Health

A little broken.

Tonight it got to me a little. I was doing okay today, mostly, until just now. I went to work, talked to Doc a couple times about the headache stuff (and he’s having a really bad day, which is emotionally stressful for us both), we went to see our new financial guy who is going to make it so we don’t have to expend frustrated brain power on our investment strategies, and then I promised Doc I’d cook spaghetti tonight when we got home. After fighting traffic across town at 5, we talked on the phone to Dr. Aronoff’s nurse, who told us that the options were to take a different painkiller or, if it was worrying Doc, to go to the ER. Can someone please tell me exactly how WE are supposed to know if we should be worried? Isn’t that what the doctor is supposed to use his years of medical training to determine?! I think an eleven day long headache is pretty fucking worrisome, but for a doctor to tell us to go to the ER to get a brain scan if WE think it’s something to worry about… I just don’t understand that reasoning. Anyway, that was extremely frustrating, and then I had a conference call with Arushi and the book author about the book cover designs (which went well, by the way), and after spending another hour searching fruitlessly for the perfect stock photography image that the client wants for the book cover, I realized that I was just Completely. Out. Of. Energy. And when I told Doc that I didn’t think I could follow through on my promise to make spaghetti for dinner, I broke down and started crying. And then Arushi read my previous blog post and called to check on me, and […]

Read MoreA little broken.

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

Complain, complain, complain

To continue with Katy’s Habit Of Injuring Herself, Though Thankfully Not As Badly As In 2006, today I received about a dozen mosquito bites in 5 minutes, probably now have poison ivy again despite being unbelievably careful while trimming it off my back fence, and also I burned my finger on a hot skillet while making dinner. And I have a headache, possibly becoming migrainey in nature. Waaaah. Poor me.

Read MoreComplain, complain, complain

Urine Trouble Now!

A couple of friends and I were IM-ing this evening and somehow the subject of drinking one’s own pee came up in the course of conversation. I have another friend who allegedly tried this “health practice” a number of years ago, but I declined to witness said event or even ask any questions about it so I don’t know what became of her experiment. According to some New Age websites, Urine therapy refers to one of several uses of urine to prevent or cure sickness, to enhance beauty or to cleanse one’s bowels. Most devotees drink the midstream of their morning urine. Some prefer it straight and steaming hot; others mix it with juice or serve it over fruit. To which I say, why not just fill your potty with sliced strawberries and apples and save yourself having to wash a dish? Many modern Japanese women are said to engage in urine bathing. The truly daring use their own urine as an enema. Urine is said to be effective against the flu, the common cold, broken bones, toothache, dry skin, psoriasis and all other skin problems. It is said to deter aging and is helpful with AIDS, allergies, animal and snake bites, asthma, heart disease, hypertension, burns, cancer, chemical intoxication, chicken pox, enteritis, constipation, and pneumonia. Hmm, if I break a bone or am unlucky enough to get cancer, instead of seeking medical attention perhaps I will just grab a solo cup and head for the bathroom.

Read MoreUrine Trouble Now!

Caught red-handed showing feelings

I’d forgotten how much I love Pink Floyd’s film “The Wall.” We saw it at the Inwood last night at midnight with Brittney and Chris. We weren’t the oldest people in the audience but we definitely fell in the high end of the range. Near the beginning of the film, someone’s cell phone rang. The girl sitting in front of me turned to her boyfriend and asked, quite seriously, “Was that in the movie?” Sigh. Doc’s cluster headache cycle is just not going away. No screaming bad ones, but he has a headache almost constantly since about February. Saturday we went to three different health food stores looking for this capsaicin nasal spray which is said to help with migraines and anecdotally with some peoples’ clusters too. The first one was just a distribution center in an office park (closed), the second one was Roy’s Natural Market (closed on Saturdays… seriously, WTF?), and Whole Foods did not carry it. We may have to order it online. Our Whole Foods trip wasn’t a complete wash though; we spent a long time staring at the fabulously gorgeous desserts in the dessert cases. They are too pretty to eat. I just want to look at them all day! I purchased a new bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Castile Soap. I love this stuff. The label, if you aren’t familiar with it (and if you’re not I suggest you read it!), will lead you to the conclusion that dear old Dr. Bronner was nearly all his pancakes short of a stack, but by God (pun intended) he can make some damn fine environmentally friendly non-sodium-lauryl-or-laureth-sulfate-containing liquid soap. It’s expensive but a little goes a long long way.

