Family

Reached the breaking point.

I’m extremely worried about Doc. He’s had a rather intense headache (not sure if it’s cluster, he says it’s on the wrong side and feels more like a migraine with light sensitivity and all that) for eleven days straight with no break. For the past couple of days it was slowly getting less intense, but as of yesterday it’s getting worse again. Last night he came to bed at 3:30 a.m. and, as he said, barely felt human. He was whimpering in pain, he couldn’t go completely to sleep yet he couldn’t stay completely awake. I could barely understand his speech. I’m worried that something has happened, physically, in his brain. I don’t know what exactly, but I think someone needs to take some scans or something to see if they can figure out what’s going on. In addition to the 24-hours-a-day pain, he’s been experiencing double vision and light sensitivity. The thought that something might be growing/breaking/bursting in there is freaking me right the fuck out. His doctor was out of town last week and his office called in a prescription for him, which of course did almost nothing, and certainly didn’t treat the CAUSE of the headaches, whatever it may be. It was basically just Tylenol with barbituates, so it dulled the pain a little but made him feel “stupid” and zombie like. His sleep doctor recommended he call a local neurologist, who turned out to be Stuart Black, a world renowned headache specialist. Of course, Dr. Black doesn’t have any appointments until August 2008 (yes, that is a year from now) and the other doctor in his practice is booked up for the next 3 weeks. What is a person who is in acute chronic pain like this supposed to do in the meantime? What if something […]

Read MoreReached the breaking point.

Finding an all-night drugstore isn’t easy

Last night Doc and I spent nearly an hour driving around after midnight attempting to find a drugstore that was still open. We were looking for some sort of over-the-counter medication for his raging migraine headache. Yes, he’s now getting migraines in addition to clusters, sometimes at the same time. It’s unbelievably sucky. Seriously, can the man be in any more pain? Pain piled on top of pain on top of pain. I would not let him drive himself around at the level of hurting he was at, so I pulled on some pants and my glasses and hopped in the driver’s seat. We went to six places before we found one that was open (note to self: Remember, CVS at Walnut Hill and 75 is open 24 hours). Next task: to find out if Excedrin really IS “the headache medicine.”

Read MoreFinding an all-night drugstore isn’t easy

Roadtrip Day 6: Seattle

Not a whole lot to report for today. We came out to my Uncle John’s house this morning and hung out here all day, talking, having cheese and diet Pepsi on their patio, running errands. Brittney calls him “the flip off uncle” because I have a photo of me and my brothers and my mom and him on the sofa in my house on the night before my wedding, and he has a huge grin on his face and he’s flipping off the camera. Late afternoon I took Tilly and went running up and down the HUGE hill on the main road near their house. We didn’t go very far, partly because there was not much of a shoulder to the road and I was afraid she would get into the street, but mostly because I don’t do 20% grades very well. Texas is FLAT and that’s what I’m used to! This evening my cousin John Evan and his wife and kids came for dinner, along with family friend Yasuko, whose kids my mom used to babysit for in the early 1960s. The Richardson kids seemed to get all the energy in the family while the McCormack kids are much calmer. It took a lot out of me, to be “on” for that long. John seems a lot calmer than he used to; not as much angry energy. I think being a dad has helped him a lot. Tomorrow we go back to the property in Sequim for Mom to meet with the plumber. She was hoping that would happen today but he needed to meet tomorrow instead. Hopefully we will also be able to take Tilly to the beach to play in the water. I know I’ve only been gone six days, but I feel a little homesick for […]

