Category: Health

February Sucks This Year

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I haven’t really felt like blogging lately. Wookie was sick at the beginning of the month (throwing up yellow bile repeatedly) but after a trip to the vet and some medication she’s fine now.

On Valentine’s Day Joe’s mom passed away. She had a stroke a few days prior and just never woke up. We found out that Monday; with the short notice we didn’t know what to do with Wookie so I ended up staying home and Joe flew out to Arizona to see his mom before she passed away. It was very sad and sudden. We knew her time was limited due to the inoperable cancer she had but we weren’t expecting her to have another stroke. She was quite the spitfire, but was always so nice and supportive. Needless to say, she will be missed.

As a result of the above we didn’t end up celebrating Fat Tuesday (I cancelled our paczki order from the local bakery since they would have been stale by the time Joe got back in town) or Valentine’s Day. We didn’t plan on doing anything special for the latter other than getting some Chinese food anyway so no big deal.

I’ve been dealing with some bad acid reflux ever since I stopped taking the Protonix prescribed by my doctor after my endoscopy revealed some irritation in my esophagus (although no pre-cancerous cells, thank goodness) in late November. I had to stop taking the pills because my kidneys started to swell. I’ve yet to find a natural solution to the reflux, however, which is worse than ever after being on those pills. I think they cause more issues than they solve to be honest. I have been avoiding chocolate (so sad) and iced coffee since they are common triggers. I’ve also tried taking magnesium and ginger and drinking apple cider vinegar (so gross) to help combat the burn. Some days it seems to help, although not entirely. On top of that, sometimes my midsection feels swollen and anything remotely tight-fitting feels very uncomfortable. Plus it triggers my health anxiety and I start worrying about ulcers or ovarian cancer.

So yea, it hasn’t been the greatest month overall. Looking forward to spring.

Mammograms, Zoo Lights, and Star Wars

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Saturday (12/16) began with a visit to the radiology center for a mammogram. I had to reschedule my original appointment after the facility informed me that I also needed a follow-up ultrasound from the one I had last year. Since there wasn’t time during my original appointment to do both, I rescheduled it. Then Friday evening I got a text from the facility to remind me to bring my doctor’s orders in for the tests. I called to ask whether one was required for the ultrasound too and that’s when they informed me that yes, I needed one. I was livid and let them know they should have told me that sooner. Of course my doctor was gone for the day at that point and wasn’t due back until Monday morning which meant I would have to skip the ultrasound and could have just stuck with my original appointment. Shortly after this I received a phone call from someone else at the facility with yet another appointment reminder, at which point I explained they could cancel the ultrasound portion because I wouldn’t have the order I didn’t know was required.

Fast forward to Saturday morning when I check in and am asked for my ultrasound order. #$*(@*#)!! I had to explain that I already told them I couldn’t have it done. Then when I’m in the room with the tech she mentions that they don’t have any of my previous mammograms for comparison even though they didn’t tell me that last year. How incompetent is this place?!? Plus how good is their screening if they don’t have earlier scans for comparison and just let that go for an entire year? I swear to god!

I also haven’t received my test results back even though I was told Tuesday at the latest. It’s probably because their horribly designed form asks whether you want your results by phone or not and I checked off no since I wanted them in writing. But then AFTER that portion near the bottom of the page there’s a note saying you’ll get them by mail regardless of whether you want them by phone. Well WTF, why don’t you put that first BEFORE the person fills out the form? And no, there weren’t any asteriks indicating there was more to read below about the choices. So I scratched out the part where I checked off “DON’T call me” and initialed it but those people are such idiots I bet they didn’t realize that I was trying to tell them that they SHOULD call me. I don’t even want to know at this point in case it’s bad news. I’m actually in a good mood this holiday season and don’t want to risk that getting ruined. I wouldn’t be able to do anything about a bad test result until after the holidays anyway.

