Health

I owe LOTS of email to LOTS of people (sorry PracticalGirl, I owe you at least 3, Pat I owe you several... the list goes on) and I haven't blogged since Friday. I don't think I've read email since early last week either. Don't even ask me how many phone messages I have.

I'm behind on blog reading AND writing. BJ has asked me to do a couple of things for him while he's on his business trip and I've been pretty much ignoring him. I'm sure he'll get over it.

I'm just letting you know that I'm alive and kicking. I'm just ignoring everyone because I just don't have it in me to be at all social right now. I'd really like to go into a nice dark cave and hibernate for a few months.

Log in for the rest....Nevermind... temporary lapse in judgment. I had a talk with myself and have deleted the 'bad' stuff.

This week has kicked my everlovin' butt. I've gone to sleep by 6:30 p.m. every night and slept through the night until the alarm rings. The difference between this week and last week are like night and day.

Hmmmm... what does that tell me? I'd make an excellent stay at home [insert whatever] right now.

So forgive me for ignoring you (all of you!). Doesn't mean that I don't care. I promise. Just give me some time to be in my cave for a while.

Since BJ has a new job, he won't have as much vacation time as me for a while (if ever), so I don't feel bad about taking a week off. I decided to do it while BJ is on a business trip so I can truly just do my own thing and keep to my own schedule. So far, it's been FABulous. I'd venture so far as to say pure bliss, even. Don't get me wrong, I love BJ and miss him when he's gone but..... being by myself for days on end is a real treat for me.

Yesterday I went to the garden center and bought some plants, then spent a few hours in my yard. It was actually sunny yesterday. Today? Not so much. I hope the sun comes back because I have barely touched the surface of what needs to get done. I think I've had six weekends in a row where I couldn't get to my garden because it was either raining or we were on a trip. Six weeks is a long time to let a garden do its own thing.

If it's raining tomorrow, I think I'll make the rounds in the blogosphere and see what y'all have been up to.

I went to the doctor today for something I'll share with you in a couple of weeks (NO! I'm not pregnant), and since I was in there I decided to ask her what this head pain I've been having is about. It seems weird that six months would go by before I'd start feeling pain where I bonked my head. It has been getting progressively more tender (not unbearable and not constant, thankfully), and now I get stabbing pains in that spot. Seems to get worse if I'm tilting my head downward (like to work in my garden, read a book, etc.), or if I've been on my feet for a long time.

She took a look and said that she couldn't see anything externally that might be causing the problem, then said that it sounds like maybe scar tissue might be pressing against a nerve in my head. Since I have an appointment in 2 weeks with my neurologist, she said to bring it up to see what her thoughts are. I said that the scar tissue theory didn't sound particularly scary, and she replied, "well- it's not scary, but if that's what it is, the only way to get rid of it is with surgery."

Good grief. This will have to get a lot worse (knock wood) before I'd even consider that option.

In other news.... I highly recommend my friend as a house guest. Normally I'm ready to have the house back to myself after just one overnight, but I honestly didn't feel that way with her. She was here Thursday through this morning and we had a great time. We went on three hikes on Saturday...

...OK, we started three hikes. We'd go a few dozen feet and then round a corner and find knee-deep snow. We ended up hiking at the outlet mall that day.

The next day, we went to the Japanese Gardens and a few other places. Sunday showed us much better success with the outdoor activities.

I introduced her to Lancelot Link, Secret Agent Chimp (of which I own every episode, thank you very much.). Finally! Someone who appreciates monkeys dressed in human clothes as much as I do.


BJ was truly frightened to learn that there are more people in the world that enjoy the same humor that I enjoy. Poor guy- it was a real eye opener for him.

I'm going to shut off my trusty laptop and enjoy some chick flicks. I'll be by tomorrow to visit my pals in the 'hood, if today's weather is any indication of tomorrow. In the meantime, I leave you with cuteness. Our new little fawn:

Over the last two weeks or so, the spot where I bonked my head in January has become REALLY tender. It never hurt in the past, so I'm wondering if all the sudden the nerves in that area are healing or something. I think it's strange that all the sudden my head would hurt six months after I hit it (the second time). I'm trying to not make something out of this other than what it is. The hypochondriac in me worries that this, coupled with being really tired and some of my old symptoms (wobbling when I'm standing, confusion, jaw clenching, feeling like I'm being pulled to the right when I'm walking, tingly hands and feet) getting worse add up to something bad. I refuse to call my doctor unless things get out of control. I don't feel that I'm at that point yet.

I have been taking Requip for a month now. At first, it helped with the jerking- but the effect seems to be wearing off. I have a follow-up appointment with my neurologist next month, so I'll bring that up to see if the medication needs to be increased. The jerking is most prominent when I've been sitting still for a long time, especially if I've engaged in any sort of strenuous activity. BJ has mentioned that I've been jerking pretty severely when I'm sleeping. Thank goodness the "drugs that would knock an elephant out" keep me sleeping through all of it. Maybe I should give some to BJ so he can sleep, poor guy.

