Sparkling Spring Morning

A post to Pat's Pond turns up some thoughts on MS. I'm off to Corning to visit GolferGirl. She's the lady who contacted me to work on the manual for Stick to Golf. I'm taking the scenic route.

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Little Pond

Good Luck?

GruntDoc directs us to the other side of the pond for Grand Rounds. No, not Patspond, the Atlantic Ocean. (Which is actually the background photo for my header.) So when I tell you the theme is cricket, you will understand that it's not the lucky insect we want to find on our hearth. Okay, that's reeeeeally reaching.

But you will love the photos and the graphics. Really, some of these medblogs have their you-know-what together! Especially NHS BlogDoc.

There were lots of choices that were relevant to me:

I have no sympathy for doctors who hate the Internet. Mine included.

This does not surprise me one bit. I've blogged on this before.

Sometimes I think there will never be widespread understanding about depression. This idiot certainly doesn't help. Or maybe he does: through reverse psychology.

And finally, let me go on blogrecord as saying: "I can't think of a better way to spend my taxes, than on our children and their families." I've known the girls who know how to work the system to get what they need for their babies. And I approve.

God bless, guys.

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Little Pond

Finally

Feeling better, but with residual symptoms. The leftovers of flu. Fatigue. What a drag, especially compounded by the interminably gray days. But I cleaned my house thoroughly after Fix-Rite restored our sink. And it's nice to have both sinks working again. Next the toilet upstairs and the faucet in the basement! Should be nice to have working plumbing again.

Also have a cough. A tickly, nagging cough. Nothing serious at all. When I was younger, a siege of the flu usually ended with pneumonia, and sometimes pleurisy. Don't know if the MS makes me take better care, or if middle age has something to do with it.

Tomorrow, come hell or high water, we have to start walking again. HuggaMutt was returned to us, quite a bit thinner than when she left. Are they starving her, or are we overfeeding her? Could that be? Too many Greenies?

Naaaahhhh.

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Little Pond

Clogged Sink

that can't be snaked or plunged. Leaking on both sides. Fix-Rite service coming. Gotta clean the house.

GruntDoc says it's time for Grand Rounds, hosted by Elisa at Healthy Concerns. We are in such a mess here, I haven't had time for recommendations. Maybe you can make some?

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Little Pond

Faking It

I forgot that the Feast of St. Joseph could be moved. That is to say, a saint's feast cannot supplant the Sunday Mass. So my patron's feast will be tomorrow. No special service at Mass.

I went to church anyway. Used the inhaler before I went, and again while I was there. And I spaced out a good portion of the mass. But it is always like that when I return to an activity after an illness. It seems to take practice to be normal for me. Like I'm just faking it somehow. Figures.

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Little Pond

The Costs of the Flu

Let's start with the shot I got in November. Hello? What the heck happened.? Then let's factor in all the sanitary wipes and little bottles of hand sanitizer, not to mention the spray disinfectants at the workplace. All right, that didn't work either.

So naturally, I got the flu. Full on, with chills, fever, aches--even my hair hurt--coughing, congestion and a whopper of a head cold to go with it. Can't tell if I was nauseous or not; I was too busy refluxing everything I ate, drank, breathed, you name it. Oh, yeah, and plenty of business at the other end. Not more than one hour sleep at any given time for the last week. Night or day.

I'm gobblin decongestants still, and have given up on any blood pressure readings for now. On and off with the expectorant, but the results are still impressive!! It's weird to combine it all with cough suppressant, but I do. Tussin puts it out in gelcaps, and they seem to work the best to get me back in the workplace.

As for the MS, well those symptoms are so secondary right now. But they are increasing, as expected when fever is involved. Mushy legs and cramping in the feet make me hobble about. It would be comical if it didn't hurt. Fortunately, the rainy, dark days keep Ellie on the sofa and avoiding any eye contact with me. She hates rainy walks. I'm okay with them. Normally. Right now, forget it.

Every other MS symptom is checking in right now. Numbness around the left eye. Decreased hearing in the left ear. Twingey, electrical prickling at the nape of the neck. Numbness of the left side of my nose! Tingles in both hands. And a touch of neuralgia behind my right ear. Why the right ear, I don't know. But the neuralgia always seems to hit behind the right ear, or deep inside the left.

Keep on keeping on. Off to work!! Sick to death of this dark house and the lousy television. And I could use some human conversation. Hope somebody's left at the paper...

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Little Pond

The Skinny

Oh, yeah. It's flu season and I got my shot. But I am not golden. The flu hit anyway.

So naturally I'm still working. Got the shot, remember? Lungs, head and muscles hurt. Lungs feel like I'm breathing through sandpaper. The coworkers who got it are down for the count. Don't know when I'll see some of them again.

Hey, the good news is I've lost weight. Yayyyyyyy! The bad news is that it's left me with wrinkled hands and lips. Water weight. But I can dream, can't I? I sure can. Weirdest dreams on the planet from the fever. How about wandering through the grocery stores, peering through the soup stacks, muttering--no, shouting--"WTF?" all the while.

Anyway, I'm running out of steam and it's only 8:55AM. I'll let GruntDoc lead you to Grand Rounds. Be sure to check out the post about the T shirt. Right now I feel like I'm from the shallow end.

By the way, Grand Rounds is a long, hard load on an older Mac. Happily, this is because there are lots of entries. Something to read for a good long while.

The fever's sending me back to bed. Got the mushy MS-y legs, you know.

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Little Pond