Also, I was just thinking about this – last year when they told me I needed a second mammogram and an ultrasound, I’m fairly certain I didn’t need a new order from my doctor, so why would I think I needed one this time? I swear, I need to switch facilities moving forward. I only started going to this place because it was cheaper than the hospital but I don’t trust them with my health.

On a lighter note, Saturday night we made some hot cocoa and went to Cosley Zoo to see their lights. They are rather lame, and even more so this year it seemed, but they had an Ozinga cement truck there all decked out with lights coordinated to music which was fun to watch. I ended up having to download the Light of Christmas song by Owl City since it’s been stuck in my head ever since. I really enjoy the upbeat nature of the song despite the fact that I’m not religious.

Sunday (11/17) morning we went to a very early first showing (8:45 am) of the The Last Jedi. The theater had a decent amount of people but no one in our row or in front of us which was perfect. I enjoyed the movie but can understand why people have bones to pick with it, some of which I noticed and others which escaped me.

We had lunch at Red Robin before doing some shopping and then relaxed the rest of the day. I made chicken taco soup in the crockpot but chose an older recipe instead of the better one I found online so that kinda sucked. That older one has now be obliterated so I never mistakenly make it again.

Thanksgiving Staycation

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I took the week of Thanksgiving off from work, and since I normally only work three days, I only had to use 2 vacation days to do so.

I was all set to stop at the library Thursday (11/16) after work (I drive right past it daily) but before I reached it my car gave a warning that my back right tire pressure was much lower than the rest of the tires so I headed straight home instead.

Joe was out walking Wookie and I stopped to tell him what happened. That’s when we found a screw in the tire. We immediately took the car to Discount Tire to see what they could do. They suggested since the car was so new (less than 300 miles on it) that we call the dealership and see what they would do for us. The answer to that – absolutely nothing. Typical. I didn’t even write about how my salesperson harassed the hell out of me recently for not giving them perfect scores on the survey Subaru sent me even though they did nothing to deserve them. I’m done with that dealership and will take the car elsewhere when it needs service.

Anyway, once we informed our Discount Tire rep how unhelpful the dealership was being he suggested we walk over to Portillo’s and have dinner while they took a look at the tire since there was a pretty long wait (hour and a half it turned out). Luckily, despite the screw being at an angle it missed the sidewall and they were able to patch it. They didn’t even charge us. Now that is good customer service! This isn’t the first time they’ve repaired a tire for free – I don’t know how they make money. I was just relieved I wouldn’t have to fork over $100 and come back the next day to buy an identical tire (since they didn’t have mine in stock).

We finally made it to the library on Friday (11/17) after Joe got home. I got a handful of books and we both got CDs. Then we headed to Ace Hardware so Joe could pick up a shop-vac they had on sale since his died over the summer. It was his dad’s so it was pretty old. From there we stopped at the cleaners so I could have them fix the seam on my dress pants which came apart. The woman who does the tailoring happened to be available and fixed them right there in less than five minutes. She’s the best and we always come to her when we need clothing repaired. We picked up a pizza from Lou Malnati’s next door and brought it home for dinner.

The weather was cold and rainy on Saturday (11/18) so we didn’t do much after our two hour shopping trip at Target. This time of year they always have a deal where you get a $10 gift card when you spend $50 on groceries so we had to take advantage of that. We picked up a few Christmas presents for Joe’s kids as well.

Sunday (11/19) we headed over to IKEA (to return a bath mat) and Bed Bath and Beyond (to return the outfit Wookie didn’t like). It was pretty crappy outside so all I wanted to do was go home and veg afterward. Joe made chicken and dumplings in the crockpot for dinner which came out delicious.

Monday (11/20) was just my regular upstairs cleaning day, but Tuesday (11/21) I had an endoscopy to check my esophagus since I have frequent acid reflux. My doctor was running behind schedule so we waited about an hour longer than normal. The procedure itself is only 10-15 minutes but man they must have used a particularly strong sedative because I don’t remember the doctor coming to speak to us in recovery AT ALL and I kept telling Joe the same stuff repeatedly throughout the day. I also took a nap when we got home and went to bed early that night.

