck. (By crazy, I mean barfing.)
While I've been playing on the computer & typing up this post, and drinking coffee, Kev's been drinking coffee, too, and also watching DVD's of the 6th season of "The Sopranos." He called me over to watch a bit from one episode... Tony was in the hospital, just had surgery. A woman comes into his hospital room. Turns out, she's a representative from his insurance carrier. She is evaluating his situation because she wants him to get released, you know, to stop the bills. He, of course, argues with her. She tells him he’s lucky, & that if the guys in the ambulance hadn’t done a “wallet biopsy” and found his insurance card they would have dropped him off at some other hospital, a crappy one for people without insurance.
Wallet biopsy. That was a great line, eh.
Anyway, he told her to leave, but I don’t want to repeat what he called her... if you’ve watched the show, you can guess... it wasn't very polite. But Kev and I both cracked up and felt one of those fist in the air moments. You tell her, Tony! She deserved it.
I'm still waiting to hear if my insurance is going to cover the cost of the tens unit I have. If they refuse, of course I'll argue with them, and having a pretty famous neurosurgeon (who I'm sure will support me), my family doctor and a well-respected physical therapist all recommend I own one, they'd better agree. Because this wonderful little unit is very expensive... but worth it.
Thought I'd share one with you since I haven't taken a photo in a quite a while. I think this is pretty much what it's going to look like from now on. You can't really tell from the photo, but the scar is indented, quite a bit. The scar isn't sensitive, I mean, I can kinda feel it when someone touches it, but not really. Toward the top of the scar, like in the middle of my neck, when I touch it, it feels like skin on top of bone with nothing else between. It feels strange. I can't really tell if I'm feeling the scar tissue or just the bone... I'm pretty sure there is no feeling left in that scar tissue area. Bottom line, it feels strange.
I've been going to physical therapy, and it has dramatically helped with my vertigo. The problem is that when my neck begins to hurt, which is like all the time, my muscles tense up and that makes the vertigo act up. PT has shown me exercises to relax those neck and shoulder muscles and how to build up the strength in them.
Then one day at PT, when I was very, very tense, big knots in my neck and shoulders, they put a tens unit on me.
Oh. My. Heck.
I fell in love. That felt so very, very good. And the good feeling stayed with me for hours afterwards. It really, truly helped. I could not wait for my next PT session, and getting the tens unit at the end of the session was worth all the pain of the exercises.
Then one day I said, "I want one!" I was joking. I don't know why I was joking, because yes, I could get one, and the PT said I was an excellent candidate for it. So this is what I'm lovin' Big Time...
I select "shoulder" and crank that puppy up to 6.0 or more, depending on the day, and it's heaven. Heaven, I tell ya.
If you followed the Wiki link above, you know now that tens stands for "Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator," and I had to look up transcutaneous... an adjective meaning by way of or through the skin. The Wiki article also mentioned some history on this type of pain treatment, which I found very interesting...
Meet Scribonius Largus, a Greek physician who lived about 47 AD...
Word is this guy reported to all his pals that pain could be relieved by standing on an electrical fish at the seashore.
I even found this New York Times article from November 2006, "It May Come as a Shock," by Amanda Schaffer that discusses Scribonius Largus and tens units. Interesting reading. For me, anyway, since I'm using one. And in love with it.
I tried to find information on using a tens unit in conjunction with my neck situation, i.e., rods and screws. The physical therapist I see told me to keep the electrodes away from my neck where the metal exists. I know she explained to me why, but I can't remember. And I couldn't find any good information on it via a 'net search. I'll see the PT again in a month or so, as a follow-up, and will get the scoop then. Meantime, I'm following her advice, and the tens unit is helping me so very much. I am hoping to be completely off Vicodin soon. I still take a half of a 7.5mg tablet each morning... mornings are still the worst time for me, with my neck being stiff and sore from the night's duration. I also sometimes take another half tablet late afternoon, depending on the day. Usually if I'm in the office working, I need the afternoon dose.
The only problem with the tens unit is that I cannot place the 4 electrodes onto my shoulders myself, not where I want them. I can put them on the top of my shoulders, but the twisting and turning wrenches my neck a bit, and it's not the ideal location for the electrodes anyway. The other morning when I went into the office, I had my daughter put the electrodes on me, and then I wore them all day. I have to admit, they were driving me a little bit crazy after a few hours. But it was worth it. Anyway, last week is not a good example, because I was so sick with the flu bug I had, that pretty much everything was driving me crazy. Yuck. (By crazy, I mean barfing.)
While I've been playing on the computer & typing up this post, and drinking coffee, Kev's been drinking coffee, too, and also watching DVD's of the 6th season of "The Sopranos." He called me over to watch a bit from one episode... Tony was in the hospital, just had surgery. A woman comes into his hospital room. Turns out, she's a representative from his insurance carrier. She is evaluating his situation because she wants him to get released, you know, to stop the bills. He, of course, argues with her. She tells him he’s lucky, & that if the guys in the ambulance hadn’t done a “wallet biopsy” and found his insurance card they would have dropped him off at some other hospital, a crappy one for people without insurance.
Wallet biopsy. That was a great line, eh.
Anyway, he told her to leave, but I don’t want to repeat what he called her... if you’ve watched the show, you can guess... it wasn't very polite. But Kev and I both cracked up and felt one of those fist in the air moments. You tell her, Tony! She deserved it.
I'm still waiting to hear if my insurance is going to cover the cost of the tens unit I have. If they refuse, of course I'll argue with them, and having a pretty famous neurosurgeon (who I'm sure will support me), my family doctor and a well-respected physical therapist all recommend I own one, they'd better agree. Because this wonderful little unit is very expensive... but worth it.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Falling Back
Usually, I love Halloween. It's changing for me because my kids are no longer little and dressing up for school or for trick-or-treating. But, still... this year's Halloween, like so many things this year, sucked.
