My small city has passed a law that starting this year anyone convicted of a sex related offense is not allowed to give out candy on Halloween. Since the city also has an ordinance that covers Halloween trick or treating they have added the sex offenders to the law. What happens here is that you may only trick or treat between 6 and 8:30pm and you may only go to houses that have the porch lights on. I actually agree with the lights on issue for safety but in this town it just seems as if Halloween is dying. We don't even take the kids out here anymore and instead we drive to my parents house 30 minutes south. The oldest made a killing there the past few years but this year said he was just not interested in going out so instead we stayed home to hand out candy.
Our youngest is now bouncing off the walls. He figured out what the hub-bub is about right after the first trick or treaters came by and so mom took him to a few houses on our street. Next year he will be able to go out but this year he is just a bit too young to really understand it all so he is handing out the candy. Each time the bell rings he hauls for the front door with the bucket and he wants to be the one putting the candy in the bags. This year it is Mike & Ike's, Chewy Granola bars and Reeses Peanut butter covered peanuts (think Peanut M&M's)
I think I am thankful that the oldest did not want to go though as I am not sure my back would be up for that distance. Add to it the little guy who will not hold your hand for too long before trying to break free. My wife is not a big Halloween person and in the past I have basically had to drag her along. I wish my back were up for it though as Halloween has always been one of my favorite "holidays", especially when they are giving out Snickers® bars! YUMMY!
Since it is a "lazy" night this evening I am just sitting in the recliner blogging and listening to some tunes from my youth on Rhapsody. This is the last month I will keep them tough as I just found out that with my DSL subscription (SBC.com) I get the premium music channels from Yahoo Music, so there is no sense in paying the extra $10 a month for something I am getting already.
LOL! The doorbell just rang and when Mom ran off to answer the door Colm stole her piece of pizza. Hahahaha! He is as proud of himself as can be as he is cramming this piece down his throat. Ooops...there's the bell again so they are all off and running to the door. That kid is going to be tuckered out if they keep coming at this pace.
To PB- thanks for the call brother. I need to get better about calling you. Hope the kids had a good time trick or treating.
10/31/2005
10/30/2005
I just read that Gerard Depardieu has decided to end his acting career. Of course I did not realize that he even had one.
He made like one movie in the states that was a minor hit?
It has been a LONG day for some reason. Not a long day like we have been traipsing all over God's creation but long as in it seems like someone stopped the clock and it started way too early for me. Now it is barely 17:30 and it seems like it is midnight. If this is what they call standard time I would prefer to go back to daylight savings.
I do not have a problem with Seasonal Affect Disorder and I enjoy the daylight ending early as that means the cool weather is here to stay. It is time to get cozy and settle in on the couch with my wife and watch the idiot box or maybe do some family indoor activities as it is too dark to go outside. Whatever we decided though this family seems to come even closer together in the fall/winter then the rest of the year.
My back is feeling ok today and my foot is doing well so in the grand scheme of things I am good to go. However my stomach has been somewhat upset this afternoon and even a few Tums® has failed to help settle it down. It looks like it may be time to get out the phenergan at bedtime, but only if the soy milk does not work. I have found that in many instances when all else fails my chocolate soy milk works quite well to settle my stomach. Yes, I said soy milk. I have found one brand that I really enjoy and even then I will only drink their chocolate (I drink the Light versions).
It can be a bit expensive but I really enjoy it versus regular milk (I have a problem drinking fluids from other animals) and when it comes to the nutritional value of soy versus milk, the soy I drink is lower in calories then many of the varieties of milk save Skim and even then they are dead even at about 90 calories per 8oz serving. However soy also has an advantage over regular milk that adds to the fact that it was not squeezed from an animal and that is it has some body to it. It is silky and that adds a dimension to drinking it that really makes it an enjoyable beverage.
Now there was a time where I would not drink soy either. I would only drink Almond milk but the problem was that it was not only more expensive then soy, when you live in redneck central and the nearest "big" town is 45 minutes away it is hard to find. How I started drinking the brand of soy that I do I cannot recall but we are able to find it at both the major grocery stores in town.
He made like one movie in the states that was a minor hit?
It has been a LONG day for some reason. Not a long day like we have been traipsing all over God's creation but long as in it seems like someone stopped the clock and it started way too early for me. Now it is barely 17:30 and it seems like it is midnight. If this is what they call standard time I would prefer to go back to daylight savings.
I do not have a problem with Seasonal Affect Disorder and I enjoy the daylight ending early as that means the cool weather is here to stay. It is time to get cozy and settle in on the couch with my wife and watch the idiot box or maybe do some family indoor activities as it is too dark to go outside. Whatever we decided though this family seems to come even closer together in the fall/winter then the rest of the year.
My back is feeling ok today and my foot is doing well so in the grand scheme of things I am good to go. However my stomach has been somewhat upset this afternoon and even a few Tums® has failed to help settle it down. It looks like it may be time to get out the phenergan at bedtime, but only if the soy milk does not work. I have found that in many instances when all else fails my chocolate soy milk works quite well to settle my stomach. Yes, I said soy milk. I have found one brand that I really enjoy and even then I will only drink their chocolate (I drink the Light versions).
It can be a bit expensive but I really enjoy it versus regular milk (I have a problem drinking fluids from other animals) and when it comes to the nutritional value of soy versus milk, the soy I drink is lower in calories then many of the varieties of milk save Skim and even then they are dead even at about 90 calories per 8oz serving. However soy also has an advantage over regular milk that adds to the fact that it was not squeezed from an animal and that is it has some body to it. It is silky and that adds a dimension to drinking it that really makes it an enjoyable beverage.
Now there was a time where I would not drink soy either. I would only drink Almond milk but the problem was that it was not only more expensive then soy, when you live in redneck central and the nearest "big" town is 45 minutes away it is hard to find. How I started drinking the brand of soy that I do I cannot recall but we are able to find it at both the major grocery stores in town.
10/29/2005
Dead toenails?
I am not sure what the heck happened to my left foot but over the last few weeks the big toenail turned black, like it had dried blood under it but I do not remember smashing it. Since my wife has been giving me a hard time about it I decided last night to take a closer look at it and while I keep myself very well groomed (I cannot STAND long nails) I decided to see if I could trim the nail back any further then it already was.
During this exercise I noticed that my nail had no feeling at all. You know how usually if you try to trim to far you can feel it? Well not this time which kind of told me that the nail was dead to some extent. I worked on it for a bit trying to clean the blood from under it when I realized I could fit the file all the way under it and to the cuticle. It was then that I decided that I needed to excise as much of the dead nail as I could and then put on a triple anti-biotic ointment and a bandage for a few days to prevent an infection.
I started to clear away the dead nail and when I got about half way down the toe I uncovered what appeared to be a blister of some sort. The clipper accidentally snipped a part and the clear liquid (water) you see under burn blisters ran out. I finished clearing out much of the nail and wiped out the blood and other fluids, applied a healthy dose of the ointment and then put on some waterproof bandaids for the day.
I ended up leaving the outer portion of the nail on, like a big "U" as it was still alive and I could not cut it out without some pain but the middle of the nail is gone.
Now I have no idea what happened or what I did to cause the problem in the first place and I was quite surprised to find that most of the nail was dead. I think I have lost on nail in my life and that was when I was a kid and smashed my hand with a ballpeen hammer, of course then you expected the something like that to happen.
I feel like I am falling apart bit by bit. Each day it is a new ache or pain or something else "breaks." It is perhaps more frustrating because before all of this I was very healthy and while I am not able to continue a regimen of physical activity I have been able to keep myself healthy by eating properly and doing the limited exercises that I can do. We will see what happens.
During this exercise I noticed that my nail had no feeling at all. You know how usually if you try to trim to far you can feel it? Well not this time which kind of told me that the nail was dead to some extent. I worked on it for a bit trying to clean the blood from under it when I realized I could fit the file all the way under it and to the cuticle. It was then that I decided that I needed to excise as much of the dead nail as I could and then put on a triple anti-biotic ointment and a bandage for a few days to prevent an infection.
