July 1st - So, I don't think I've had an MRI before. I've had a PET scan where they make you fast and then flood your body with sugar before putting you into a huge machine that scans your entire body. And I've had two CT scans where they put in an IV and after some non-contrast pictures, they put dye in you for the contrast pictures. That's the dye where you feel like you're wetting yourself. On Friday, I was put into an all new and different machine and the dye was injected directly into a vein halfway through the procedure (and I'm happy to report it did NOT make me feel like I was wetting myself!). And let me tell you, it was quite a procedure. Ear plugs, ear cushions, a football helmet type mask, and I was in the machine for almost an hour! Yeesh! Results should be in next week.
Meanwhile, I've used the heating pad a few times now. Not sure if it's helping but it feels really good while I'm using it. Unfortunately I worry that I'm going to fall asleep with it on and while it has an automatic shut off, what if it malfunctions? My mom befriended a little old lady named Mary when I had my car accident, way back when. Mary's lower leg was a bit deformed because the nurses had put a heating pad on her leg and then got busy. It ended up melting part of her leg. Ewwww. Honey bunny only wants me to use the heating pad on nights when he's there so that he can wake me up after 20 minutes of using it. I think that's a really good idea.
Tomorrow is my dentist appointment to get my mouth guards to wear at night. I'm actually looking forward to it because at this point, I'm willing to try anything to stop this continuous ache in my ear. It's been 7 weeks now of constant dull pain. I've become quite a miserable, little human being. I want my happy self back.
I have my next regular check up with Dr. C on July 18th so hopefully I will be able to report in that the ear thing is better by that point in time. We'll see.................
Monday, July 1, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
June 25 - Just a quickie:
The MRI has been scheduled! It's this Friday at 2:00. I e-mailed my inside contact at Dr. C's office and asked her if it was normal for 2.5 weeks to go by without hearing from Borg Imaging. She told me to go ahead and contact them myself. My paperwork was faxed over to them the same day I had my appointment so there wasn't any reason for the appointment to not have been made. I guess things got lost in the shuffle once again. The medical world is pretty inefficient if you ask me. They need to hire an OCD Quinn type person to kick them in the pants and get things cleaned up and clicking along smoothly!
I was stressed for a week about those stupid molds being taken of my teeth. I have no idea how Dr. L at the hospital managed to make it such an unpleasant activity last summer. The TMJ chick at the dentist office yesterday had me in and out in 20 minutes with no problems at all!! My guards will be ready next Tuesday. I go in for a fitting. Then TMJ chick said that she's going to monitor me carefully and if I'm not getting any relief within 2 weeks she can refit the guards and if that still doesn't do it, she's going to put me in touch with a chiropractor and a massage therapist. I didn't have the heart to tell her that there's no way I'm going to let a stranger give me a massage. I'm getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about a stranger laying hands on me! Ewwww! I also bought a heating pad yesterday to use on my neck and jaw for 20 minutes every night like Dr. K suggested. Unfortunately I got so wrapped up in watching the premiere of Under the Dome that I forgot about it. So tonight I'll give it a try and see if it helps.
That's all I have to report. I'm feeling guilty about the huge lapse between blogs so now you're getting some mini blogs a few days apart. :-)
The MRI has been scheduled! It's this Friday at 2:00. I e-mailed my inside contact at Dr. C's office and asked her if it was normal for 2.5 weeks to go by without hearing from Borg Imaging. She told me to go ahead and contact them myself. My paperwork was faxed over to them the same day I had my appointment so there wasn't any reason for the appointment to not have been made. I guess things got lost in the shuffle once again. The medical world is pretty inefficient if you ask me. They need to hire an OCD Quinn type person to kick them in the pants and get things cleaned up and clicking along smoothly!
I was stressed for a week about those stupid molds being taken of my teeth. I have no idea how Dr. L at the hospital managed to make it such an unpleasant activity last summer. The TMJ chick at the dentist office yesterday had me in and out in 20 minutes with no problems at all!! My guards will be ready next Tuesday. I go in for a fitting. Then TMJ chick said that she's going to monitor me carefully and if I'm not getting any relief within 2 weeks she can refit the guards and if that still doesn't do it, she's going to put me in touch with a chiropractor and a massage therapist. I didn't have the heart to tell her that there's no way I'm going to let a stranger give me a massage. I'm getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about a stranger laying hands on me! Ewwww! I also bought a heating pad yesterday to use on my neck and jaw for 20 minutes every night like Dr. K suggested. Unfortunately I got so wrapped up in watching the premiere of Under the Dome that I forgot about it. So tonight I'll give it a try and see if it helps.
That's all I have to report. I'm feeling guilty about the huge lapse between blogs so now you're getting some mini blogs a few days apart. :-)
Sunday, June 23, 2013
June 23 - I know, I know. I'm a total slacker. In my defense, I don't really have much to report.
The MRI still hasn't been scheduled. I'm probably going to have to make a follow up phone call about that, which thrills me to no end. <---sarcasm
I saw my dentist. She refuses to use the molds I had taken less that a year ago (bitch) so I now have an appointment tomorrow to get those re-done. That's going to traumatize the hell out of me.
