Uveitis

That is the name of all this hoopla over my eye.

I don't recall if I told you some of this so please bear with me.

When I had the CT Scan with contrast I felt a great deal of the pressure on my right eye diminish after taking 32mg of prednisone/steroid.

Because of that, I asked my husband if I could take a couple of his. (for his arthritis and gout) So I have been taking 10mg in the morning and 10mg at night. Yes, I know I shouldn't self-medicate but since no one has a diagnosis for me and I am in pain I figured, screw 'em. What are they gonna do, yell at me and tell me it's wrong? Sure I can take that.

Today I saw the original retina doctor and I am indeed not filled with cancer, nor is this a tumor or cancer of my eye. But just as I thought, inflammation from the dreaded Celiac Disease that can rear its head in this form.

Dr. B. today told me that they actually used my film of my eye in a meeting. When I asked why he shared that he said that most have never seen inflammation this size before. So now I am a science experiment as well as everything else.
I feel I should get paid since I am forking out money and or charging all this medical shit that I can't pay for. At the very least a discount.

I now have steroid eye drops that I must take 4x a day to get this gone.
After 4 weeks I must go back. Depending on where this is at they may need to inject.....yes, inject with a needle, in my eye. I made a face when he said that and he immediately said, "Oh I will make this so you don't feel it."  Yea, but I can see the needle coming at my eye is what I wanted to say but didn't.

This hopefully will go away. He said he has no reason to think it won't. But it can come back. But since I am older he thinks I may not have to deal with this again.

Now those are nice things to hear but I don't put a lot of faith into any of it.
So it could come back so next time I start having an issue, don't wait 8 months or longer before you see your eye doctor. It's almost over. Thank goodness.

In all honesty, I felt this was from celiac all along. I wish they would have listened to me. I understand why they had to test me for cancers but sometimes I think them telling me this only causes undue stress emotionally as well as financially. Even though I didn't believe with my whole being that I had cancer they plant that seed so it does rear its worry head. But I didn't need to have gone through all that. Hell, I got enough radiation from all those tests to probably kill me.

So here's to my steroid drops that burn like hell. They are a welcome pain so that I may soon have my right eye back to normal, which is 20/20.
What will I do now without a doctor's appointment or tests every damn day?
Oh yea, live!

TGIF

It's finally Friday. 
This was a very long work week considering we had Monday off.

But the good news is that the weather is nice, it's dry today with blue skies and cooler temps and lower humidity. All a gal can ask for. 

I was reading the list of the top 10 Rosè's for summer.
The number one wine was a wine that was only $8. Hmmm.....
I may have to do my own research for Peg's summer "water"
I do like to have a lighter wine in summer when the weather gets hot.
A gals must have her options.

I saw this online and thought it would be funny to tell Gary this is his new uniform.  But instead I sent it to Rick. He said if he had to wear this I had to be topless. So we called a truce. I mean I didn't want my boobs hitting the keyboard while I am typing. 😀



There is a very nice retired man who keeps calling me because he is lonely. Rick said he was a few years older than us. He finds things to ask about that are close to what we do but not quite. We did do some work for him a couple of weeks ago because he is selling his home due to his wife's illness. He told the guys that he loved me and I was so sweet.  Poor ole thing. His wife has dementia and I think he is just lonely and I am nice to him so he finds a reason to call. I feel badly for him.. Today I got an email asking me if I knew how to get these rust stains out of his toilet. I thought, oh my goodness this man has run out of things to ask me. 
I am glad he doesn't live near me or he'd be over all the time. I don't mind his emails I always write back and chat. I hope someone is nice to me if I were in that situation.

I leave you with my dream of living right here.

The Dreaded Tupperware Party/Throw back Thursday

Continuing my Thursday Throw Backs. 

This is from January 2011.

The blog listed below no longer exists.

____________________________________

This post is thanks to Karen at Strictly Simple Style 
It reminded me of a Tupperware party that I had attended in the 90's.

Like Karen, I too hate these types of parties.  
(Tupperware, Pampered Chef etc)
Back when I lived in my hometown I got an invitation to a Tupperware party at my cousin Janet's home.  It said to bring what you wear to bed for a game. She said there would be food and booze.  Knowing my cousin I knew it would be more fun than most but I hate these things.

I read this piece of mail and moaned. Rick asked what I was reading. I handed it to him and he said, "Oh I would love to go to this." 

"Seriously?"

"Hey it's about food and I can eat and drink. We always have fun at Jan and Frank's why should you get all the fun?"

Yes, but they aren't having a party per se Rick. This is boring shit you have to sit through and then pretend you care. Everyone ooh's and aah's at all this plastic shit like it's something special. Then you must buy something"

"Oh it won't be that bad I can use some containers for leftovers."

