windmill brain

I hate those night when the mind just won't stop so you can't get to sleep. I wish I could blame the comfort of my bed but the Select Comfort is NOT the problem here. (45 seems to be where I'm settling ) Lots going on with Jerry's mom in the hospital and stuff. I did end up watching Blast from the Past and Babe last night. Both great little movies.

Speaking of mom-in-law and the stuff, she is actually moving from the hospital to the nursing home right now. They didn't even inform us. Jerry heard through his aunt who happened to call his mom. GAH! Terrible customer service! So anyway, she is moving to a nursing home she has been in before. People stole her things, they were lax on her rehab and she developed scabies while she was there. Yeah, I definitely would go back there, pfft! My skin crawls just thinking about that place. It's closer to her home though which means Jerry Sr. can go visit her more often. And..it's what she wanted.

All these things coming up have made Jerry and I talk about our own health care. Quality over convenience is the key with us. Now I just need to keep us healthy so that isn't even an issue.

Pain in the neck

Poor Jerry has been in pain for over a week now. On Thursday he called me and told me he needed to get to a doctor. I left work and took him to the ER. BIG mistake. It was 4 hours of him waiting in the waiting room before they even saw him. He was in agony. When they did finally take him back it was another 2 hours before they gave him anything for the pain. Basically what they did is rule out a heart attack, as it was left shoulder and arm that was having pain. So after 4 viles of blood, an EKG they decided that he was dehydrated. DUH! it's been 6 hours since he walked in the door and hasn't had anything to drink since 4 hours before that. So they gave him some fluids via IV and FINALLY a percocet. After xrays they decided it was a pinched nerve. Gave him a collar to wear, ordered an MRI and discharged him. They put the collar on and before we made it to the door, Jerry was complaining that his arms were going numb. By the time we made it to the car he was begging me to take off the collar. So I did. The percocet didn't take the edge off.

Next day, I call the imaging place for the MRI and they won't accept the order from the ER Doctor. This is where I panic. Jerry and I don't have a primary doctor. We both have medical issues that require us to see endocrinologist. Apparently you have to have a primary doctor to get an MRI. So I scrambled and got him an appointment on Friday with a PA with what will become our Primary doctor.

Friday, we go to the appointment. Jerry can barely stand the car ride. The PA examines him and says "Don't wear the collar, it will only worsen things" and starts massaging Jerry's back. Within minutes he finds a trigger point and explains that he has inflammation of a nerve bundle. Okay, great...now what. So he gave him a steroid shot in the trigger point and prescribed some muscle relaxers as well as some different pain meds. Also showed me how do massage his back with a tennis ball and some exercises that needed to be done. Yay! I felt like we hit the jackpot with this office.

We get home and of course Jerry is in TONS of pain as he had to sit up for the ride to the office and back. I dropped him off and went to get his RXs. Doped him up and I think he was so tired he finally slept a little.

Today, he is a little better. Still can't sit up, needs to be on his back but doesn't seem to wince when he moves as much. We did his exercises and I can see that he is getting some mobility back. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I can do it myself!

I hate going to the doctor. I think sometimes it's a waste of money and if I just tough it out I'll be just fine. This time was different. I'm really glad I went because I have a few infections that need to be knocked out before the cruise. The ones in my ears especially. I don't need to already be having balance problems and then try to get my sea legs. Although it would be fun to see. I'm on day 3 of taking medicine and am feeling a little better but still not 100%. I am taking a break from the internship the rest of this week to help with the recuperation. It's been an odd semester with colds/flu and now this.

It's supposed to be 82° on Saturday! I'm hoping to get outside a little and let the sunshine do it's thing!

lingering

My cold/flu is lingering. I'm tons better but just not 100%. I'm tired of resting though. I want to get out there and do something. The weather today though will keep me in. Rainy with a few thundershowers. Ok..so I don't really want to go out in that. I do have plenty of things to do around the house. It's a mess. Actually mess is too nice of a word for the condition of the house.

So what else...My internship is officially over but I'm still hanging around the middle school. I want to keep my interpreting practice up until the test in May. The biggest issue is that other people need hours and want my spot that I don't really want to give up. I guess I'll talk to my mentors next week about it. Makes me sad to think I won't see those kids for the rest of the year.

23 days until Spring Break and the cruise. YAY!

Better

I think I'm getting better because last night I was able to go to bed without using NyQuil.