I started to clear away the dead nail and when I got about half way down the toe I uncovered what appeared to be a blister of some sort. The clipper accidentally snipped a part and the clear liquid (water) you see under burn blisters ran out. I finished clearing out much of the nail and wiped out the blood and other fluids, applied a healthy dose of the ointment and then put on some waterproof bandaids for the day.
I ended up leaving the outer portion of the nail on, like a big "U" as it was still alive and I could not cut it out without some pain but the middle of the nail is gone.
Now I have no idea what happened or what I did to cause the problem in the first place and I was quite surprised to find that most of the nail was dead. I think I have lost on nail in my life and that was when I was a kid and smashed my hand with a ballpeen hammer, of course then you expected the something like that to happen.
I feel like I am falling apart bit by bit. Each day it is a new ache or pain or something else "breaks." It is perhaps more frustrating because before all of this I was very healthy and while I am not able to continue a regimen of physical activity I have been able to keep myself healthy by eating properly and doing the limited exercises that I can do. We will see what happens.
A nap
I felt like I was floating on a cloud as I lay in bed. This afternoon I was feeling a bit tired so I took my meds and went to lay down. I adjusted the bed to a position that took the stress off my spine and then I turned on the massage, just to low, and it literally felt like I was floating on the softest of clouds.
Of course telling this to my wife she instantly retorts that it was the meds and not the bed that made me feel that way, but after the many months of these meds I am doubtful. Perhaps a combination of the two, time perfectly aligned for that one moment. Whatever it was I wish it were a nightly event, I slept more comfortably in those short hours then I have in some time.
Waking was not the worst, that would be having to leave the comfort. The only comparison is that cool winter morning where you have the entire bed to yourself. All the space, all the blankets and nothing in the world matters and the warmth and comfort unmatched by all but a mothers hug.
Of course telling this to my wife she instantly retorts that it was the meds and not the bed that made me feel that way, but after the many months of these meds I am doubtful. Perhaps a combination of the two, time perfectly aligned for that one moment. Whatever it was I wish it were a nightly event, I slept more comfortably in those short hours then I have in some time.
Waking was not the worst, that would be having to leave the comfort. The only comparison is that cool winter morning where you have the entire bed to yourself. All the space, all the blankets and nothing in the world matters and the warmth and comfort unmatched by all but a mothers hug.
10/28/2005
Old injuries=New Pain?
I have learned to keep a bottle of Tums® somewhere near me as I seem to have more upset stomachs then normal. I try not to use them as I am always concerned that they may interfere with my medications but sometimes, like last night, they are a "lifesaver."
I was lying down watching TV and while I was not feeling well it was more of a general malaise then anything else, like a cold is setting in. Out of the blue I got that taste in my mouth, that one that precedes vomiting and which I unfortunately know all too well, and I found myself frantically looking for where I put them.
I popped the maximum dose of 4 and thankfully my stomach settled down quickly but for a second I was trying to determine which would be faster, making it to the bathroom to throw up or finding and taking the Tums®.
Between all that has been happening, the headaches, the bleeding, the back and the stomach I am almost convinced that there is something else going on with my body so I have made an appointment with my PCP.
My back has been hurting in some new places, straight up the middle of my back and much higher then it has been in the previous weeks. I would venture a guess that while the arachnoiditis is painful it is not the sole culprit as this new pain has advanced faster then I would suspect scar tissue would be able to grow. However I also have been diagnosed with DDD which I have not had looked at since the last MRI in August 2004. It would be possible for the DDD to have advanced or even something else such as a herniated disc to have happened. I suppose my doctor will want to go ahead and do some new x-rays or possibly another CT scan to see if there is anything new in the T-11 through the L3 area.
I am not so concerned about the DDD or even herniated discs right now. While I can tell that something is happening the current level of meds seems to be controlling it all fairly well. I told myself after my surgery in 2003 that I would do anything to avoid having to do that again.
Well, it looks like it is time for dinner so I will get back to this later on.
I was lying down watching TV and while I was not feeling well it was more of a general malaise then anything else, like a cold is setting in. Out of the blue I got that taste in my mouth, that one that precedes vomiting and which I unfortunately know all too well, and I found myself frantically looking for where I put them.
I popped the maximum dose of 4 and thankfully my stomach settled down quickly but for a second I was trying to determine which would be faster, making it to the bathroom to throw up or finding and taking the Tums®.
Between all that has been happening, the headaches, the bleeding, the back and the stomach I am almost convinced that there is something else going on with my body so I have made an appointment with my PCP.
My back has been hurting in some new places, straight up the middle of my back and much higher then it has been in the previous weeks. I would venture a guess that while the arachnoiditis is painful it is not the sole culprit as this new pain has advanced faster then I would suspect scar tissue would be able to grow. However I also have been diagnosed with DDD which I have not had looked at since the last MRI in August 2004. It would be possible for the DDD to have advanced or even something else such as a herniated disc to have happened. I suppose my doctor will want to go ahead and do some new x-rays or possibly another CT scan to see if there is anything new in the T-11 through the L3 area.
I am not so concerned about the DDD or even herniated discs right now. While I can tell that something is happening the current level of meds seems to be controlling it all fairly well. I told myself after my surgery in 2003 that I would do anything to avoid having to do that again.
Well, it looks like it is time for dinner so I will get back to this later on.
The Mouse Hunter!
So I set those traps out last night with the expectations that we would not catch anything right away or perhaps one mouse at most.
My wife woke this morning at about 6:30am to our youngest asking to go downstairs so she got up with him and told me she would come get me in a little bit. Of course that little bit was about 1 minute.
As soon as they hit the door to the kitchen she said she could see that one of the glue traps had a small mouse in it but then she realized that she heard more squeaking coming from by the other fridge so she checked on the trap there and found 2 more small mice on that glue trap. That's right, 2 traps equals 3 mice! I tell you those glue traps are STICKY!
Of course my youngest is now running around the house squeaking like trapped mice. LOL!
My wife woke this morning at about 6:30am to our youngest asking to go downstairs so she got up with him and told me she would come get me in a little bit. Of course that little bit was about 1 minute.
As soon as they hit the door to the kitchen she said she could see that one of the glue traps had a small mouse in it but then she realized that she heard more squeaking coming from by the other fridge so she checked on the trap there and found 2 more small mice on that glue trap. That's right, 2 traps equals 3 mice! I tell you those glue traps are STICKY!
Of course my youngest is now running around the house squeaking like trapped mice. LOL!
10/27/2005
They're here...
One problem with living in an older home with a fieldstone foundation is mice. A soon as the weather turns cold, and we have, they head indoors. Thankfully the problem is not as bad as last year when they had to fumigate the house across the street after those funky people moved out.
However I live by the rule of you're ok as long as you only find their droppings. However as soon as you see one of them roaming the house during daylight you have a problem. I have a BIG problem.
We saw one the other day and set out some humane traps. However after a few days and no luck I had to resort to a little more menacing trap and went for the glue traps. Voila, we caught one in the laundry room and while I am sure it was not the only one I figured I would leave some random traps out and we would be good to go.
Well for the last few days nothing has bothered the traps, no bait stolen or even touched and no footprints through the flour I put down to see where they might be coming from or at least going to. Then this evening my oldest said he saw one run under the couch.
Now in the laundry room I do not mind but when they "invade" the family areas while we are using them I have to pull out all the stops. So I set out another bunch of glue traps down the walls as well I set some of the new spring traps. They are pretty cool and while I prefer the humane traps (they don't make messes) these new spring ones might win me over. They kill the mouse but instead of "splat" it is enclosed in a circle that once they enter and try to take the bait it snaps shut on them as well as kills them. I set out 2 of those to see what happens and while I hope they work they are also more expensive at $4 a piece and not re-usable.
Anyway, if the traps remain empty for another 2 days it is time to head to the shelter and get a cat. We have had cat's before and I prefer cats (no worries about walking and all that jazz as well short vacations do not require kenelling) but my wife is allergic to them (highly) which means we have to fill her allergy meds which are $40 a month.