"We wouldn't have so many leftovers if you didn't make everything by the vat."

He ignores me.
Since Rick was the cook in the family it made sense that this would be more fun to him.
But honestly, I didn't want to go. Because it was my cousin I called her and said I would attend and asked if I could bring Rick?  She laughed and said, "hell yes!"

First of all, I don't sleep in anything when I sleep.  I know, I know TMI.
I hate being encumbered while I slumber.
But for the sake of this game we were to play I threw a big old T-shirt in the bag but then at the last minute decided to take it out and leave the bag empty.

We were leaving when Rick got to the door with his bag.
For some reason, I never even thought about him doing this.
I asked what was in the bag since I knew he slept naked as well.
He laughed and said, "you'll see."

"You mean you put something in there?"

"You'll see."

Oh Lord help me.

We got to the party and a lot of Janet's friends knew us so Rick being there was no big deal.
Besides everyone always loves Rick because he's fun.
He had a few beers, he mingled, he ate.

The older woman who was Ms. Tupperware started the game. We had to guess who's bag belonged to whom by what was inside.  Now a lot of these women put in sexy lingerie. 
Yeah, right. We all know full well they don't sleep in this stuff.
She would open a bag, take out what was inside and hold it up for all to see.
We then had to write down on our paper our guess for who might wear this item of clothing to bed.

We were all laughing and commenting and having a nice enough time for such an event. 
Then the woman got a bag, she looked inside and burst into the biggest, loudest guffaw ever. She did not take out what was in the bag. She looked around and shook her head. 
Her face was now pink. I looked at Rick instantly and he looks like Mr. Innocent.
He never is innocent.

She opens the bag again and says as she clears her throat, "Well I can honestly say I have not seen this item before in a bag at one of my parties"

She reaches in and pulls out an unfurled condom.
Everyone laughs and one gal says, "Well at least we'll all have one correct now won't we?"

My cousin comes over and kisses him on the cheek and say how she loves him. 
Rick ends up winning the game getting the most matches of who wears what to bed.   Scary, huh?

Everyone had a fun reaction so I didn't have to kill my husband from pure shame and embarrassment. The women were all howling.  Thank goodness. 

He thought the party was fun.  Oh, of course, he did.
I think it had to do with all the women flirting with him, the food, the booze and who had the party.
If he had to attend a normal one he would hate them like normal women do.

Do you like these stupid parties?

Wednesday Thoughts

Hey, it's raining.
Oh, my goodness has it been raining.
I am not talking rain like the pacific northwest. Oh no, not here.
We are having R.A.I.N. Pounding heavy rain. (for weeks now)

My petunias are not diggin' the rain.
My cushions on my outdoor furniture may grow mold before they are ever dry.

I am not a fan of our summer weather. The 3 H's. Hazy, Hot and Humid.
Oh God, it's humid. I seriously fear that after monsoon season it will automatically be in the 90's both in temp and humidity. I must decide, can I live with the rain or do I want, "Oh my God it's so hot and my Air conditioning bill is over $300 this month?"

I need to move where it is 72-78 daily. I know, San Diego. Can you give me a few million to buy a small fixer upper if I move there?

Rick and I have been spending a lot of time of late of where we want to move next. If we can ever retire do we stay here? We are leaning on the answer of No.
But then where? Everywhere I would love to live has winter. Oh, I don't mean winter like we get here, but WINTER.  I would love to be in upstate NY, around Lake George perhaps?  My first choice is Ontario but we all know they get winter with a capital W. See my dilemma? Rick won't do Florida and I won't do the south, which I call N. and S Carolina and Mississipi etc. A Big hell no to Texas even if it is cheap it's too well,  Texas for me. 
(except Austin.love Austin but it's not cheap like the rest of their state...see the pattern here?)

No, I'm not a southern gal nor could I be.
You see my header, straight up no chaser, they pretend to be nice.
I don't have time for such nonsense. I'm just nice or if not feeling particularly nice then I don't go around people. I am never mean on purpose. I can't say, "bless her heart" with saccharin but what I really mean is fuck you, which is what it means people. I don't pretend or backstab, not my nature so I can't go south. Now don't write me letters, that has just been my experience with the south over my many years. It doesn't mean it's yours. When my sister moved to Alabama I thought her head was going to explode. (her hubby is from there)  After a year she called and said, "my goodness they aren't nice, it's all an act. As soon as you leave your glass of sweet tea they are talking about you"  That made me laugh. Yep, my experience too. She kept saying, "Why didn't you tell me?"  I said, "if I had I would have clouded your view of the area. You needed to make your own mind up." Her husband warned her but she thought it was just his family.
Now they live on the eastern side of Washington state.
It was a compromise and a job.

