You know... stuff
I've been down with the flu and now a series of horrendous migraines these past two weeks. This has prevented me from doing basically anything but sleep and watch some tv while lying in bed. I have to really force myself to get up and walk downstairs to pee and get food/drink. I see the neurology department on the 9th, but I doubt they'll do anything, as they did nothing last time. And, naturally, my appointment WAS for Nov 29, but they rescheduled it for an hour before I have my head/neck MRI. At least they're both at the same hospital. Is that going to work out? Probably not. I would like them to do SOMETHING, though. I'm tired of the intractable severe headache pain! For the past week, I've been living with the sensation that my head is being squeezed in a giant vice grip and someone with a voodoo doll of me is sticking pins in my face. My pain (you know that 1 to 10 scale?) has been sitting at right about an 8, with bumps up to 10 if I'm downstairs and it's noisy/bright. What really sucks is that I've basically tried all that neuro can offer as far as treatments. The only thing they haven't done is a spinal tap to really check what the pressure in my brain really is. If the pressure's off, that would explain completely why I've had these headaches. After my last lumbar puncture was screwed up 7 years ago during a bout with meningitis (the dude ended up sticking my back over five times to get the tap... my boyfriend was too freaked out by how sick I was to be a proper advocate and tell the doc to find someone else after the second try), it's entirely possible that I have a slow, intermittent leak of spinal fluid out of my spinal chord near the LP site that would cause these severe bouts of headaches. I could also have a small hole in the back of my sinuses that would leak like any other drippy nose. I just pray that I get a resident and attending that actually KNOW something and are willing to help me this time.
Mom's being really nice and trying really hard to meet me in the middle as far as our relationship. I've noticed that things that used to annoy her now don't seem to as much, and I know it's because she's consciously telling herself not to be annoyed. I'm thrilled. This is making my life easier in that I don't have to work so hard on my own to keep the peace. Sis, however, is a different story. She has now taken up the mantle of the one to be cranky at me for no reason, disparaging, rude, over-sensitive, and quick to read a negative connotation into everything I say. The three of us ended up having a long talk (where MOM moderated and was the voice of reason, not Sis, for once which was weird but AWESOME having her explain me to sis and get it right) after things devolved into a fight because Sis just couldn't decide not to be rude, because to be diplomatic would be "lying." It was fun. [/sarcasm] I, personally, think it's that Sis is in some kind of chemical imbalance - period, missing a medication, etc. - because she usually isn't like this. I'm worried about her.
In other stuff.... The Florida Atlantic vs UT game isn't being televised on a station we pay for today. Any other year I'd be really upset. This year? Meh. I'm so over this season. I'm paying more attention to the NFL this year, which is a new thing for me.
I got a lot of time to myself yesterday, which was AWESOME. I saw Monica yesterday morning, got out at 11, and didn't have to be across town to the other clinic for 2 hours. I decided to sit outside in the lovely weather at Panera, eat a good lunch, and read my book. (I'm still working on The Stand, but it's starting to finally really build to the climax. I've got another 300 pages or so, but since I sat and just read 50 pages at a stretch yesterday, I'm already trying to find a cheap copy of Under the Dome as my next book - though I'm wondering if I will be able to handle another 50 character epic on the heels of this one. We'll see.) My lovely, quiet afternoon was interrupted when two mommies at lunch sat their very young children down at the table RIGHT NEXT TO ME. WTF. One woman had a tantrum-prone 2-yr-old boy and an easily triggered 6 mo old baby. The other mom had a fairly well-behaved 3-yr-old girl, but a cranky 8-mo-old baby girl. And, naturally, they had to talk really loudly. I wish they had chosen a different table. I mean, the first mom TOTALLY looked at me, my book, and that I was in the corner for a REASON before choosing the table right next to mine. Not cool. Naturally, after my mellow was harshed, I had quite the frustrating adventure at the clinic. I had to have blood work to make sure that my liver is working well before I have my MRI (it's so they can be sure I can handle the contrast medium, however, since the gadolinium is cleared from the body through the kidneys, I don't know why the liver functions would be useful). The nurse that put the request and appointment in when I saw Dr. Hall last month screwed up the process. Therefore I showed up for my lab appointment, which was on the books, but there was no order for labs in the system. I had to wait over an hour until the dumb nurse came back from lunch for her to correct it in the system (which took another 30 minutes because it seems she's just STUPID). Finally, as it seemed like it was going to take forever to get sorted out, the great phlebotomist, whose name I always forget, went ahead and drew the blood so I could leave and go home. Oh! The county also charged me the $3 copay (which, I admit doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're not bringing in ANY money, every $3 is earmarked for other stuff) just to draw one tiny tube of blood. Ridiculous. After the screwup yesterday, I think they should have paid ME that $3. When I got home, I was so tired, sore, and headachy, I lay down and didn't move for several hours.