I know it is just $40 but when you add kitty liter, food (we only feed them Science Diet or Iams) and everything else it becomes $100 a month and right now that is a bit more then we really should spend. But then when you think of your health versus all the crap that mice can bring into your house you have to ask if you can really afford to not spend the money.
However I live by the rule of you're ok as long as you only find their droppings. However as soon as you see one of them roaming the house during daylight you have a problem. I have a BIG problem.
We saw one the other day and set out some humane traps. However after a few days and no luck I had to resort to a little more menacing trap and went for the glue traps. Voila, we caught one in the laundry room and while I am sure it was not the only one I figured I would leave some random traps out and we would be good to go.
Well for the last few days nothing has bothered the traps, no bait stolen or even touched and no footprints through the flour I put down to see where they might be coming from or at least going to. Then this evening my oldest said he saw one run under the couch.
Now in the laundry room I do not mind but when they "invade" the family areas while we are using them I have to pull out all the stops. So I set out another bunch of glue traps down the walls as well I set some of the new spring traps. They are pretty cool and while I prefer the humane traps (they don't make messes) these new spring ones might win me over. They kill the mouse but instead of "splat" it is enclosed in a circle that once they enter and try to take the bait it snaps shut on them as well as kills them. I set out 2 of those to see what happens and while I hope they work they are also more expensive at $4 a piece and not re-usable.
Anyway, if the traps remain empty for another 2 days it is time to head to the shelter and get a cat. We have had cat's before and I prefer cats (no worries about walking and all that jazz as well short vacations do not require kenelling) but my wife is allergic to them (highly) which means we have to fill her allergy meds which are $40 a month.
I know it is just $40 but when you add kitty liter, food (we only feed them Science Diet or Iams) and everything else it becomes $100 a month and right now that is a bit more then we really should spend. But then when you think of your health versus all the crap that mice can bring into your house you have to ask if you can really afford to not spend the money.
10/26/2005
Guns...
Why are people so irresponsible with their firearms? Why do I have to keep reading about another poor child killed after finding mom or dad's .38 lying around the house? Having to listen to the parents on the news tell about how the gun was for home protection and so on. That's great, but why was it still on the nightstand at 4 in the afternoon? How come you did not lock it up when you got up in the morning? With hunting season upon us these senseless deaths seem to be increasing at an alarming rate.
I have had to read yet another story this week about a local boy who died after finding dad's gun lying on the night stand. These accidents do not discriminate either, they cross the racial and socio-economic lines without any concerns and they are all 100% preventable which makes them when they happen that much sadder.
I own weapons and I could not fathom leaving one just lying on the table for anyone who comes along to play with. Kids, especially toddlers, love to play with anything they can get their hands on, especially if it has moving parts. Older kids are also curious and while they have the ability to understand that guns are dangerous that is not what is on their mind when they pick it up. After all how dangerous could it really be if mom/dad left it lying on the table?
It is simple folks, KEEP YOUR FIREARMS LOCKED UP! It's funny (in a very sad pathetic way) that some people buy a gun to protect their family yet that very gun through their careless ways will be the cause of death for one of their family members. If that is what you call protecting your family I hate to see what your definition of loving you family is.
I have had to read yet another story this week about a local boy who died after finding dad's gun lying on the night stand. These accidents do not discriminate either, they cross the racial and socio-economic lines without any concerns and they are all 100% preventable which makes them when they happen that much sadder.
I own weapons and I could not fathom leaving one just lying on the table for anyone who comes along to play with. Kids, especially toddlers, love to play with anything they can get their hands on, especially if it has moving parts. Older kids are also curious and while they have the ability to understand that guns are dangerous that is not what is on their mind when they pick it up. After all how dangerous could it really be if mom/dad left it lying on the table?
It is simple folks, KEEP YOUR FIREARMS LOCKED UP! It's funny (in a very sad pathetic way) that some people buy a gun to protect their family yet that very gun through their careless ways will be the cause of death for one of their family members. If that is what you call protecting your family I hate to see what your definition of loving you family is.
10/25/2005
How lucky can one guy get?
You know after my first trip to the ER 2 weeks ago they gave me Phenergan which is a suppository. Now at some point in most of our lives we all have to deal with medication that is taken rectally and that is just part of life.
However how many of us would expect to have to take 2 rectal medications within a 2 week period? My last trip to the ER for the bleeding resulted in being prescribed another medication to help heal the cause of the bleeding. Now I was expecting something oral or at worst, topical. My wife went and picked it up for me and surprise, it is another rectal medication.
This one however is got to the be the worst thing one could hope to have to "apply" to the affected area. Now I do not have a picture of the applicator and I cannot find one so you will just have to use your imagination on this. The applicator screws on top of the tube, which is your standard tube of medication, and it has tiny holes on either side and the very tip of it and from base to tip this sucker has to be 2.5" long. Sorry but that is a bit longer then I would think needed but if you want to get better....
Now you have to squeeze some of the medication into the applicator before you insert it and then squeeze again to apply to the affected area. Now the phenergan was bad enough with it having to be kept in the fridge but this stuff is hands down the winner.
I am hoping that between this medication, of which I only have 4 tubes to go through..., and the flax seed meal I will be back to my old self in no time and can just continue on the flax seed meal.
Now I was doing some reading on the flax seed and apparently one of it's properties is a substance which the body can turn in to Omega 3 which is a fatty acid commonly found in some fish as well as items such as Cod Liver Oil. However according to several of the articles that I have read on this many people do not get enough of this important fatty acid due to the lower intake of fish as well as the fact that the diets of many animals raised for food are lower in Omega 3 themselves. Apparently animals raised "free range" have higher content of Omega 3.
I guess this means for me I need to determine where my daily intake levels are and if the flax seed is not going to provide the proper amount then supplement it with cod liver pills. Whatever it takes to heal the problem and ditch the applicator!
As well with the flax seed, for those considering perhaps to add it to their diet, you should be aware of the complications the seeds might cause for people suffering from Diverticulitis. It is best to play it safe and use the seeds in their meal/ground form.
However how many of us would expect to have to take 2 rectal medications within a 2 week period? My last trip to the ER for the bleeding resulted in being prescribed another medication to help heal the cause of the bleeding. Now I was expecting something oral or at worst, topical. My wife went and picked it up for me and surprise, it is another rectal medication.
This one however is got to the be the worst thing one could hope to have to "apply" to the affected area. Now I do not have a picture of the applicator and I cannot find one so you will just have to use your imagination on this. The applicator screws on top of the tube, which is your standard tube of medication, and it has tiny holes on either side and the very tip of it and from base to tip this sucker has to be 2.5" long. Sorry but that is a bit longer then I would think needed but if you want to get better....
Now you have to squeeze some of the medication into the applicator before you insert it and then squeeze again to apply to the affected area. Now the phenergan was bad enough with it having to be kept in the fridge but this stuff is hands down the winner.
I am hoping that between this medication, of which I only have 4 tubes to go through..., and the flax seed meal I will be back to my old self in no time and can just continue on the flax seed meal.
Now I was doing some reading on the flax seed and apparently one of it's properties is a substance which the body can turn in to Omega 3 which is a fatty acid commonly found in some fish as well as items such as Cod Liver Oil. However according to several of the articles that I have read on this many people do not get enough of this important fatty acid due to the lower intake of fish as well as the fact that the diets of many animals raised for food are lower in Omega 3 themselves. Apparently animals raised "free range" have higher content of Omega 3.
I guess this means for me I need to determine where my daily intake levels are and if the flax seed is not going to provide the proper amount then supplement it with cod liver pills. Whatever it takes to heal the problem and ditch the applicator!
As well with the flax seed, for those considering perhaps to add it to their diet, you should be aware of the complications the seeds might cause for people suffering from Diverticulitis. It is best to play it safe and use the seeds in their meal/ground form.
10/24/2005
Mommy, what's that?
Thanks to all those who called and/or emailed to check on me.
