browser life

Picking up where I left off yesterday, I was recounting all the wondrous adventures of my life this past month, and left off with New Year's Day. Ok, so the New Year's Day part was true. The wondrous adventures, not so much.

Ever since I first got sick, I've always crashed big time on January 1st. This time was no exception: I mean, why mess with tradition? So I crawled out of bed after twelve hours, looked at the mirror and marveled that not only had the dark circles under my eyes progressed all the way around to more resemble a raccoon's face, I was also sporting a prize-winning example of bed head. That, and the weak and wobblies, and a slight fever, and a rather magnificent headache. At least I could console myself that healthy people all over the world probably felt the same way, the only difference being that they have hangovers.

Luckily, I'm quite experienced with days like this, and I just gently ease into activities like meals, taking a shower, getting dressed, etc., even if it takes all day. My first "meal" was a High Protein Boost and some green tea with ginseng and ginger. If you ever wake up nauseous, dehydrated and/or hypoglycemic, that particular combo can work wonders.

Dan was my biggest saving grace, though. My tradition of taking down the Christmas tree on January 1st is a much older one than the one of having a flare, but I wouldn't be able to accomplish shit without his help. He had to: get the boxes for the tree, lights and ornaments out of the book room and garage, wait patiently while I try to remove every shred of tinsel, help remove tinsel when it hurt too much for me to hold my arms up anymore, take about half of the ornaments down and set them carefully on the ottoman because he had no idea what boxes they go in, take all the lights off by himself because I was gettting neck, shoulder and back spasms, disassemble the tree, put all the boxes away when I finally finish packing up the ornaments, and take the Gazelle out of the book room and put it back where the tree was.

I decided that since I had money coming very soon (my LTD insurance company had put my first check in the mail on Thursday), we should celebrate by going to dinner. We went to the Outback. I know a steakhouse would be the last place you'd think I could eat with my dietary restrictions, but I know how to make it work if I only do it occasionally. First, I make sure the meal is early enough in the day for me to have time to digest it. Second, I order the smallest, leanest cut of steak. Third, I have mashed potatoes because those are easy on the tummy. And fourth, I eat only a couple of bites of salad, mainly some tomato and cucumber and maybe a couple pieces of lettuce. And finally, I keep the overall meal small. Voila! A celebratory dinner.

Here's one problem with being mostly home-bound, or at least no longer in the workforce: I fail to recognize non-traditional, let's-give-them-some-more-time-off holidays. Apparently Monday, January 2nd was one of those. I had Dan take me to aquacise only to discover that the pool was closed for the bonus "holiday". Dan had already left, so I had an hour to kill. Fortunately, the lobby to the hospital where the pool is was open, so I could sit and read cover to cover "Spin" magazine's best picks for 2005 (they picked The White Stripes album as #16 where I would have put it in first place. At least they like The Killers as much as I do). I also checked the mail, forgetting there was no service that day. At least I didn't try to waste time making any business phone calls. Instead, I worked on some scrapbook pages. I'm all the way up to my 20 year high school reunion in summer 2002.

Tuesday was more productive. I went to massage therapy and the chiropractor. Then I went to Barnes and Noble and exchanged a duplicate Harry Potter book for a one volume "Chronicles of Narnia". After that, an allergy shot. I only have one more to go and then I'm DONE! Four years of shots. And on the way home, we went by the mailbox, and my check was there! Yayyyyyyyy! Unfortunately, I was too tired to go back out and cash it. I took a three hour nap instead.

Wednesday was my big injection day, which I have recounted in a prior post. Dan cashed my check while a semi-stranger injected lidocaine and cortisone into an area just above my right butt cheek. Everything went much quicker than expected, so I was home only three and a half hours after we had left. I pampered myself with some ice cream and then started feeling groggy, so I took a three and a half hour nap. After I got up, I watched "The Butterfly Effect" and worked on the scrapbook some more.