Speaking of, I've been sitting up typing this thing for a while, and my head's telling me I need to lie back down. Have a good weekend, y'all.
Mom's being really nice and trying really hard to meet me in the middle as far as our relationship. I've noticed that things that used to annoy her now don't seem to as much, and I know it's because she's consciously telling herself not to be annoyed. I'm thrilled. This is making my life easier in that I don't have to work so hard on my own to keep the peace. Sis, however, is a different story. She has now taken up the mantle of the one to be cranky at me for no reason, disparaging, rude, over-sensitive, and quick to read a negative connotation into everything I say. The three of us ended up having a long talk (where MOM moderated and was the voice of reason, not Sis, for once which was weird but AWESOME having her explain me to sis and get it right) after things devolved into a fight because Sis just couldn't decide not to be rude, because to be diplomatic would be "lying." It was fun. [/sarcasm] I, personally, think it's that Sis is in some kind of chemical imbalance - period, missing a medication, etc. - because she usually isn't like this. I'm worried about her.
In other stuff.... The Florida Atlantic vs UT game isn't being televised on a station we pay for today. Any other year I'd be really upset. This year? Meh. I'm so over this season. I'm paying more attention to the NFL this year, which is a new thing for me.
I got a lot of time to myself yesterday, which was AWESOME. I saw Monica yesterday morning, got out at 11, and didn't have to be across town to the other clinic for 2 hours. I decided to sit outside in the lovely weather at Panera, eat a good lunch, and read my book. (I'm still working on The Stand, but it's starting to finally really build to the climax. I've got another 300 pages or so, but since I sat and just read 50 pages at a stretch yesterday, I'm already trying to find a cheap copy of Under the Dome as my next book - though I'm wondering if I will be able to handle another 50 character epic on the heels of this one. We'll see.) My lovely, quiet afternoon was interrupted when two mommies at lunch sat their very young children down at the table RIGHT NEXT TO ME. WTF. One woman had a tantrum-prone 2-yr-old boy and an easily triggered 6 mo old baby. The other mom had a fairly well-behaved 3-yr-old girl, but a cranky 8-mo-old baby girl. And, naturally, they had to talk really loudly. I wish they had chosen a different table. I mean, the first mom TOTALLY looked at me, my book, and that I was in the corner for a REASON before choosing the table right next to mine. Not cool. Naturally, after my mellow was harshed, I had quite the frustrating adventure at the clinic. I had to have blood work to make sure that my liver is working well before I have my MRI (it's so they can be sure I can handle the contrast medium, however, since the gadolinium is cleared from the body through the kidneys, I don't know why the liver functions would be useful). The nurse that put the request and appointment in when I saw Dr. Hall last month screwed up the process. Therefore I showed up for my lab appointment, which was on the books, but there was no order for labs in the system. I had to wait over an hour until the dumb nurse came back from lunch for her to correct it in the system (which took another 30 minutes because it seems she's just STUPID). Finally, as it seemed like it was going to take forever to get sorted out, the great phlebotomist, whose name I always forget, went ahead and drew the blood so I could leave and go home. Oh! The county also charged me the $3 copay (which, I admit doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're not bringing in ANY money, every $3 is earmarked for other stuff) just to draw one tiny tube of blood. Ridiculous. After the screwup yesterday, I think they should have paid ME that $3. When I got home, I was so tired, sore, and headachy, I lay down and didn't move for several hours.
Speaking of, I've been sitting up typing this thing for a while, and my head's telling me I need to lie back down. Have a good weekend, y'all.