I did not stay over night but I was there until rather late. By the time I got home I was just too tired to do anything other then crawl into bed where I stayed until well afternoon yesterday.
The ER was quite busy when I showed up so I had to wait for a while before they took me in. When they did finally get me in they drew blood right off the bat to check to see if I was anemic. Apparently low iron in the blood can be an indication of colo-rectal tumor or cancer. While apparently everyone will lose blood in their feces daily, it is such a minor amount. However with a tumor/cancer the amount can increase to somewhere between 2-10ml a day (5ml is about 1 teaspoon).
After the blood test and some general questions the doctor decided that he should have a look to check for signs of hemorrhoids and anything else that might look "out of place" according to him. Of course this involved having to drop my drawers in the ER. While they have the "rooms" divided by curtains they never close all the way and anyone walking by gets a free show. For me this meant the poor girl (teenagerish, her mother and the nurse in the next "room"). While I have no problem with medical personnel having to check me out complete strangers are another story.
Anyway, the doctor asked me to go ahead and remove my sweat pants and boxers (I always wear sweats/windsuit to the doctor as they are more comfortable and easily removed should the need arise) and then bend over with my hands on the bed. As I am doing this I look up in time to see all the wonderful folks in the next room staring straight into mine. There I am, pants/boxers down to the knees, bent over holding on to the bed and the doctor shining a flashlight up my butt. I can only imagine what was going through their minds. Thankfully the exam is very quick and again showed no signs of anything out of place/abnormal.
Of course the more they find normal with me the more I start to worry that the problem is further up and they cannot see it without a scope. It was right in the middle of thinking this when the doctor starts to explain anal fissures to me and how with all my answers to the questions and the physical exam are most likely the cause of my problems. He gave me a prescription to help heal them, if that is what they are and then we talked about my diet.
Since I started my long road down pain management I have known about the long term effects of narcotics on the body. They can cause constipation far worse then any Thanksgiving dinner ever has and since the medication is a daily thing you have to really be mindful of your diet or you will constantly have a problem. While I am eating plenty of "roughage" and even adding fiber supplements I am still having some problems which in turn are causing the bleeding (they believe). With that in mind the doctor asked me if I have ever taken Flax seed meal. Of course I have not so the doctor explained it all to me letting me know that it not only adds fiber to the diet but it has some of the oils your body needs which in turn help with going to the bathroom.
With my ER visit over and prescription in hand we set out to find some of the flax meal. Of course living in the area I do it is not so easy to find so it looks like I will need to run down to the city. I am sure that Whole Foods will have it and then I can buy enough to last for some time. I also need to find some recipes for it, I was thinking that rather then just eating it straight I could bake it into cookies/cake or something like that.
While the ER visit did not turn up anything abnormal it does not mean I am content to say that all is fine. With the advice of the ER doc and some information I took from some medical websites I have made an appointment with my personal physician to look a bit "deeper" as it were into the cause of the bleeding. My hopes are that the doctor is correct, it is just the anal fissures.
I did not stay over night but I was there until rather late. By the time I got home I was just too tired to do anything other then crawl into bed where I stayed until well afternoon yesterday.
The ER was quite busy when I showed up so I had to wait for a while before they took me in. When they did finally get me in they drew blood right off the bat to check to see if I was anemic. Apparently low iron in the blood can be an indication of colo-rectal tumor or cancer. While apparently everyone will lose blood in their feces daily, it is such a minor amount. However with a tumor/cancer the amount can increase to somewhere between 2-10ml a day (5ml is about 1 teaspoon).
After the blood test and some general questions the doctor decided that he should have a look to check for signs of hemorrhoids and anything else that might look "out of place" according to him. Of course this involved having to drop my drawers in the ER. While they have the "rooms" divided by curtains they never close all the way and anyone walking by gets a free show. For me this meant the poor girl (teenagerish, her mother and the nurse in the next "room"). While I have no problem with medical personnel having to check me out complete strangers are another story.
Anyway, the doctor asked me to go ahead and remove my sweat pants and boxers (I always wear sweats/windsuit to the doctor as they are more comfortable and easily removed should the need arise) and then bend over with my hands on the bed. As I am doing this I look up in time to see all the wonderful folks in the next room staring straight into mine. There I am, pants/boxers down to the knees, bent over holding on to the bed and the doctor shining a flashlight up my butt. I can only imagine what was going through their minds. Thankfully the exam is very quick and again showed no signs of anything out of place/abnormal.
Of course the more they find normal with me the more I start to worry that the problem is further up and they cannot see it without a scope. It was right in the middle of thinking this when the doctor starts to explain anal fissures to me and how with all my answers to the questions and the physical exam are most likely the cause of my problems. He gave me a prescription to help heal them, if that is what they are and then we talked about my diet.
Since I started my long road down pain management I have known about the long term effects of narcotics on the body. They can cause constipation far worse then any Thanksgiving dinner ever has and since the medication is a daily thing you have to really be mindful of your diet or you will constantly have a problem. While I am eating plenty of "roughage" and even adding fiber supplements I am still having some problems which in turn are causing the bleeding (they believe). With that in mind the doctor asked me if I have ever taken Flax seed meal. Of course I have not so the doctor explained it all to me letting me know that it not only adds fiber to the diet but it has some of the oils your body needs which in turn help with going to the bathroom.
With my ER visit over and prescription in hand we set out to find some of the flax meal. Of course living in the area I do it is not so easy to find so it looks like I will need to run down to the city. I am sure that Whole Foods will have it and then I can buy enough to last for some time. I also need to find some recipes for it, I was thinking that rather then just eating it straight I could bake it into cookies/cake or something like that.
While the ER visit did not turn up anything abnormal it does not mean I am content to say that all is fine. With the advice of the ER doc and some information I took from some medical websites I have made an appointment with my personal physician to look a bit "deeper" as it were into the cause of the bleeding. My hopes are that the doctor is correct, it is just the anal fissures.
10/22/2005
This post may get grotesque
One issue that people on long term pain meds (specifically opioids) have to deal with is constipation. To combat this you spend a good deal of your time either constipated or eating anything fibrous that you can get your hands on. munching psyllium husks or choking down Metamucil® which is NASTY no matter how much orange juice you have.
For some folks those products along with a good diet will produce the results they desire. Then there are people like me where the only things those are good for are clearing out a room in .002 seconds flat. They best they do is make you run for Beano®. Your still constipated and the longer you go the worse it gets, sometimes to the point you can no longer can go to the bathroom and then you find yourself choking down magnesium citrate which can only be described as a thick soda, syrupy type drink that has loads of salt with a very sour kick. This stuff works by clearing you out, every last bit of your colon is emptied.
Now during the period where you can go to the bathroom you will have hard stools. This can make it very difficult to go to the bathroom and at times can cause a bit of bleeding. More likely a hemorrhoid that is causing the problem but without seeing a doc it is difficult to say. Now the bleeding is more spotty then anything else, never "a lot" and not on every occasion. So while most people bleeding from going to the bathroom would be concerned those of us who experience it as a side effect of their medications more or less dismiss it unless it gets to a certain point.
That certain point would be pain accompanying a bowel movement or pain by itself in the lower back, increased bleeding during a bowel movement and so on. Of course for some of us already suffering from back pain knowing that you are "in more pain" in the lower back may be difficult to determine since you are 1-already dealing with pain in that area and 2-on strong pain meds that noticing any new pains might be difficult and I am not willing to detox just to check it out.
I have been spotty bleeding for some time and have always just chalked it up to the hemorrhoid theory. That was until this evening because I have been having a noticeable change in lower back pain (but I am not willing to say that it is tied to the bowel problems if there are any) as well for the past few weeks that "spotty" bleeding has become more frequent and more then just a "few drops." I have felt like I have had to go to the bathroom all day and as normal I am somewhat constipated not having had a normal movement in a few days. When the time came I excused myself with my new copy of Wired Magazine and headed to the bathroom. Things went normal or as normal as they do for someone like myself until I stood up. The bowl was red, not just red but a deep red and the tissue I used to clean myself was covered in blood and had several small (pencil eraser size) clots.