Sammy and his friend, Julia, had been planning this great Halloween party for weeks. The 'usual crowd' (about 10 kids, half guys, half girls) was meeting after school, hanging out then watching some scary movies that Sammy & I rented on Thursday. Then they were all going to go to a haunted house, and then, if time, a scary corn maze, then back to Julia's for more scary movies.
I had a PT appointment at 1:30pm, but left work about 11am to pick up my repaired car. I then had to go to the mall to the Verizon store to find out why Sammy's new phone has a black mark on its screen. They said it's a stress crack, so not a manufacturer defect, but they were going to give me a new phone for $50 even though we didn't get insurance on the darn thing. Sammy had it in his pocket all day at school, even though he is NOT supposed to, and somehow it happened that day. Unfortunately, after waiting for a very long time while the woman at Verizon went through all the activities necessary to transfer to a new phone for Sammy, when she took the hard case off Sam's phone and the new phone out of the box, she realized she had the plain ol' Voyager and Sam has the new version, the Voyager Titanium. And, of course, they were out of stock on the Titanium one. So then she had to undo all she'd done so Sam's broken phone would work until next Wednesday when they would get a new Voyager Titanium into the store. Oy. Cell phone stores have officially replaced the DMV for time wasting in my book. I can never get out of there under an hour.
I also had another errand at the mall. Joyce's HP laptop has been 'acting funny' for a few months, so the other evening she took it to Best Buy to have a Geek Squad dude look at it. We bought it at Best Buy and we bought the extended warranty. Long story, short... Joyce's subscription to her antivirus software ran out this past summer and she didn't renew it. She told me she asked me what to do about it, but I never gave her an answer, so she didn't do anything. Um... let's see, what was I doing this past summer?... Oh, yes... Vicodin and Valium! She should have renewed the subscriptions. From Limewire she got the Trojan virus. Best Buy wanted almost $400 to fix her laptop & remove the Trojan. I told her to tell them to go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks and bring her laptop home. I took it to "Computers To Go" at the Midland Mall, where they fixed it & removed the virus for $74. Yes, $74. Best Buy sucks. Computers To Go rocks.
So anyway, I was at Computers To Go, standing at the counter filling out the form the guy needed, and suddenly there was a loud BANG! right behind me. The UPS guy had come in and dropped this huge box on the floor. Seriously scared the crap outta me, and also the guy working there. He said something like, "what the fuck man" and then kinda apologized to me, and I said, "no I'm totally with you" and then I turned around and basically chewed the UPS guy out. Mostly because when it happened, I whipped my head around and then waves of intense pain generating from my neck went through me, followed by waves of nausea. I had to stand there at the counter for about 2 minutes doing nothing but hanging onto the counter until it all stopped. That's a long time to stand and say nothing when there's only 2 of you in the store. I finally told Joe, the guy working there, how I had some problems from a couple of neck surgeries. And could he please capture and torture that UPS dude. Oy.
Then I went to my PT appointment, where I laid down flat on my back on the narrow bed thing, with 2 pillows and a wonderfully hot heating pad under my neck. Usually, I have this round bolster to put under my knees, that that was in another room, so I had a large square block of foam. The foam block was too high up the back of my thighs, so I tried to scootch it down a little to get it to under the bend of my knees, and I think I lifted my head up to look... why I did that, I don't know. But it triggered a severe vertigo attack. Severe. The PT, Amy, tried to help me, but it only became worse. I had called Kev, and he and Joyce drove into town together, and Joyce got Sam's phone to deliver it to him and drove the truck home. Kev took me home in the car. It was awful. He had to use a wheel chair to get me out to the car, I was that bad. Couldn't walk. Couldn't sit in the car... I knelt on the floor with my head in my hands with a cold, wet wash cloth leaning against the car seat. I can hardly bear to think about that ride home even now.
Thank God for Kevin. He got me settled in bed where I basically curled into a fetal position and wanted No Movement. Two antivert pills (basically now car sickness pills you can get over the counter) and two valium and Leave Me Alone Do Not Touch Me later, and the vertigo feeling finally started to settle down a little bit.
And then all hell broke loose. Got a phone call. Sam fell off from a deck at his friend's house, actually he was pushed by a friend, just goofing around (teenaged boys!), but Sam was sitting on the railing, so he fell down about 8 feet. Dislocated and fractured his right elbow. The dad, who was so great with Sam, got Sam to ER and Kev rushed around and left to meet them there. Since Joyce had already left to go to Bay City to Mike's that left me alone in the house. Killed me not to go to the ER.
As it started to get dark, the dogs all went nuts barking, and I saw headlights beam across the pond. I called my sister, Kathy, and asked if that was her in my driveway, and as I was talking with her, I heard footsteps on our front porch. It wasn't Kathy, she was at home. Kev didn't turn on any lights in the house, but he had turned on the porch lights. So our house was all dark. I don't know if it was trick-or-treaters or what, but they left. We live so far out and so far off the road, which is a dirt, dead-end road with pretty much no one else living on it, that we never get trick-or-treaters. But it freaked me out. Lying in bed, can't move without nausea let alone get out of the bed, with the house completely dark. So Kathy came over and babysat me until everyone got home. She also fielded all the phone calls, because talking on the phone made my vertigo worse, too. Once again, Kathy, my hero.
Mike and Joyce had delayed their plans for the evening and went to the ER to wait with Kev. Sammy's elbow was put back into place, and they had an orthopedic surgeon look at the x-rays. The doctor was in surgery and had about 3 more hours to go, so in the ER, they put a temporary cast on Sam and sent him home with pain meds. We have to take him to the surgeon on Monday, and it looks like he will need a pin put into his elbow to hold a loose piece of bone from the end of the humorous in place until it heals.
Sam was amazing throughout it all. Because it happened in front of all of his friends, he tried very hard not to cry and pretty much succeeded. Amazing. He did great at the ER, and he's been great at home. My baby boy is no baby, that's for sure. Yesterday, he even typed up a thank you note to the dad who took him to the ER. All on his own, his very own idea.