I saw Dr. K last week for an annual check up and received a third opinion. She wants me to start putting a heating pad on my neck for 15-20 minutes before I go to sleep. She also thinks the night guard for the teeth grinding is a good first step but she said if I don't get relief from the pain within a couple of months of using it that I need to come see her again. She said there are other avenues to investigate for solutions and she doesn't want me to become resigned to living with chronic pain. Have I mentioned I love her?
I talked to her about the thrush medicine. I decided that I'm going to continue with the two pill dose as needed rather than taking a pill every week to prevent it in the first place. I kind of want to know if and when I'm still getting it. It's a control thing, I'm sure.
One of the cool things about the annual checkup was that we could go through my list of 'ailments' and talk about where I'm at. We were able to mark a bunch of them as 'resolved' in my file. Hair loss is no longer an issue. The numbness in two of my fingers of my left hand magically went away after I lost all the weight. The birth control implant is working well. I no longer have a weight problem. There seemed to be a lot of pluses going on which was a huge mood booster! :-)
Improvements:
- Thrush comes and goes.
- Spit production probably around 50% at this point.
- Bullfrog effect still happening.
- Garbled talking. Swollen throat.
- Partial taste buds - Sweet is around 15% right now.
Fun stuff:
I finished my golf lessons. Unfortunately I haven't noticed any improvement in my game yet. I definitely need to go get fitted for a new driver though. I'm holding on to the hope that it will help. :-)
Went to Florida to see Dad. Fun! We golfed, toured a castle, saw alligators, played cards, and basically just had a really good visit. I'm heading back in December to do it again!
Yesterday Scott and I participated in something called CitySolve which is like The Amazing Race TV show but it's here in Rochester. We spent the afternoon solving puzzles and walking around the city to capture our answers with a camera. We had a blast! We're already plotting our strategy for next year's race.
Today I spent the afternoon at Sea Breeze with my friend Elvisa and her ankle biter, Evan (1 1/2 years old). He was a little cranky so it was a pretty soggy outing for a good 2 1/2 hours. He finally perked up the last 1/2 hour we were there. I got some really good pics for her though so it was a good outing in my book!
Busy week coming up. Scott and I are having dinner with Kit and Fran on Wednesday night, Thursday night I scored free tickets to a cocktail party at the Jazz Fest, and then Friday night Scott and I signed up to play a Scotch (golf) at the Woodcliff hotel. Amazingly, I have zero plans for the actual weekend. I think I'm going to kick back and enjoy the hell out of some down time!
The MRI still hasn't been scheduled. I'm probably going to have to make a follow up phone call about that, which thrills me to no end. <---sarcasm
I saw my dentist. She refuses to use the molds I had taken less that a year ago (bitch) so I now have an appointment tomorrow to get those re-done. That's going to traumatize the hell out of me.
I saw Dr. K last week for an annual check up and received a third opinion. She wants me to start putting a heating pad on my neck for 15-20 minutes before I go to sleep. She also thinks the night guard for the teeth grinding is a good first step but she said if I don't get relief from the pain within a couple of months of using it that I need to come see her again. She said there are other avenues to investigate for solutions and she doesn't want me to become resigned to living with chronic pain. Have I mentioned I love her?
I talked to her about the thrush medicine. I decided that I'm going to continue with the two pill dose as needed rather than taking a pill every week to prevent it in the first place. I kind of want to know if and when I'm still getting it. It's a control thing, I'm sure.
One of the cool things about the annual checkup was that we could go through my list of 'ailments' and talk about where I'm at. We were able to mark a bunch of them as 'resolved' in my file. Hair loss is no longer an issue. The numbness in two of my fingers of my left hand magically went away after I lost all the weight. The birth control implant is working well. I no longer have a weight problem. There seemed to be a lot of pluses going on which was a huge mood booster! :-)
Improvements:
- Thrush comes and goes.
- Spit production probably around 50% at this point.
- Bullfrog effect still happening.
- Garbled talking. Swollen throat.
- Partial taste buds - Sweet is around 15% right now.
Fun stuff:
I finished my golf lessons. Unfortunately I haven't noticed any improvement in my game yet. I definitely need to go get fitted for a new driver though. I'm holding on to the hope that it will help. :-)
Went to Florida to see Dad. Fun! We golfed, toured a castle, saw alligators, played cards, and basically just had a really good visit. I'm heading back in December to do it again!
Yesterday Scott and I participated in something called CitySolve which is like The Amazing Race TV show but it's here in Rochester. We spent the afternoon solving puzzles and walking around the city to capture our answers with a camera. We had a blast! We're already plotting our strategy for next year's race.
Today I spent the afternoon at Sea Breeze with my friend Elvisa and her ankle biter, Evan (1 1/2 years old). He was a little cranky so it was a pretty soggy outing for a good 2 1/2 hours. He finally perked up the last 1/2 hour we were there. I got some really good pics for her though so it was a good outing in my book!
Busy week coming up. Scott and I are having dinner with Kit and Fran on Wednesday night, Thursday night I scored free tickets to a cocktail party at the Jazz Fest, and then Friday night Scott and I signed up to play a Scotch (golf) at the Woodcliff hotel. Amazingly, I have zero plans for the actual weekend. I think I'm going to kick back and enjoy the hell out of some down time!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
June 9 - Not a good week.
