Sunday, February 21, 2016

A Bunch of Little Things


In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, a bunch of the old team members came back!!

I've had a bunch of little things going on with my health lately. And a bunch of stuff in my personal life, too. Nothing too terrible. But small and annoying things. And so I am going to allow myself to do something I don't do very often - complain.

While the cold I last blogged about did go away without me needing antibiotics for the first time in forever, it did take weeks for me to get over the post-nasal drip and associated cough. But it's over now.

I had a bad migraine overnight Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. My one weapon against it, Tylenol, didn't do much good. I never used to get migraines, but now I seem to get them every few weeks or so. I've brought it up to the doctor but he doesn't know why. I guess it's bearable for now but if it gets worse I will have to do something about it.

In my last blog, I wrote about how my kidney numbers had gone up so my doctor took me off and changed a bunch of things with my meds. (One of those meds I was switched to, a rare inhaled antibiotic, I still haven't been able to get all the supplies I need after many dealings with pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, and my old oxygen company which had to arrange for a special compressor for it.) Anyway, one of the meds they reduced for me was an anti-viral medicine to control CMV, a virus which I have been culturing at low levels in my blood. So then what happened? The CMV came back at a level high enough for them to want to treat me for it. I narrowly escaped having to get a PICC line for this on Thursday by suggesting that we go back to my old regimen and see how my kidneys handle it. So we are going to try that first. Fingers crossed because I've heard it can take months for the virus to clear up on IVs.

Also on Thursday the cat accidentally scratched me. I let my coordinator know because I know that can be a concern and I wasn't sure what the protocol was for that. So now I am on two oral antibiotics for two weeks - one three times a day, the other twice a day. These also put strain on your kidneys, so in addition to my 64 ounces of water per day I consume, I have to try to drink even more. I have also cut back to one cup of coffee and no alcohol to reduce dehydration.

Smurf blue pills to prevent cat scratch fever

I am also having an ongoing problem with either my hamstring or IT band in my right leg. I might be prone to this kind of injury because of all the medications that I'm on. Also, my low back pain is a persistent problem for which I am taking a muscle relaxer and pain meds on a fairly regular basis. I really need to go to physical therapy but I've just not been up for the commitment. I have, however, started to get a bit more exercise, which is both good and irritating for my back. I've stepped up my cardio to three times per week (in addition to my dog walking) and I am going to try to find a yoga studio to go to (they are so expensive!!)

It feels lately like it's always something.

On a personal level it also wasn't the best week either. Todd got a cold so I was busy trying to avoid germs. My cat got a bite or something from another cat outdoors and had to be taken to the vet. Our heat went out and the repair wasn't cheap. And I found out that one of the women I have been volunteering for and with whom I have an awesome working relationship is leaving for another job.

On a positive note, I have made good progress with getting some big projects done around the house and that feels good. Our attic is cleaned out, organized and has been better insulated! It was a huge project. I got my iPad working correctly and synced with my phone and computer and I have been using it a lot. Also very exciting: we bought our plane tickets to go to Europe this summer! We will be flying to Germany to see my brother, who is there for five months while his wife does a teaching exchange, and then to Ireland to see Todd's very good longtime friends who moved there a couple of years ago.

Attic treasures...Sega Genesis anyone??

I guess that's it.

~ L

1 comment:

  1. I’m sorry to learn about your health issues. It can be hard to cope with the pain, but I'm glad you’ve decided to live on. It’s important to stay focused on your healthy exercise like yoga. By moving on, you are ensuring that over time the pain goes away. I wish you all the best in the months to come.

    ReplyDelete