June isn't shaping up to be a good month
Don't get me wrong - there have been some positive developments since I last posted on this Livejournal. But right now, two not-so-good developments loom large, casting shadow over everything else. And one is more pressing than the other.
As far as computers... I have my old hardrive in a bag, and a brand-new hard drive has been installed. The problem is that the shop couldn't install Windows 7, its original operating system, due to what they described as a a common hardware problem in my field laptop's Ultrabook model. Instead, they installed Windows 8 - without registering it. So while it works fine right now, according to annanov, the lack of a valid product key is going to lock me out of the system by the time the 30-day trail period is over. So, pretty soon, I'll have a perfectly useless field laptop.
But that has kind of taken a back seat to a more pressing health issues. I've talked to/texted some of the people reading this as it happened, but for everyone else, here's the deal.
Around Thursday, my throat started to feel weird. Almost like it was constricting. The feeling came and went. As someone who doesn't have health insurance (my Medicare application is still making its way through Illinois bureaucracy) and who grew up where I did, my first instinct was to push my way through it and hope it goes away. By Friday, the feeling became more persistent. By Saturday, it seemed to have morphed into run of the mill throat pain. My mom's cold remedies seemed to have helped, and, by evening, the whole thing seemed to be behind me.
But on Sunday, the throat pressure - and pain - returned. By Monday, I was concerned enough to get a check-up at my local CVS. The doctor felt around my throat and was concerned enough to send me to an affiliated Urgent Care Center. And, naturally, I was pretty freaked out as well.
At the Urgent Care Center, the doctor told me that one of the glands at my neck was swollen, and that was probably what was causing the issue. That didn't exactly reassure me. They took a blood sample for analysis, and told me that, if I don't hear from them by Wednesday, to call them back.
Which I had to do.
I'll spare you the long, convoluted account of what happened next. Suffice to say, I didn't get a very good explanations of the results when I called, and I'm grateful that Anna pushed me to check back with them and find out what was going on. I was able to meet with the doctor who explained to me that my blood work is normal, and there are no signs of tumors, but they are still not sure what's causing the gland to swell, so they want me to get a biopsy. Which, as it turned out, is a surgery that would remove the gland for analysis.
Originally, they recommended that I get a biopsy at the affiliated surgical center (which is right next door to the urgent care center). But when i reminded the doctor about my still-not-quite-insured status, he suggested that I go to Cook County Hospital, because it would probably be cheaper.
I'm still not entirely sure which would be the best option. But he did suggest that I don't wait around for too long. Even if it's not a tumor, it's a great big unknown, and he' concerned that the gland will swell, causing other health problems.
So yeah. You can see how that would be overshadowing everything else.
Whatever happens... I want to thank noelct and vladiatorr and for their concern and support, randirogue for all that and helpful advice, tweelore for all of the preceding and for actually managing to cheer me up for a bit, and annanov and cherrymaryberry for all that and checking up on me. It means a lot.
Now... Wish me luck, ladies and gentlemen
As far as computers... I have my old hardrive in a bag, and a brand-new hard drive has been installed. The problem is that the shop couldn't install Windows 7, its original operating system, due to what they described as a a common hardware problem in my field laptop's Ultrabook model. Instead, they installed Windows 8 - without registering it. So while it works fine right now, according to annanov, the lack of a valid product key is going to lock me out of the system by the time the 30-day trail period is over. So, pretty soon, I'll have a perfectly useless field laptop.
But that has kind of taken a back seat to a more pressing health issues. I've talked to/texted some of the people reading this as it happened, but for everyone else, here's the deal.
Around Thursday, my throat started to feel weird. Almost like it was constricting. The feeling came and went. As someone who doesn't have health insurance (my Medicare application is still making its way through Illinois bureaucracy) and who grew up where I did, my first instinct was to push my way through it and hope it goes away. By Friday, the feeling became more persistent. By Saturday, it seemed to have morphed into run of the mill throat pain. My mom's cold remedies seemed to have helped, and, by evening, the whole thing seemed to be behind me.
But on Sunday, the throat pressure - and pain - returned. By Monday, I was concerned enough to get a check-up at my local CVS. The doctor felt around my throat and was concerned enough to send me to an affiliated Urgent Care Center. And, naturally, I was pretty freaked out as well.
At the Urgent Care Center, the doctor told me that one of the glands at my neck was swollen, and that was probably what was causing the issue. That didn't exactly reassure me. They took a blood sample for analysis, and told me that, if I don't hear from them by Wednesday, to call them back.
Which I had to do.
I'll spare you the long, convoluted account of what happened next. Suffice to say, I didn't get a very good explanations of the results when I called, and I'm grateful that Anna pushed me to check back with them and find out what was going on. I was able to meet with the doctor who explained to me that my blood work is normal, and there are no signs of tumors, but they are still not sure what's causing the gland to swell, so they want me to get a biopsy. Which, as it turned out, is a surgery that would remove the gland for analysis.
Originally, they recommended that I get a biopsy at the affiliated surgical center (which is right next door to the urgent care center). But when i reminded the doctor about my still-not-quite-insured status, he suggested that I go to Cook County Hospital, because it would probably be cheaper.
I'm still not entirely sure which would be the best option. But he did suggest that I don't wait around for too long. Even if it's not a tumor, it's a great big unknown, and he' concerned that the gland will swell, causing other health problems.
So yeah. You can see how that would be overshadowing everything else.
Whatever happens... I want to thank noelct and vladiatorr and for their concern and support, randirogue for all that and helpful advice, tweelore for all of the preceding and for actually managing to cheer me up for a bit, and annanov and cherrymaryberry for all that and checking up on me. It means a lot.
Now... Wish me luck, ladies and gentlemen