I decided that since the ear, jaw, neck thing is getting progressively worse, I had better call in the big guns. Actually, Leo called in the big guns. His sister-in-law works for Dr. C (the ENT cancer doctor) so he called her up, she rearranged some stuff and got me in to see a doc at 8:00 Wednesday morning. If I had waited until Thursday, I could have seen Dr. C himself but honestly, he intimidates the hell out of me, so I asked to see the female half of his practice, Dr. B. She doesn't know what's wrong with me either. She told me to continue with the Flonase because it really could be allergies. She also told me to get a night guard from my dentist (I have an appointment on Tuesday) because I might be grinding my teeth at night. She said she doesn't see or feel anything "bad", I can only assume "bad" is her euphemism for cancer, but she's scheduling an MRI for me so they (her and Dr. C) can take a look. She said the radiation may have caused my jawbone to deteriorate which could be causing trouble.
So, I'm still popping pain pills like a crazy woman. It's excruciating every morning when I wake up so I've been getting up, popping pills, and laying back down for 45 minutes until the pain is manageable again. On Thursday, I just couldn't do it. I got up, took the pills, and called into work. I spent the day laying in bed, medicating myself to the hilt. Then babydoll came over for dinner after work, around 8:30 pm. We grilled steak. I got a piece stuck in my throat. This actually happens fairly often, food getting stuck in my throat, and I either manage to wash it down with milk, or fish it out with my finger. Well, neither of those was working that night. We ended up at the emergency room around 9:30. While they were running around trying to find me a room, the stupid piece of meat finally dislodged. They made me stay for a bit anyway for 'observation'. I felt dumb for being there and commented that I should have just waited at home for it to resolve itself. The doctor admonished me and said it was a good thing I came in because it could have resolved itself in a bad way as well. That made me feel a little bit better.
My latest fear is that I'm going to burn a hole in my stomach with the copious amounts of pain meds that I'm taking. I'm not sure that's even a realistic fear but it's my latest Chicken Little moment.
Fun stuff:
Scott and I went to a free concert Friday night which was a lot of fun. Yesterday was jam packed. I sat at the grotto booth from 8:30 - 2:00. Then I took Scott out for his first taste of Korean food. He wasn't impressed. Ha! Then we went to his coworker's house from 3:30 - 5:30 for a pool party, then it was off to his niece's house from 6:30 - 9:30 for her graduation party. Phew! This morning I was up bright and early so that Sandi and I could go play 18 holes. It was an absolutely gorgeous day but man, those golf lessons I'm taking aren't doing diddly squat for me. I still had the score card from when Scott and I played the same course on Memorial Day and I scored one stroke higher today than I did two weeks ago!!
From here on out I'll be concentrating on life cleanup so that when I get on the plane Thursday morning to head to Florida, I can simply relax. With that in mind, I'm off to mow the lawn which has gotten ridiculously long with the past 4 days of rain we've had!
I decided that since the ear, jaw, neck thing is getting progressively worse, I had better call in the big guns. Actually, Leo called in the big guns. His sister-in-law works for Dr. C (the ENT cancer doctor) so he called her up, she rearranged some stuff and got me in to see a doc at 8:00 Wednesday morning. If I had waited until Thursday, I could have seen Dr. C himself but honestly, he intimidates the hell out of me, so I asked to see the female half of his practice, Dr. B. She doesn't know what's wrong with me either. She told me to continue with the Flonase because it really could be allergies. She also told me to get a night guard from my dentist (I have an appointment on Tuesday) because I might be grinding my teeth at night. She said she doesn't see or feel anything "bad", I can only assume "bad" is her euphemism for cancer, but she's scheduling an MRI for me so they (her and Dr. C) can take a look. She said the radiation may have caused my jawbone to deteriorate which could be causing trouble.
So, I'm still popping pain pills like a crazy woman. It's excruciating every morning when I wake up so I've been getting up, popping pills, and laying back down for 45 minutes until the pain is manageable again. On Thursday, I just couldn't do it. I got up, took the pills, and called into work. I spent the day laying in bed, medicating myself to the hilt. Then babydoll came over for dinner after work, around 8:30 pm. We grilled steak. I got a piece stuck in my throat. This actually happens fairly often, food getting stuck in my throat, and I either manage to wash it down with milk, or fish it out with my finger. Well, neither of those was working that night. We ended up at the emergency room around 9:30. While they were running around trying to find me a room, the stupid piece of meat finally dislodged. They made me stay for a bit anyway for 'observation'. I felt dumb for being there and commented that I should have just waited at home for it to resolve itself. The doctor admonished me and said it was a good thing I came in because it could have resolved itself in a bad way as well. That made me feel a little bit better.
My latest fear is that I'm going to burn a hole in my stomach with the copious amounts of pain meds that I'm taking. I'm not sure that's even a realistic fear but it's my latest Chicken Little moment.
Fun stuff:
Scott and I went to a free concert Friday night which was a lot of fun. Yesterday was jam packed. I sat at the grotto booth from 8:30 - 2:00. Then I took Scott out for his first taste of Korean food. He wasn't impressed. Ha! Then we went to his coworker's house from 3:30 - 5:30 for a pool party, then it was off to his niece's house from 6:30 - 9:30 for her graduation party. Phew! This morning I was up bright and early so that Sandi and I could go play 18 holes. It was an absolutely gorgeous day but man, those golf lessons I'm taking aren't doing diddly squat for me. I still had the score card from when Scott and I played the same course on Memorial Day and I scored one stroke higher today than I did two weeks ago!!
