A lame blog post

Yes, this is a lame blog post. Sometimes I wonder why people read my blog. I mean sometimes its really about nothing - just like a Seinfeld episode.

I have a cold still/again. I did make it to work yesterday and stayed until 300pm. I will admit that it was the day of our holiday party which makes it one of the best work days of the year. I wanted to stay until 330pm but at 300 I started to feel awful so I headed home with the intent of going to bed immediately.

My commute is usually about 30 minutes. It took over an hour because of holiday mall traffic and some unknown gremlins who slowed down the highway. But then I did finally get in bed and slept for about 2.5 hours. My husband came home and made dinner from left overs. I could taste the food when I covered it in hot sauce. Then I went back to bed.

Today I am going to work even though I am sick because (I promise not breathe on my coworkers):

1. The garage next to work is going to finish the last car repairs which have dragged on for weeks.
2. I brought some scarves to work yesterday and some of my coworkers bought them but two wanted to think about it and look at their wardrobes before purchasing.
3. I really have some work that needs to be done which is the reason we all go to work in the first place.

Then I will come home and take a nap unless a miracle cure happens between now and then. I am supposed to celebrate with a friend this afternoon - she has champagne and I have pate, cornichons, and french bread - but I am too sick for festivities and will have to cancel. Damn.

My other big concerns because getting healthy, honestly I mean getting over my cold, I am not sure about the being healthy part ever again are:

1. Find my missing mitten
2. Purchase groceries for Christmas dinner
3. Find my missing mitten.
4. Get healthy
5. Find a cure for cancer.

See, this was a really lame blog post and you get extra points for actually reading it to the end.

Patient's skills

This is one of those weeks where family members are the ones requiring medical care and I am the one providing the care. Well, I do a lot of driving. I do not provide medical care. I provide access to medical care. I have found I know lots about the hospital and dealing with hospitaization.

• I know the best way to get to the hospital to avoid any traffic. Other family members may disagree but I never sit and wait.
• I know how to work the TV/computer in the patient rooms without help. I even know how to deal with the separate key board.
• I know when and where to find the nurse to get the real story.
• I know to prompt the patient to ask for meds or to speak up about issues.
• I know where to park for ER visits and where to find wheel chairs.

One family member referred to me as the frequent flyer of hospitalizations. (I may disagree on the actual number but I have been there far too much.)

Its been a long and stressful week or so. I am not the sick one for once but I am the very tired one. I have been getting home from the hospital way too late at night. Last night I arrived home to find in the mail:

• A hospital bill
• A hospital appointment list
• An explanation of benefits from the insurance company

I was too tired to care.

Today I will go to work for the morning and have my leftover Chinese food for lunch. Then I may stop by the hospital again but what I really want to do is to come home and take a nap.

I have decided you have to be healthy and rested to be a caregiver.

My cat doesn't understand me.

Many people may say 'my spouse doesn't understand me' or 'my family doesn't understand me'. I am an exception - well I always was a rule breaker so I'll always be the exception, never mind all my health crap.

First I need to state the cat was in no way harmed by the writing of this post. I was pestered to nearly to death from my point of view. The vet just said his blood work is very good and he should be good for another 19 years. Yes, 19 years. My husband does understand me pretty darn well (sometimes its scary). Its just the cat.

You say, train the cat. Have you ever tried to train a cat? They are above that. Have you ever tried to train a deaf cat? A deaf, mostly blind cat? A deaf, mostly blind, cat who is 19 and can't smell either? Its not possible.

There are two human beings who live in this house. The other human, my husband, owned the cat before I cam along and he proved he is capable of feeding the cat. Now, the cat insists I be the one to feed him. If I want to sleep in, the cat wants breakfast around 7am - I should feel privileged - in his younger years the preferred dining time was 5 am.

Once my husband heads downstairs, he waits about thirty seconds before he tries to figure out if I am awake. He will come over and look at my face. He will walk across me. He will settle down on top of me.When the cat wants, he sleeps for hours on end. When he wants something he has no problem waking me up.


The problem is my cat doesn't understand me. Here are the issues.

I need sleep in my life. Uninterrupted sleep. Uninterrupted sleep without being poked, prodded, or walked on by the delicate 15 lb pointy paws of the cat.

I have multiple ailments which cause things like fatigue, insomnia, and require sleep for healthy healing. He disagrees. I am supposed to live my life the way he wants.

Right now he is standing on my right shoulder with his front paws and his back paws on the pillows behind me. This is slightly better than when he stands on my left shoulder which has more pain issues. I can stand this for a few minutes before I shove him off.

He likes to sleep on my knees which I keep elevated by a pillow so my back is more relaxed when I sleep so I have less pain. He squishes my knees down making my knees compress and makes my back hurt. So I wake up in pain. Without enough sleep. That makes me cranky.

He just doesn't understand me and will continue to stand on my shoulder until I get up and go feed him.

An update on me

Its a blog about me so every so often I write about me. So if you are expecting something profound about the state of the world or cancer research, you can stop reading now.

I had a fun summer with lots of vacation time. In fact my job finds amusement in how much time off I have been taking. It has been enjoyable but exhausting. I am now at the point of recovering from fun.

I took a six week doctor appointment hiatus and now am back to the grind. I had four this week. I saw the dermatologist who trimmed a thingy on my face that didn't look suspect but had bled this summer for a while. She burned a wart (icky poo) on my toe which left me with a giant blood blister (triple icky poo) on my toe so I couldn't wear shoes.

I saw my periodontist and my teeth are fine but I need to floss more - now there is a surprise.

I saw my rheumatologist and there is some progression in RA in my feet. She prescribed using metatarsal pads in my shoes (which is hard when you are reduced to sandals because of the triple icky blood blister). She also gave me an NSAID cream for the inflammation in my feet to use twice a day.

Because it is me, guess how had a reaction to lotion on my feet? (Only I would have a reaction to something like that because I am special.) I started using it Tuesday night. Then I started not getting enough sleep. Last night I put it on my feeet and was trying to get to sleep when I realized by heart was racing, my body felt all antsy. On the advice of my husband (sometimes I listen to him to make him think I always listen to him), I took a shower and scrubbed my feet and got back in bed.

I slept for 12 hours after that. My husband says he will remind me of that all day - personally I think he is jealous that I got so much sleep and he probably woke up at 6 like he always does. But I feel much better today and think I will skip that cream until Monday when I can call my doctor.

My blood work had some issues that are under advisement at this time - this means wait and see and take more blood in a couple of months. No tumor markers or anything but other things which could indicate things. This means I am ignoring them until I learn more after the next rounds of test results.

I am also busy getting ready for some craft fairs with my knitting this fall. The cat turns 19 - he may need a birthday party. My husband is one of those many furloughed government workers so we are not spending money on anything. We did want to go to the beach today with our parking pass but I overslept.

My garden is winding down but my dahlias is still blooming. That is not a dahlia in the picture but another flower that was blooming last week.

See it was a blog post about me but I am fine mostly and tomorrow I'll try to be more profound.

Happy New Year!

So it was a late start for the year as its 330pm and I'm just blogging now. Its New Year's Day and I don't have much for new resolutions this year. I'll just repeat prior year's:

Younger
Thinner
Taller

Especially thinner. I have a new medication that is supposed to kill my appetite.No signs of that yet but I am always the optimist.