Doxie Proxy

Me.

Randomness.

I call my dad every weekday, Monday through Friday, on my way home from work. I’ve been doing this for close to five years now, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the day. We talk about everything and anything, and I think we’re closer than ever. I’m so blessed to have such wonderful parents.

When I first receive a book I’m really excited about, I read the first chapter out loud to myself, so I don’t just rush in and gobble it from beginning to end. I did this night before last with Kim Harrison’s White Witch, Black Curse.

I watch to see how well other women wash their hands in the bathroom. If they sprinkle their fingers under a tiny stream of water, well, I grimace, thinking how everything they’re going to touch their phones or faces or.. *gag* mouths, with nasty hands. It just grosses me right out.

I have a heart condition that I was either born with or developed when I was very young. It’s worsening through no fault of my own (it happens as one ages), but yet when I had to have a certain test a year ago, the tech/nurse/whatever came into the room with my chart, looked down at me, looked back at my chart, and tsk’d, then he said my age. I’m in the position I’m in (eventual, definite heart surgery, but hopefully a few more years down the road, and as minor as this type of procedure can be) - again - through no fault of my own, but this idiot assumes that I’m ruining my health with bad habits, and if I was, which is not the case, who the hell is he to look down on me? I was so mad! No, I never said anything, and yes, I wish I had, and no, I’m not going to stress over it. (That jackass.)

I had nearly all of my hair chopped off last night at the local Ulta. I heard or read somewhere that if you can’t or aren’t willing to take care of long hair, then you don’t need long hair - and this make great sense to me. The stylist last night talked to me for a good while about my hairstyle, and how I usually fixed it, what products I used, and bless her heart, she answered my multitude of questions just wonderfully. My hair’s gone wonky the last couple of years. It’s very curly, but has become so dry and dull, and just behaves differently. (Does hair behave? Mine doesn’t.) Anyway, long story short, my medications have increased a good bit over the last couple of years, and that’s probably also having an effect on my hair. Liza (stylist) said that whatever you put in your mouth shows up in your hair, and that makes sense, like those drug tests they do where they snip off a bit and find out if you’ve snooted or whatever they call it in the last few months. Between that, and being thirty-something, thyroid problems and God knows what else, I decided to ask her to snip it all off. I have a lot of curliness on top, cut close around my ears, and short in the back. I adore it. Mister likes it. All is well. Yay Liza!

Thanks to this adorable post, I’m going to make some big crayons for one of my best friend’s freaking-adorable, gorgeous, too danged cute for words grandson. His cheeks! His red hair! I wanna squeeze him! I’ll pick up some crayons tomorrow while I’m out, as I must hit the Kohls sale in the morning.

My husband asked what I was going to do when I logged off the computer this afternoon around 4:30. I replied I was going to go do laundry, since I’d been slack about it the last couple of days. Bless his heart, he came right downstairs, and did the dishes, without fussing, complaining, grumbling or growling, when I wanted to do all four at the thought of laundry. He’s a keeper.

I burned two discs for a good friend tonight. Approx 220 songs. Some of the music is not what listens to, I think, but I’m trying to branch out, and am draggin’ her right along with me. We’re were apparently wrenched apart at birth, as we both profess a long and enduring love for all things Rex Smith. (A moment, please. I may swoon.)

Lastly…

I think the headache is getting worse again. It’s never completely gone away, but has, for the last week and a half, eased to about a 2 on a 1-10 scale. Right now it is a 4, and earlier it was bit worse. I took a pain pill for the first time around 10 days. I thought, or rather I hoped, that I was through with this. The neuro consult is next Wednesday. All I know now is that it’s not a ‘tumah’. Sigh. Please don’t let it start again.

Tags: crayons, heart surgery, Kohls, Rex Smith, Ulta

Random neatness

Lips!

I adore this site (Dezign With A Z). They have the greatest, coolest items, and are just beyond talented. These are removable wall stickers, and here are a few of my faves:

Dandelion!

