Holy Moley Again!

We had a lovely frost that nipped everything a tad and I hoped we were done with the allergy season.

Couldn't have been more wrong. Woke several times last night choking on very painful post nasal drip.

Since when is post nasal drip painful? Now my adenoids hurt and my ears are also paining me. I'm totally stuffed on antihistamines, as far as I'm allowed, and they barely touch it. No fever, no coughing, thank the Lord.

What the heck is this?

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Little Pond

AAAARRR and AHOY!

I had forgotten what day this is! Actually this year there be a whole weekend, mateys!

Until I got this email:

Ahoy Mateys!

Miss Emily has posted the latest "Talk Like A Pirate" edition of Change of Shift and aye, it was worth waiting for! You can be checking it out at:

http://crzegrl.net/?p=1357

If you be inclined to link, there be grog for ye all!

Kim
www.emergiblog.com

Much oblige, Kim me girl.

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Little Pond

Cloudy, cloudy, cloudy

Our legacy from Ike.

HuggaMutt doesn't mind, and neither do I. The clouds keep the temperature steady. Less energy spent on air conditioning.

Downsides? Bland, flat photos when hiking. Suffocating conditions at work: we have heat but no cooling; day crew insists on leaving the door open to the loading dock, making it muggy.

Makes no difference at home: Husband RJ and I are always opposites; he makes it too cold with the a/c and too hot with the heater.

Other than that, though, we are okay with the current weather.

Broke the pod yet again! Always on the original metal tubing. Back into my workshop for tweaking. It's shorter, but at least it's fixed. The oak never breaks, just the tubing.

I love my camera pod/walking stick.

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Little Pond

Fine Print

Somehow, during my week off from work I managed to get an awfully painful stiff neck. Today I am better, but yesterday I slept as much as I could. The rest of the time I watched TV.

My neck was so stiff I simply propped myself up on the sofa with my neck in a homemade splint comprised of pillows and a corn-filled heating pad. Only my eyes could move.

You know, I never realized how little attention I paid to small print. Disclaimers, mostly.

• The Gary Coleman, Cash Now commercial: the APR is 99.25%!!!
• Campbell's Soup, supposedly free of MSG-related additives: yeast extract (just as poisonous as pure) monosodium glutamate to many of us.
• A local used car dealer styles himself as "The Loan Arranger" complete with starry glint in his eye: anyone can get a loan because they lend at subprime rates, just like the banks that are failing all over the US.

All of which sort of turns my stomach. I was happier not knowing.

My neck is better to day; no small print if I watch tonight.

It's the end of week one without my Copaxone shots. I sent in a written prescription about 10 days ago. Usually Curascript is all over me like hair on a yeti, with phone calls and emails.

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Little Pond

who I visit these days

A rundown of my "Mediblogs" bookmarks right now:

http://www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com/--by the same name

http://mdmhvonpa.blogspot.com/--white lightning (as in Pennsyltucky)

http://accessdenied-livingwithms.blogspot.com/--same name

http://azchick.blogspot.com/--one crazy chick

http://wordsalads.blogspot.com/--same name

http://disablednotdead-anne.blogspot.com/--same name

http://wonlife.wordpress.com/--one life

http://multiplesclerosisblog.blogspot.com/--same name

http://ateatrayinthesky.blogspot.com/

And that's just the MS blogs. Furthermore, I have a tendency to follow links I find on these blogs. Lastly, the blogs on the sidebar, some of which are the same, are the ones I follow when I go to work, during my breaks.

Some of you are old friends; a few are new. I would also like to point out that I lost touch with a number of people when we changed computers ( at least twice). Never quite got the hang of transferring to a new machine.

And that doesn't touch on what I consider daily blogs and blog relatives.

It's a wonder I ever clean my house...

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Little Pond

All under control

Dog day doggie paddle. This doxie has rather poor eyesight, and must swim out to things in the water to actually tell what they are. The gurgling caught her attention. The water is probably knee deep, but that's enough for total immersion for this little HuggaMutt.

Still, my allergies are fairly under control. Except. And there is always an except in the summer.

Except the asthma can be heard when I talk. Witness this post set for my Elmira, New York readers, later this week. Hate to hear myself talk, let alone talk and pant.

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Little Pond

I am not living this summer, merely reacting.

That's why there hasn't been a truly original post in weeks and weeks.

Multiple Sclerosis can be managed, but cannot be cured. That, too, is a game of reacting, not living.

Every time I try to live, the MS gets in the way. When I properly manage the MS, there is little time for living, and none for living free.

It is the middle of summer and I eagerly await the return of cooler, wetter days. The Dog Days are also Ragweed Days, when many of us wake with stuffy, achy heads, dry cough, and runny eyes and noses. Even my teeth hurt.

Funny story: my teeth hurt so bad one summer, I finally made an emergency visit with the doctor. He looked at my teeth and (I think) took an xray.

Diagnosis: swollen sinuses. That will be $50.00, thank you.

Right now I am preparing to take 4mg of chlorpheniramine maleate, the second of six I will need today. That is on top of 10mg of cetirizine hydrochloride. Neither medicine will elevate my blood pressure. There are also two forms of fluticasone proprionate to juggle. I will still need acetaminophen to help me sleep at noon and later at midnight.

And despite all our best efforts, the albuterol inhaler is getting a workout.

Doesn't sound very spontaneous, does it?

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Little Pond