104. Going Off Antihistimines

Well, today was the first day without Zyrtec. I haven't felt very good, to say the least, but so far it's tolerable. I still have 2 more days on the doxepin, though. I take that in the evening.

I still sort of find things to keep me busy, even though I feel crumby. I just pace myself and pick things to do that are reasonable, considering how I feel.

So I started portioning out my weekly meds, but I need to get some refills, and I try to do that on the first of the month so that that will count for meeting my "share of cost" for Medicaid, my secondary health insurance.

I also vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom. Did a few little things in the kitchen. Otherwise I've been working on my recipe database more.

I also did some exercises for fibromyalgia too. At least now I have a selection of exercises I can do to mix it up and also to adjust what I do according to how I feel.

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy and difficult day.

First of all, I have a whole slew of blood tests, which I have to fast for. Since my breakfast meds/supplements are by far the largest quantity of any during the day, it's hard to take them without eating to help get them down. So I'll probably have to take my pre-breakfast ones and then go to the lab to get the blood tests done. Then I'll come home and have breakfast.

I have two doctor's appointments, also, so I won't have a lot of time to dilly dally. And I promised the physical therapy place I'd stop by tomorrow with the p/t prescription and my insurance cards, and I should also get some detailed medical bills from a couple places. These things are all in the same general area, near each other.

I also have to pick up my meds from the pharmacy, because I won't have enough for the next day.

This might not sound like a lot, but it's REALLY a lot when you feel crumby and you just sort of do things even though you're only half there. At least in body you can physically be present for these things.

I bought a container of mushrooms at BJs the other day, so a while ago I decided what to do with them. I have enough (you get big containers of things at places like BJs) to make both a mushroom pirog (a Russian recipe, a large flat yeast dish with a filling and then another piece of dough on top, perhaps like a pizza sandwich, but without the sauce) and also mushroom "meatballs" to go with the marinara sauce I have frozen from my earlier roma tomato plant). I also have a couple sweet potatoes that I need to make a salad with. I'll probably do that Thursday. Cooking is sort of a fun outlet for me, something that gives me pleasure and I also try to cook healthy, although I am also planning a not-so-healthy sweet.

Last fall when I sort of went overboard on holiday baking (although, in hindsight, it may be the last time I do that for the family, so I hope that, and my putting on Thanksgiving dinner, are good memories for the others) I learned about cake balls. You can really get creative with them, and for my Christmas baking I made a walnut cake to use in the cake balls. But this time I want to make a chocolate & cherry cake. This will be a smaller cake (the walnut cake was a large sheet cake), so it won't make so many. How it works, basically, is you make (or buy, I suppose) a cake and use something as a binder, such as frosting, cake fillings, and the like. You break up the cake to make cake crumbs and then mix it with the binder (frosting or whatever). Then you make little balls out of this mixture. Finally, you melt candy coating and dip the balls in the coating like you would do for truffles. So, really, the sky's the limit on all the possible combinations you could make. The cake I've chosen this time is a single-layer chocolate-cherry round cake, and then I'll bind the crumbs with homemade cherry filling. I have a bunch of candy coating (and other holiday baking components too) left from last fall, so I could use either the light or dark chocolate coatings to dip them in.

Then I have to just try to not eat them all at once, but spread them out as little treats. That's why I don't bake much, although I've found that I have pretty good self-control when I make popsicles or put homemade ice cream, sorbet, etc. in some popsicle push-up molds I have. I have yummy Mexican mango popsicles now.

I guess that's all for now. Have a good evening.

~ Meg

103. A Busy Day

Today I had 2 doctor's appointments and also had a blood test done, and since one of the doctor's appointments was about halfway to BJs and I was down to 1/4 tank of gas, I swung by down there too to pick up some staples (such as oatmeal ingredients and fruit for my smoothies).

The first appointment didn't do much as far as diagnosing this new ailment, but I did get a new physical therapy script from it.

At the lab, the technician had to try 3 times to get a vein for just one test. So I had 3 bandaids on my arms & one hand for a while. Usually my veins aren't that hard to find.

The next appointment was the doctor filling in for my regular doctor (actually the other one was too, but he's been filling in for her all summer while she's on maternity leave). This doctor did a lot, it seems to me.

First, he said that if I was going to have allergy immunization I had to have another set of tests done. The clincher, though, is that for those tests I have to get off the two antihistimines I just started Saturday. I guess we'll find out what's helping more, my stopping my magnesium oxide-containing supplements or the antihistimines. Needless to say, I am not particularly looking forward to this.

He also ordered a whole slew of blood tests, which I'll get on Wed., when I see the neurologist about my weakness and other things with my head (some numbness in the face and a feeling of "fullness" in the head, for example). The neurologist is in the same building as the lab is. But I have to fast for the blood tests, and I usually like to do those kinds of tests in the morning, but my neurology appt. is in the afternoon. I may just end out making 2 trips down there; at least it's not too far.