So where do we go? Oh, such decisions. The west coast is too expensive and defeats the whole being able to retire thing unless a large lottery win occurs. Then no issue. We can live wherever the hell we want.
I think I need to buy a lottery ticket.
_____________________________

I will be visiting my newest doctor of Rheumatology tomorrow for my follow up. My internist or regular doctor as I now refer to her, wrote me an email to say that Dr. Rheumatology sent her a consult letter and she saw that she did a very thorough blood panel and she was very happy to see that. She thinks this will be the ticket to my eye and my constant body inflammation that we have been dealing with for so long. Hell, I've been dealing with it for 30+ years. I hope she is correct. I can tell you I have never had so many evening phone calls and emails from her in 10 years.
_____________________________

I bought new pillows. Both Rick and I have been complaining about our pillows. I broke down and bought My Pillow that you see advertised around the clock on TV. Well, don't believe the hype. Not so great. Sending it back.
When we were at the lake and it was raining all weekend Rick was flipping the few channels the house had and saw this guy on TV. It was QVC. Much cheaper than his As Seen On Tv price. So I ordered them.

They arrived flat as a pancake. The card enclosed said to put in the driver for 20 minutes or so. I don't recall exactly right now. I did just that. It was fluffed up like a pillow. But it was lumpy feeling, very odd. I thought it was comfortable as all get out. But sleeping with it was far different. It was hot, I mean to tell you after a few minutes it felt like I was sleeping on a heating pad.

Now I am a woman who likes the window open in the dead of winter and a very cold room to sleep in. I can't sleep if it's hot. So this was not good.

The first night I kept tossing and turning it over and well that was a restful nights sleep for no one. Then I tried it again, and again. The 2nd night my husband threw his on the floor and proclaimed, "I HATE THAT THING"  
I soldiered on.  But now I give up. Too damn hot. 

I called the customer service number for the company and the response was, "well it's not supposed to be you probably did something wrong."  What did I do wrong? It said no pillow cover and nothing but a 100% cotton sheet. Did that. He said, "well it's not supposed to do that so what do you want from me?"  oh my goodness. I said, "nothing but thank you."
I called QVC and asked if I could return these two pillows and indeed I can.

I made the mistake of going to look at reviews after that phone call. They were all horrible and the BBB gave them an F.  So I should have done my due diligence before buying. But I listened to a friend. She loves her pillow. Lucky her. I so wanted to too but just couldn't.

So like my can opener, I will ask you my dear readers....any suggestions on a great pillow?  I have a bamboo one - too hard. That is the one Rick loves right now.
I may need to go to the Westin Hotel again because their heavenly beds are to die for. I wonder what pillows they use? Hmm....may need to spend a night at a hotel soon.

Quick Update .....even if you didn't ask.

It's official no cancer found. Yipee.
So if they had listened to me they would have known that. 
Could have saved me a boatload of money. Where the money will come for all this is just beyond me. A lot of things aren't covered. It all sucks.
To be sick and then worry about paying for it isn't the added stress one needs.
But hey, we live in America where only the rich can afford to be sick.

Lymph nodes, breast, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and the list goes on. All clear.
With the exception of my brain, everything has been seen. 
I am bruised from all the IV's and blood draws. My arms look like they have been in a bad accident with paint colors of blue, green, purple and red.

I saw the rheumatologist on Thursday. Which the ocular oncologist doctor told me on my first visit with him to see after all my test proved negative. I made the appointment before the last round of tests because I felt strongly I didn't have cancer and I wanted to see her right away. 
My eye isn't getting better and only getting worse.

She has heard of this thing in my eye. Between her beautiful accent and the long name, I can't pronounce it. I asked twice. My God did I drive this nice doctor nuts with all my questions. At one point she told me that she loves when a patient is this involved.  Involved? It's my life, my eyesight, why wouldn't I ask for clarification and questions? 

She too wanted more blood.  
I wanted to scream. For the love of God please leave me some!"
I mentioned to my rheumatologist that after the CT Scan with contrast I actually felt so much better. Even the pressure on my eyes was gone. The 2nd day as the day progressed I was losing that feeling. Rick felt it was the 32mg of steroids I had to take. (those 16 pills remember?) 
She too felt it was the same thing.

I have a feeling I will be on some sort of steroid to combat all this inflammation.
She kept telling me that this can leave me blind and if I am being honest, I'd prefer cancer than blindness.
I am certain most folks thinks that is crazy. But it's how I feel. I can fight cancer. I can't fight blindness.
Hopefully, we can get this figured out and quickly!

I see her again Thursday the 1st. Hopefully with a plan of attack.
In the meantime, I am planning on planting some flowers since we may have a few hours of no rain. My goodness, it's raining here like the Pacific Northwest only harder. 