It really bummed Sam out to miss the Halloween party, especially the haunted house. Sam loves that stuff. And also, bummed him out to cancel his party that was supposed to happen today... for his birthday, he was having 5 guy friends overnight and they were going to play his new guitar hero that he got for his birthday. (We ordered it online, so it came in this past week, and I caved and let him open it. He and Joycie have been rockin' in the basement together ever since.) And since his birthday is on Tuesday - election day - we planned the family birthday party for Monday evening, but that's on hold, and likely canceled, because we don't know what's going to happen on Monday with the orthopedic surgeon.
So this morning, I was up at about 5 am, and feeling much more normal. I laid back down on the bed and watched the sun rise. Going to be a beautiful day. I suggested Kev watch it with me, but he wanted to watch it from a tree stand, so he's out hunting. Beautiful morning for it.
The kids, Sam, Joyce & Mike, are still sleeping. I am not only up and blogging, but I'm drinking coffee and dressed! Spent all day yesterday in my pajamas, between the bed and the recliner, walking like a drunk crazy person between the 2. My balance is definitely back today. I missed a baby shower yesterday, for Mike's older brother's son or daughter on the way. Bummed me out to miss it, I was looking forward to it. I was also looking forward to pottery Saturday morning with my sister, JoAnne, and had to cancel that, too. Since our school has Monday as a day off for the kids, I took Monday and then also Tuesday, Sammy's birthday, on vacation. So far, the weekend has not gone as planned. *sigh* But the sun's shining and the coffee's hot. Sam's fall could have been so much worse. And Joyce won $100 at the casino (their plans for Friday evening, which they delayed until Sam was home). So we're good. It is what it is.
Sammy and his friend, Julia, had been planning this great Halloween party for weeks. The 'usual crowd' (about 10 kids, half guys, half girls) was meeting after school, hanging out then watching some scary movies that Sammy & I rented on Thursday. Then they were all going to go to a haunted house, and then, if time, a scary corn maze, then back to Julia's for more scary movies.
I had a PT appointment at 1:30pm, but left work about 11am to pick up my repaired car. I then had to go to the mall to the Verizon store to find out why Sammy's new phone has a black mark on its screen. They said it's a stress crack, so not a manufacturer defect, but they were going to give me a new phone for $50 even though we didn't get insurance on the darn thing. Sammy had it in his pocket all day at school, even though he is NOT supposed to, and somehow it happened that day. Unfortunately, after waiting for a very long time while the woman at Verizon went through all the activities necessary to transfer to a new phone for Sammy, when she took the hard case off Sam's phone and the new phone out of the box, she realized she had the plain ol' Voyager and Sam has the new version, the Voyager Titanium. And, of course, they were out of stock on the Titanium one. So then she had to undo all she'd done so Sam's broken phone would work until next Wednesday when they would get a new Voyager Titanium into the store. Oy. Cell phone stores have officially replaced the DMV for time wasting in my book. I can never get out of there under an hour.
I also had another errand at the mall. Joyce's HP laptop has been 'acting funny' for a few months, so the other evening she took it to Best Buy to have a Geek Squad dude look at it. We bought it at Best Buy and we bought the extended warranty. Long story, short... Joyce's subscription to her antivirus software ran out this past summer and she didn't renew it. She told me she asked me what to do about it, but I never gave her an answer, so she didn't do anything. Um... let's see, what was I doing this past summer?... Oh, yes... Vicodin and Valium! She should have renewed the subscriptions. From Limewire she got the Trojan virus. Best Buy wanted almost $400 to fix her laptop & remove the Trojan. I told her to tell them to go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks and bring her laptop home. I took it to "Computers To Go" at the Midland Mall, where they fixed it & removed the virus for $74. Yes, $74. Best Buy sucks. Computers To Go rocks.
So anyway, I was at Computers To Go, standing at the counter filling out the form the guy needed, and suddenly there was a loud BANG! right behind me. The UPS guy had come in and dropped this huge box on the floor. Seriously scared the crap outta me, and also the guy working there. He said something like, "what the fuck man" and then kinda apologized to me, and I said, "no I'm totally with you" and then I turned around and basically chewed the UPS guy out. Mostly because when it happened, I whipped my head around and then waves of intense pain generating from my neck went through me, followed by waves of nausea. I had to stand there at the counter for about 2 minutes doing nothing but hanging onto the counter until it all stopped. That's a long time to stand and say nothing when there's only 2 of you in the store. I finally told Joe, the guy working there, how I had some problems from a couple of neck surgeries. And could he please capture and torture that UPS dude. Oy.
Then I went to my PT appointment, where I laid down flat on my back on the narrow bed thing, with 2 pillows and a wonderfully hot heating pad under my neck. Usually, I have this round bolster to put under my knees, that that was in another room, so I had a large square block of foam. The foam block was too high up the back of my thighs, so I tried to scootch it down a little to get it to under the bend of my knees, and I think I lifted my head up to look... why I did that, I don't know. But it triggered a severe vertigo attack. Severe. The PT, Amy, tried to help me, but it only became worse. I had called Kev, and he and Joyce drove into town together, and Joyce got Sam's phone to deliver it to him and drove the truck home. Kev took me home in the car. It was awful. He had to use a wheel chair to get me out to the car, I was that bad. Couldn't walk. Couldn't sit in the car... I knelt on the floor with my head in my hands with a cold, wet wash cloth leaning against the car seat. I can hardly bear to think about that ride home even now.
Thank God for Kevin. He got me settled in bed where I basically curled into a fetal position and wanted No Movement. Two antivert pills (basically now car sickness pills you can get over the counter) and two valium and Leave Me Alone Do Not Touch Me later, and the vertigo feeling finally started to settle down a little bit.
And then all hell broke loose. Got a phone call. Sam fell off from a deck at his friend's house, actually he was pushed by a friend, just goofing around (teenaged boys!), but Sam was sitting on the railing, so he fell down about 8 feet. Dislocated and fractured his right elbow. The dad, who was so great with Sam, got Sam to ER and Kev rushed around and left to meet them there. Since Joyce had already left to go to Bay City to Mike's that left me alone in the house. Killed me not to go to the ER.