I did also manage to double book myself next Tuesday for the allergy tests and the physical therapy evaluation, so I have to try to fix that tomorrow.

The rash is way lessened, but I think I still have some facial swelling and definitely also have feelings of weakness, and it's possible my vestibular neuronitis (dizziness from my left ear being "overactive") might be acting up a little too.

If anyone tells you about the many benefits of being on disability, don't believe them!

I also made a special trip up to the dollar store to pick up a bag of cat food to feed the stray cats here. Several people do it and I ran out and then didn't have any money, and it might be that others were broke the same time I was because it seemed like the cats haven't been having much food lately. They really are a reasonably nice bunch of cats and they're all able to eat together around the food dish, except for this one especially ornery one. Actually, the ornery one is sort of a Jeckle and Hyde; she can be very lovey dovey but she's also scratched me twice, once so that I got a decent bleeding going on.

Since I'm going to be getting off these medicines, it's probably going to be at least a week before I'm up to working on my autobiography again though, although I did think of another thing I could do that wouldn't take so much concentrated mental work.

~ Meg

102. Still Feeling Crummy

I went to church this morning, but I didn't stay for the special events afterward, because I thought it would be just too much.

My face is still a bit puffy and I feel pretty weak.

I did some stuff around home, including a little puttering in the garden, ironing and working on my recipe database. I also did a little exercising for my fibromyalgia, using the exercise ball and some light weights (2 lbs) & ankle weights. I dug out my cane from the bottom chest in case I end out needing it. The last time I needed it was last summer when the dizziness from my vestibular neuronitis was bad.

My head feels funny and I don't think my mental capacities are that great, so I still don't think I can work on this project, the autobiography, right now.

***

I just found out I got another deposit from what I think it Unemployment, but it's more than I've been getting by $50. I hardly know what's going on in the news, so I don't know if there was supposed to be an increase or how that works. It's not a very good way to manage finances, though, not really knowing what your income is. I think I'll be able to pay my car insurance bill this month though with that income, although it is going to be tight. I wanted to use a coupon for the Container Store to get some clothing bags to put my hanging clothes in (I have too many clothes for the small closet here, so I have one of those racks for hanging clothes on). The thing is that I'm sure that having those clothes out like they are is bad for the dust mite situation - my level 5 (out of 6 possible levels) dust mite allergy. But the coupon ended now, so I'll just have to get them when I can.

Really, I spend all my disposable money on health things it seems. I spent about $200 on a HEPA air purifier for the dust mite allergies, and the month before that I needed new glasses. And that's not to mention all the supplements I take, some of which make an incredible difference in my level of functioning.

So lately my only splurge items are little bits of fancy foods so I can be creative in my cooking. Every once in a while I might stop at Starbucks, but it's been well over a month since I've done that.

But before I moved here I wasn't necessarily this stringent with my money. I hope this health condition is just temporary (and nothing else new pops up) so that I can still work again, at least part-time, eventually.

***

I still have all these boxes of papers and files for my autobiography. I have piles of papers on the floor near my desk, a couple boxes and some books in the living room area, and another file drawer or 2 in the bedroom. So this project is staring me in the face every day and I won't forget about it. I'm just not up to it right now.

~Meg

101. Leave Continued

Today I saw the dermatologist, who wrote 2 new prescriptions for me and one over-the-counter medicine as well. He also ordered a blood test, which I'll do Monday when I'll be near a Lab Corp, where I go for blood tests (because my insurance prefers them).

Monday I see my primary care doctor and also allergy doctor. I got a call yesterday, though, that my regular allergy doctor won't be available, so someone else will see me in his place. I think I should also make an appointment with the neurologist because I'm still having some weakness and a little trouble walking.

It seemed like people were thinking this is an allergic reaction, and yesterday evening when I took my daily calcium-magnesium pill I felt worse, so after looking into it, I started wondering whether the magnesium oxide in that vitamin is to blame for all these rather sudden onset symptoms. I usually take a plain calcium supplement, but I think I started on this new bottle shortly before the symptoms started. But then my multivitamin also contains magnesium oxide, and I've never had this reaction before. Maybe it was just too much magnesium... or maybe I'm all wet and it's something else altogether. I looked online to find out more about the blood test the dermatologist is ordering and it looks like it's for checking into lupus, although it can be used for other things too.

The rash seems to be under control, but it's not going away. It's still on the same coverage area. It's just not as prominent and itchy. My face is still a bit puffy too.

So much for my grand plans to start looking for work... I haven't done anything on my autobiography.

I should probably mention, though, that I've had a couple nice conversations with mom in the last few days, so I'm glad about that. When I went to e.r. the other day I didn't tell any of my family because I consider I don't have an emergency contact now after what happened that landed me back here. I told mom today about it though.