I plan on making frozen gin and tonics that I saw Clinton Kelly make on The Chew and I plan on eating some type of food that can be put on the grill and just be scrumptious.  

Have a wonderful holiday!

Long Weekend

It's a nice long weekend and I am ending the week with some fun memes.  I enjoyed these and I hope you get a kick out of 'em.
I wish you all a wonderful long holiday weekend. 

okay my favorite is this one.

so true isn't it?

Throwback Time

We continue Throwback Thursday to the year 2010.

I don't think this screams me as much as my hubby does.

I think the story of how I broke my nose says far more about me.

But here ya go. It wouldn't copy and paste without a line through it.
Who knows why. Please just hit the link below.

http://straightupnochaser.blogspot.com/2010/10/october.html

Another Test Bites the Dust.

The last couple of days has been interesting and a bit funny.
Only 2 more tests to go but luckily not until June 8th for those two.
I am dreading those 2 the most. 

Yesterday was my CT Scan with contrast. It involved math - I hate math.
There were pills to take at different times. However, the medication was not covered by insurance and it was over $300.00. There was a generic for only $10 but the issue according to the pharmacist was that I would have to take 8 at a time instead of 1 to get the same amount. Okay, that was fine, I will swallow 16 pills instead of 2 to save $290. 

I had to take medicine/pills 12-14 hrs. before my appointment

I had to drink this horrific chalk like drink that they sweetened with a berry flavor which made it far worse!!  Just chalk would have been fine. 

It was a big bottle too. 

No food or pills for 4 hours prior to the test.

Then I had to take more of that chalk drink 2 hrs before the test.

I had to take 8 more pills 2 hrs before the test.

Lastly –

I had to take 2 Benadryl 1 hr before the test.

Now I can’t take 50mg of Benadryl and be upright.

So I felt like this was Weekend at Bernie’s – Rick is holding me up and I am in such a fog when we left. I felt drunk. I don't like that feeling at all.

Then when I get into what they called the IV room before the CT room I am given an IV, they draw a bit of blood, and give me more of this chalk shit to drink.

I get in the room with the CT scan and I am given another damn drink. 

This one is like the other BUT they put in something that the nurse said would be like pop rocks or Alka-seltzer. Oh goodie, chalk with fizz. Yum.

Finally, I along with my IV climb up on the table and it does its thing. Hold my breath and then exhale. I would be dozing off and then they would scream instructions. Hey - I'm sleepy you made me take benadryl and then you want me to do things on command. Think about what you're asking of me. I am seriously trying to stay awake and it is not easy. 

Finally, I am done. I get down and I am woozy and having a difficult time. 

This feeling is just not fun to me. I am trying to hold my gown closed and not show the room my privates and walk straight. I couldn't seem to do it well. I am barely awake and I am having trouble not walking like I’m a drunken whore on a bender.  

I just can’t function on Benadryl especially when they had me take 2 of them.

I had to focus to keep my head up and when I laid on the table it was like heaven for me. These nurses thought it was funny.

As I was leaving the 1st room with the IV to move to the CT room the cute nurse looked at me and said, Oh I see it happening to you, are you okay? Can you walk, want to hold my arm?  I did take her arm. At one point she said to the other person in the room, We’ve got a sleeper here today. I laughed and said, doesn’t everyone have this effect with the drug? She said, “no, about 75% do though. You’re little so that could be why” I told her I loved her for calling me little. I am not little anywhere but I am short. She was like 6’ blonde amazon gorgeous woman. The other woman was probably 5’8”. Apparently, I was quite funny they told Rick so who knows what the hell I said but I do recall being told to come back anytime I was a fun patient.  I wonder if I should be embarrassed?  Probably. And no thank you, I do not wish to return unless you add some vodka or tequila to that chalk substance! 

I was very hungry when I got home but could barely stay awake.

Rick made me scrambled eggs and brought them upstairs to me while I was changing my clothes.

I wolfed ‘em down and crawled into bed.

I slept for 3 hours.

I was still very groggy and went to back to bed around 7:30p but I must admit that my abdomen was not in pain for the first time in a year.

So this chalk either coated my belly well or all the drugs did something to me.

Even this morning I feel better, not as good as yesterday but better. Hmmm.....

They did say I’d hear about the test in 24 – 48 hrs. No news was good news she said.

That was a fun Tuesday. I hope ya'll had more fun than me.

Throw Back Thursday

Today is a long day so I'm throwing back.
All tests thus far are proving negative. (mammogram and chest/lungs)
😊Told ya.

So here ya go my annual Memorial Day weekend post.
Since we no longer have a home there we won't be there this year over the holiday. We are leaving tonight for a long weekend. It's Rick's birthday on Friday and he so longs to go fishing so he is. We were generously offered a home to stay at that our old neighbor knew. He worked it out for us. Literally around the corner of our home.