As it started to get dark, the dogs all went nuts barking, and I saw headlights beam across the pond. I called my sister, Kathy, and asked if that was her in my driveway, and as I was talking with her, I heard footsteps on our front porch. It wasn't Kathy, she was at home. Kev didn't turn on any lights in the house, but he had turned on the porch lights. So our house was all dark. I don't know if it was trick-or-treaters or what, but they left. We live so far out and so far off the road, which is a dirt, dead-end road with pretty much no one else living on it, that we never get trick-or-treaters. But it freaked me out. Lying in bed, can't move without nausea let alone get out of the bed, with the house completely dark. So Kathy came over and babysat me until everyone got home. She also fielded all the phone calls, because talking on the phone made my vertigo worse, too. Once again, Kathy, my hero.
Mike and Joyce had delayed their plans for the evening and went to the ER to wait with Kev. Sammy's elbow was put back into place, and they had an orthopedic surgeon look at the x-rays. The doctor was in surgery and had about 3 more hours to go, so in the ER, they put a temporary cast on Sam and sent him home with pain meds. We have to take him to the surgeon on Monday, and it looks like he will need a pin put into his elbow to hold a loose piece of bone from the end of the humorous in place until it heals.
Sam was amazing throughout it all. Because it happened in front of all of his friends, he tried very hard not to cry and pretty much succeeded. Amazing. He did great at the ER, and he's been great at home. My baby boy is no baby, that's for sure. Yesterday, he even typed up a thank you note to the dad who took him to the ER. All on his own, his very own idea.
It really bummed Sam out to miss the Halloween party, especially the haunted house. Sam loves that stuff. And also, bummed him out to cancel his party that was supposed to happen today... for his birthday, he was having 5 guy friends overnight and they were going to play his new guitar hero that he got for his birthday. (We ordered it online, so it came in this past week, and I caved and let him open it. He and Joycie have been rockin' in the basement together ever since.) And since his birthday is on Tuesday - election day - we planned the family birthday party for Monday evening, but that's on hold, and likely canceled, because we don't know what's going to happen on Monday with the orthopedic surgeon.
So this morning, I was up at about 5 am, and feeling much more normal. I laid back down on the bed and watched the sun rise. Going to be a beautiful day. I suggested Kev watch it with me, but he wanted to watch it from a tree stand, so he's out hunting. Beautiful morning for it.
The kids, Sam, Joyce & Mike, are still sleeping. I am not only up and blogging, but I'm drinking coffee and dressed! Spent all day yesterday in my pajamas, between the bed and the recliner, walking like a drunk crazy person between the 2. My balance is definitely back today. I missed a baby shower yesterday, for Mike's older brother's son or daughter on the way. Bummed me out to miss it, I was looking forward to it. I was also looking forward to pottery Saturday morning with my sister, JoAnne, and had to cancel that, too. Since our school has Monday as a day off for the kids, I took Monday and then also Tuesday, Sammy's birthday, on vacation. So far, the weekend has not gone as planned. *sigh* But the sun's shining and the coffee's hot. Sam's fall could have been so much worse. And Joyce won $100 at the casino (their plans for Friday evening, which they delayed until Sam was home). So we're good. It is what it is.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Neck update and other stuff
I saw Dr. Adams yesterday afternoon (the neurosurgeon), and I told him my vertigo was pretty much over and that I wanted to return to working full-time in the office with no restrictions... and he agreed! So Monday, I'm hoping my life will begin to return to normal. As normal as our life gets anyway...
Last time I saw Dr. Adams, thankfully in his Midland office closer to home, he had given me a doctor's note to be out of the office for 2 weeks because of the vertigo (which wasn't related to my neck), and so I had to see him yesterday to get an official doctor's note so I can be back in the office full-time. It'll be nice not to bother with my company's health services department any longer. Done. Thank God.
While at his Midland office, up at the counter when I was checking in, I noticed the files they had ready to go for his appointments that day... His main office is in Saginaw, so I'm sure they pull all the folders for his day's appointments and take them over to Midland. I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pics with my cell phone...
But I can't decide if it's NUF SEX, as in 'nough (enough), or dyslexic FUN SEX....
I had to drive over to Saginaw to see the doc yesterday, and from our house, it's close to an hour's drive. It felt kinda weird driving, since I couldn't drive with the vertigo the past 3 weeks. My appointment was at 3:30pm and I left my house around 1pm... I thought to give myself plenty of time, and hey, if I saw a garage sale, I'd stop (always on the lookout for books).
Yesterday, like the day before and like today, was hotter than allgitout and muggy. Ugh. Not a good day for garage sales; I saw 3 I think. Not worth stopping. But I did see this, sitting on a front porch in town...
I had to back my car up and get my camera out. I thought I was the only one in this county that had one; here's mine...
These are called inuksuks. A few years back when Kevin and I drove up to Cochrane, Ontario, way up north through the Upper Penninsula of Michigan through Sault Ste Marie and up highways 129 and 101 in Canada, we kept seeing these little stone people along that gorgeous drive. (Beautiful country up there.) I took a bunch of photos of them, film back then, not digital. While in Chochrane, we hit a gift/souvenir shop, and they had little replicas of them... that's how I discovered they are called inuksuks, and I bought one (it's on my desk at work). We went up there to collect "Junior," Kevin's chest-mounted black bear, from the taxidermist. We stayed overnight in some hotel, and it turned out to be really nice, and we had a nice dinner there too. It was a great road trip. On our way back home, Kev and I gathered stones so that I could make my own inuksuk at home.
Speaking of road trips, Kev and I took a short one this past Sunday. We decided to take some back roads... I took this photo of the 2 of us back on a dirt road along one of the many, many farm fields we saw...
