Category: Health

Weekend Recap

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Friday we had our friends EN & KM over for a movie night. We ordered deep dish from Lou Malnati’s and watched Grandma’s Boy which they both loved. Wookie was a bit apprehensive when they first came over but by the end of the night she was playing with them and actually wouldn’t stop going over by EN and getting in his face.

Didn’t do much Saturday except go shopping. We hit up Target and then later took Wookie to Petsmart (where we scored a free bag of food) and Petco looking for a new travel carrier since we’re flying out to Arizona soon and her old one is way too small. We almost got one at Petco but I’m glad we didn’t because I found the smaller version of the same carrier on their website for less and ordered it Saturday night. We also stopped by Chipotle to pick up food since I had a BOGO coupon.

Sunday, as noted in my other entry, was Indiana Beach.

Today we did a little more shopping and then went to the dentist for my cleaning which I had rescheduled from June because I was in too much pain at the time. Back then it was mostly my neck that was stiff and my top back teeth were sore and now it’s my teeth and I have ringing in my right ear. The x-rays the dentist took didn’t reveal a cause; he thinks it’s my sinuses even though I don’t have any drainage. I really should see a doctor, but I’m just feeling discouraged right now since when I saw my ENT two months ago he didn’t think any of my issues were in his realm. So I saw my primary care who gave me a steroid which helped resolve the neck issues but not the overall pressure in my face/head. I think I need to find a new ENT but I’m so tired of seeing doctors. At what point do I just give up, deal with the issues, and hope they eventually resolve on their own?

That being said, I’m contemplating being tested for Lyme Disease now that Brother # 2 was diagnosed with it since he’s had less symptoms than I have. A Google search has revealed that it’s possible my sudden increase in panic attacks and the ear ringing could be caused by Chronic Lyme. I was going to call the insurance today to try and find out how much the test would cost but at this point I don’t care because I need to at least rule it out as the cause of these mysterious ailments I’ve been having lately. I’m so tired of one medical issue after another. Rarely does a day go by that something isn’t feeling weird or causing me pain. It has made my already intense fear of dying worse than ever because I worry there’s something really wrong with me that no one has been able to diagnose yet and I’m going to die because it wasn’t caught in time.

Milwaukee Brewfest 2017

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Saturday my brother came over to watch Wookie so we could attend the Milwaukee Brewfest in Wisconsin with our friends KM and EN. We drove up together in Joe’s car and our friends were kind enough to treat us to lunch at Oscar’s Bar and Grill (which we first discovered back in February 2016). I was feeling off thanks to lack of sleep courtesy of a severe panic attack episode the night before so I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and ended up eating it sans bun. They have awesome fries but I went easy on them since I didn’t want to trigger any issues. I felt weird enough having to urinate so often including making a pitstop on the ride up even though it only takes about an hour and a half. It was a little longer, however, since we ran into traffic jams like three times. Luckily we left plenty early enough and still arrived at the fest before it began.

The on-site parking was only $5 which is awesome. Even though KM and I had designated driver wristbands ($15) and mostly sat around chatting and people-watching, I still had a pretty good time. Joe and EN certainly enjoyed themselves and even though there were 100 different vendors there only managed to sample about twenty beers. They had food trucks there which was cool since KM and I weren’t keen on the hot dog meal that came with our admission and gave ours to the boys. I got a personal pizza from the Palermos truck and KM got some cheese curds. Both were good.

This is the souvenir glass they gave to everyone at the entrance

We ended up leaving around 6:15 since I still wasn’t feeling so hot and KM agreed to drive Joe’s Escape (I was supposed to). We stopped for even MORE food (LOL) at the Brat Stop since neither of our friends had ever been there before. I didn’t actually get anything to eat since I wasn’t hungry. I believe by the time we got home it was around 10 pm and Wookie had been by herself about 5 hours by that point since B took off just before 5 pm. I’m so glad he and his girlfriend are ok with watching her occasionally since I don’t like the idea of leaving her with a stranger or in a boarding facility. Not sure what we’ll do when we want to go on an actual multi-day vacation, though. I hope by then they have a house (they are currently looking) and their dog gets along with Wookie so she can stay with them. Fingers crossed.

One of the cool things about the fest is they included a free ticket to Germanfest which was going on just 2 miles down the road. We didn’t get to take advantage of that, but if the two fests coincide next year, the plan is for KM and I to have Joe and EN pass those tickets to us through the festival fence and take an Uber over there. We’ll come back to pick up the boys when their festival is over.