So here is my Thursday Throw Back for you.
Memorial Weekend 2008.
More than you'll ever need to know about my Big Guy.
_______________________________

TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008

Does a Bear Shit in the Woods?

What a crazy weekend.

We were on the lake riding around on the boat burning gas like every good American over the holiday weekend. We were returning home from our new favorite Tiki Bar on the lake. All of a sudden my hubby announces that he has to go to the bathroom and NOW. We are not even close to home and it's just as far to go back to the Tiki Bar and apparently he can't wait from the way he is driving the boat.

As I sit up front I see him heading straight towards what appears to be a deserted island. Either way too damn fast heading straight to this land mass.

Now we have been known to anchor our boat at one of the 31 islands throughout the lake and have a picnic or just anchor and play in the water but this was a bit different. He did not slowly go towards the island and anchor. Oh no! As I sat in the front he was going full speed ahead to this land mass. I yelled, "what the hell are you doing?" He yelled back, "I can't make it home!"

We went right up to the sand and he almost fell out of the boat, his foot caught the top as he went tumbling over to a tree and tied up the boat. He grabbed the toilet paper(which he carries in the glove box which is a whole other blog)and ran like the wind into the woods. I, being the ever good wife, am laughing hysterically at him. All I could do was laugh....and take pictures of course.





He comes back out of the woods shaking his head with a bit of a smirk. I asked if he felt better. He laughed and said, "Yes, but there is a walking trail here. We have to go."

"NO!  You've got to be kidding me! Are you sure it's an actual trail?"
He said, "Well, as I was...you know...a couple was walking and I looked over and saw the husband steer his wife/girlfriend in the other direction looking appalled. I was mortified too but I couldn't get up at that moment. So we really should leave - quickly. 
For God's sake do you think you could put the damn camera down Margaret, please?"





He begins to push the boat off the land and he jumps in the boat.
I am still laughing and he is a bit pissed at me. But c'mon it's damn funny.
As we made our way around the island we realized that this was a new part of the state park and not only was there a new guarded beach there but also walking trails. OH MY GOD.
He wasn't kidding me.
There were a million antidotes going through my head but decided to not share them with him because he was already mortified by this whole event.
One thing is for sure, My husband is never boring!!
He always keeps me laughing!(I removed all pix w/his face to protect the "innocent" but check out the TP under his arm...that cracks me up!)

Checks in The Mail

Due to this pesky kidney infection, we had to postpone my CT Scan with Contrast that was scheduled for tomorrow. I am thrilled.
I had to drink this awful stuff and take a drug as well as Benadryl in case I had an allergic reaction. One Benadryl knocks me out and I had to take 2 of them.
Then we were to leave for the lake at 5p.  Yeah right.
Rick would be holding me up like the guy in Weekend at Bernie's.
So I go next Tuesday morning and can relax a bit and enjoy no one poking at me for a few days.

In other news.....
I got two checks in the mail yesterday.
That doesn't happen often without asking for the money.
One was from my insurance agency for $998.00
With all the medical bills adding up I thought God heard my prayers.
Reality set in shortly after that thought went through my head and I thought that while this sure seems like a fun thing to arrive in the mail, it could be a mistake.
What if I cash it, spend it and they ask for it back?  It only makes a very very small dent in medical bills but I don't want to have to give it back. So I called them. I said it was sure fun to get this check but I want to know why and I don't want to give it back. The woman who answered said, "good call" She went into the account and it was an overpayment on my part for our homeowner's policy. With the addition of us changing to their newer policy that added to the change of payment as well. So all around - YIPEE for me.
She wrote me an email with the details which I have saved to a folder because I want to spend it. (on medical bills, I wish something fun) Saving the email will at least CYA just in case.

The 2nd check I received was for $0.61.  I did not call the medical facility to see what this was about. I am assuming this too is an overpayment and for a whopping 61cents.  I can live with it if they ask for it back.
Even I can afford to repay $0.61.

I walked away from Facebook a week or more ago. I deactivated it. I want to keep my stress to a minimum and FB stresses me. No matter how much I remove political shit I still keep seeing it. I just want to deal with my health right now and be as stress-free as I can. Hard to do when everyone wants money you don't have. It really is awful to have to decide, should I have the tests and can't pay the bill or die? We really shouldn't have to make these kinds of choices.

Anyway, I got a few emails. One from my step daughter on Mothers Day. (or step mommy day as she calls it)
She was all in a tizzy that she couldn't find me on FB. Try picking up the phone. You know where I live. The world is not ending because I am not on FB. I am kind of liking this so I may continue this social media ban for longer than originally thought.  Besides my mother just got on FB. That will stop a gal all on its's own.