Yep, Kev's taking a little break... guys are so lucky that way on road trips. *sigh*
Our plan for the day was to go walk on a beach. In Michigan, you're never that far from a beach on one of the Great Lakes. We decided to try and get to Albert E. Sleeper State Park, but we made it only as far as Caseville. We stopped right before Caseville proper, and we took a walk out on this long pier out into Saginaw Bay. It was a gorgeous day, but also super, super windy.
We didn't make it all the way out to the end of the pier, because it was so windy, half way there & my shirt was blowing up around my ears. Too much wind to keep things under control, and I almost lost my hat. I took this photo by perching my camera on a rail across from us...
And the wind almost knocked the camera off the rail. My hat says "Soo Locks." I believe I bought that on our Cochrane road trip when we went through Sault Ste Marie. I wouldn't want to lose it.
We stopped in Caseville for lunch, where I had the best cheeseburger I've ever had. Wish I could remember the name of the place. It was a "black and bleu" burger with cajun seasoning, swiss cheese and bleu cheese dressing. Yummy. Caseville is known for their cheeseburgers...
But after lunch, we ended up just heading back home... I think because our truck was parked in that direction. About 20 minutes down the road, Kev looked at me and exclaimed, "Shit!" We never made it to the beach... forgot all about it. (I told you that was one good cheeseburger. The margarita was pretty good, too.) But I had had enough of the road trip and was happy to be heading home. Won't be doing that again soon. Like probably not until next summer. The neck can't take it yet.
On our drive, we also saw tons and tons of political posters everywhere. I saw a ton of them yesterday, too. Lots of elections going on. This one, however, is by far my favorite so far...
Last time I saw Dr. Adams, thankfully in his Midland office closer to home, he had given me a doctor's note to be out of the office for 2 weeks because of the vertigo (which wasn't related to my neck), and so I had to see him yesterday to get an official doctor's note so I can be back in the office full-time. It'll be nice not to bother with my company's health services department any longer. Done. Thank God.
While at his Midland office, up at the counter when I was checking in, I noticed the files they had ready to go for his appointments that day... His main office is in Saginaw, so I'm sure they pull all the folders for his day's appointments and take them over to Midland. I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pics with my cell phone...
But I can't decide if it's NUF SEX, as in 'nough (enough), or dyslexic FUN SEX....
I had to drive over to Saginaw to see the doc yesterday, and from our house, it's close to an hour's drive. It felt kinda weird driving, since I couldn't drive with the vertigo the past 3 weeks. My appointment was at 3:30pm and I left my house around 1pm... I thought to give myself plenty of time, and hey, if I saw a garage sale, I'd stop (always on the lookout for books).
Yesterday, like the day before and like today, was hotter than allgitout and muggy. Ugh. Not a good day for garage sales; I saw 3 I think. Not worth stopping. But I did see this, sitting on a front porch in town...
I had to back my car up and get my camera out. I thought I was the only one in this county that had one; here's mine...
These are called inuksuks. A few years back when Kevin and I drove up to Cochrane, Ontario, way up north through the Upper Penninsula of Michigan through Sault Ste Marie and up highways 129 and 101 in Canada, we kept seeing these little stone people along that gorgeous drive. (Beautiful country up there.) I took a bunch of photos of them, film back then, not digital. While in Chochrane, we hit a gift/souvenir shop, and they had little replicas of them... that's how I discovered they are called inuksuks, and I bought one (it's on my desk at work). We went up there to collect "Junior," Kevin's chest-mounted black bear, from the taxidermist. We stayed overnight in some hotel, and it turned out to be really nice, and we had a nice dinner there too. It was a great road trip. On our way back home, Kev and I gathered stones so that I could make my own inuksuk at home.
Speaking of road trips, Kev and I took a short one this past Sunday. We decided to take some back roads... I took this photo of the 2 of us back on a dirt road along one of the many, many farm fields we saw...
Yep, Kev's taking a little break... guys are so lucky that way on road trips. *sigh*
Our plan for the day was to go walk on a beach. In Michigan, you're never that far from a beach on one of the Great Lakes. We decided to try and get to Albert E. Sleeper State Park, but we made it only as far as Caseville. We stopped right before Caseville proper, and we took a walk out on this long pier out into Saginaw Bay. It was a gorgeous day, but also super, super windy.
We didn't make it all the way out to the end of the pier, because it was so windy, half way there & my shirt was blowing up around my ears. Too much wind to keep things under control, and I almost lost my hat. I took this photo by perching my camera on a rail across from us...
And the wind almost knocked the camera off the rail. My hat says "Soo Locks." I believe I bought that on our Cochrane road trip when we went through Sault Ste Marie. I wouldn't want to lose it.
We stopped in Caseville for lunch, where I had the best cheeseburger I've ever had. Wish I could remember the name of the place. It was a "black and bleu" burger with cajun seasoning, swiss cheese and bleu cheese dressing. Yummy. Caseville is known for their cheeseburgers...
But after lunch, we ended up just heading back home... I think because our truck was parked in that direction. About 20 minutes down the road, Kev looked at me and exclaimed, "Shit!" We never made it to the beach... forgot all about it. (I told you that was one good cheeseburger. The margarita was pretty good, too.) But I had had enough of the road trip and was happy to be heading home. Won't be doing that again soon. Like probably not until next summer. The neck can't take it yet.
On our drive, we also saw tons and tons of political posters everywhere. I saw a ton of them yesterday, too. Lots of elections going on. This one, however, is by far my favorite so far...
Saturday, July 12, 2008
I don't even care...
Yesterday, the turkeys were all over my rock garden & herb garden. That's right, I don't care... I didn't bother to try & scare them away.
Because my rock & herb gardens are pretty much all weeds... weeds, weeds, WEEDS! Like the sign says...
Kathy gave that to me for my birthday in April, and it's so very true. *sigh* Well, there are some herbs in there...
I had hoped this year would be better than the last 3 or so for working in my gardens, but the infection and 2nd surgery to my neck put the ol' damper on that party. Hopefully next year. Sammy & I have a little saying going, though perhaps it's more like a mantra or a prayer...
