Guess what I saw in the road while I was out walking the other night?

A nasal cannula. How do you lose one of those on the side of the road? I hope they have a back up. I just have a horrible picture of someone's Grandpa whizzing around in a convertable and getting the cannula ripped clean off his face...although if he was driving fast enough, that might keep the oxygen rushing right up his nose until he could get home and hook back up, I suppose.

As a side note, Anya needed oxygen until she was 7 months old, most of that time by cannula. (Before that she had a CPAP, and before that she was on a ventilator with an ET tube.) So I'm pretty familiar with all this breathing apparatus stuff, and it was just extra weird to see one just laying there in the road.

Labels: medical, walking

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  It's raining so hard that I initially thought the kids were "watering" the windows with the hose. At the same time, the sun's shining down. What a mixed up day!

Labels: weather

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  ...it would have been cheaper just to have it towed.

Labels: car, hurl

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  I mean, isn't that what pollen is, the reproduction method of plants? Well, it stinks! I understand that plants have to do that for us all to survive, but could they be more responsible in their sexual habits, and not sow their wild oats willy nilly into the wind? I really don't want to be involved in their baby plant making at all, if I can avoid it.

I have had a headache non-stop for weeks now from the pollen. Most of the time it's just a dull roar. But, from time to time it explodes into a migraine, and I've had a lot of those lately.

If a migraine was just a bad headache that you could get over in a bit, I think I'd be more OK with the process. But it's not. It's like a 2 to 3 day attack, and it wrecks you. Before anything else happens I get stupid, and words won't come. Sometimes I slur my speech and get clumsy. Unfortunately, sometimes in this part of the attack, I really am stupid and don't recognize that's what's happening. It's like someone has taken over my brain.

Then, the nausea, pain, and light and sound sensitivity can come out of nowhere (it seems like to me) and knock me flat. I never used to throw up with the migraines, but I started to in the last year. So, now I have medicine I can shoot up my nose, because if I take the other stuff and throw it up, I can end up in the ER. I'm glad to have the nasal spray, it's a little unpleasant, but the other alternative is a self-administered shot which I've done a lot, or the ER like I said. So this gives me a lot more control over my situation.

The meds I have are pretty awesome, and most of the time I'm not in bad shape painwise for more than 2-4 hours. Considering that there are folks out there who don't have access to meds, or can't find a protocol that works and end up down for days, that's really not bad. But, the meds have their own issues. Oftentimes, between the narcotic painkiller and the vasoconstrictor and just the relief of being out of pain, I can't sleep after an attack. So, what has already taken a day or more between the stupids and the pain, usually sucks up the next night which wrecks the next day. Not that I'm really back to normal by then anyway, but I can usually pass.

So, an attack can take anywhere up to 3 days to fully get over. And then, thanks to the plants, I'm usually working up to another one. This time of year, it's pretty common for me to have 2 migraines a week, and sometimes 3. It will get better in a little bit, but right now it sucks to have to carry my head around. I've asked if I can have it removed, but my neurologist doesn't seem to want to do that for me. (She's also poohpoohed my Matrix jack implant idea.) Sigh.

That's it, my whine is complete. Come back tomorrow and I'll try to post something less crabby :-)

Labels: hurl, migraine, sick

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  Donor kidneys removed with single bellybutton cut

Brad Kaster donated a kidney to his father this week, and he barely has a scar to show for it.

The kidney was removed through a single incision in his bellybutton, a surgical procedure Cleveland Clinic doctors say will reduce recovery time and leave almost no scarring.

I don't know about this. I mean, I'm pretty sure a kidney could totally fit through my big nasty bellybutton, so that part's OK I guess.

But, I gotta be honest. If I am giving someone a kidney, the least I would want in return is a big gnarly scar.

I'd be showing that off to everyone at the drop of a hat. Sitting next to a stranger on the bus? I'd hike up my shirt and tell the whole gory story! Christmas morning with my great grandchildren? Heck yeah, I'll say, "Did I tell you the story about giving up my kidney back in Ought Eight?" and then I'll ignore them when they try to tell me I've told them a million times and show them my crepe-y grandma flesh. And heaven forbid I ever end up on a game show or something, although I'm sure Alex Trebek would be really polite about it.

Anyway, that's just me, I'm sure this would be great news for most folks...

Labels: medical, newsworthy

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  That's retro twinspeak (from when they were 3 or 4) for "spooky."

Check this out, Stanley Hotel Historic Ghost Tours!



There's a really good article about the Stanley over at Wikipedia, if you recall, it was the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining, which is one of my favorites.

Doesn't that look like fun? Let's all go!

Labels: haunted, stephen king

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  We are a two dog house this week, as we have my MIL's dog, Scruffles while she's at a conference. I'm curious to see how Kaywinnet does, since she's such a mess normally. Just a word of advice, when the people at the shelter tell you a dog is prone to house soiling and destruction, and has been neglected most of her life, you should listen to them. Unless you really like cleaning stuff up, that is! She's a lot better than she used to be, but we can't be gone for long without her freaking out...

So, I'm wondering if having another dog around will help ease her lonliness when we're out. So far, I'm not seeing any improvement, because Scruffles is freaked out and peeing on stuff. Remind me again why we keep pets?

We're missing a co-op class today on The Underground Railroad, because Maya and Sage have some nasty tummy thing going on. It really sounded like a neat class, and I'm disappointed. But, not disappointed enough to get everyone else sick, or make the girls have to deal with that stuff in a public restroom, yuck!

I found this quiz over at Cube's Blog, and thought it was fun. I think I scored artifically high in some areas because we're homeschooling, though. I have pretty quick access to maps, globes, the periodic table, etc. And some of it seemed to be based on whether you read for pleasure or not, which doesn't seem all that nerdy to me, but maybe I'm not the best judge?

Labels: geek, hurl, pets, sick

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  Sorry I've been absent. This walking training is like having a part time job, which is apparently what blogging used to be for me.

But, the walking is going well. Tonight I nearly walked out of my pants. I held them up and walked into WalMart and bought some smaller ones. So, I'm not apparently losing any weight, but something is coming off!

We have 2 new pets since I posted last, a cat named Kahless and a snow corn snake named Yuan-Ti. Yes, we're geeks, why do you ask?

I can't sleep tonight, so I thought I'd bug you all. What's up? How was the 4th? (Our city fireworks display caught fire, oops!) Anything exciting going on?

Labels: holiday, pets

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