Speaking of which - My mom called me and said that I had the word Fuck all over my facebook page and why would I do something like that? I laughed and said, "it wasn't me ma"
She insisted so I made her go to her computer and pull it up. I still had to walk her through it. (My goodness, I don't want to be this behind when I am her age.) She was most disappointed in me as she kept telling me over and over again.  I kept laughing because I knew it wasn't me. And besides, I am a 61-year-old woman and my mom is yelling at me for swearing. I find that funny.

Mom was looking at my feed and said, "did you just take it down?"
I replied, that it was never up there. I don't have that type of thing on FB, I save it for my blog....tee hee. She said she swore she saw it. I suggested she look at my sister Stephanie's page. She did and said, "oh my it's her. Wait until I talk to her." That made me really laugh because she was so serious. She was acting like my sister was 13 years old. My sister is 53 yrs old do you think you are going to yell at her and she will stop? I said as much to my mom and she said, "Oh she will hear me out, that is just not nice, what about her kids? I taught her better than this. For heaven's sake, your aunts and cousins are on here"  I just laughed.  I agree with my mother to a point, but find it funny that she thinks my sister will change it all for her.  Then again, that ole Italian guilt may just work on her.  I can't wait to hear what Stephanie has to say.
Knowing Stephanie she'll just say, Fuck it.

Candid Camera or Punk'd

I had the weirdest Friday ever. 
Now when you read the event, please understand that it is NOT WHAT WAS SAID, BUT HOW IT WAS SAID TO ME that upset me. Now it's funny as hell to me but at that moment in time I was not finding the funny just yet.

Aside from them trying to find cancer in me and all the poking and prodding I got a UTI.  It began about 2 days after we went to that depressing town of Altoona/Patton PA.  
I just did what all gals do, drink all the cranberry juice and lots of water to flush it then I got AZO over the counter.
That makes your urine orange - that's a trip to see in the bowl. They really should put that tidbit on the box so when it happens you don't think you are suddenly bleeding internally. 

All I was doing for this UTI wasn't really helping me and I thought on top of everything I twisted in a funny way and that I had a muscle strain on my left flank area. I chaulked it up to when I was planting our tomato plants etc.  BUT - It got so bad that I was barely moving and the pain was out of this world, off the charts and I couldn't stand much more. 
Thursday night Rick said, "do you think this is your kidneys and all this that you're doing yourself for your UTI spread to your kidneys."  
Ah, smart boy. It was like a light bulb went off. Damn, I'm a dummy.
I promised him I'd go to urgent care first thing in the morning. 
My doctor is off on Friday's. So if you get sick on a Friday you are screwed.

I drove over to Urgent Care, which is very very close to me. I sat down and they called me. Whew was my first thought - until I saw the damn scale. Really? Why must you weigh me? They then asked me to pee in a cup. I remind them I'm on AZO and so my urine will be reddish orange. "Fine, we're aware of this with AZO", little miss sunshine says back to me.
That was all that was said.  They get my weight and send me to a room. I sat in the chair and the woman told me to sit on the table to take my blood pressure. I tell her I've been taking Dayquil and Nyquil so my blood pressure may be elevated. 
She takes it and announces it's fine. It wasn't fine, I saw it. But maybe for most people that is fine. 154/70. I normally have low blood pressure.  She never actually LOOKED at me, addressed me or smiled. 

Little Miss Sunshine leaves the room and I'm sitting on my table and I get a text from Gary. Issues I have to deal with. Great. Then a text from Rick. He is in Fredericksburg and should be done in 40 minutes or less. I am still sitting here thinking I need to get back to the office. Then in walks a woman in a white lab coat. She did not tell me who she was.  She just barged in like Kramer on TV's Seinfeld show.
Her arms are flailing as she says to me, "You have to leave. red blood cells, white blood cells. YOU MUST LEAVE"

Readers, I am confused. 
Why do I have to leave? Am I to go to another room?
What the shit is she talking about?
I say, "Why do I have to leave and where am I going?"
She appeared to be quite flustered by my stupidity that I didn't understand the YOU MUST LEAVE. 
She said, "you are too sick for us to see. Here is a copy of your urine analysis. But you have to leave."
I asked, "you're a health care facility and you are telling me to go home because I am too sick?
She said quote, "Don't be stupid, get yourself to a hospital right now"
And walked out of the room. I muttered, gee thanks under my breath.

Who does that? Again as I said at the beginning. It was not what was said but how it was said that threw me.
For example, if she had said, "Hi I'm Dr.Twat. (and yes she was) I have looked over your urine analysis and you are quite the sick old lady. I can't do enough here at this facility so we are going to ask that you go to the ER at the hospital right away. Bring this copy of your urine sample information for the doctors there. They will probably do their own but this is a good start. I wish you the best of luck. Again I'm sorry we can't help you here."