"Everything'll be fine in 2009!"
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
I shake my fist at the universe & ask what the hell did I ever do to you...
But all I get is a distant echo of an evil chuckle...
Guess what I now have? Go ahead, guess.
Vertigo. Not caused by an inner ear infection, unfortunately... because I believe that would be the easiest to cure. Instead, mine is likely from a task I did at work in the office on Friday when I was up, down, up, down, up, down for about 20 to 30 minutes at the copy machine. Moved those little "crystals" around in my inner ear.
I saw my family doc yesterday morning, and he gave me 2 prescriptions, antivert and valium. I take a pill every 3 hours, alternating between the 2. And I sleep, and I sleep, and I sleep. Also, the dizziness is abating somewhat. For about 90% of people who have this type of vertigo (i.e., objective vertigo; not caused from an inner ear infection), it clears up in about 3 weeks or so. The other 10%, it never clears up.
There is a thing called the Epley Maneuver where a trained physical therapist moves your head around to "readjust" the crystals in the inner ear, but my family doctor wouldn't prescribe it due to my neck problems/recent surgeries. I see the neurosurgeon this coming Monday, and will ask him about it. For 70% of the people who have the Epley Maneuver, it clears up the vertigo the first time.
I can't drive, I can't walk a straight line, and I can't watch myself type this post... blech. I have a bunch of stuff to post about, and will try to do so soon... Meantime, fingers crossed. Again.
Guess what I now have? Go ahead, guess.
Vertigo. Not caused by an inner ear infection, unfortunately... because I believe that would be the easiest to cure. Instead, mine is likely from a task I did at work in the office on Friday when I was up, down, up, down, up, down for about 20 to 30 minutes at the copy machine. Moved those little "crystals" around in my inner ear.
I saw my family doc yesterday morning, and he gave me 2 prescriptions, antivert and valium. I take a pill every 3 hours, alternating between the 2. And I sleep, and I sleep, and I sleep. Also, the dizziness is abating somewhat. For about 90% of people who have this type of vertigo (i.e., objective vertigo; not caused from an inner ear infection), it clears up in about 3 weeks or so. The other 10%, it never clears up.
There is a thing called the Epley Maneuver where a trained physical therapist moves your head around to "readjust" the crystals in the inner ear, but my family doctor wouldn't prescribe it due to my neck problems/recent surgeries. I see the neurosurgeon this coming Monday, and will ask him about it. For 70% of the people who have the Epley Maneuver, it clears up the vertigo the first time.
I can't drive, I can't walk a straight line, and I can't watch myself type this post... blech. I have a bunch of stuff to post about, and will try to do so soon... Meantime, fingers crossed. Again.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Mornings are best
Mornings are definitely best for me. It’s not just that I’m getting older (but that’s probably part of it, too), but my neck pain is more manageable from about 5:30am to about 11:00am. Not that I totally can’t stand it the rest of the day, but it’s just better in the mornings.
Since starting back to work in May, it’s been more difficult. I’m only working in the office 3 days each week for 4-hour stints. I do a lot of work from home, also. Actually, on the days I don’t go into the office and only work from home, I can put in more than 8 hours of work and get a ton of work done. When I go into the office, though, I would get home and more than one time, would just fall onto the sofa or the bed and stay there for 2, 3 or 4 hours... ugh.
I worked from home all day Monday and yesterday. Monday afternoon about 3pm, I went and laid down on my bed for a short rest. Sometimes it gets to the point where IJUSTHAVETOLAYMYHEADDOWN! And when those times happen, my lovely, lovely memory foam pillow is calling me.
Other times, after working at my desk for a few hours, I can tell I need a break, and the recliner in the living room calls out to me. Like yesterday... I didn’t realize how much time had passed, so I was at my desk for several hours. Suddenly, I was like, SHIT. Ow. Pain. Upright too long. So I hobbled like a very-old-person-walking-on-thin-ice-like-it’s-gonna-break-any-second on over to the recliner and carefully lowered myself down onto it and laid my head back against it’s wonderful comforting softness. Ahhhhhh...
But then, I remember... I need pain pills and I need them now. Do I get up? Are you kidding? I holler... Sammy! (pause) Sammy!! (pause) SAMMY!!! Usually he’s nearby, like up in his bedroom. Most of the time he’ll come out of his room and start directly down the stairs saying, “What do you need, Momma?” Because by now, my sweet, caring son knows the drill. “Tylenol, Vicodin, water,” I say. And he gets it for me. Other times, he’ll come out of his room and stand at the top of the stairs and says, “What?!” He is 13, after all.
So Monday afternoon when I laid down on my bed (ahhhhhhhh...), I holler... Sammy! (pause) Sammy!! (pause) SAMMY!!! I hear him at the top of the stairs, “What?!” I say, “c’mere.”
“What?!”
“C’MERE!”
He comes into our bedroom and asks what I need. I said, “please, honey, just come lay down with me for a minute, I need a Sammy-hug.” (Sammy-hugs are getting less popular now that he’s 13; he loved giving them when he was little.) I can tell he’s not happy. “Please,” I say, “I’m really hurting right now.” (I pull the guilt card, oh yeah, I do.)
So he lays down next to me and hugs me, and I say, “Please just rub my neck for a minute.” He does. Ahhhh... He’s not super good at it, mostly because he really doesn’t want to do it. I mean, he cares about me and all, but y’know... So after about 1 minute, he kinda stops. I sigh. Even one minute is so very nice. For some reason, my son's hands, large for a 13-year-old (he's always been one of the tallest, biggest boys in his class), anyway, Sam's hands are always warm. When he was little, he usually didn't want to wear mittens or a hat in cold weather, or often not a coat, either, for that matter. And his hands would always be so warm.
Sam says, “Mom, are you ever without pain?”
“No, Sam,” I say, “I guess I’m not. I guess I haven’t really thought about it minute-by-minute, but yeah, right now I’m always dealing with some level of pain.”