Boombox!

This guy is just too great. From what I can tell, his name is Ely Kim, and his website (I think) is http://www.welikehim.com.  I don’t know what I liked about the video the most: the fact that he just puts himself out there, his hilarious and awesome dance skills, or the kick-arse playlist (that he posted here).

BOOMBOX from Ely Kim on Vimeo.

His playlist:

001. Heart of Glass / Blondie
002. Jimmy / M.I.A.
003. Deceptacon / Le Tigre
004. Im on Fire / 5000 Volts
005. Je Veux Te Voir / YELLE
006. The Way I Are / Timbaland
007. Too Young / Phoenix
008. Over And Over / Hot Chip
009. Stick It To The Pimp / Peaches
010. Say My Name / Destiny’s Child
011. Pin / Yeah Yeah Yeahs
012. Geremia / Bonde Do Role
013. Let Me Clear My Throat / DJ Kool
014. Point Of No Return / Expose
015. Bubble Sex / The Seebach Band
016. Pump Up the Jam / Technotronic
017. Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above / CSS
018. Hella Nervous / Gravy Train
019. Me Plus One / Annie
020. Don’t Go / Yaz
021. Bootylicious / Destiny’s Child
022. Electric Feel / MGMT
023. Boys Don’t Cry / The Cure
024. Lose Control / Missy Elliott
025. Ride The Lightning / Evans And Eagles
026. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough / Michael Jackson
027. Hearts On Fire / Cut Copy
028. Tainted Love / Soft Cell
029. Between Us & Them / Moving Units
030. It Feels Good / Tony Toni Tone
031. Polaris (Club Mix) / Cyber People
032. You Never Can Tell / Chuck Berry
033. Huddle Formation / The Go! Team
034. Pump That / FannyPack
035. My Love / Justin Timberlake
036. Hung Up / Madonna
037. Justice - D.A.N.C.E (MSTRKRFT Remix) / Justice
038. Cybernetic Love / Casco
039. Creep / TLC
040. When I Hear Music / Debbie Deb
041. B.O.B. / Outkast
042. Bubble Pop Electric / Gwen Stefani
043. Miss You Much / Janet Jackson
044. You Spin Me Round / Dead Or Alive
045. Slide In / Goldfrapp
046. Kelly / Van She
047. Mine Fore Life / The Sounds
048. Disco Heat / Calvin Harris
049. Nighttiming / Coconut Records
050. Club Action / Yo Majesty
051. Pogo / Digitalism
052. Lip Gloss / Lil Mama
053. Heartbeats / The Knife
054. Enola Gay / OMD
055. Goodbye Girls / Broadcast
056. Kids In America / Kim Wilde
057. Kiss / Prince
058. Tenderness / General Public
059. Push It / Salt N Pepa
060. Circle, Square, Triangle / Test Icicles
061. Day ‘N’ Nite (Crookers Remix) / Kid Cudi
062. Shadows / Midnight Juggernauts
063. Paris (Aeroplane Remix) / Friendly Fires
064. Out At The Pictures / Hot Chip
065. Me Myself and I / De La Soul
066. AudioTrack 10 / Diplo
067. Girls & Boys / Blur
068. Heater / Samim
069. I Wanna Dance With Somebody / Whitney Houston
070. Hands In The Air / Girl Talk
071. Limited Edition OJ Slammer / Cadence Weapon
072. Meeting In The Ladys Room / Mary Jane Girls
073. NY Lipps / Soulwax
074. Lex / Ratatat
075. Gravity’s Rainbow (Soulwax Remix) / Steve Aoki
076. Once In A Lifetime / Talking Heads
077. Leave It Alone / Operator Please
078. Half Mast / Empire Of The Sun
079. Hardcore Girls / Count and Sinden feat. Rye Rye
080. Dance, Dance, Dance / Lykke Li
081. Never Gonna Get It / En Vogue
082. Blue Monday / New Order
083. Crazy In Love (Featuring Jay-Z) / Beyoncé
084. 10 Dollar / M.I.A.
085. Love To Love You Baby / Donna Summer
086. Steppin’ Out / Lo-Fi-Fnk
087. Karle Pyar Karle / Asha Bhosle
088. Love Will Tear Us Apart / Joy Division
089. Straight Up / Paula Abdul
090. My Drive Thru / Santogold, Casablancas, NERD
091. Like A Prayer / Madonna
092. Freedom 90 / George Michael
093. Black & Gold / Sam Sparro
094. B-O-O-T-A-Y / Spank Rock and Benny Blanco
095. Great Dj / The Ting Tings
096. In A Dream / Rockell
097. Don’t Stop the Music / Rihanna
098. Hong Kong Garden / Siouxsie & The Banshees
099. It’s Tricky / D.M.C.
100. Bizarre Love Triangle / New Order