Gee, I would have understood that. But no niceties or explanation just repeating with her arms flailing about - you must leave, you must leave.
But to just keep telling me to leave and not why made me feel like an idiot and admittedly confused.
I thought at first, are there cameras here? Am I being punk'd, candid camera, something like that?  
I drove myself over to the hospital. Again, close by thank goodness.
I get to the ER and they ask if my name is Margaret such and such.
I must have looked shocked. She said that Urgent Care called. 
They took me right back, no waiting and that was wonderful. Hey at least they called and told them that typhoid Margaret was coming.

I got an IV of fluids right away but not before I peed in that cup. They took my print out of my pee. The doctor came in, who by the way was cute, smart and NICE. (yipee for me.) He began to hit my left flank as he called it and I screamed. Now I have a strong tolerance for pain I have been told many times. But this brought me to my knees. Apparently, my kidneys are involved in this UTI. I had an awful kidney infection as well as the UTI. Boy, I am just a fun date of late.  They gave me antibiotics and all kinds of things in my IV, but not pain meds. The doctor said that he couldn't give me something to help the pain knowing I have to drive myself home. I just want the pain to go away at this point in time. 

As if on cue, my phone rang. I asked if I could answer it. They said yes. Thankfully Rick was already on his way home. I asked how much longer I would be there. The doctor said a while more, we need blood and test that etc. I got off the phone and told them my husband was on his way and coming straight to the ER. I gave them his ETA and they said, "give her some morphine." Whoa!
I asked, "morphine really?"  He just said, "Oh yes."

By the time Rick got there I was flying. I don't recall leaving the hospital completely. I came home and went to the office and dealt with what I could. Rick worked for me the rest of the day. Whew.

The couple of antibiotics I am taking make me extremely drowsy. I take them every 12 hrs. It's great at night because they knock me out. But during the day I am doing all I can to keep my head upright.

I am feeling better but it's not great yet. I have to take these for awhile.
I am just having so much fun lately I think it just shouldn't be allowed.

In the meantime, my chest x-ray is perfect. I assume my mammogram will be too. I'll know by the end of this week I think. In the meantime having some more things done to me. I may have sell a kidney to pay for it all though. Just not this one. The other will be fine. :-)

Thursday Throw Back

Due to all that is occurring in my life right now and all these medical tests I going through not as much time to write.
I thought I would throw at you some oldies from the files. A lot of newer readers here so you folks who've been with me awhile - go read something else because you've seen this.
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012

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There was a dish I grew up with that I found out later in life that was endemic to my hometown.
I have never lived anywhere that had this on a menu or if I mentioned it, no one had ever heard of it.

There are four things you need to know before I tell you about my meltdown.
One, my parents made us eat everything on our plate. We didn't get to have a mom who was a short order cook. 

The words "Peggy won't eat that so I'll make her chicken nuggets" were never uttered in our home.
If mom made it we had to eat it or not eat anything at all.
Never was there an exception to the rule. 

A tablespoon of everything was the only rule at mealtime. But a tablespoon of lima beans or beets can seem HUGE when you hate them.

I hate beets and by God she always made beets. 

Why when you know I don't like them?" was my standard question to her.
I was always told I wasn't the only person in the house.
I hated that damn answer. I get it as an adult but as a kid, I hated that answer.

Oh, there was plenty of drama about food at my house.
My younger sister, Pam, hated peas and carrots.
Another one of those things my mom made all the time.
Canned peas and carrots no less. Yuck.
I like peas and I like carrots but canned? Yuck! 

But I ate them.

My sister being the drama queen would give an Oscar winning performance and gag and then vomit them up on her plate. She would gag with the dramatic flair of noises and then heave her body against the table and then the chewed up food would be on her plate. Gross. How did they not see through her tricks? They never made her finish them or give her more. I was in awe of her talent. I could never do that trick. And my goodness she could make Meryl Streep proud! Then she would look over at me and smirk. How did she get away with this. I knew I couldn't.

When it was lima beans I would torture myself and play with them until I was yelled at. Then I would hold my nose and shove them down and chug my milk. I would make a face and of course be yelled at for being so dramatic. ME? What about Pam who regurgitates them on her plate?
Oh if only I could have done that I wouldn't have to eat these awful things.  I think this is why I could never be bulimic. Besides the fact that I love food I just can't make myself throw up.  I think it's a skill that I don't possess.

The 2nd thing you need to know is what I did when I made the mistake of refusing to eat eggplant once.  My father was so angry he began his "there are children in India, Africia...name the country" speech.
You know the one where they have no food so I should be thankful and eat what is on my plate.
Well, this one night after my father went on his tangent of poor kids in India I told my father to, "Name one" after he said his, "there are children......."
OH. MY.GOD.