We went to dinner with my long time friends (the Hospice club) on Sunday. We go WAY too long between get-togethers. It's been over a year since we've seen each other. Since that time, one had a recurrence of breast cancer (last time was 17 years ago) and had to have a mastectomy and chemo; I'd bonked my head twice; and one of them broke up with their long-time (over 10 years) partner. We've kept in touch via email, of course, so we all knew what was going on in everyone's lives. I didn't tell any of them about my bonked head in our email exchanges, but it came up at dinner.

I told them that this head-bonking stuff was actually a good lesson for me. I told them that my IQ was lost for a while and I learned what it was like... interrupted by all of them saying at the same time, "To be like everyone else".

That made me laugh. I really don't see myself as being THAT smart, but apparently I give off that impression.

Truly, I don't regret bonking my head. I don't enjoy it, but I know that there was a lesson in there for me. I've been able to figure out one or two of the things I was meant to learn from this experience, but I'm positive that there is more and that's why I'm not 'done' with the experience.

I know that sounds weird, but it's what I believe.

Again, I'm rambling. I haven't had time to really 'think' lately and I know I'm not going to have time for a few days, so I wanted to clear my head of a few things before they're lost for good.

Now I can hang my gone fishin' sign. Adios until Monday.

Geez, I'm clever with the titles- eh?

I was leading a meeting of three (including me) earlier today. Since there were only three of us, I was sitting down while going over my stuff. All of the sudden everything started going black and I felt as if I was in a weird dream. I kept trying to make it stop (yeah, like I have any control over it), but I wasn't having any luck. I was seeing double and felt like any minute I would fall off my chair and bonk my head. I couldn't make any sense of what I was doing or saying for several minutes (it seemed that way, anyway- not sure how long I was foggy).

Fortunately, the other people in the room know me very well (one is my favorite project manager "FPM") and so although it was super embarassing, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. One of them asked if I wanted to have her call 911.

Ummmm NO! Are you kidding me? This was embarassing enough. I don't even want to think about the scene that would have caused. I felt like a complete drama queen already, I didn't need cute guys in uniform tending to my needs.

Oh wait- maybe that was a mistake.

After the meeting, I had to stop and sit every so often on my way to my desk because I could feel the walls closing in on me. I'm still sitting at my desk, wondering when it'll be safe to go to the bathroom, let alone walk to the train station.

As I was writing this, I got an email from FPM:

FPM: You OK?
Me:Yep, thanks for asking. I think I'm going to stay in my seat for a while because I still feel 'funny'. This is the sort of thing that gets my head cracked open and frankly I don't think my head could take any more dents.
FPM: Let me know if you need anything. I draw the line at adult care related things but if you want coffee or something sign me up.

Funny guy....

I hope this stuff goes away before I make the trek to the train station. I really don't want to be passed out cold on the sidewalks of downtown Seattle. I prefer passing out in the comfort of my own home, TYVM.

.................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh my gosh, I am so tired. I feel like a walking zombie. I was going to take the girls in my life (Angela, Heidi, Kathy, Jess and all of their friends) to see SATC this weekend, but I just can't do it. My body is SCREAMING at me to get some rest, already.

I pushed myself when I shouldn't have, even though I know better. I keep thinking I'm going to one day either:
1. Become magically healthy and able to do things most people can do
or
2. Learn my lesson, already and get over hoping for number 1.

When I go into the office, it's a 13 hour a day commitment. I get at the train station at 5:30 a.m. and arrive at 6:00 or 6:30 p.m., depending on which train I take. Granted, riding the train is not labor intensive, but....

Normally I only go in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but this week, I came in on T-W-Th, because I had work commitments. I treasure the fact that I can telecommute three days a week, but I treasure it even more when I realize what going in three days in a row does to me. That makes me feel like such a loser to even say that. Wahhh, poor me- go into the office three days in a row. Bleh- get a life, Lori.

So, this weekend I'm going to lay low and pray for rain. Why? Because if it's sunny outside I will feel guilty for not being in my garden taking care of stuff. Being gone for two weekends (and having the weekend before that being rainy) has caused havoc on my precious garden. My garden requires a commitment of at least one full day a week of gardening, otherwise it runs rampant.

Speaking of running rampant, my very special friend with the same middle name told me that her pastor rented goats to clean out his blackberry vines in his back yard. Isn't that a hoot? I mentioned it to BJ, because those blackberry vines in the back are the bane of my existence. He thinks it's a great idea and wants to look into doing that. If they like stinging nettle, we're definitely going to do it.

Goats... who knew?