Tags: boombox, video

Argh!

I continue to feel like shite. No neuro consult yet. The headaches have eased, somewhat, though the fact that they have not ceased bothers me. A lot.

Nothing new to add, except for this:

1. The octo-mom is an idiotic twit. What I really want to say is that she’s a stupid b****, but there you have it. I don’t have enough words to describe my disgust at her and her womb. I hope her children are taken and given to others who really do care about raising a child. If you have 3 disabled kids, and you bring 8 more kids into the mix, then you obviously don’t give a rat’s arse about the ones you already have. Stupid, puffy-lipped wench.

2. For God’s sake, who cares what size Jessica Simpson is or isn’t? Just STHU about it, already. Sheesh.

3. Mister and I actually discussed quantum particles, Newtonian physics and Einstein tonight, on the way home from the best Thai food ever in the history of Thai food. Points to me for having a clear head for long enough to do this. As you can tell from points #1 and #2, I apparently don’t have a clear head now, because I just had to ramble on about sensationalist crap.

Migraine

I remember three things about February 1st (2 weeks ago): I ate a bunch of almonds, had a minor coughing fit (not at the same time), and later developed a severe headache. I took a few ibuprofen and went about my business. The next day, the headache was still there, and I grumbled, but continued to take NSAIDS. I even told my co-workers that I had this aggravating headache that was hanging on. The next day, the headache was still there, and it seemed worse. It was focused on the left side of my forehead, right on the eyebrow. A couple of times, I even thought I saw sparkles out of the corner of my right eye. I took off work about 2 hours early, went home and took a mild muscle relaxant, and went to bed. This was at 3pm. I slept for 10 hours straight, and woke at 1am. I didn’t feel entirely better, but thought the headache had eased some, and figured I felt poor because I’d slept hard.

I stayed up for a few hours, then headed to work at 3:30. Yes, 3:30 in the morning. Where I work, we have very flexible schedules, and several folks come in at 4am, so I wasn’t bucking tradition by getting there at 3:45. Hey, what else what there to do? Anyway, I went in to work, stayed 10 hours (making up 2 from the day prior) and went home. The headache was still there, but I still (stupidly) thought I’d slept wrong, or something. I’m a horrible patient, and you’d think, with my career field, that I’d know better, but…meh.

Day 4. Continue to feel like crap, and take NSAIDS.

Day 5. At this point, it finally occurs to me that I should seek outside medical advice. I called my doc’s office, and, because I’m a complete idiot at times, said that of course I’d be glad to wait until the next day. Why no, I don’t need an appointment that same day! The headache is still going strong, and the “sparkles” are more frequent. Enter intermittent nausea, stage right.

Day 6. Doctor’s appointment. My blood pressure is high (insert obvious comment), and the doc is reluctant to give me migraine medication for this reason. Doc gives me an Rx for darvocet, tells me to take an extra one of my other prescriptions, and to come back in the morning to have my BP checked. I pick up my script of dcn and head home. By this time, the headache is worsening, and I swear I’m feeling numbness in my hands and around my lips. The pain is so bad in my left forehead and eye that I’m squinting. I grab an ice pack, pop 2 pain pills, and hit the sack.