Any procedures I’ve had done in the past 15 years or so have always been at the same hospital but my doctor is in a different network so we went to a surgery center instead. Luckily it was very modern and all the staff were quite nice and caring. The only snafu I ran into was when they gave me a bell to ring when I was prepped but still waiting to be taking into the procedure room and no one could hear me. When the nurse came back to get me I explained I had been ringing it because I needed to urinate and she was very apologetic. I hate how when I’m cold and nervous I have to pee like crazy even though I hadn’t drank anything since 6 am (and at this point it was around 11:30 am). Also, unlike the hospital they don’t let family members hang out with you until right before the procedure so I was freezing, lying in this bed all alone attached to an IV, and really had to pee. So that sucked. My discharge paperwork says I have a small hiatal hernia (which I already knew from the last time I had this procedure) and esophagitis (which is irritation or inflammation of the esophagus). They took a biopsy so I’ll know more in a week or so.

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Low Batteries

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Saturday was rainy so we ended up going to the cheap theater to see Despicable Me 3. They installed leather reclining seats since the last time we’ve been there (and raised ticket prices from $1.75 to $2.75). I can’t decide whether I love or hate the new seats. On the plus side it makes the aisles so wide  no one can reach your seat to kick it and the seats are large and comfy. The downside is I’m too short to sit normally because my feet don’t touch the floor so I have to recline and after a couple of hours it’s not really comfortable anymore. 

Later that evening we went to Batteries Plus and I paid $60 to have my iPhone battery replaced. I was sick of it losing 25% in mere minutes. It spent more time on the charger than being used and was a constant source of anxiety and frustration. Now it’s almost like having a new phone. I can use it all day and it still has 20-30% battery life when I go to bed. I hope it stays like that for at least another year since I’m not thrilled with the price or design of the latest phones; consequently I’m not in a hurry to upgrade. I’m holding off on installing iOS 11 too since it will kill some of my favorite apps once I upgrade. 

When I woke up Saturday with a slightly sore throat I knew I had caught Joe’s cold despite our best efforts not to infect me. I’ve spent the last several days feeling exhausted and congested. I haven’t been this sick in years; I even called in sick to work on Tuesday. I hadn’t gotten a flu shot yet or this might have been avoided but with the allergy testing I didn’t have any arms left to spare for more needles. In any case, I started taking zinc right away and I think it helped speed up the process since Joe has been sick for nearly two weeks and I’m already starting to feel better. That’s a good thing because I have a busy five day weekend ahead of me. More on that later. 

Allergy Testing

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Went for an allergy test today to get to the bottom of all the inflammation in my face/neck I’ve been having since May. Interestingly enough, I am not allergic to grass and trees like I was years ago. Unfortunately, I am allergic to molds and dust mites which don’t go away when the seasons change. They are on the low side – level 2 and 3 out of a possible 8, with 8 being the worst.

Here’s the details:

Molds (all 2s)
Hormodenrum
Alternaria
Penicillium – not to be confused with the drug, Penicillin, which the nurse said is different
Aspergillus
Mucor
Corn Smut
Phoma

Animals
Cat (4)
Dog (3) – Obviously this is an issue since Wookie is not going anywhere

Other
D. Farinae (dust mite) – 2
D. Pteronyssinus (dust mite) – 3
Cockroach – 2 – This one cracks me up

I’ve put off having an x-ray of my sinuses done unless necessary since that’s gonna cost me out of pocket. So far I’ve tried:

Flonase (generic) – after about a week of use it made the vision in my left eye blurry
Allegra (generic) – gave me diarhhea

Both of the above did help alleviate my symptoms so I think my issues are allergy related. I just need to find something that works that doesn’t cause side effects I cannot tolerate. My doctor’s assistant called in a prescription for a different type of nasal spray but it’s $60 for a 30-month supply and there’s no over the counter alternative so I won’t be trying that. I purchased generic Zyrtec which I plan to start taking tomorrow.