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misc. health crap or Why I Hate Middle-Age, you suck, 46.

February 17th, 2011

* that Watson IBM thing on Jeopardy was stupid. I am such a die-hard Jeopardy fan, and you know I belong to the Ken and Brad fan club. So it sorta headached me, is what I’m saying. Gimme a real game, not an avatar.

* Steve is at work; Wacky Boy and i are home with colds (sore throats, coughs, fatigue, and perhaps just a general sense of ennui)

* They bring Brenda back to GH, I’m over the moon cuz she’s always been one of my favorite characters, and what? they’re going to kill her off now, instead of having her marry Sonny? Cussin’ writers. Do it right, writers, i mean it.

* I have tendonitis from my library work (and facebook, and too much mousing, and from typing too fast. i’m like, crazy-fast typist). It goes up my right arm, stopping for a special pocket of pain in the elbow (i think it’s cussin’ bursitis or something, too? I smacked my funny bone — NOT FUNNY — a month ago and it is still swollen and tender), then travels all the way up my shoulder, down into where my shoulder bone’s attached to my/back bone, then up the right side of my neck, up and over my ear, into my jaw (thank you, TMJ, you suck, too) and into my head.

What does this all mean? I hurt all the cussin’ time. and it hurts to type. and you know i love to type (see: work stuff — required by law; e-mails; FB; my book; various writing projects and yes, blog). it pains me to type. it pains me to say that. it pains me to mouse mouse blip all day, too, at work. (checking in/checking out.) it pains me to carry around large boxes/armfuls of books, dishes, laundry, and i can’t grip sometimes with my right hand. it also hurts to just write longhand (see: journal, pen, propped up with pillows, ow).

i write, therefore i am i write, therefore i am i write, therefore i am i write, therefore i am i write, therefore i am

honestly, I can’t blame this on middle age. I’ve been dealing with some of this crap (thyroid, girl problems) since i was a kid. and yes, i know i need to go in for physical therapy, but i am scared. I just worked up the nerve last week finally to go in and get my bloodwork done (again) for thyroid. I LOVE my (now-former) doctor, she was amazing. she also had this great practice with four or five other doctors. I saw most of them, in the few years I’ve been going to her, and they’re all as great as she is.

However. They’re in north Portland, and we now live on West Side. Fancy West Side. And I haven’t been willing to start with someone new. I love my doctor so much. She has two kids my kids’ age, and she’s from the neighborhood, and she can handle anything (see: thyroid, see: wacky heart, see: follow-up on surgery, see: bronchial pneumonia, see: flu shots; see: general bitchiness). This doctor would never randomly cut into me on a Monday morning, is what I’m saying.

I found a new doctor. They’re nice. They took my blood and only bruised me up a little. My one “good” vein collapsed years ago. My “second-best” vein is nearing collapse. To cheer me up, the phlebotomist told me awhile back, We can just take it from behind your knee if that one collapses.

Because that’s just what sounds good — a needle coming in at ya from behind the knee.

So when i am being a big baby and refusing PT? Too. Many. Issues.

xoxoxoxo

me

6 Comments

  1. The Other Laura says

    Oh, sorry honey. I am sending good none painful, anti-inflammatory thoughts your way.

    Here’s me:
    Frank’s food allergies still have me beating my head against the wall and the stove and allergy books and blogs…

    and a big giant emotional trauma from my childhood has dropped again into my life again.

    I’m crying foul for both of us. Boo!

    February 17th, 2011 | #

  2. The Other Laura says

    Surely they’re not going to kill Brenda. Vanessa’s under contract now, isn’t she?

    February 17th, 2011 | #

  3. Dan Hortsch says

    Oh, wow. Where to start? My many sympathies, WM. I am on the downhill side of that miserable cold — throat, head, including headache, etc., the same thing my daughter (in another house altogether) just had — and so I empathize directly. Good luck to you and the boy.
    As for that arm, shoulder stuff. Yes, PT probably is the key. But one thing I found in dealing with similar pain was that a physical therapist (who also is a yoga teacher) used stretches and such, and did not have me use the machines, and she made a bigger difference than did the traditional PT folks (they helped somewhat, true). My problem lay in a congenital bone/muscle connection situation (specifically, the supraspinatus muschle — on the back shoulder area — and how it connected to my shoulder area bone joint; it’s the bone’s problem, actually, it’s strange formation. Anyway, the muscle rubbed against bone and became inflamed and the more it became inflamed the more it rubbed. The pain spread from the shoulder down the arm, elbow, into the wrist and caused problems with lifting, say, a coffee pot, and, yes, typing and so on. The mouse use added to the problem. Once it gets started, it is worsened from all sides, it seems.
    I cannot think of the therapist’s name just now — Betsy someone — but I can find it and email it if you want to talk with her. She really did help more than the others. Of course, I had to remember to do certain stretches and so on, which I am not as good at as I should be. Oh: I will add that seeing a massage therapist also helps reduce growing problems, but that helps general muscle issues, not just the one problem. And it costs unless one has an Rx for it.

    Good luck!

    February 17th, 2011 | #

  4. Nan says

    My darling! I am sending you virtual chocolate chip cookies (wheat and sugar free, cuz they are virtual, but oh boy they are YUMMY! have a few! see?)

    I had acupuncture for my rsi and it worked a dream, but I did have to NOT USE THE ARM for 2 weeks. I was good and DID NOT USE IT because the acupuncture guy was scary. He said “Do not even lift a glass of water!!!!!” But now it’s all better. Love and hugs to you! Get better!

    February 17th, 2011 | #

  5. Wacky Mommy says

    you guys are so nice, thank you. okay off to work now, but I would love the contact numbers, Dan, if you want to e them to me? I was hoping everyone would say, I’m sure it will get better all by itself! but no such luck. ha.

    TOL, today’s the big GH day……. and good luck with the allergies. Such a drag. re: demons — i keep reading Thich Nhat Hanh and trying to breathe thru them, so to speak. One of his strategies is to imagine your relatives’ skeletons decomposing in the ground. (breathe in/breathe out.) At first i thought that was insane, but it’s calming… in a ghoulish kinda way.

    Nan, thank you! Delish. Did he say you could lift a glass of wine, though? haha. Just kidding — I’m only having a glass of wine once in a while — does booze make u sore? Just if you get drunk, fall down, go boom, i guess ;)

    February 18th, 2011 | #

  6. LIB says

    Oh, WM-I am sorry! Virtual hugs(( )).

    Yeah, I’m afraid to get better you DO need to do the work. Find a good PT, do your stretches, possibly acupuncture, and so forth.

    Yeah–getting old SUCKS! It’s not for the feint of heart, but it does beat the alternative.

    Hang in there. xoxoxo

    February 18th, 2011 | #

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