4 hours later, I’m in agony, because, unbelievably to me, the pain is even worse. It feels like a tiny mountain climber is traipsing up and down the left side of my face, steadily digging in a pickaxe at intervals. I can’t take another pain pill for 2 hours, and the two I’ve taken have done nothing. Nothing. I’m worried.

Day 7. I am at the doc’s office when they open the doors, and I am in incredible pain. They take me to a dark room, and I huddle. God, it hurts. Oddly enough, I don’t have too much light sensitivity, but I tell the doc about the sparkles, which have now become a full-fledged video game playing at intervals in my right eye. Huge pink, blue, yellow and red fireworks, replete with jagged lines and police-car like alternating flashes. It happens whenever I change position suddenly, so I learn to sit up or lie down slowly. Doc says I’m having a migraine with aura, and gives me a sample (2) of Treximet and (2) Maxalt (10mg dissolving tabs). I am damn near bleating at this point, because I swear to God that hell has made a new home inside my head, and it is going to pop right off my shoulders and roll down the hall, and the darvocet meds may as well have been cardboard. Doc prescribes Tylenol w/ codeine. I call in to work and go straight home, grab an icepack, take a T#3 (already took a Trex) and hit the couch. At this point, there are no lights or sounds on in the house, and the sound of myself breathing is too damned loud. 2 hours pass. I take the 2nd and final Treximet. 2 hours pass. Still in pain 2 hours pass. I take 2 T#3. I later feel numbed and sleepy. Drugged, but with no pain relief. I’m almost in tears at this point, because normally meds like this put me on my arse, but these aren’t doing anything. The nausea is awful, and I’m terrified I’ll hurk up the meds, scared to eat because I don’t want that to make me hurk, but scared not to eat because that might contribute to the headache. I am utterly miserable.

Day 8. I go to work and last 4 hours. Management, God bless them, suggests that I take work home, so that i can do it in a quiet, darker environment if I feel like it, and may not have to use leave time. I feel to terrible that I sit in the car for 20 minutes before I feel OK to drive home. I go home, grab an icepack and 2 pain pills, and lay on the couch. I took the 1st Maxalt that morning and the 2nd 2 hours later. I was not given an Rx for migraine meds. I think we both thought it would be gone by now. The rest of the day is miserable. I call the doc’s office, and realize they closed at midday. I rationalize that I’m not giving the meds time to work, and go to bed.

Day 9. I call the doc’s office, and leave a message. I’m hurting very, very much. I’m frantic at this point. I try to get some work done, but everything gets worse, and I drive myself to the ER. I haven’t been to an ER in years for something like this. Thank God, the wait is only about an hour, and they let me lay down in a dark exam room. I’m rocking and praying, and trying not to lose my breakfast. I’ve got the pillow over my head, because I feel like I have to keep my brain from exploding out of my skull. The doc comes in, asks me what I usually do for migraines, and is surprised when I tell him this is the 1st one I’ve ever had. I have explained everything I’ve done thus far. He whips out his trusty penlight, and does the necessary examination of my pupils. This incredibly bright light in this very dark room is horrible beyond words, and I shrieked. The very caring doc steps out of the room (I saw him for 60 seconds), and I’m left trying not to lose everything I’ve eaten between now and last Thanksgiving. A moment later, I go for a non-contrast head CT. It takes just a moment, and I’m back in the room. 10 minutes later, a nurse comes in with a shot of Demerol and Phenergan. I roll over and the olympic champion javelin tosser-cum-nurse gives me the injection. (Now, I know that it was the needle that hurt, not the nurse, and he was only doing his job. However, it’s now almost a week later, and my arse still hurts. So, I’m going to kvetch, OK?)

