Monday, November 07, 2005
Some stuff about some stuff.....
Well, at long last, the meds I was given for my digestive issues have started to work. Unfortunately, one of them is causing ANOTHER side effect, one too personal to mention specifically in a family blog. Ewwwwwwww! So I'll need to treat that. Ahem. Anyway, the upside of all this is that I can finally try the methadone again. I am nervous since the side effects were so nasty the first time around. I'm gonna take a half dose at bedtime, so if it bothers me, maybe I can sleep through it? If I can get through a trial period of methadone and survive the initial side effects, I'm hoping I can tolerate a full dose eventually and have some semblance of a pain-reduced life. I know that's a tall order, but I'm desperate.
Gonna be honest: since I had to stop the initial trial of methadone a week ago, the pain has climbed and climbed and today was beyond unbearable. Poor Dan has had to watch me cry and moan and rage about all this. Tried doing some stretches and was practically screaming. Did tennis ball massage on my hips, but it didn't do a lot of good. Even curling up on the couch was an ordeal. I've got a giant Icy Hot patch on my lower back to try to distract me from the worst of it. If only they made whole body wraps, heh heh.
Did manage to get to church tonight. There was a special tribute to everyone we know who has passed away in the past year. The pastor read my grandmother's name aloud. I found out to my surprise that one of my former book group buddies passed away last night. I talked to her over the summer and she was housebound then and soooo lonely. I think it was probably her time to go; she was at least 80. But I'm still gonna miss her. There's gonna be a service for her on Saturday which I will attend. There was also a healing service with the laying on of hands; not the flashy type of stuff you see on TV, but more subdued and personal. I was happy to participate in that because I can't do communion (can't do the bread or the "wine" that has had bread dipped in it). And I did feel better, spiritually speaking. And when I feel better spiritually, the physical problems are easier to endure.
Checked the mailbox on the way home for yesterday's mail; we finally got Dan's benefit information for 2006. Found out his employer is changing both the dental and health insurance plans. The dental covers less than the 2005 plan did, so I sincerely hope I don't need a bunch more crowns next year. The health plan will have higher co-pays for meds, but luckily the doc co-pays will stay the same. My big concern with the new plan is whether my current docs will accept it. So I need to sit down and figure out a ballpark figure for next year's flexible spending account. I am grateful for the benefit, but it's a bit daunting to arrive at an accurate number. If I overestimate costs for 2006 and don't use it all, we lose that money. On the other hand, if I underestimate by a significant amount, the benefit will get used up in just a few months and we'll be paying the rest of the year post-tax. It's not usually a big deal for a healthy person, but since I have major expenses, we're talking thousands of dollars that Dan won't get taxed for. With my income for 2006 being so uncertain, we'll take any little break we can get.
FINALLY updated my operating system this weekend! So now I have iTunes 6! I can download podcasts! I'm excited about that. And once I figure out a little dilemma I'm having with QuickTime, I'll be able to download video! Wooo hooo! I have a new little toy on my screen now....widgets! One mouse click gives me the local weather, time, a calendar and calculator. I still have some application updates to finish. Damned dial-up keeps hanging up in the middle of my downloads.
I think that's enough stuff about stuff.
Gonna be honest: since I had to stop the initial trial of methadone a week ago, the pain has climbed and climbed and today was beyond unbearable. Poor Dan has had to watch me cry and moan and rage about all this. Tried doing some stretches and was practically screaming. Did tennis ball massage on my hips, but it didn't do a lot of good. Even curling up on the couch was an ordeal. I've got a giant Icy Hot patch on my lower back to try to distract me from the worst of it. If only they made whole body wraps, heh heh.
Did manage to get to church tonight. There was a special tribute to everyone we know who has passed away in the past year. The pastor read my grandmother's name aloud. I found out to my surprise that one of my former book group buddies passed away last night. I talked to her over the summer and she was housebound then and soooo lonely. I think it was probably her time to go; she was at least 80. But I'm still gonna miss her. There's gonna be a service for her on Saturday which I will attend. There was also a healing service with the laying on of hands; not the flashy type of stuff you see on TV, but more subdued and personal. I was happy to participate in that because I can't do communion (can't do the bread or the "wine" that has had bread dipped in it). And I did feel better, spiritually speaking. And when I feel better spiritually, the physical problems are easier to endure.
Checked the mailbox on the way home for yesterday's mail; we finally got Dan's benefit information for 2006. Found out his employer is changing both the dental and health insurance plans. The dental covers less than the 2005 plan did, so I sincerely hope I don't need a bunch more crowns next year. The health plan will have higher co-pays for meds, but luckily the doc co-pays will stay the same. My big concern with the new plan is whether my current docs will accept it. So I need to sit down and figure out a ballpark figure for next year's flexible spending account. I am grateful for the benefit, but it's a bit daunting to arrive at an accurate number. If I overestimate costs for 2006 and don't use it all, we lose that money. On the other hand, if I underestimate by a significant amount, the benefit will get used up in just a few months and we'll be paying the rest of the year post-tax. It's not usually a big deal for a healthy person, but since I have major expenses, we're talking thousands of dollars that Dan won't get taxed for. With my income for 2006 being so uncertain, we'll take any little break we can get.
FINALLY updated my operating system this weekend! So now I have iTunes 6! I can download podcasts! I'm excited about that. And once I figure out a little dilemma I'm having with QuickTime, I'll be able to download video! Wooo hooo! I have a new little toy on my screen now....widgets! One mouse click gives me the local weather, time, a calendar and calculator. I still have some application updates to finish. Damned dial-up keeps hanging up in the middle of my downloads.
I think that's enough stuff about stuff.
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