4th Of July Weekend

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Friday evening Joe went out for drinks with a work buddy so I decided to try and get caught up a little on Orange Is The New Black since season five just dropped and we were still only halfway through season 4. Joe is never really was in the mood to watch it so I warned him I wasn’t going to wait for him anymore. I knocked out five episodes but didn’t really enjoy them so he didn’t miss much. I think I might be over that show, and watching TV in general. We didn’t even turn it on at all last weekend. Nothing really holds my interest or gets me excited save for a few Netflix shows which we tend to binge watch within a week because we have no self control.

Saturday we took Wookie to the park to tire her out since we knew we’d be leaving her at home when we went to my parents house to celebrate the holiday prematurely. We stopped by B’s house first to meet his new dog, a nine year old poodle mix he and his girlfriend got from a friend who no longer wanted her. She’s really friendly and R sent me a Snapchat a couple of days later saying she’s enjoying the rope toy we brought her.

My mom decided we were doing Mexican food for the American holiday (lol) so I brought fixings for burrito bowls. Joe and B worked on running another ethernet cable from the router in the basement up to B’s old room where my mom likes to watch Netflix. The WiFi signal is weak in there, plus when we boosted it she was getting headaches, hence the need for the hard line. She wanted Joe to use the same hole that the cable comes through but it wasn’t wide enough so the plan was to cut the fittings off the cable line to remove it, widen the hole, and then put both lines through it. Only problem was Joe hadn’t anticipated needing to do that so we didn’t have any of the necessary equipment. We texted B since he does that kinda stuff for a living to see if he had any in his car (as even though we parted ways at the same time to head to my parents he was still en-route). Well, turns out he had the tools but no fittings, However, he just so happened to pass a Comcast truck on the way over, pulled up alongside to ask the tech if he had any fittings, and the guy gave him four. Hilarious!

Despite being at my parents’ for roughly 5 hours, we never got around to playing any games. Earlier in the day Joe learned that his mom had gone to the hospital with pain in her abdomen and was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She’s already had colon cancer, and possibly breast cancer too, so she’s not really interested in going through chemo again at her age (79). Joe’s sister and mom ended up calling him while we were at my parents’ so he spent some time downstairs speaking to them. Right now we’re not exactly sure what is going to happen until she has a few more tests to see whether the cancer is contained. If so, she can have a hysterectomy and if not, well, I guess that means she may not be with us much longer. Either way we need to make plans to go see her since nothing is guaranteed.

I love Joe’s mom and am sad that this is happening. I realize death is inevitable but I have difficulty accepting it and how it changes our lives. I’m absolutely terrified of dying or having anyone I love pass away. It just makes it feel like life is completely pointless. I’ve been having my own health issues lately and it’s very frustrating. Last night I had two back to back panic attacks. I took a Xanax when the first one started and then just as I was calming down it started up again so I had to take another. I didn’t get much sleep and I’ve spent most of the day just doing my chores slowly and resting in between because I’m afraid of triggering another one. My doctor put me on a low dose steroid for six days to help reduce the inflammation that was causing my neck to be stiff but I’m not sure it helped all that much but it certainly made my lymph nodes swell up and hurt one of the days. In addition, after certain doses my throat would catch when I swallowed and overall I just felt like my body wasn’t cooperating. Also, I’m learning now that some people experience withdrawal symptoms (even if they taper off like I did) which includes severe anxiety. My last dose was yesterday morning so I’m guessing it could be the reason for these panic attacks and the non-stop burning/reflux I’ve been having. Just what I need. I’m so sick of feeling like something is seriously wrong with me but no one can figure it out. It would be nice to just feel normal or get a non-life-threatening diagnosis so I could do something proactive about my health and feel better.

Anyway….

Sunday we went to Savers and I got a cute top I will probably wear to my friend’s party later this month. I always feel like I look like a slob so I’ve been on a mission to find some cute outfits that are also comfortable. I also got this strange little figurine that caught my eye at the mall.

It reminded me of the Skelanimals that were all the rage a few years ago.

Monday I did my usual cleaning since Joe was at work and Tuesday we grilled burgers and had a low-key holiday just the two of us. Wookie was not liking the fireworks on Monday and Tuesday nights and mostly hid under my desk. Unfortunately she will have to deal with them again next week when our town’s annual summerfest shoots off fireworks both Wednesday and Sunday nights.

Weekend

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My off balance feeling came back with a vengeance recently so that sucks. The back of my neck is super sore and my head feels like it weighs twice as much as normal. Since I’m sick of going to the doctor and getting tests that come back normal I’m just waiting it out. At some point it will go away like my other transient ailments. 

Despite feeling like crap we still took Wookie to a pet wellness event at a local pet store on Saturday to get a bag of freebies.