I worked a (very) little bit in the garden. The left side is pretty barren now that I've taken the squash and cucumber plants out. There is mulch ground cover there though. And my lone stevia plant is standing tall and thriving in it's corner of my plot. I wish more plants were that easy to take care of! I will say though that the celosia seeds I planed seem to be really thriving, although they haven't bloomed yet. They're maybe 12 to 18 inches tall, but have full, healthy foliage. Underneath the air conditioner window unit I planted canterbury bells and they're growing fine, but now I see that they're getting infected with what looks like "leaf miners". That's been a common ailment too in my garden.

I think that's all for now.

~ Meg

100. Extended Leave Of Absence Requested

Unfortunately, I think this is going to go on longer than anticipated/hoped. I tried to submit a post from my Blackberry last night while in e.r., but I guess it didn't go through.

Late yesterday evening my face was getting more swollen, I was having occasional difficulty swallowing and I was feeling more sort of "out of it". So I called my primary care doctor and got the doctor on call. She said it sounded like my lips and/or tongue were swollen. I knew for sure that my lips were swollen and it felt like my tongue could be a bit swollen, so because of that she thought I should be checked out, and with the weakness I was describing she thought it would be better for me not to drive, but call 911 instead. So I did that and the paramedics gave me a benadryl shot en route to the hospital.

In typical e.r. fashion, it took me about 5 hours to get to where I was actually getting medical care, but then I was there for about 7 or 8 hours receiving i.v. medicines which brought the facial swelling down considerably and also made me feel significantly stronger. But I still have a little swelling in the face and I'm not up to my energy levels of a week ago, when I was thinking about starting to look for a job.

I got a new prescription, a histimine blocker, so hopefully that will help keep the symptoms manageable until we find out what the actual root cause it. I still see the dermatologist tomorrow (Sat.) morning and see the allergy doctor and the fill-in primary care physician (while my regular dr. is on maternity leave) on Monday. The allergy doctor's office agreed to let me come under the circumstances even though I might not have the money for the co-pay.

That's all for now, except to say that if I have some days that I feel reasonably well I might return to the subject at hand, the file I'm working through, but I don't want to try it when I'm not feeling up to it because my thinking won't be as clear to adequately address some of the issues.

Part of the reason why I was going as fast as I was in pumping out these blog entries because ever since my return to the States from Russia in 1997 it seems like I can never quite finish anything, because something always comes along to interrupt it. At least I feel like I've taken a big bite out of what I need to say and there are a lot worse points in the sequence for temporary leave taking. This is one thing, though that I'm going to try my darnedest to finish, though. Come flood or high water, I'm going to do it, by golly!


Meg

99. Interruption, Continued (Again)

My condition continues... so I'm still on sabbatical from this blog.

If I do too much I start sweating which aggravates the rash and I get don't feel very strong either. My face remains puffy, too, and I didn't use the CPAP because of this last night.

~ Meg

98. Interruption, Continued (Again)

I'm still not feeling that great, but now that I've started on the methylprednisone I'm feeling a bit better. But it seems that between doses I start feeling crumby again, including facial puffing.

But I have been doing a bit of looking for those MIA articles, and I think I'll just have to let it go. If I find them it will just be a serendipitous success. I've looked everything I can think of, most places more than once. I must have pulled them out for some reason, since they're so apropos to my autobiography. Be that as it may, I feel that I can't justify spending the time to look for them.

One thing I did try is online through my public library card, and they have the one journal that I'm sure one of the articles came from, but not far back enough. Since my dad retired in 1990, anything relating to the present wouldn't be all that helpful for my purposes.

So then the other tack I've been taking is going online and trying to find something that way. So now I have too many tabs open and Firefox is acting up (that happens when I have to many tabs open).

I still am having trouble finding someone who can help me with dad's DCII report. The last place I called said that I should call the agency that issued it. The document is not classified, but they don't list any of this kind of information on their web site - regarding the fields on these reports or the agency code acronyms. I assume that that's not an oversight, but intentional, which means that they might not want to be too helpful. In any case, even if I were to get the basic information, they wouldn't tell me the significance of it. I have another idea to try, so we'll see.

I wanted to post this quote that I found on another web site:

***

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."

Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), Third President of the United States and principal author of the Declaration of Independence

***

Well, you can just guess who Thomas Jefferson had in mind, but I'm thinking that in my case rebellion against the Vienna mission is a rather ironic fit. After all, the mission is supposed to be doing God's work, and but if the fit the description (if not exactly on the national scale) of "tyrants" then Thomas Jefferson, for one, would think that I was justified in not submitting very well. I didn't rebel very well, though, and Thomas Jefferson may not be the last word on this from a theological standpoint. Nonetheless, I liked the quote and wanted to share it for your consideration.

***

I have to go grocery shopping now because I'm out of my main dish for lunch, which is my main meal (like dinner for most people, at least in the USA). I'm feeling reasonably well after taking the steroid not long ago and the cooler evening is better for the rash as the heat aggravates it. So I should go out now.

~ Meg