So, I have a cold or something. I’ve had fever and a horribly stuffy nose. I choked on my own saliva yesterday while driving and seriously thought I was going to die. A little later in the day, my throat hurt so much, I was almost in tears. And my ears should have been bleeding, the pain was so bad.
Now I have crackling in my chest and sores in my nose. And I feel just yucky.
And the weather is nice so it seems worse somehow to not be up to taking my daily walk.
I’m not sick, but since my baby sucks at sucking I have to hook myself up to a vacuum pump optimally 8 times a day. It hurts and it’s impossible to make 8, ever, so it’s also guilt inducing. And it’s hard logistically because you can’t really hold the baby and pump, and I’m alone most of the day. It sucks so freaking hard and the reward is kind of theoretical compared to the practice.
I had my flu shot on Friday. The literature they provided at the pharmacy assured me that any side effects would be minimal and unlikely (unless they weren’t, in which case, I was to seek medical help immediately).
Since approximately Saturday morning I have had this…malaise, I guess, is the best word. Tired, a little grumpy, don’t feel like doing anything.
Still much better than getting the actual flu, but it is not fun either!
Join the club. I bet it’s something my 3-yo brought from her preschool. The whole household is miserable. Coughing, sinuses, some fever, body aches etc. etc. And tomorrow is first day of school…
I am sick tonight. My little girl has been sick since last Wednesday, although she tricked me into thinking she was better long enough to go to a birthday party yesterday. Now she’s in much worse shape and I’m following right behind. It’s the snotty sniffly sneezy achy stuffy head fever kind, but Nyquil isn’t even touching the sniffles. And I’m up at one in the morning because when I lay down everything clogs up and I start leaking out one nostril. Blah.
I spent 7 hours in the ER waiting room Thursday night. I had packed clothes knowing they would keep me but it never occurred to me to pack a lunch. Then I spent the next 16 hours in the ER, went through 2 bouts of torture and almost no sleep. At least they fed me.
Now I have a suck ass cold with a sore throat, achy/itchy ears, runny nose, watery eyes, headache and a hacking cough that won’t let me sleep.
To top it off, my SetTopBox broke and I have no TV.
I buggered my back by simply getting a tray out of the oven. Had to visit the doctor on a Sunday, he gave me medications etc and it was coming good. So good that on the Thursday I thought I’d do the vacuuming- bent over and guess what- I did my back again. Magic.
I have liver issues related to a complicated gall bladder removal in June. The good news is I’ve lost 45 lbs since Father’s Day, the bad is that my diabetes has gone wacko and I’ve lost muscle.
I’m actually, fingers crossed, on the upswing. Since the start of June, I’ve been dealing with some unidentified autoimmune thing. It includes:
kidney pain, usually in the middle of the night
extreme, all over itching when I’m trying to go to sleep, bad enough that I’ve scratched myself bloody
facial rash
swollen and painful knuckles
swollen and painful toes
aching wrists and ankles
bouts of bloating and stomach pain
edema starting with the ankles and eventually to above the knees
occasional migraines
mood swings and mini-bouts of depression
debilitating fatigue
I saw my old doctor in July. She knows my history, knows that I’ve had at least three ANA tests come back positive. Trouble is, she wants me to see a rheumatologist. I have no problem with this, but every rheumatologist I’ve called wants a “referral” from my GP. Not an insurance referral, but a copy of my medical records. GP’s office staff never replied to requests. These are the same people who refuse to handle prescription refill requests. You have to come in and see the doctor to get a new prescription.
I see my doc, she starts doing the “I thought we agreed you would see a rheumatologist”. I explain. She writes me a five-day prescription for a corticosteroid and tells me she’s moving to a new practice. I am on my own.
So, I finally get a rheumatology office to agree to see me without a proper referral. Next month. My symptoms get worse. I get an appointment with an internist, figuring a) I need a new doc anyways, and I might as well find one who deals only with adults, and b) they can at least address the current symptoms and get the blood work the rheumatologist is going to want.
In the meantime, my FSA card was frozen because they want a copy of an EOB for a related CAT scan. Why this one transaction among two dozen over the course of the year, I don’t know. I sent it off to them next week, and I’m hoping my FSA card will be unfrozen by then. In my more cynical moments, I think the FSA provider jacks with people by freezing their cards and demanding documentation that the exhausted, the sick, the uneducated, or the overwhelmed never manage to put together, and at the end of the year, the provider gets to keep the balance on the card.
It never ceases to amaze me how hard a sick person has to work to get taken care of.
I was outside all weekend. Yesterday, I was at a ballgame that lasted more than 4 hours, as I stood up to leave I realized I didn’t feel very well: dizzy, sick to my stomach and the chills. I think I go some kind of lower order hyperthermia, last night I woke up and my teeth were chattering I was so cold. I actually slept under the comforter and a blanket I was so cold. I drank a ton of water and today I feel better, but I don’t have any energy. It got kind of scary.