20 minutes later (I swear - I watched the clock), another nurse comes in with my discharge instructions. I’m a little drowsy, but my head is still killing me. She says the CT was negative. I tell the nurse I would have liked to talk to the doctor about what’s caused this, and what I can do to stop it, or keep it from happening again, and that I didn’t just come for a shot, and I’m still hurting very much, and I really appreciate everything they’ve done to help me, but I’m feeling lost right now, and I don’t know what to do. Yes, as a patient, you need to be your own advocate, but patient education is sorely lacking, and I would have liked to have had some sort of contact beyond the entire single minute with the doc. She says “OK”, and that she’ll go talk to the doc. In my head (pun), I’m thinking that maybe I should stay a little longer, and that I can talk with the doc. What I apparently insinuated, however, was that I wanted more drugs. She came back with a Fiorinal. I accepted defeat at this point, took the pill, and left the ER.

I happened to have an appointment with another specialist (not r/t the headache; a routine checkup), who is a great guy whom I’ve both worked with and been a patient of. I trust him with my life, and have, literally, for 10 years. I explain what I’ve been going through, and he prescribes a different pain med (we agree that the other 2 meds are like candy/cardboard at this point), some Maxalt, and something else I can’t think of right now. My checkup is fine, I get my scripts, fill them, and go home.

By this time, the ER shot is really kicking in, so I go to bed. The headache has eased - maybe - 25%. Maybe.

Day 10. The new pain med and Maxalt aren’t helping at all. The headache rages on, the aura is terrible, and numbness is still there, and the nausea remains. I fall asleep with a bag of ice on my forehead, and damn near give myself frostbite. (Not literally, I’m sure, but I do have a numb spot on my eyebrow. Yikes.) I want to give the new meds at least a day or two to work, so I suffer though this day. Either today or yesterday, I got another Rx for an antibiotic from my main doc, in case it is a sinus infection. (Also, they try to get me a neuro consult.) It feels like a sinus headache at times, because the headache alternates between a stabbing pain over my left eyebrown (icepick), a band of pressure around my head, over my ears, and the clawing-down-my-face pain from my left eyebrow down to the left corner of my lip. I’ll try almost anything at this point, and I have good docs.

Day 11-12 Same. Pain. More pain.

Day 13. A friend suggests OTC Claritin. I can’t take anything w/ epedrine, etc. in it (e.g. sudafed), but I don’t know about Claritin. As a rule, I usually don’t take anything my specialist doesn’t OK, even if prescribed by another doc. Not that I don’t trust the other docs, I mean, but I want to be sure that everyone is on the same page with my healthcare. I make sure both docs have copies of tests the other one does, and that both are up to date on what I’m taking, or have been prescribed.  Anyway - Claritin. I’m feeling reckless, and am so sick of hurting, and feeling stoned (or how I imagine feeling stoned would feel), so I pick up some Claritin.

3 hours later, the headache eases, for the first time in TWO weeks. It’s not gone, by any means, but it’s tolerable, and I’m so friggin’ happy that I could cry. I sleep better than I have this entire month.

Day 14 - Today. The pain is tolerable, around a 5 on a 1-10 scale, and I treat myself to a haircut, and even do a little shopping. I am joyous! I am human again! The aura is still intermittent, but the nausea is gone. My hands are a little numb, but better. 7pm - the pain comes back very hard and very fast. I even felt well enough to go see a movie with Mister, and completely forgot about taking any medication. Everything had worn off, and the headache felt like being kicked in the head, literally and repeatedly. I took a Claritin and a pain pill, and went to bed. It’s now 4AM, I’m up, and it’s back to around a 6 on a 1-10 scale. Maybe it’s the antibiotics. Maybe it’s the Claritin. Maybe it’s a migraine that has just finally run the course.

I don’t know. I’ve not read of migraines lasting this long, but I don’t know what’s been going on with my head. Hopefully the neuro consult with come through soon. For right now, I’m OK. I don’t ever want to hurt like this again, and I can see why some people do anything not to feel this kind of pain.

It just plain sucks.

Tags: migraine