From here on out I'll be concentrating on life cleanup so that when I get on the plane Thursday morning to head to Florida, I can simply relax. With that in mind, I'm off to mow the lawn which has gotten ridiculously long with the past 4 days of rain we've had!
Monday, June 3, 2013
June 3 - I feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck. Not only is the nose spray not helping, but the entire side of my head and neck, on the right hand side, is now tender to the touch. On top of that, my neck and back are sore (like I slept wrong), I once again have bruises along my spinal column (guess it wasn't my mattress!), and my rib cage feels bruised (no idea what could cause that). WTH?? It's like I'm 80 something instead of 40 something.
Honey-bunny claims that he's secretly been beating up on me at night when I sleep. As much as I would love to have a concrete reason for feeling crappy, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to sleep through something like that so he's likely fibbing to me. ;-)
I specifically didn't take any pain meds at all yesterday because the caffeine in the Excedrin has been causing me to still be wide awake at 1:30 am. Yeah, I know. I had just blogged about how I'm out like a light by 9:30 every night. Turns out that statement doesn't hold true if I'm taking Excedrin! Anyway, I fell asleep at a decent hour last night but woke up hurting all over the place so I am now back to taking the Excedrin.
I took the thrush medicine late last week. The fact that I choked on a pain pill is what drove me over the edge in deciding to take it. I'm happy to report that the bleeding has once again stopped, the swelling is down, and the sensitivity has been curbed.
A big thank you to my doctor friend, Karen, for explaining the difference between ibuprofen and acetaminophen. I now feel better equipped to choose the correct pain meds based on whatever is going on with me.
Hairdresser Jen did not have any out of the box ideas for my hairstyle but she did have a really good tip about the alfalfa thing that I have going on. She showed me how to spray it with a little bit of hairspray and then use a toothbrush to brush it down into place. Works like a charm and doesn't leave me looking greasy!
Fun stuff:
The Summer Jam was fun although I think shooting the shit with Jamie for a couple of hours was more enjoyable than the actual music! Other than that, I didn't do much of anything this past weekend. I was mostly a lump although I did finish pulling together my new home office. Ahhhhh....it looks fantastic and I'm loving hanging out in there!
Tonight starts my 2 week golf clinic. Sandi is coming to see me on Sunday so that we can go play 18 holes. I'm doing whatever I can to prep so that I don't embarrass myself too bad in front of her!
This Saturday I'm going to be manning the caving booth at the ADK Outdoor Expo from 9:00 - 4:00 and then it's off to Scott's niece's house to celebrate a family birthday, anniversary, and graduation all rolled into one.
And it just hit me this morning that next week I will be in Florida visiting my dad for Father's Day! Holy crap that came up fast! I need to start looking at my flight details, and figure out what I need to pack! Woo hoo! I'm soon gonna be on vacation and drinking key lime pie martinis with the old man!
Honey-bunny claims that he's secretly been beating up on me at night when I sleep. As much as I would love to have a concrete reason for feeling crappy, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to sleep through something like that so he's likely fibbing to me. ;-)
I specifically didn't take any pain meds at all yesterday because the caffeine in the Excedrin has been causing me to still be wide awake at 1:30 am. Yeah, I know. I had just blogged about how I'm out like a light by 9:30 every night. Turns out that statement doesn't hold true if I'm taking Excedrin! Anyway, I fell asleep at a decent hour last night but woke up hurting all over the place so I am now back to taking the Excedrin.
I took the thrush medicine late last week. The fact that I choked on a pain pill is what drove me over the edge in deciding to take it. I'm happy to report that the bleeding has once again stopped, the swelling is down, and the sensitivity has been curbed.
A big thank you to my doctor friend, Karen, for explaining the difference between ibuprofen and acetaminophen. I now feel better equipped to choose the correct pain meds based on whatever is going on with me.
Hairdresser Jen did not have any out of the box ideas for my hairstyle but she did have a really good tip about the alfalfa thing that I have going on. She showed me how to spray it with a little bit of hairspray and then use a toothbrush to brush it down into place. Works like a charm and doesn't leave me looking greasy!
Fun stuff:
The Summer Jam was fun although I think shooting the shit with Jamie for a couple of hours was more enjoyable than the actual music! Other than that, I didn't do much of anything this past weekend. I was mostly a lump although I did finish pulling together my new home office. Ahhhhh....it looks fantastic and I'm loving hanging out in there!
Tonight starts my 2 week golf clinic. Sandi is coming to see me on Sunday so that we can go play 18 holes. I'm doing whatever I can to prep so that I don't embarrass myself too bad in front of her!
This Saturday I'm going to be manning the caving booth at the ADK Outdoor Expo from 9:00 - 4:00 and then it's off to Scott's niece's house to celebrate a family birthday, anniversary, and graduation all rolled into one.