Of course this was enough to concern me but I am at home with just myself and the boys so I called the ER to see what their thoughts were, knowing full well that was going to result in the come in if you want. I knew when I called not to expect to much as they cannot diagnose over the phone but I think I was looking more for the "you have some time, call your wife at work and when she gets home come on in" or "no, get in hear right now". I decided instead to call my insurance company which has a 24 hotline manned by Doctors and Nurses and from them I got the answer I was looking for, they want me to go to the ER right now. Of course that means I needed to get my wife home and she is down south and it would take her a good hour or two to be able to get back here. So I called her, she just called and should be here in a few minutes.
So once again I am off to the ER, after all it has been 9 days since my last visit. I think I am the first person to wish for hemorrhoids. I hope that is all it is but we will have to see. My concern is that I am having a reaction to the Phenergan they prescribed for the migraines during last weeks ER trip. Since those are suppositories I guess it could be possible that they have irritated the walls of my rectum/colon to the point they have started to bleed. It could be a number of things though and since I have so much going on I feel that my only choice is to go to the ER as it is the middle of the weekend and my Doctor is closed.
I am sure like usual this will be nothing but we will not know that until I have been disrobed and been anal probed to check for any tears to the lining/walls of my organs and possibly had a scope driven up my butt so they can see further then they can feel. Once upon a time I might have been embarassed about this kind of visit, to the point perhaps that I might consider just skipping it and seeing if we still have the problem in a day or two. But like I said, with so many things going on and now a thousand things running through my mind I will not get a decent nights sleep until I know I am good to go.
I will drop a line when I get back from the ER, hopefully that will be in a few short hours. For those who wish to call I have sent (or tried to at least) my phone numbers, both home and phone. If you have not heard from me please feel free to give me a call.
10/21/2005
Nothing in particular...
It is late and I am tired. My back is having a small fit so I have slapped on 2 Lidoderm patches in hopes that they combined with the meds will calm it down in time for me to go to bed here shortly. Just waiting for the youngest to wind down and then it is off to la-la land.
10/20/2005
My father in law
Well it looks like my father in law might be coming to stay/live with us. We have a spare bedroom so it is not like he would have to live on the couch or anything as well we have enough bathroom space. Right now it is just the 4 of us and 2 full bathrooms. Of course if we had another girl in the house 2 bathrooms might not be enough. Hahahaha.....
Right now he is by himself in his house (his wife passed away earlier this year) and he owns his own express delivery business which keeps him away a few nights during the week. Since he is only home a few days and then it is just him there I guess my wife talked him into coming to stay.
I am sure he would like to be closer to his daughter and grandkids so it makes good sense that he would come to stay with us. Why should he have to pay a mortgage payment for a house when he is barley there and then when he is he is by himself. I look forward to him being here if that is what he decides to do.
I am just glad that we have the extra space for him and that this house is big enough to support all of us. Of course while we do have the extra space I have yet to ask my wife what he is going to do with his furniture. While we do have a "formal living room" that is not being used (it is a play area right now) that he can put some of his things there would not be much room for his other things. The living room is a good 24X15 so there is a lot of room for another full living room set and to tell you the truth I would not mind having it set up. It would be good for him to perhaps have a place other then his room that is "his area." He could then watch his TV or read without having the boys in his way.
I guess we will see how it goes. I just want to make sure that everyone is happy with the decision and that dad does not feel like we forced him to do anything.
Right now he is by himself in his house (his wife passed away earlier this year) and he owns his own express delivery business which keeps him away a few nights during the week. Since he is only home a few days and then it is just him there I guess my wife talked him into coming to stay.
I am sure he would like to be closer to his daughter and grandkids so it makes good sense that he would come to stay with us. Why should he have to pay a mortgage payment for a house when he is barley there and then when he is he is by himself. I look forward to him being here if that is what he decides to do.
I am just glad that we have the extra space for him and that this house is big enough to support all of us. Of course while we do have the extra space I have yet to ask my wife what he is going to do with his furniture. While we do have a "formal living room" that is not being used (it is a play area right now) that he can put some of his things there would not be much room for his other things. The living room is a good 24X15 so there is a lot of room for another full living room set and to tell you the truth I would not mind having it set up. It would be good for him to perhaps have a place other then his room that is "his area." He could then watch his TV or read without having the boys in his way.
I guess we will see how it goes. I just want to make sure that everyone is happy with the decision and that dad does not feel like we forced him to do anything.
10/19/2005
Those wonderful smells...
I love this time of the year. It is cool enough now that if I have the stove going for a few hours it is not going to force the air conditioner on for the entire time. Sure the kitchen feels ok but the rest of the house ends up feeling like a frozen tundra.
Since my back is not up for all the long standing that my beloved baking requires I need to figure out how to get those wonderful smells wofting through the house. The sweet smell of cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg and so on filling the house is perhaps one of the greatest comforts I know, it reminds me of the holidays as a kid.
They sell mulling spices at most of the local "craft" shops but they are either much too expensive or they really are not that great. They are someone else's ideas perhaps of what the holidays smelled like, but certainly not mine. So the other day I decided to start experimenting with some spices in a pot of water on the stove until I hit the mix that I was looking for.
In no particular order or even units of measurement I started gabbing and adding spices to the water. Starting with pumpkin pie spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and moving from there adding a pinch of this and that each few hours as the water evaporated. Of course as the pot simmers and the water evaporates the "smell of baking goodies" is carried throughout the house reminding me once again of my grandmothers kitchen at the holidays.
Yesterday I shook it up a little though. I used a bigger saucepan and instead of just using my spices I added the zest of one large orange and then using my pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer I added the slices and skin from a Granny Smith apple as well as an Anjou Pear. By the time dinner rolled around the house smelled like a mix of apple and pumpkin pies being baked. In fact I think I fooled my wife when she got home from work. She seemed to be expecting a Pumpkin pie and when I pulled the cake out, well the look on her face said it all. LOL!
I know it is kind of "geeky" but having those smells throughout the house is very comforting as well it certainly makes the house smell nice. Much better then smelling like you have a toddler and a pre-teen, neither who care about where they take and leave their food. The youngest I can tolerate as he is still learning but the oldest knows much better then that. Nothing like finding a glass full of juice in his room with mold growing on it. Bleech! Not only did I find it in his room it was actually in a drawer on his desk.
Not much on the agenda this morning but this afternoon I need to run to the store to get the rest of the ingredients for some cookies. I need to buy some good chocolate for these so I might have to run to Whole Foods for that. They are one of the few places that sells real chocolate for baking in this area. Everyone else sells milk chocolate or worse that stuff that tastes like wax which of course then makes whatever you are cooking taste like wax.
Since my back is not up for all the long standing that my beloved baking requires I need to figure out how to get those wonderful smells wofting through the house. The sweet smell of cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg and so on filling the house is perhaps one of the greatest comforts I know, it reminds me of the holidays as a kid.
They sell mulling spices at most of the local "craft" shops but they are either much too expensive or they really are not that great. They are someone else's ideas perhaps of what the holidays smelled like, but certainly not mine. So the other day I decided to start experimenting with some spices in a pot of water on the stove until I hit the mix that I was looking for.
In no particular order or even units of measurement I started gabbing and adding spices to the water. Starting with pumpkin pie spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and moving from there adding a pinch of this and that each few hours as the water evaporated. Of course as the pot simmers and the water evaporates the "smell of baking goodies" is carried throughout the house reminding me once again of my grandmothers kitchen at the holidays.
Yesterday I shook it up a little though. I used a bigger saucepan and instead of just using my spices I added the zest of one large orange and then using my pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer I added the slices and skin from a Granny Smith apple as well as an Anjou Pear. By the time dinner rolled around the house smelled like a mix of apple and pumpkin pies being baked. In fact I think I fooled my wife when she got home from work. She seemed to be expecting a Pumpkin pie and when I pulled the cake out, well the look on her face said it all. LOL!
