Life Happens...

     It's true...even when I IMAGINE I can stop time, life just keeps on whirling by!  And lately, it has seemed to be spinning at an extraordinary cycle.  Here it is almost the end of January and I'm still wondering what happened to Thanksgiving and Christmas!  LOL

     So, let me catch "all y'all" up to speed on the recent happenings of MY life...no matter how mundane and boring...just DEAL with it! LOL

     Let's see...I think my last worrisome posts (OK, maybe "worrisome" isn't the correct word.  How about "anal-squeaking-tight-obsessive-neurotic?!?) began with lamenting about WHY I had begged so strongly to go back to work on full-time status...only to discover my eyes were bigger than my belly (I'm not 100% sure what that saying means, but I know my mother used to use it, so I feel compelled).  I seemed to have worn myself down to a nub after only four, consecutive days.  And, true to my nature, I blamed "someone" else and became a WHINING WUSSY!  I have since had several days off to recuperate and return back today with hopefully a "bigger belly" and a bit clearer vision.  LOL

     On Friday of last week, I also went in for the first (and now the last) of my monthly IV Solumedrol infusions.  But once again, as is true to MY nature, I developed a horrendous case of insomnia, lasting 40+ hours...after FINALLY getting a piece of the "shut-eye pie" Saturday, but not enough to fill my sleep void, I slept a restless few hours Sunday night.  I awoke Monday morning with considerable fatigue (but who WOULDN'T, given my lack of real sleep?!?), a deep ache in my left shoulder, shooting/sharp pains in my left wrist and thumb, and sharp, stabbing pains in my left cheek...not a "good" day...but before I get into THAT story, I need to rewind the tape a bit and discuss my visit with Jade, my mentor and friend.

     You may recall my whining lament about my mentor/friend who I haven't seen in over 11 years (and when we began to count actual dog years, it was closer to 13!) coming for a brief visit over the weekend?  I was obsessing about cleaning my sty and whether or not she might mistake me as the Good Year Blimp at first sight, given my propensity to pack on pounds in the last decade?  Well...once again, true to my nature and the way "odd" things seem to unfold in my life, Jade DID visit, but not without having to meet her at the local EMERGENCY ROOM!!!

     Simmer down now...the ER wasn't for me.  However, one of the women she was traveling with developed some strange, abdominal pain over the weekend.  On the way to my house, the pain only seemed to intensify, so they veered off at...drum roll please...you guessed it...MY LOCAL CLUB MED ER!!!

     Jade called me from the ER and, after several phone calls back and forth, I finally decided to poke my head in at Club Med and simply meet Jade there.  Typical.  We spent a few hours at the bedside of a woman I did not know, trying to console her in her agony.  I sheepishly kept watching for signs of ANYONE who might recognize me from MY visit to this ER a month ago...I feared I might have become somewhat of a hated celebrity in my previous delirious visit as I tend to become "verbal" when under the influence of high-powered drugs!  LOL

     With what was left of the evening, we did make it to a local seafood joint and broke bread together, laughing and catching up on old times.  Then we returned to my SPOTLESS home and both fell silently into a stupor.  Our alarm clocks chimed way too early in the morning and the near dawn drive to the airport (OK...it was really 9:00AM, but anything before 10:00AM seems like "dawn" to me!) came all too quickly.  We had maybe spent a total of 3 hours together without IV alarms beeping and the sounds of vomiting...but we DID recognize each other in those short hours...all in all, it was a good visit.

     Now, back to the steroid/no steroid issue.  If you read yesterday's post, you'll be pretty much caught up to speed...To be Novantrone, or not to be...that is the question.  And a question I just don't have a great answer for as of yet.  I'm hoping to be able to do a lot more reading of the drug study materials, etc., and thenI will make as informed a decision as I can.  I suppose I "shant" take too long with this decision given Dr. SWWNBN blatant statements about my potential impending "doom" of neurological status! LOL  I spent most of yesterday researching on the Internet any articles I could find about the drug...not a lot of recent information out there for us lowly MS patients...damn drug companies!

     And finally, after making myself sick from reading my computer screen and ingesting the multitude of "problems" that can occur from Novantrone (for those of you "not in the know"...Novantrone is a chemotherapy agent used to treat MS sometimes, when either the MS is progressing too rapidly or other treatment options have failed or not been optimal...I'll delve more into this in a later post), I dressed myself in semi-dress clothing and met Saint EB for a concert.  She had purchased Natalie McMasters tickets (fiddler) for my Christmas present (damn nice of her, eh?!?) and we spent the evening in the great concert hall (Benaroya) in Seattle, listening to one of the greatest fiddlers of this century set pace for the symphony...truly a wonderful evening.

     So now you are caught up to time and date...a most exciting life I lead...LOL  I will report in for duty today in just a few, short hours, and see what fresh hell awaits me at my employment.  I hope I can stay awake, stay upright, and stay focused...minor details for maintaining my job!  LOL