Joe also shampood the living room carpet Saturday night since I’ve noticed the bottom of our socks getting dirtier quicker even though I clean the house more often and more thoroughly than ever. Having a dog just makes it get dirty faster. We used vinegar and got water to clean the carpet so it’s probably not as clean as a soap would have gotten it but I didn’t want to use the bottle we already had since there was no indication it’s pet safe. 

Sunday we were going to go to the Festival of the Fox but between me not feeling up to walking and how hot it was we opted to skip it. 
That afternoon I called Nicor about a possible gas leak. There was a strong mothball smell in the laundry room and kitchen and after some googling one person said it turned out to be gas. I only called to be safe and they sent someone out to check but everything is fine. This smell seems to materialize every year when we run the A/C so either it is somehow creating the smell or the neighbors are using mothballs. I suspect it’s the latter which sucks because I don’t know how to address it. I have to wonder if it’s the source of my headache and dizziness though. 

Sunday evening we treated E and his friend to dinner at Bakers Square since they were in the area. I haven’t eaten at one in a long time but it wasn’t all that. The reuben I had was pretty good as was the strawberry rhubarb pie but my stomach hated me the next day.  Plus the service was slow. 

Whirlwind Weekend

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Friday (3/3) was my follow-up visit with my doctor. I brought along some previous test results I found stored on my computer and he decided to prescribe a low dose of Lyrica to help with what he suspects may be Fibromyalgia. I’m nervous about taking a new medicine but I’ll give it a try if I’ll feel less achy all the time.

After the doctor I stopped at Target for a couple of items and noticed they do have a few cheap dog toys so I got Wookie a pink rubber bone and another rope since she loves playing tug of war so much.

Saturday (3/4) we were up early to swing by our old physician’s office to get our medical records and then to my friend’s house for a morning puppy play date. Her older dog just passed away two weeks ago which is sad. Wookie was more relaxed on this visit than before although she still won’t play with the other dog, Teddy. She also vomited in the car when we were only about five minutes away and vomited again when we were about five minutes from home. She’s fine on short car rides but apparently 40+ minutes is too much for her stomach. I guess we can try not feeding her beforehand, although in this case it would have seemed cruel since she hadn’t eaten since the night before.

We stopped at home so Wookie could pee (she holds it the entire time we’re out, even though we brought her pee pad and also visited my friend’s backyard) and were planning to take her with us to Petco to buy a dog tag. Since we had a few other stops, and she was exhausted from her adventure, we decided to leave her home instead so she could rest.

We stopped at McDonald’s for lunch since the app had a deal where you buy anything and get a free medium item from their McCafe menu, so we both tried the chocolate Shamrock shakes. I liked it, but plan to get a regular all-mint one before they stop making them.

That evening I traumatized Wookie putting a different collar with the new tag on and she decided she didn’t like me for few a hours. She actually went into her crate in the living room and just glared at me. She also kept chewing the tag and has already scratched the part with her name and my phone number. She then got it stuck between her teeth so we took everything off and plan to get a collar where you can have the info stitched directly into it instead. Plus she will be microchipped soon.

Sunday (3/5) afternoon we met up with my brothers and Brother B’s girlfriend, R, at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville to see John Wick Chapter 2. My brother had a Groupon so we only had to pay for our food. I got the $5 sangria special which wasn’t bad (I don’t normally like wine) and Joe got the mushroom burger. Every theater has a theme and ours was Egyptian which was interesting. I was teasing my brother that had we seen the earlier showing we would have been in the ocean one which looked really cool (from the outside at least). Despite our reservations we had a very nice time. On the way there we were kinda dreading it because we can be a little weird if we feel like we’re being ripped off and based on the menu and prices that’s kind of what it felt like beforehand. However, we tried to reframe the experience in our minds – going out to lunch and seeing a movie, at the same time no less, with family. My only complaint – the chairs are so thick that sitting normally my feet couldn’t touch the floor so I had to recline to be comfortable. It was definitely an experience, though, and I wouldn’t mind going back there again. Also, even though I wasn’t thrilled about seeing the movie because I didn’t care much for the first one, it was really good.

After the movie everyone came back to our place for dinner (tacos) and to see Wookie. She was growling at Brother J which is crazy since she’s met him before and liked him! I think her socializing is paying off because after getting over her initial attitude she was running around the living room in the middle of everyone instead of hanging off to the side scared. By the end of the evening she was actually playing with R and jumping on her arm with her toys. I think overall she prefers females to males.

This afternoon I met up with my friend at Steak and Shake for lunch and then she came back to the house to see Wookie. She’s been here once before but it was months ago so I guess Wookie didn’t remember her. She was growling and barking up a storm, even after we brought her into the living room with us. She stopped after a few minutes and by the end of the hour was playing and licking my friend’s fingers. She’s so funny how she can go from being so angry to friendly.