I know it is kind of "geeky" but having those smells throughout the house is very comforting as well it certainly makes the house smell nice. Much better then smelling like you have a toddler and a pre-teen, neither who care about where they take and leave their food. The youngest I can tolerate as he is still learning but the oldest knows much better then that. Nothing like finding a glass full of juice in his room with mold growing on it. Bleech! Not only did I find it in his room it was actually in a drawer on his desk.
Not much on the agenda this morning but this afternoon I need to run to the store to get the rest of the ingredients for some cookies. I need to buy some good chocolate for these so I might have to run to Whole Foods for that. They are one of the few places that sells real chocolate for baking in this area. Everyone else sells milk chocolate or worse that stuff that tastes like wax which of course then makes whatever you are cooking taste like wax.
10/18/2005
Pharmacies and Insurance companies, not your friends!
Why do people have to make simple tasks so difficult?
I live in a smaller town where we still have a corner pharmacy. It is nestled in a building that is at least 140 years old, where the giant Roman columns are throughout and the ceiling is still the original punched tin. They even have a diner attached to one side where you can get a "proper" breakfast at 6am. It is actually quite a charming place and I love to take my sons in there as it reminds me so much of when I was growing up.
However I have to question some things, most notably the pharmacists aid. She is in her 50's so she is not some "kid", she has been a fixture at the pharmacy for as long as I can remember and while I do not get the bulk of my prescriptions filled there I do have one that they always fill as they are the only one in town that carry it.
This afternoon it was time to bring that prescription in for a refill so on my way to pick up the oldest from school I dropped it off. I got out of the car and walked with my youngest the 1/2 a block or so down the street, into the store and right up to the counter. I handed her the prescription and she asked the standard "when is your birthday" and "do you want to wait?" I gave her my birthday and then told her I would be back in 20 minutes to pick it up the prescription as I needed to pick up my son at 3pm. She said no problem and that it would be ready when I got back to the store.
25 minutes later I find myself standing back at the counter, of course I am in a line that is moving at the rate of pond water. There are 3 people in front of me, 3 pharmacists and 2 pharmacy tech's/aides helping yet on one seems to be tending the register or the customers. Another 15 minutes pass by and we make it to the front of the line. I tell the woman I am back for my prescription, give her my name and she turns to go find it. I wait, and wait and wait another 10 minutes for her to come back and tell me that they had not filled it. I ask her "why?" half expecting to be told "they are out of this medication" as that is an answer I often hear. But no, this time I am surprised. Instead she tells me that "This is an expensive medication ($100 without insurance) and they were not sure I wanted it."
WHAT? I dropped it off and told you I would be back. I specifically told you I would be back within 20 minutes or so and that I needed this medication. I also have filled this medication with this pharmacy within the last month, so WHY WOULD I NOT WANT IT THIS TIME? This is not a medication I would just say "oh no, I can do without it." This is part of my pain management routine and without this particular prescription things start to get ugly if you pass the 12/24 hour mark without taking the next dose.
It boggles the mind. So she tells me they can fill it if I want to wait. Well now I am out and it is getting close to their closing so if I want it I need to wait. Only problem is now I have been here for close to an 45 minutes or so and I only have enough cash for the meds, nothing else. Otherwise I would take the boys and sit down for an ice cream sundae in the diner. Nope, instead I have a 2 year old who has torn apart the Beanie baby rack and a 12 year old who is acting like a complete snot topped off with his torturing his brother.
We sit and wait for them to fill it and about 20 minutes later the tech comes over to me carrying some piece of paper that just tells me something is amiss. Sure as the sun rises in the East it seems my insurance company has decided to decline the copay. I should have expected this after the other day, so I tell her what the deal is and she tries again only to be declined.
She was nice though. She asked if I would like to use their phone to call the insurance company and when I said "yes" she hands me this itty bitty little cell phone with HORRIBLE reception. What? I call CIGNA and of course now I have to wait for all the prompts, which with the crappy reception was no easy task, and I finally get a live person. I explain to her what is going on and how we had spoken with them just last week and got this all straightened out. She flat out tells me that there is nothing on file or in the computer anywhere, which of course is BS as we just had no problem filling another prescription since that night.
Now I frustrated, the boys are bouncing off the walls so I hang up on the lady from the insurance company and as calm as I can I ask the pharmacist for my prescription back. I came home and had the problem fixed in about 15 minutes but by then the pharmacy was closed. Of course after their shoddy display of customer service I decided to see if anyone else in town would special order it for me. Since I still have my emergency supply I am good for a bit.
This is the point that I realized I spend WAY TO MUCH TIME in pharmacies, especially CVS. I called there to check and see would they order the meds for me and if so how long would it take to get them. Now I am one of those guys who dials *67 before calling most stores, I just don't want to end up on some call list because I called them once. The girl answered the phone but since I am in there several times a month for my other meds I recognize her voice. I say "Hi" and explain what I am looking for and then before she puts me on hold she addresses me by name. WHAT? LOL! I never told her who I was and there is no way caller ID told her so when she gets back on the phone I ask her, "how did you know who this was?" and she tells me, "I recognized your voice." How sad is that? LOL!
Not a bad day really just frustrating to have to deal with the same crap over and over with the insurance companies and worse the wait for meds that should have been filled while I was gone. I mean why else would someone drop off a prescription and say I will be back soon? They have a computer, they sure would have seen that I have filled the exact same thing with them in the recent past. Oh well. I guess perhaps I expect to much of people at times. Having come from the food service industry I am all about customer service, it is quintessential to doing any business in my opinion.
My back is feeling good today. Not bad and not great but that is fine by me. Any day I am not hunched over limping from one piece of furniture to the next is fine by me. However my foot is fairly numb and once again it has that feeling of electricity coursing through from the knee to my toes.
I did bake a cake today. An orange marmalade layer cake, from scratch no less. I don't believe in making a cake from a box unless there is a fast need for cupcakes for a school party or something. I got this one from one of my back issues of Cooking Light which is a great magazine for those who want to be able to eat healthier without sacrificing one bit of flavor. Of course that means I need to go snag a piece if I expect to have any at all.
I live in a smaller town where we still have a corner pharmacy. It is nestled in a building that is at least 140 years old, where the giant Roman columns are throughout and the ceiling is still the original punched tin. They even have a diner attached to one side where you can get a "proper" breakfast at 6am. It is actually quite a charming place and I love to take my sons in there as it reminds me so much of when I was growing up.
However I have to question some things, most notably the pharmacists aid. She is in her 50's so she is not some "kid", she has been a fixture at the pharmacy for as long as I can remember and while I do not get the bulk of my prescriptions filled there I do have one that they always fill as they are the only one in town that carry it.
This afternoon it was time to bring that prescription in for a refill so on my way to pick up the oldest from school I dropped it off. I got out of the car and walked with my youngest the 1/2 a block or so down the street, into the store and right up to the counter. I handed her the prescription and she asked the standard "when is your birthday" and "do you want to wait?" I gave her my birthday and then told her I would be back in 20 minutes to pick it up the prescription as I needed to pick up my son at 3pm. She said no problem and that it would be ready when I got back to the store.
25 minutes later I find myself standing back at the counter, of course I am in a line that is moving at the rate of pond water. There are 3 people in front of me, 3 pharmacists and 2 pharmacy tech's/aides helping yet on one seems to be tending the register or the customers. Another 15 minutes pass by and we make it to the front of the line. I tell the woman I am back for my prescription, give her my name and she turns to go find it. I wait, and wait and wait another 10 minutes for her to come back and tell me that they had not filled it. I ask her "why?" half expecting to be told "they are out of this medication" as that is an answer I often hear. But no, this time I am surprised. Instead she tells me that "This is an expensive medication ($100 without insurance) and they were not sure I wanted it."
WHAT? I dropped it off and told you I would be back. I specifically told you I would be back within 20 minutes or so and that I needed this medication. I also have filled this medication with this pharmacy within the last month, so WHY WOULD I NOT WANT IT THIS TIME? This is not a medication I would just say "oh no, I can do without it." This is part of my pain management routine and without this particular prescription things start to get ugly if you pass the 12/24 hour mark without taking the next dose.