And it just hit me this morning that next week I will be in Florida visiting my dad for Father's Day! Holy crap that came up fast! I need to start looking at my flight details, and figure out what I need to pack! Woo hoo! I'm soon gonna be on vacation and drinking key lime pie martinis with the old man!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
May 28 - Thought I should go ahead and report in on the doctor visit. Both Dr. S and the intern with her, were very young. I got to hear about the 20 different things that COULD be causing my continuous ear ache. Everything from depression, to a secondary illness related to the shingles, to TMJ, to a cold, to grinding my teeth, to.........., but in the end, they couldn't pin it down. Dr. S decided to put me on nose spray once a day for the next month. She said sometimes allergies cause the eustachian tube to get clogged which creates pressure, the nose spray will supposedly help unclog it, if that's the problem. She said if it's still aching a month from now to come back and we'll try something else. Luckily, I have an appointment with Dr. K on 6/19 so if my ear is still aching, I'll check in with her instead. Dr. S also told me the nose spray is a steroid which can cause thrush so I should be rinsing my mouth out after using it. She then commented that she sees no sign of thrush going on in my mouth right now. Say what? For a week and a half now, the swelling has been back, my mouth is bleeding like a stuck pig, my tongue is super sensitive, even to a little bit of salt........I think she's nuts. I almost broke down and took the thrush medicine today. Then I got all paranoid because I don't see any white spots on my tongue right now. Is this thrush stuff all in my head??
Whatever.
On a bright note, the intern told me that I have the most perfect ear drums she's ever seen. Ummmm...thanks? ;-)
The weight thing seems to have been a fluke. I weighed myself yesterday and was back down to 122.0. A six pound weight fluctuation seems a bit extreme to me. Not sure what's going on with that. Guess I'll continue to keep an eye on the fit of my pants. Meanwhile, does this mean I'm back to looking tragic??
My 'wondering about' topic for the week is, what's the difference between ibuprofen and acetaminophen? Three days before my surgery last July I was told to stop taking Advil and take Tylenol instead, if needed. I was NOT happy because the Tylenol wasn't doing crap for the pain in my tongue. Now, I've been taking Advil like crazy for my ear and it's been helping, but not totally alleviating the ache. I decided to switch to Excedrin and BAM. Totally makes the pain go away for a while. Medicine is weird.
On a funny note, I was complaining a while back in my blog that every time I eat, my nose now runs. Scott and I stopped by to visit my Mom and her husband on our way to Baltimore last week and we ate lunch with them. Both my Mom and her hubby had to blow their noses halfway through lunch! It's not just me!! Ha!
Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut. Or maybe I should say I'm going to get some of the ratty ends trimmed off. Not a lot to cut right now. I can't wait to see what Jen, my hairdresser, says about all the 1 1/2" growth sprouting all over my head. She had told me that at one point she had shaved her head for a band that she was in. We'll see if she suggests anything outside of the box for me! :-)
Fun stuff!
Or actually, not so fun stuff. Kunkel mentioned to me this morning that one of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships caught fire last week! What the hell?! Scott and I specifically didn't book Carnival a) because we both want to try something new and different and b) because of all the trouble Carnival has been having with their ships! We thought we'd be safer with a different cruise line. Sheesh. Luckily we both know how to swim, and hey, if I have to get stranded on a deserted island with anyone, he'd be the number one choice in MY book. <3
The crab cakes turned out okay. I burnt the first two. Not sure how. It was my first time making them as well as my first time using a cast iron skillet. I now know better.
Star Trek was fantastic! I'm really loving these prequel movies. Last night Scott and I rented the very first Star Trek movie. I, of course, fell asleep halfway through, but I got the gist of it. I think tonight we'll be watching Wrath of Khan. Good stuff! Meanwhile, both After Earth and Now You See Me open this Friday, both of which I'm jonesing to see. Hmmmm....I wonder what my buddy RayB is doing this Sunday........
Sunday I spent the entire day working in my yard. I finished all of my weeding and mulching, mowed the lawn, trimmed some trees, transplanted some hastas, etc. This weekend I need to finish up the spring yard stuff by trimming the hedges, cleaning the gutters, and cleaning out the garage. I will then be ready for summer!
Yesterday was a blissfully perfect day. I fed my man breakfast and then it was off for a leisurely 18 holes of golf. Because it was Memorial Day, there were few people out golfing, and the weather was absolutely perfect, not too hot, not too cold. We both played terribly but enjoyed ourselves immensely. Four and a half hours later we were tired and hungry so we headed to Applebee's for dinner and then home to nap in my double-wide hammock for a couple of hours. It was the best day ever! So much so, that I stopped at the store today and bought a lottery ticket because I want to live that life every day!! LOL!
This Friday is the 98PXY Summer Jam. I have no man this weekend so my bud, Jamie, is going to the concert with me so that we can dance our asses off. Well, at least I'll be dancing. Jamie will probably be pointing and laughing. I'm also thinking about heading to Darien Lake either Saturday or Sunday. I'm totally jonesing for some roller coasters. I might post an outing on Rochester Meetups to see if anyone else is interested. Other than that, and the yard work, and the movies, I still need to finish pulling together my newly remodeled office. It's just been way too nice out to spend any time inside doing it!
Whatever.
On a bright note, the intern told me that I have the most perfect ear drums she's ever seen. Ummmm...thanks? ;-)
The weight thing seems to have been a fluke. I weighed myself yesterday and was back down to 122.0. A six pound weight fluctuation seems a bit extreme to me. Not sure what's going on with that. Guess I'll continue to keep an eye on the fit of my pants. Meanwhile, does this mean I'm back to looking tragic??