If you want to see your father's face turn beet red and his head explode then just tell him to name one of those kids in India that would eat your awful eggplant.
I was slapped across the face and sent to my room with no dinner.
I cried but I was so okay with not eating what I thought at the time was horrible eggplant parmesan. Now I would love it!

The 3rd thing you need to know is that dish I referred to earlier as something only found in my hometown was the final straw for me.
It's called, "City Chicken" right there on the label in the store it reads, City Chicken.
City Chicken is veal and pork cubes on a wooden skewer.
My mom rolled them in egg then breaded them and put them on a wooden stick like a kabob. She then fried them to get crispy on the outside, turning all sides and then baked them in cream of mushroom soup in the oven to finish cooking. This was then put over egg noodles.
One of the few things we ate that were what I called "American" and not Italian food.

The 4th thing you need to know is I HATED CHICKEN.
Gnawing on a chicken thigh/leg creeped me out as a kid. 

I would not eat chicken. Period. 

(still, not chickens biggest fan but will eat it)
Thankfully my father wasn't a big fan of chicken so we didn't eat it much so I didn't have to deal with the angst of chicken for dinner. (He worked on a chicken farm as a kid and that is what turned him off to chicken.)

On this particular night of my meltdown my mom made city chicken.
I was convinced this was chicken.
I sat at that table refusing to eat it.
Oh I ate the noodles and I drank my milk but that city chicken wasn't being eaten by me if I could help it. 

It just sat there on my plate.
My father said I was not getting up from this table until I ate my dinner.
I got the lecture that he works hard for the food on our table and damn it I was going to eat it.

We ate dinner between 5-5:30p. I sat there until after it turned dark.
The table was cleaned off and mom was doing dishes.
I was still sitting at the table staring at my 'chicken'.
My mom was bustling around the kitchen with dishes etc.
She kept telling me over and over again that it was veal and pork and not chicken. "Just eat it, she'd say, you'll like it Peggy"
I just kept saying,"Then why do they call it chicken if it's not chicken?"
She tried to explain because it was on these skewers it looked like a chicken leg.
I was more inclined to believe my mom than my dad but I was still buying none of this.

I began crying and having a wailing meltdown about this whole thing.
Not good. That just made my father come into the kitchen.
He yelled at me. That made it worse.
He gave me 30 more minutes or I was going to bed hungry.
I told him I wasn't hungry under my breath very quietly.
He yelled, "What did you say?" 
I had visions of what happened when I told him to name a starving kid in India.
I was smart enough at 8 to know to shut the hell up now.
He left the kitchen.

I sat there staring at the friggin' city chicken wanting it to just get up off my plate and walk away. I was convinced it was a leg of a chicken anyway.

My mom sat down next to me. She calmly tried to tell me again how this wasn't chicken. How I loved veal and this was veal. That I was making Daddy really angry and did I really want to go to bed without eating? I knew my mom was frustrated and she didn't seem to be lying but I was not completely convinced this wasn't chicken. My mom was then summoned into the living room by my father. 

I assume she was talking to the enemy and had to go into the living room with my dad. She kissed the side of my head and ran her hand over my hair and said, "Peggy just eat it baby please."   (I remember that vividly.)

At 5 minutes before my time was up I held my nose and took a bite.
Oh my goodness this was so damn good! Even cold.
I wolfed it down. This wasn't stinky chicken this really was pork and veal.
I inhaled it.
I put my plate in the sink and went into the living room and told my parents that I ate it.
My father just said, "good. now go get ready for bed."

My mom came into my bedroom and said, " Thank you Peggy. Now wasn't that good?"
I didn't want to tell her it was good because she'd tell my father but I adored my mom so I did anyway. "yep it was really good. It tasted like the veal cutlets you make."
She laughed and hugged me and said, "Thank God"

My grandmother used to love to tell that story of me asking my father to "name one" when we kids were all adults. 

My niece's heard that story one day and all collectively gasped when it got to that point - they know their Grandpa. They turned to look at him and of course, he is laughing about it all now. He knows it's funny. 

Today I would love to have some city chicken made like that over egg noodles!!

Just Funnies

As if all this shit isn't enough I have a wicked cold.
It's almost been a week now.
Everyone who hears me says, Oh I had that. That will last at least 2 weeks.
YIPEE for me.

You know the saying God only gives you what you can handle.
I've had enough now God.

A lot of the tests I have to pay out of pocket because I have not met my deductible. Wish I had been sick more to have used up the deductible. And my deductible is incredibly high darn it.

Here are some funnies for you today because I was busy having tests.

This isn't so much funny but too true right now for me.

And Lastly while sitting in a gown for the world to see my business today I read this by Andy Borowitz, whom I love....

Who could have predicted that electing a game show host with a string of business disasters and a glaring personality disorder would turn out so badly?