Read MoreCaught red-handed showing feelings

Little feet-feet, little toes

I met Zoe yesterday. She is incredibly tiny. Tiny little fingers, fingernails, teeny ears, super soft hair. She’s six pounds right now, a little less than when she was born. Nate explained that it is normal for babies to initially lose a little weight before they start gaining. I held her for about 20 minutes, sound asleep in a little pink baby burrito wrapper. She began wiggling, then scrunched up her face and turned bright red, crying. She was hungry, so Yvonne fed her for the next 30 minutes or so. Right now she mostly eats, sleeps when she’s not eating, and sometimes is just awake and alert. She eats every 2-3 hours, so Yvonne’s not getting a whole lot of sleep. Her mom is there helping her and Nate for a few weeks. Last night our electricity went out about 12:30 a.m. The whole neighborhood was dark, and a white pickup truck was parked in front of our house with someone inside. A power company truck? But there was no logo of any kind on it. Periodically we’d hear the passenger door either open or shut, but when we looked out we never saw anyone. The electricity came back on about 20 minutes later, and later another pickup truck pulled up by the first one. A man and a woman got out, walked over to the first truck, opened the doors, and then walked back to their own truck and drove off. Doc went outside with a flashlight to check out the situation, and while he was walking around, they came back with gallon jugs of liquid and a siphon. I was very worried that he was outside with these possibly nefarious strangers, especially since I couldn’t see what they were doing from the bedroom window. I had the […]

Read MoreLittle feet-feet, little toes

Will we finish?

That is the big question right now. It’s 8:13 p.m., our 5-minute short film is due no later than midnight, and due to tape failure we had to reshoot the second half of our film at 5:30 p.m. We’ve got a decent rough cut, but still have to add a few cutaway shots, the music, the titles, and a special effect scene. Our motto for this year is “Failure Is An Option.” We almost decided to just shoot ourselves hanging out at the house, drinking wine, explaining what went wrong, and tacking it on to the end of the movie. Instead we did lightning-speed retakes of of eleven shots, and are hoping for a miracle. Wish us luck! Also: CONGRATULATIONS NATE AND YVONNE!!! Little Baby Stull (she’s yet to be named) was born at 8:20 this morning. Both parents are ecstatic and exhausted. Way to go, Yvonne!!!

Read MoreWill we finish?

Fuckstripe and other fun things

Office BullshitIt sure has been A Week so far. Some crazy shit going down at work – a tender young employee in my office fired, and a major crackdown on computer security procedures and professionalism in interoffice communications. Are these events related? If I were to know anything about it, would I even say so? You know, even though I’m pretty sure no one at work knows of the existence of my blog, apart from my two close co-worker-friends, I still hesitate to write in any detail about things that happen at the office. What If, right? Sometimes I hate that I have a “the office” to talk about. I guess part of me always thought I was going to grow up to be a painter or a chef or an author. Instead I sit in a cubicle 8 hours a day like zillions of other worker bees around the world. I shouldn’t complain, I guess; I have it pretty good for a Cubicle Drone. I do get paid to be creative and use my artistic skills, which is more freedom than most people have, even if I do have to do it within the confines of a drab tan six-by-eight foot box. At The DoctorSome of the residual effects of my crazy whacked-out hormone problems last fall included “skin tags,” which are little benign tumors that are raised off the surface of the skin, harmless but annoying. I had one on the back of my neck that gets rubbed and irritated by my necklaces and clothing. Last month at my appointment, my OB-GYN told me to come back and he’d take it off for me. So I went in today to have the one on my neck and another one on my arm removed. The removal was fairly painless, […]

Read MoreFuckstripe and other fun things

Get my monthly newsletter!

I'll email you once a month with the latest stuff I've been going on about!