My 'wondering about' topic for the week is, what's the difference between ibuprofen and acetaminophen? Three days before my surgery last July I was told to stop taking Advil and take Tylenol instead, if needed. I was NOT happy because the Tylenol wasn't doing crap for the pain in my tongue. Now, I've been taking Advil like crazy for my ear and it's been helping, but not totally alleviating the ache. I decided to switch to Excedrin and BAM. Totally makes the pain go away for a while. Medicine is weird.
On a funny note, I was complaining a while back in my blog that every time I eat, my nose now runs. Scott and I stopped by to visit my Mom and her husband on our way to Baltimore last week and we ate lunch with them. Both my Mom and her hubby had to blow their noses halfway through lunch! It's not just me!! Ha!
Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut. Or maybe I should say I'm going to get some of the ratty ends trimmed off. Not a lot to cut right now. I can't wait to see what Jen, my hairdresser, says about all the 1 1/2" growth sprouting all over my head. She had told me that at one point she had shaved her head for a band that she was in. We'll see if she suggests anything outside of the box for me! :-)
Fun stuff!
Or actually, not so fun stuff. Kunkel mentioned to me this morning that one of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships caught fire last week! What the hell?! Scott and I specifically didn't book Carnival a) because we both want to try something new and different and b) because of all the trouble Carnival has been having with their ships! We thought we'd be safer with a different cruise line. Sheesh. Luckily we both know how to swim, and hey, if I have to get stranded on a deserted island with anyone, he'd be the number one choice in MY book. <3
The crab cakes turned out okay. I burnt the first two. Not sure how. It was my first time making them as well as my first time using a cast iron skillet. I now know better.
Star Trek was fantastic! I'm really loving these prequel movies. Last night Scott and I rented the very first Star Trek movie. I, of course, fell asleep halfway through, but I got the gist of it. I think tonight we'll be watching Wrath of Khan. Good stuff! Meanwhile, both After Earth and Now You See Me open this Friday, both of which I'm jonesing to see. Hmmmm....I wonder what my buddy RayB is doing this Sunday........
Sunday I spent the entire day working in my yard. I finished all of my weeding and mulching, mowed the lawn, trimmed some trees, transplanted some hastas, etc. This weekend I need to finish up the spring yard stuff by trimming the hedges, cleaning the gutters, and cleaning out the garage. I will then be ready for summer!
Yesterday was a blissfully perfect day. I fed my man breakfast and then it was off for a leisurely 18 holes of golf. Because it was Memorial Day, there were few people out golfing, and the weather was absolutely perfect, not too hot, not too cold. We both played terribly but enjoyed ourselves immensely. Four and a half hours later we were tired and hungry so we headed to Applebee's for dinner and then home to nap in my double-wide hammock for a couple of hours. It was the best day ever! So much so, that I stopped at the store today and bought a lottery ticket because I want to live that life every day!! LOL!
This Friday is the 98PXY Summer Jam. I have no man this weekend so my bud, Jamie, is going to the concert with me so that we can dance our asses off. Well, at least I'll be dancing. Jamie will probably be pointing and laughing. I'm also thinking about heading to Darien Lake either Saturday or Sunday. I'm totally jonesing for some roller coasters. I might post an outing on Rochester Meetups to see if anyone else is interested. Other than that, and the yard work, and the movies, I still need to finish pulling together my newly remodeled office. It's just been way too nice out to spend any time inside doing it!
Friday, May 24, 2013
May 24 - Okay, I'm not sticking to my story after all. My ear has been aching continuously for 2 weeks now. Enough is enough. I'm seeing a doctor at 3:45 today. Not MY doctor mind you, but at least A doctor.
So, a good news, bad news tidbit. I've gained weight!! For the first time since Christmas, my scale is going up. I've gained ~6 pounds in a little over 2 weeks! (I'm at 127.8.) This is good news because I think it's for sure a sign that I'm definitely healthier, plus it means that I'm managing to get enough food in me to add some padding back on. It's bad news because I finally have a wardrobe that I'm comfortable with. If I have to start changing it out again.....well........ugh. Every 10 pounds means a size change for us chicks so if I gain 4 more pounds, I'm going to have to dig through all my storage containers for my size 8's. Bleah.
On the bright side, I was telling the girls at work that I've gained 6 pounds in an incredibly short amount of time and Karen, the HR chickie, said "I noticed it last week and I think the 6 pounds looks really good on you. You're still skinny without looking downright tragic.". Ha!
So, continuing on with my grumping theme of how everything has changed.......
I have a really hard time staying up past 9:30 pm. I'm constantly falling asleep on Scott's shoulder! When we went to see the play at GEVA I was falling asleep near the end of the second half. At the Yankee's game on Monday night I was starting to fade during the 8th inning. It's ridiculous. I've started drinking coffee again in an attempt to be able to stay up later. I haven't really noticed it helping though.
Meanwhile, the other big change that I've noticed caused me to have a bit of a meltdown last Saturday morning. My memory is shot to hell!! Some recent examples:
When I went with Scott for his hand surgery, he was talking to me afterwards about the male anesthesiologist. I thought he was nuts, I only remembered the female one coming to talk to him. A little while later the male one walked by at which point I remembered him. How the hell could I forget seeing him just 3 hours before that??