It boggles the mind. So she tells me they can fill it if I want to wait. Well now I am out and it is getting close to their closing so if I want it I need to wait. Only problem is now I have been here for close to an 45 minutes or so and I only have enough cash for the meds, nothing else. Otherwise I would take the boys and sit down for an ice cream sundae in the diner. Nope, instead I have a 2 year old who has torn apart the Beanie baby rack and a 12 year old who is acting like a complete snot topped off with his torturing his brother.
We sit and wait for them to fill it and about 20 minutes later the tech comes over to me carrying some piece of paper that just tells me something is amiss. Sure as the sun rises in the East it seems my insurance company has decided to decline the copay. I should have expected this after the other day, so I tell her what the deal is and she tries again only to be declined.
She was nice though. She asked if I would like to use their phone to call the insurance company and when I said "yes" she hands me this itty bitty little cell phone with HORRIBLE reception. What? I call CIGNA and of course now I have to wait for all the prompts, which with the crappy reception was no easy task, and I finally get a live person. I explain to her what is going on and how we had spoken with them just last week and got this all straightened out. She flat out tells me that there is nothing on file or in the computer anywhere, which of course is BS as we just had no problem filling another prescription since that night.
Now I frustrated, the boys are bouncing off the walls so I hang up on the lady from the insurance company and as calm as I can I ask the pharmacist for my prescription back. I came home and had the problem fixed in about 15 minutes but by then the pharmacy was closed. Of course after their shoddy display of customer service I decided to see if anyone else in town would special order it for me. Since I still have my emergency supply I am good for a bit.
This is the point that I realized I spend WAY TO MUCH TIME in pharmacies, especially CVS. I called there to check and see would they order the meds for me and if so how long would it take to get them. Now I am one of those guys who dials *67 before calling most stores, I just don't want to end up on some call list because I called them once. The girl answered the phone but since I am in there several times a month for my other meds I recognize her voice. I say "Hi" and explain what I am looking for and then before she puts me on hold she addresses me by name. WHAT? LOL! I never told her who I was and there is no way caller ID told her so when she gets back on the phone I ask her, "how did you know who this was?" and she tells me, "I recognized your voice." How sad is that? LOL!
Not a bad day really just frustrating to have to deal with the same crap over and over with the insurance companies and worse the wait for meds that should have been filled while I was gone. I mean why else would someone drop off a prescription and say I will be back soon? They have a computer, they sure would have seen that I have filled the exact same thing with them in the recent past. Oh well. I guess perhaps I expect to much of people at times. Having come from the food service industry I am all about customer service, it is quintessential to doing any business in my opinion.
My back is feeling good today. Not bad and not great but that is fine by me. Any day I am not hunched over limping from one piece of furniture to the next is fine by me. However my foot is fairly numb and once again it has that feeling of electricity coursing through from the knee to my toes.
I did bake a cake today. An orange marmalade layer cake, from scratch no less. I don't believe in making a cake from a box unless there is a fast need for cupcakes for a school party or something. I got this one from one of my back issues of Cooking Light which is a great magazine for those who want to be able to eat healthier without sacrificing one bit of flavor. Of course that means I need to go snag a piece if I expect to have any at all.
10/16/2005
Time alone?
I am so tired right now I can barely keep my eyes open and it is barley 8:30pm. I never knew that doing nothing would be so tiring!
I still had a bit of a headache this morning so my lovely wife told me to go back to bed. Of course when she does that I feel so bad. I often tell her that we do not get to spend enough time together like we used too. I am not talking about going out on a "date" or anything like that but just time where we could both be in the same room and just talk or even just watch some of our favorite shows together and if possible after the boys have gone to bed so it is just true alone time. We love the boys very much but like any parents know having even just 30 minutes of time without them is hard to do so it has to be after bed generally.
Of course I always feel bad that she is off at work and I am stuck at home. It is not being "stuck at home" that bothers me it is that it is sometimes I feel as I am not contributing financially leaving 100% of the burden on her. It used to be that we both had great jobs but when I got hurt that was all she wrote. Since Social Security is still taking their time to approve my disability it leaves me unable to contribute financially to the family funds. It sucks, especially when you used to be a 2 income family.
I don't like at my injuries as a disability that prevent me from being able to work. I have in fact tried to find something that I am able to do as well that would provide a decent income. It does not have to be a ton of money but each time we would run into the same problems, the jobs required far more then I was physically able to provide or the pay was barley minimum wage. Sure minimum wage is still income but when you would only get 15 hours or so a week during which time you would have to put your child in day care, well you get the picture.
Anyway I would love to have my wife not have to work as much as she does. When we married I know it was for better of for worse, Sickness and health and she has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I always feel like somehow I have "gotten out" of my vows and the promises I have made to her and she has to be the one to pull 100% of the financial weight of this family. I hate the fact that we do not have a lot of money, while we were not rich before we were doing well. We owned a second home (rental) and always had nice clothes and new cars. That has all gone away with my inability to work full time. I feel sometimes like that is all my fault.
I am not depressed. In fact quite the opposite, I feel good today but these are things that obviously are always floating around in my mind.
I still had a bit of a headache this morning so my lovely wife told me to go back to bed. Of course when she does that I feel so bad. I often tell her that we do not get to spend enough time together like we used too. I am not talking about going out on a "date" or anything like that but just time where we could both be in the same room and just talk or even just watch some of our favorite shows together and if possible after the boys have gone to bed so it is just true alone time. We love the boys very much but like any parents know having even just 30 minutes of time without them is hard to do so it has to be after bed generally.
Of course I always feel bad that she is off at work and I am stuck at home. It is not being "stuck at home" that bothers me it is that it is sometimes I feel as I am not contributing financially leaving 100% of the burden on her. It used to be that we both had great jobs but when I got hurt that was all she wrote. Since Social Security is still taking their time to approve my disability it leaves me unable to contribute financially to the family funds. It sucks, especially when you used to be a 2 income family.
I don't like at my injuries as a disability that prevent me from being able to work. I have in fact tried to find something that I am able to do as well that would provide a decent income. It does not have to be a ton of money but each time we would run into the same problems, the jobs required far more then I was physically able to provide or the pay was barley minimum wage. Sure minimum wage is still income but when you would only get 15 hours or so a week during which time you would have to put your child in day care, well you get the picture.
Anyway I would love to have my wife not have to work as much as she does. When we married I know it was for better of for worse, Sickness and health and she has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I always feel like somehow I have "gotten out" of my vows and the promises I have made to her and she has to be the one to pull 100% of the financial weight of this family. I hate the fact that we do not have a lot of money, while we were not rich before we were doing well. We owned a second home (rental) and always had nice clothes and new cars. That has all gone away with my inability to work full time. I feel sometimes like that is all my fault.
I am not depressed. In fact quite the opposite, I feel good today but these are things that obviously are always floating around in my mind.
10/15/2005
Are you using Firefox or Mozilla?
If you are a Firefox user did you know that there are a ton of extensions and add-ons for your browser that make it more then just a browser?
I have been using Firefox for some time and only recently really started to take advantage of all the extra features but one of them has been head and shoulders above the rest and that is Stumble Upon which you install and it becomes part of your browsers tool bar. You can add/remove it from view using CTRL & F9 so that it is "not in the way" if you are not using it however when you need it, it provides hours of some of the best, worst and funniest websites that are out there.
Using Stumbleupon you can browse by category so you can limit your browsing to a specific topic or you can go for them all and just see what randomly comes along.
If you are using Firefox/Mozilla and have not downloaded the Stumble bar you are missing out!
For more information on extensions and downloads for Firefox/Mozilla browsers check out this site.
I have been using Firefox for some time and only recently really started to take advantage of all the extra features but one of them has been head and shoulders above the rest and that is Stumble Upon which you install and it becomes part of your browsers tool bar. You can add/remove it from view using CTRL & F9 so that it is "not in the way" if you are not using it however when you need it, it provides hours of some of the best, worst and funniest websites that are out there.