I did very little on Thursday. I didn't leave the house at all because I was feeling more dizzy and sedated than usual. I did manage to sort through my 2005 receipts and put the regular stuff in one box and the tax deductibles in another. I had enough medical receipts to fill two shoeboxes (but I just used a bigger box, heh heh). I don't remember what else I did.

Friday, I talked Dan into taking me to the health food store. I hadn't gone in months because of lack of funds, and had run out of most of my supplements. So this was a BIG bill. In addition to all the supplements, I stocked up on frozen rice mac and cheese, frozen rice lasagna and frozen palak paneer. I also did something I've never done before: I bought gluten free rice bread. Guess what? One bite, and I decided I would never buy it again. I can probably get through the loaf at least because peanut butter and fruit spread disguise the taste some. Also bought some gluten free crackers recommended to me by someone else with celiac disease. I didn't like them much either, so I'll just drown them in cheese or hummus or dip or something and go back to the rice cheddar crackers I already like. I was hoping to find some gluten free pitas and pizza crusts, but the gluten free bakery the store had been using is no longer in business. Bummer! I think there is another store where I can find these things, but I hate making a special trip just for that. Such is the life of a celiac.

I've been stranded at home all weekend. Friday night, Dan found the car leaking some sort of fluid (I forget what kind), and the earliest he could get an appointment at the mechanic's is tomorrow morning, so he didn't dare drive anyplace after he got home from work. So there went my plans on Saturday to use those Target gift cards burning a hole in my pocket, and I didn't get to go to church tonight either. And I'll have to skip aquacise tomorrow while the car's in the shop. But the bonus I suppose is that I got to get caught up on my blog, heh heh. Oh, and I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" on DVD, which is a GREAT movie.

I'm not sure if the injections I got on Wednesday have worked or not. I was careful to wait a few days and keep my activity level low so the cortisone could take effect. But today, I decided it was time to try out some stretches. Nothing strenuous, just regular stretches for the hips, back and legs. I hurt like a sonofabitch afterward, and it hasn't gotten any better all day. So either those shots were all for naught, or the cortisone just hasn't kicked in yet.

Yesterday, with a tear in my eye, I cancelled my Netflix subscription. It was originally a free two-week trial, but I let an extra month elapse as a Christmas present to myself. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The movies came right on time, most had cool bonus features, and I never had to travel beyond my mailbox. If my monetary circumstances change so that I can budget an extra $10 per month for entertainment, I will sign right back up in a heartbeat. Oh, and I enjoyed every single movie I selected. Let's see if I can remember all of them: "Finding Neverland", "Chocolat", "Tortilla Soup", "Soul Food", "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Love Actually", "My Best Friend's Wedding", "Lost in Translation", "The Butterfly Effect", and "Real Women Have Curves". I do at least have lots of DVDs at home to watch, so all is not lost.

Another pleasant surprise were the CDs my friends burned and sent to me as gifts. Ducky sent me a hip hop collection featuring several songs that I liked but didn't know the artist. I wonder how many 40 year old white women listen to hip hop? Besides Ducky and me, I mean. And Robert sent two discs. One is appropriately titled "Gotta Be Better Next Year Compilation" which begins with "Rotten World Blues" by the eels and ends with "When It All Goes Wrong Again" by Everclear and has various goodies in between. The other is "Charge!" by the Aquabats (which kicks ass, by the way) and some assorted faves. I like the Phranc songs particularly.

So, yes, in many ways, the past month has been quite shitty, but I got through it thanks to some enjoyable holidays, awesome friends, a fantastic husband, and the timely distractions of tunes and movies. Speaking of which, I still haven't spent all of my iTunes gift card, but I'm working on it. Right now, I'm listening to "Do You Want To" by Franz Ferdinand, which I downloaded in December and can't get out of my head. Lucky, lucky, you're so lucky......

Guess I'll end this one on that note. Lucky, lucky, I'm so lucky......