So we talk. He asks how long it will take to 'get over this', and I tell him I guess about a year from the second surgery is what I hear. He says that sucks. I agree. He asks if I have to take pills for all that time, and I tell him I hope not. I hope I can get to a point where I won’t need them.
We stopped talking and just laid there, and after a while, I said, “You know, there was one time recently when I wasn’t really feeling pain. At Applebee’s when we went there after Michael’s graduation.” (I still have to post about my nephew, Michael’s, graduation commencement, but afterwards, while Joyce and Mike were still at Bay Med, Kevin, Sammy and I took my sister, Kathy, my brother-in-law, Bob, and my niece, Michelle out to Applebee’s to celebrate. Michael appeared for a minute, before he had to leave for the all-night seniors’ party. It is kind of like a tradition... does twice make it tradition? Hmmm...)
Sam laughed and said, “Oh, yeah. Those Perfect Margaritas.”
If you like margaritas, then you must find an Applebee’s near you and try their Perfect Margaritas. Seriously, they don’t call 'em perfect for nothin'.
I smiled and sighed and said, “Yes.”
Sammy said, “Yes, those 3 Perfect Margaritas.”
Um, no... I tell him that I had only 2. The 3rd one the waiter delivered was for Aunt Kathy. A 3rd one probably would've put me on the floor.
Sammy said, “That night was so much fun.” I heartily agreed with him, and we talked for a while about how much fun it was.
“We should do that again soon,” he said. I heartily agreed with him.
Since starting back to work in May, it’s been more difficult. I’m only working in the office 3 days each week for 4-hour stints. I do a lot of work from home, also. Actually, on the days I don’t go into the office and only work from home, I can put in more than 8 hours of work and get a ton of work done. When I go into the office, though, I would get home and more than one time, would just fall onto the sofa or the bed and stay there for 2, 3 or 4 hours... ugh.
I worked from home all day Monday and yesterday. Monday afternoon about 3pm, I went and laid down on my bed for a short rest. Sometimes it gets to the point where IJUSTHAVETOLAYMYHEADDOWN! And when those times happen, my lovely, lovely memory foam pillow is calling me.
Other times, after working at my desk for a few hours, I can tell I need a break, and the recliner in the living room calls out to me. Like yesterday... I didn’t realize how much time had passed, so I was at my desk for several hours. Suddenly, I was like, SHIT. Ow. Pain. Upright too long. So I hobbled like a very-old-person-walking-on-thin-ice-like-it’s-gonna-break-any-second on over to the recliner and carefully lowered myself down onto it and laid my head back against it’s wonderful comforting softness. Ahhhhhh...
But then, I remember... I need pain pills and I need them now. Do I get up? Are you kidding? I holler... Sammy! (pause) Sammy!! (pause) SAMMY!!! Usually he’s nearby, like up in his bedroom. Most of the time he’ll come out of his room and start directly down the stairs saying, “What do you need, Momma?” Because by now, my sweet, caring son knows the drill. “Tylenol, Vicodin, water,” I say. And he gets it for me. Other times, he’ll come out of his room and stand at the top of the stairs and says, “What?!” He is 13, after all.
So Monday afternoon when I laid down on my bed (ahhhhhhhh...), I holler... Sammy! (pause) Sammy!! (pause) SAMMY!!! I hear him at the top of the stairs, “What?!” I say, “c’mere.”
“What?!”
“C’MERE!”
He comes into our bedroom and asks what I need. I said, “please, honey, just come lay down with me for a minute, I need a Sammy-hug.” (Sammy-hugs are getting less popular now that he’s 13; he loved giving them when he was little.) I can tell he’s not happy. “Please,” I say, “I’m really hurting right now.” (I pull the guilt card, oh yeah, I do.)
So he lays down next to me and hugs me, and I say, “Please just rub my neck for a minute.” He does. Ahhhh... He’s not super good at it, mostly because he really doesn’t want to do it. I mean, he cares about me and all, but y’know... So after about 1 minute, he kinda stops. I sigh. Even one minute is so very nice. For some reason, my son's hands, large for a 13-year-old (he's always been one of the tallest, biggest boys in his class), anyway, Sam's hands are always warm. When he was little, he usually didn't want to wear mittens or a hat in cold weather, or often not a coat, either, for that matter. And his hands would always be so warm.
Sam says, “Mom, are you ever without pain?”
“No, Sam,” I say, “I guess I’m not. I guess I haven’t really thought about it minute-by-minute, but yeah, right now I’m always dealing with some level of pain.”
So we talk. He asks how long it will take to 'get over this', and I tell him I guess about a year from the second surgery is what I hear. He says that sucks. I agree. He asks if I have to take pills for all that time, and I tell him I hope not. I hope I can get to a point where I won’t need them.
We stopped talking and just laid there, and after a while, I said, “You know, there was one time recently when I wasn’t really feeling pain. At Applebee’s when we went there after Michael’s graduation.” (I still have to post about my nephew, Michael’s, graduation commencement, but afterwards, while Joyce and Mike were still at Bay Med, Kevin, Sammy and I took my sister, Kathy, my brother-in-law, Bob, and my niece, Michelle out to Applebee’s to celebrate. Michael appeared for a minute, before he had to leave for the all-night seniors’ party. It is kind of like a tradition... does twice make it tradition? Hmmm...)
Sam laughed and said, “Oh, yeah. Those Perfect Margaritas.”
If you like margaritas, then you must find an Applebee’s near you and try their Perfect Margaritas. Seriously, they don’t call 'em perfect for nothin'.
I smiled and sighed and said, “Yes.”
Sammy said, “Yes, those 3 Perfect Margaritas.”
Um, no... I tell him that I had only 2. The 3rd one the waiter delivered was for Aunt Kathy. A 3rd one probably would've put me on the floor.
Sammy said, “That night was so much fun.” I heartily agreed with him, and we talked for a while about how much fun it was.