I don't think I've mentioned my Monday night class much this semester. I'm not a really big fan of the class but last night I think the professor and the class came to an understanding and that a better way for me of learning will now be put in action. The class is pretty close knit and to sign infront of each other is no big deal. Well...to me it's not. It might be to others. Anyway, I actually happy-ish about this class now. Let's hope it wasn't a fluke night.

Cramps

I have been having terrible cramps all week. Not the female kind but all over my body. Some of it is because of how much I'm interpreting and muscle fatigue. My hands sometimes will cramp up so bad that they look deformed. It takes me a minute but usually I can stretch them out and it's fine. Also my legs have cramping up as well. Early in the week it was just at night but now it's happening throughout the day. I've been eating bananas to help and it is a little but I think the real problem is that I'm not getting enough fluids. I'm constantly thirsty. Dry mouth kinda thirsty. I know that I haven't been drinking enough of anything and have been trying to drink more water as I know this will help but when I do drink it's making my stomach hurt. Another reason I'm not drinking is that during the day I don't have the time or availability to use a rest room so I'm almost afraid to drink anything. I know this isn't healthy and it has me a little worried. I have my water next to me and I'm trying to drink as much of it as I can. I'm hoping that it's just because I'm so tired and this weekend I can relax and rehydrate.

Domino Effect

I have passed the cold onto Jerry. Oopsie! Well it was bound to happen. Hopefully he won't have it as bad. Mine is still hanging on but not nearly as bad as last weekend.

This Friday was Evaluation day for me at the internship. I asked them to fill out the papers so I could have them back by the end of the day but they both said they wanted to wait until Monday so that they could write comments. Hmmm..I think that's good because I'll have tons of feedback and know where I need to improve. My mentors are really supportive and I feel very lucky that I got placed with them for my internship. I've learned tons.

breathe

That's what I'm doing...although my nostrils are full of junk and don't want to cooperate. I know..TMI! Actually today is a little better. I haven't slept well the past couple nights. Mind is racing too much with "How should I interpret that?". I even caught myself interpreting a movie we put on to fall asleep to.

Internship is half over according to hours needed but it was supposed to take 16 weeks to complete it all. We'll see. I'm asking my mentors to do the half way evaluation on my either Friday or early next week.

School..eh...I'm glad it's my last semester as I'm getting burned out driving over there three times a week. I love two of my classes..the jury is still out on the third one. It only meets one night a week and I didn't have it this week due to the holiday. I guess the biggest complaint I have is that the class starts at 6pm and the professor is never ready to lecture until about 6:20pm because he can't run the Media center. Maybe it will get better.

TMI? Probably...

Today I went to my very first Mammogram. Yay me! I scheduled it to be first thing in the morning because the thought of wearing no deodorant in the summer is horrid. So I headed over to the hospital around 7:45am to do my check in and hoping I could get in before my scheduled 8:15am appointment. They have done some renovations to the hospital and now have a lovely patient check in area. I was impressed not only at how it looked but how efficient it was. I know it is still early in the day but that is why I make my appointments so early. So after check in in I head down to the Breast Care Section. You walk in and it's decorated in dark wood with green wallpaper. Very cluby looking. So they call my name to verify a few more things that they missed at patient check-in and then took me back to the changing room. It was exactly like a country club locker room. Small dressing rooms with a row of lockers to keep your stuff in while you go have your breast flattened. So I change into my "gown" that ties in the front, lock up my shirt, bra and purse and sat down to peruse an Elle magazine. I maybe waited 5 minutes before my name was called and I was taken into a small room with a device to take picture of my breast. Whee! The room was white and very clinical, which is fine as it is a procedure room. Elena, the technician, had me verify my birthday and explained to me that because this is my first mammogram that they might call me back for additional films because they don't have anything to compare them too. Fine. Now for the torture. Okay, it really wasn't that bad although it wasn't a picnic either. I still have red marks where the device squeezed me. I'm hoping they won't turn into bruises although they do hurt when I poke them. (I can hear Jerry saying "then don't poke them" in my head) So after 4 pictures, 2 for each I tie back up my gown and wait as Elena dashes out of the room. I'm assuming she is going to make sure the films came out. After a few minutes she comes back in and says, "Congratulations you made it through your first Mammogram". Yay! Now I get to look forward to this once a year. I think I have a few years before they start requiring a Colonoscopy..I'm not sure though and I'm not bringing it up!