Then I was sitting in a Green Team meeting a couple of weeks ago. I had an action item to order a bottle return container for our offices next door. I had completely forgotten to do it! At which point 5 of my coworkers fell out of their chairs because I NEVER forget things like that. I'm known as one of the most dependable employees at work. If you give me something to do, you will never have to follow up to see if it was done, you just automatically assume it got done because hey, it's Quinn. As soon as I got back to my desk after the meeting, I ordered the container. It arrived a few days later and I proudly walked across the street to hand it off to the technician over there who had requested it. As I held it out to him he said "Quinn, what the hell, you already bought me one of those two months ago.". Say what?? So, I didn't forget to order the damn thing, I just forgot that I had already ordered it?!?
So, last Friday Scott said he would come over Saturday after work so I took (3) steaks out of the freezer to thaw for dinner (why I decided on 3 instead of 2, I have no idea). Then he found out Friday night that his daughter's plane would be arriving at 11:40 in the morning so he wanted to go see her instead. I rushed downstairs and discovered the steaks were still frozen so I put (2) of them back in the freezer. Phew! Saturday morning I was up bright and early to run a few miles and when I got back I went to the fridge for some water. I looked down, saw my single steak on the second shelf, but also saw two more steaks on the third shelf. What the hell?? I checked the freezer and the steaks I had put back the night before were still there so at some point in time, I had already decided to thaw 2 steaks for an upcoming dinner. I have no idea when I had decided that or how long those steaks had been sitting there in the fridge. My brain is totally blank on the whole thing! This was just too much. I went upstairs, crawled into bed next to Scott and quietly lost it. Both he and Sam made the same basic comment about welcome to the life of a normal person. It didn't make me feel better. When you live with yourself for 40+ years and you're suddenly looking in the mirror and not recognizing anything about yourself, it's really scary and upsetting. :-(
Moving on..........
I called in another thrush prescription yesterday, I'll be picking it up this weekend. Not that I'm planning on taking it right away, but I decided it would be nice to have the actual pills on hand for the morning I wake up and decide the thrush is completely out of control once again. Because mind you, it's back, it's just not seriously affecting my life just yet. I want to hold out as long as I can until I'm absolutely miserable so that I can try to avoid building up the tolerance that Dr. K had mentioned.
Improvements:
- Thrush is back but not bad enough for meds.......yet.
- Spit production probably around 50% at this point.
- Bullfrog effect still happening.
- Garbled talking. Swollen throat.
- Partial taste buds - Sweet is around 15% right now.
Fun stuff!
Dinner with the Kunkel's was fun! Although I think the boys did more talking than Kunkel and I. Of course that's partially my fault. I can't carry on a conversation and concentrate on not choking while eating at the same time. My multitasking skills only go so far.
Loved seeing Sam and the kids on Sunday and we had the best weather ever in our ~15 years of going to the Lilac Fest!!
Baltimore was absolutely fantastic! It just occurred to me that it's a huge bonus to have found a man who is not only funny, gorgeous, sweet, and thoughtful.......but who also makes an outstanding traveling companion. The Yankees game was very exciting, not that I know anything about baseball but I kind of got caught up in the mood of the crowd. Plus the Asquino-Briggs clan (other than JBB who is a Mets fan) are really into the Yankees so there were texts and FB posts going on throughout the game. Good stuff. The highlight for me, non-sports girl, was the 'bacon on a stick' at one of the concession stands. O-M-G. Best thing I've ever had in my mouth!! I ate TWO!! (Yeah, and then I wonder where that 6 pounds came from.........). We also went to the aquarium which was beautiful, hung out on the docks with adult beverages, went to Ripley's which at one point had me laughing so hard I was crying, and then did the traditional all you can eat crab thing for dinner. A banner trip all the way around.
And our cruise has been booked! The countdown has begun..........134 days and we will be on a boat, in a balcony room no less, cruising in the Caribbean. Woo hoo! We spent the 6 hour car ride home from Baltimore picking out what excursions we're going to do. We will be ziplining, riding ATV's, jet skiing, hitting the beach and a waterpark, and doing a sunset catamaran cruise. I'm so psyched! I love having a trip to count down to!!
Finally, after all the Baltimore excitement, a quiet weekend is in order. Tonight I'm going to try my hand at making crab cakes for dinner because Scott really enjoyed the ones we had in Baltimore. Then we're heading out to see Star Trek at our fave theater with the power reclining seats. Tomorrow, if the weather is nice we might head to a local rib festival that happens annually here in Rochester before he picks his daughter up for the weekend and on Monday, again, weather permitting, we'll find someplace to play 18 holes. Ahhhh.......I love my life.
So, a good news, bad news tidbit. I've gained weight!! For the first time since Christmas, my scale is going up. I've gained ~6 pounds in a little over 2 weeks! (I'm at 127.8.) This is good news because I think it's for sure a sign that I'm definitely healthier, plus it means that I'm managing to get enough food in me to add some padding back on. It's bad news because I finally have a wardrobe that I'm comfortable with. If I have to start changing it out again.....well........ugh. Every 10 pounds means a size change for us chicks so if I gain 4 more pounds, I'm going to have to dig through all my storage containers for my size 8's. Bleah.