Read MoreRoadtrip Day 6: Seattle

Roadtrip Day 5: Sequim

So since we’ve arrived at our final destination in Washington State, my post titles aren’t really a record of where I started in the morning and ended up in the evening as much as they are my activities for the day. This morning I slept in (8 a.m.! Woot!), despite Tilly’s best efforts to root me out of bed with her wet nose at 6 a.m. We stopped at Starbucks for Mom’s morning coffee and then drove the 2-1/2 hours up to Sequim. It wouldn’t take nearly as long if only there was a bridge from Edmonds to Kingston. That would save at least an hour’s drive time. There is a ferry but it’s so expensive to take a car on the ferry. The house is absolutely gorgeous! And it’s only partially finished. The builder and construction foreman are very nice guys, and Mom was able to answer a lot of the questions they had about window placement and changes to a few of the initial plans. Apparently you can draw up all the plans in the world, but once you start building, things come up and sometimes need to be shifted around. Tilly made friends with the foreman’s labrador, Boonedog, who is definitely alpha. Tilly is not used to being around alpha dogs and so they play-fought for long stretches of time. I think in the end she finally realized that she was not in charge. They ran and played and jumped around through the bushes and wildflowers, and tore up and down the staircase. In mid-afternoon we were finished at the house so we stopped in town for lunch (DQ, a must on a roadtrip) and drove the 3 hours back to Mike’s (LOVE that Seattle traffic… sigh). We ordered pizza for dinner (Mike would not eat… sigh). […]

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Roadtrip Day 4: Washington State

We made it to our final destination! I cannot believe we drove 2500 miles in 3-1/2 days, especially with a dog and cat along for the ride. Mom and I are now staying with my brother Mike in Redmond, just outside of Seattle. Too tired to type now. Will recap in the morning. Okay, I am now a bit more refreshed than I was when I started this post yesterday. We had breakfast in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, with Doc’s mom this morning. We ate at a lovely ritzy resort restaurant on the lake. Not that the restaurant was that ritzy, but the resort sure was. It was really great to see her, and now that she’s moving to Derby, Kansas, we’ll be able to visit more often. Our drive was mainly uneventful. Eastern Washington is surprisingly plain and flat. The Columbia Valley Gorge is somewhere in the middle, and it is quite beautiful. Western Washington, however, is much more interesting. We got to Mike’s house in the early evening and sat out on his back porch for a little while until he got home from work. Then he took me for a ride on his new motorcycle. I cannot believe I got on the back of a bike! The last time I was on one, I was an infant in a cardboard box on the back of my dad’s motorcycle in the early 1970s. My brother’s girlfriend of four years recently left him and it’s like all the life has gone out of him. He won’t eat, he barely responds when you talk to him, and doesn’t smile. I know he’ll pull through it eventually but he’s in a bad place right now, and it makes me really sad that there’s nothing I can do. Tomorrow Mom and I will […]

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Roadtrip Day 3: Montana & Idaho

We are making seriously good time on this roadtrip. I think we are a full day ahead of schedule! We have driven about 650 miles each day since Friday, and are now in Couer d’Alene, Idaho. Today’s route: 90 from Sheridan, Wyoming straight on through to Couer d’Alene, Idaho. One road, 650 miles! Montana is much more picturesque than Wyoming. It is named Big Sky Country for a good reason. It seems to be rather sparsely populated and everyone has a view of verdant hills teeming with evergreens or snow-capped mountains. The skies are enormous and blue and filled with puffy white and gray clouds. Here is a photo of our hotel from last night, which used to be a flour mill: I can’t believe I’ve been getting up at 5:45 every morning since Friday. It’s actually not as hard to do when you go to bed by 9:30 p.m.! First thing after waking up, I put on my shorts and hoodie and running shoes and take Tilly outside for a short jog. We’ve been going about a mile or so, which is not very far for someone who’s supposed to be training for a marathon, but I’m on limited time and I’ve got a dog who probably can’t go as far as I need to. Anyway, I think I’m doing good to be getting any exercise at ALL on a cross country roadtrip. This morning I let Tilly off-leash in the hotel parking lot (it’s fenced on 3 sides from the street with a nice grassy area at the back), and ran her from one side to the other at top speed for a few minutes. She can outrun me, easily, even when I sprint. She has this awesome bounding run and she’ll cross diagonally in front of me […]

Read MoreRoadtrip Day 3: Montana & Idaho

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