“We should do that again soon,” he said. I heartily agreed with him.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The marsh out back
Kevin and I have been taking as many walks together as we can. He's really encouraged me a few days when I haven't felt like getting out, and as usual, my man's right on... I always feel better after a walk. Since my first surgery on my neck in January, I've tried to get in as much walking as I can. Once the weather turned nice, it was wonderful to once again take a walk in the woods. The past couple of years, our walks together had ceased because every time I looked down, my left shoulder and arm would go painfully numb... and you cannot walk through the woods, or anywhere really, without looking down. At least I can't; my clumsy gene is quite prevalent. If there is one thing I appreciate the most after this surgery, it's being able to walk in the woods again with my husband. And our dogs... those 3 love it more than any human possibly could.
A while back in April, we ended up at a marsh that's located off our northern property line on state-owned land. It was brown and wet and I was wearing sneakers. But we crossed it and came to one of the branches of the Carroll Creek drain (part of which also runs behind our house; it's man-made but now looks just like any ol' creek). We found a bridge someone had made, and we crossed over the creek, ending up walking back to our house by way of the road.
Sometimes I take my camera with me on our walks, but most often not. I didn't have it that day, and I sorely wished I had. The marsh was beautiful, as was that branch of the creek, which looks very different from ours. Our creek is overgrown and well, creeky... this was more like a small river, clean sides and swift. There were small lily pads in the creek and marsh grass just starting to turn green, and the sky was a beautiful gray. A perfect April day.
This weekend, Kev and I took a short ride on our old four-wheeler back to where the bridge is located. This time I took my camera.
Kev and I could hear water running, gushing... so we walked upstream a ways. There were several little tributaries running into the creek from the swamp. We've had quite a bit of rain lately, so it was really, really wet out there. But we could still hear loud water. We soon came upon this beaver dam...
This was the beavers' level 2... the first dam was further ahead, and you can see it in the photo above. Kev decided to go check it out. I stayed put, once again wearing sneakers. And also, everything is growing like mad out there, and frankly, all the grass mounds and water and massive growth was kind of creeping me out... I didn't feel like getting a full-on soaker. I decided to turn my camera on my hubby, and I'm so glad I did...
Still smiling! Wet butt and all...
I enjoyed seeing all that marsh again and finding the beaver dams. I would have liked to have walked up near the bigger dam, because Kev said it wrapped around and was holding a lot of water. Beautiful. Next time I'll wear boots and thicker jeans, because that marsh area is truly not very hospitable... between the thousands of nettles coming up...
the briers and also the pickers everywhere...
and the many, many tent worm nests (yuk)...
it's kind of creepy... Right where the bridge is located, there is a big, gray mound of an anthill. I mean, that thing is HUGE; it must be years and years old. I got Kev to stand near the base of it to show the size of it...
Which wasn't really that great of an idea, since just before that he couldn't resist poking his beaver dam stick into it and stirring up a little part of it... put the ants in a frenzy...
That photo does not do any justice to what it looked like... instantly there were thousands of ants scurrying around. Kev joked that he gave them something to do that day. They retaliated by climbing all over him while he posed for my photos. Yuck. (But also quite funny from my perspective, which was quite far back actually. Thank goodness for my 12x zoom on my old Sony.)
And since I refuse to end this post with all those gross photos (hope you're not eating breakfast or lunch while you're reading this!), here's one of my favorite shots of that walk... Kev showing off his cute wet ass...
A while back in April, we ended up at a marsh that's located off our northern property line on state-owned land. It was brown and wet and I was wearing sneakers. But we crossed it and came to one of the branches of the Carroll Creek drain (part of which also runs behind our house; it's man-made but now looks just like any ol' creek). We found a bridge someone had made, and we crossed over the creek, ending up walking back to our house by way of the road.
Sometimes I take my camera with me on our walks, but most often not. I didn't have it that day, and I sorely wished I had. The marsh was beautiful, as was that branch of the creek, which looks very different from ours. Our creek is overgrown and well, creeky... this was more like a small river, clean sides and swift. There were small lily pads in the creek and marsh grass just starting to turn green, and the sky was a beautiful gray. A perfect April day.
This weekend, Kev and I took a short ride on our old four-wheeler back to where the bridge is located. This time I took my camera.
Kev and I could hear water running, gushing... so we walked upstream a ways. There were several little tributaries running into the creek from the swamp. We've had quite a bit of rain lately, so it was really, really wet out there. But we could still hear loud water. We soon came upon this beaver dam...
This was the beavers' level 2... the first dam was further ahead, and you can see it in the photo above. Kev decided to go check it out. I stayed put, once again wearing sneakers. And also, everything is growing like mad out there, and frankly, all the grass mounds and water and massive growth was kind of creeping me out... I didn't feel like getting a full-on soaker. I decided to turn my camera on my hubby, and I'm so glad I did...
Still smiling! Wet butt and all...
I enjoyed seeing all that marsh again and finding the beaver dams. I would have liked to have walked up near the bigger dam, because Kev said it wrapped around and was holding a lot of water. Beautiful. Next time I'll wear boots and thicker jeans, because that marsh area is truly not very hospitable... between the thousands of nettles coming up...
the briers and also the pickers everywhere...
and the many, many tent worm nests (yuk)...
it's kind of creepy... Right where the bridge is located, there is a big, gray mound of an anthill. I mean, that thing is HUGE; it must be years and years old. I got Kev to stand near the base of it to show the size of it...
Which wasn't really that great of an idea, since just before that he couldn't resist poking his beaver dam stick into it and stirring up a little part of it... put the ants in a frenzy...
That photo does not do any justice to what it looked like... instantly there were thousands of ants scurrying around. Kev joked that he gave them something to do that day. They retaliated by climbing all over him while he posed for my photos. Yuck. (But also quite funny from my perspective, which was quite far back actually. Thank goodness for my 12x zoom on my old Sony.)
And since I refuse to end this post with all those gross photos (hope you're not eating breakfast or lunch while you're reading this!), here's one of my favorite shots of that walk... Kev showing off his cute wet ass...
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