On the bright side, I was telling the girls at work that I've gained 6 pounds in an incredibly short amount of time and Karen, the HR chickie, said "I noticed it last week and I think the 6 pounds looks really good on you. You're still skinny without looking downright tragic.". Ha!
So, continuing on with my grumping theme of how everything has changed.......
I have a really hard time staying up past 9:30 pm. I'm constantly falling asleep on Scott's shoulder! When we went to see the play at GEVA I was falling asleep near the end of the second half. At the Yankee's game on Monday night I was starting to fade during the 8th inning. It's ridiculous. I've started drinking coffee again in an attempt to be able to stay up later. I haven't really noticed it helping though.
Meanwhile, the other big change that I've noticed caused me to have a bit of a meltdown last Saturday morning. My memory is shot to hell!! Some recent examples:
When I went with Scott for his hand surgery, he was talking to me afterwards about the male anesthesiologist. I thought he was nuts, I only remembered the female one coming to talk to him. A little while later the male one walked by at which point I remembered him. How the hell could I forget seeing him just 3 hours before that??
Then I was sitting in a Green Team meeting a couple of weeks ago. I had an action item to order a bottle return container for our offices next door. I had completely forgotten to do it! At which point 5 of my coworkers fell out of their chairs because I NEVER forget things like that. I'm known as one of the most dependable employees at work. If you give me something to do, you will never have to follow up to see if it was done, you just automatically assume it got done because hey, it's Quinn. As soon as I got back to my desk after the meeting, I ordered the container. It arrived a few days later and I proudly walked across the street to hand it off to the technician over there who had requested it. As I held it out to him he said "Quinn, what the hell, you already bought me one of those two months ago.". Say what?? So, I didn't forget to order the damn thing, I just forgot that I had already ordered it?!?
So, last Friday Scott said he would come over Saturday after work so I took (3) steaks out of the freezer to thaw for dinner (why I decided on 3 instead of 2, I have no idea). Then he found out Friday night that his daughter's plane would be arriving at 11:40 in the morning so he wanted to go see her instead. I rushed downstairs and discovered the steaks were still frozen so I put (2) of them back in the freezer. Phew! Saturday morning I was up bright and early to run a few miles and when I got back I went to the fridge for some water. I looked down, saw my single steak on the second shelf, but also saw two more steaks on the third shelf. What the hell?? I checked the freezer and the steaks I had put back the night before were still there so at some point in time, I had already decided to thaw 2 steaks for an upcoming dinner. I have no idea when I had decided that or how long those steaks had been sitting there in the fridge. My brain is totally blank on the whole thing! This was just too much. I went upstairs, crawled into bed next to Scott and quietly lost it. Both he and Sam made the same basic comment about welcome to the life of a normal person. It didn't make me feel better. When you live with yourself for 40+ years and you're suddenly looking in the mirror and not recognizing anything about yourself, it's really scary and upsetting. :-(
Moving on..........
I called in another thrush prescription yesterday, I'll be picking it up this weekend. Not that I'm planning on taking it right away, but I decided it would be nice to have the actual pills on hand for the morning I wake up and decide the thrush is completely out of control once again. Because mind you, it's back, it's just not seriously affecting my life just yet. I want to hold out as long as I can until I'm absolutely miserable so that I can try to avoid building up the tolerance that Dr. K had mentioned.
Improvements:
- Thrush is back but not bad enough for meds.......yet.
- Spit production probably around 50% at this point.
- Bullfrog effect still happening.
- Garbled talking. Swollen throat.
- Partial taste buds - Sweet is around 15% right now.
Fun stuff!
Dinner with the Kunkel's was fun! Although I think the boys did more talking than Kunkel and I. Of course that's partially my fault. I can't carry on a conversation and concentrate on not choking while eating at the same time. My multitasking skills only go so far.
Loved seeing Sam and the kids on Sunday and we had the best weather ever in our ~15 years of going to the Lilac Fest!!
Baltimore was absolutely fantastic! It just occurred to me that it's a huge bonus to have found a man who is not only funny, gorgeous, sweet, and thoughtful.......but who also makes an outstanding traveling companion. The Yankees game was very exciting, not that I know anything about baseball but I kind of got caught up in the mood of the crowd. Plus the Asquino-Briggs clan (other than JBB who is a Mets fan) are really into the Yankees so there were texts and FB posts going on throughout the game. Good stuff. The highlight for me, non-sports girl, was the 'bacon on a stick' at one of the concession stands. O-M-G. Best thing I've ever had in my mouth!! I ate TWO!! (Yeah, and then I wonder where that 6 pounds came from.........). We also went to the aquarium which was beautiful, hung out on the docks with adult beverages, went to Ripley's which at one point had me laughing so hard I was crying, and then did the traditional all you can eat crab thing for dinner. A banner trip all the way around.
Finally, after all the Baltimore excitement, a quiet weekend is in order. Tonight I'm going to try my hand at making crab cakes for dinner because Scott really enjoyed the ones we had in Baltimore. Then we're heading out to see Star Trek at our fave theater with the power reclining seats. Tomorrow, if the weather is nice we might head to a local rib festival that happens annually here in Rochester before he picks his daughter up for the weekend and on Monday, again, weather permitting, we'll find someplace to play 18 holes. Ahhhh.......I love my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)