Using Stumbleupon you can browse by category so you can limit your browsing to a specific topic or you can go for them all and just see what randomly comes along.
If you are using Firefox/Mozilla and have not downloaded the Stumble bar you are missing out!
For more information on extensions and downloads for Firefox/Mozilla browsers check out this site.
Odds and Ends...
I fixed the redirect page for http://ihavearachnoiditis.info so that you can use that to get to this page should you choose. Of course it also fixes another little SNAFU I created and needed to fix.
My headache is much better then it was the other day but they take some time to go away completely after an episode like the other night. Usually for the next 3-4 days I have more like a tension headache, still uncomfortable but without the puking and forgetting where I am.
I only have two complaints, although they kind of go together so perhaps it is really one complaint, about the new phenergan that the ER doc prescribed for me and that is it must be kept refrigerated and it is a suppository. EEK! I did look to see and they do have an oral version of it so when I see the pain management doc next month I will be asking about it. My concern is there is a difference in the way they work and the oral version is perhaps a slower acting version.
Right now the boys have torn apart the rec room and have moved on to the kitchen. They have gone through what must be a ream of paper trying to make the perfect airplane, my oldest makes and throws them while the youngest is squealing with delight and chasing them. Since they are playing nicely and so far no one is screaming "He hit me" I am content to let them play.
I have been assigned a new case manager for my Social Security case which means my appeal is moving along. Of course she does not have any of the papers that I have sent since my appeal was filed so I have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN. That is ok though because I am trying to get them to include my migraines on my application so that they too might be considered for my disability. If they are going to be occurring as frequently and as serious as they have been then I think the doctors should consider them a part of the disability.
My headache is much better then it was the other day but they take some time to go away completely after an episode like the other night. Usually for the next 3-4 days I have more like a tension headache, still uncomfortable but without the puking and forgetting where I am.
I only have two complaints, although they kind of go together so perhaps it is really one complaint, about the new phenergan that the ER doc prescribed for me and that is it must be kept refrigerated and it is a suppository. EEK! I did look to see and they do have an oral version of it so when I see the pain management doc next month I will be asking about it. My concern is there is a difference in the way they work and the oral version is perhaps a slower acting version.
Right now the boys have torn apart the rec room and have moved on to the kitchen. They have gone through what must be a ream of paper trying to make the perfect airplane, my oldest makes and throws them while the youngest is squealing with delight and chasing them. Since they are playing nicely and so far no one is screaming "He hit me" I am content to let them play.
I have been assigned a new case manager for my Social Security case which means my appeal is moving along. Of course she does not have any of the papers that I have sent since my appeal was filed so I have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN. That is ok though because I am trying to get them to include my migraines on my application so that they too might be considered for my disability. If they are going to be occurring as frequently and as serious as they have been then I think the doctors should consider them a part of the disability.
10/14/2005
Frustration?
Well I was "forced" into bed for all day yesterday. My wife took the day off to make sure I was ok as the ER doc told me to get a good rest for the next 24 hours after being released. I like having SOME time to myself but the whole day of lying in bed and watching TV sucks in my opinion. Perhaps when I was 10 and trying to avoid school for some reason it was fun but not anymore.
I do feel somewhat bad though as apparently in my stupor brought on by a combination of the meds and the headache I have been nothing but a pain in the ass for the last 2 days. I was told I have done nothing but complain about everything but I hardly recall most of it thanks mostly to the headache.
Right now I am frustrated over the lack of support my oldest seems to be giving to the household in general. I am tired of finding 3 knives in the sink after he makes his lunch for school. He actually uses 3 of them for his PB&J and then does not bother to rinse them nor do they make it to the dishwasher. Trashbags make it from the can but that does not mean they make it outside. Of course even if they do it is rarely to the trash cans rather they are left RIGHT OUTSIDE the door on the deck.
The problem is that my wife is up before I or the youngest are and when she goes downstairs she does not reset the alarm for me to be up before my oldest leaves for school. I appreciate the extra 30 minutes of sleep but I would rather get up before he goes to make sure his chores are done properly otherwise he skates by until after school and by that time I have become so frustrated that I end up finishing them, which he knows is going to happen. That shit stops today! I guess I will start bringing my watch up with me and set it's alarm.
I like my house to be neat, not spic and span but tidy and it is not happening because of things like the above. It is not because I do not want others to see a mess when they come over, I do not care. It is because I would like to live in my house and not have to smell the trash or have crap stick to me when I use the sink and so on.
Oh well, such is the life of a stay at home mom/dad I suppose. I need to run as my youngest has discovered a stack of magazines that are all now sans covers.
I do feel somewhat bad though as apparently in my stupor brought on by a combination of the meds and the headache I have been nothing but a pain in the ass for the last 2 days. I was told I have done nothing but complain about everything but I hardly recall most of it thanks mostly to the headache.
Right now I am frustrated over the lack of support my oldest seems to be giving to the household in general. I am tired of finding 3 knives in the sink after he makes his lunch for school. He actually uses 3 of them for his PB&J and then does not bother to rinse them nor do they make it to the dishwasher. Trashbags make it from the can but that does not mean they make it outside. Of course even if they do it is rarely to the trash cans rather they are left RIGHT OUTSIDE the door on the deck.
The problem is that my wife is up before I or the youngest are and when she goes downstairs she does not reset the alarm for me to be up before my oldest leaves for school. I appreciate the extra 30 minutes of sleep but I would rather get up before he goes to make sure his chores are done properly otherwise he skates by until after school and by that time I have become so frustrated that I end up finishing them, which he knows is going to happen. That shit stops today! I guess I will start bringing my watch up with me and set it's alarm.
I like my house to be neat, not spic and span but tidy and it is not happening because of things like the above. It is not because I do not want others to see a mess when they come over, I do not care. It is because I would like to live in my house and not have to smell the trash or have crap stick to me when I use the sink and so on.
Oh well, such is the life of a stay at home mom/dad I suppose. I need to run as my youngest has discovered a stack of magazines that are all now sans covers.
10/13/2005
human resources and insurance companies...
When my wife left her former position we had great insurance and we were wanting to continue on COBRA until her new insurance kicks in. Now she left that position well over a month ago and the worldwide corporate HQ for that company is only 35 minutes from my house so the paperwork for the insurance should have been here some time ago. We have called several times a week each week since the 2nd week she was gone and have been told each time not to worry it is on the way.
Now the whole time we have been going to the doctor and getting my meds and they have been approving the medications for co-pay so we figured that what they were telling us was the truth and our coverage was continuing.
Then my trip to the ER last....
The visit the ER was your standard ER visit. Your put in a cold room where everything is super bright and then the poking and prodding starts. I have no problem with needles and even joke and laugh with the staff as they do their job. Perhaps my way of coping, I don't know as that is how I always am when I am there. Now after they finished their exams the doctor wanted the CT Scan so I was taken across the hall to radiology where the tech must have had the A/C set on snow. It was without a doubt the coldest room I have ever been in. Of course the tech was apologizing for the cold (I am a home sick Eskimo according to the wife) and I was telling him not to worry. I know they have to keep it cold for the machines as the computers they use put out a lot of heat as well I had just been given a blanket fresh from the "oven" where they keep the blankets warm. I digress...
When the doctor wrote out all my discharge papers the nurse called my wife for me. I told her to go home and wait for me there as there was nothing for her to do at the hospital other then watch the boys bounce off the walls. ER visits can last 1 hour or much much longer and there is no need to make the whole family suffer through that time. Since we live 5 minutes from the hospital I went to it would not take long for her to come back if need be.
Before she left though my wife had reminded me to ask several questions which would have been fine except with mix of my medications and the ones they gave me created a cocktail that let me sleep for the next 1/2 a day, there was no way I could remember the questions. So when she arrived she talked to the doctor and before I left the doc filled out the prescription for the Phenergan.
Now this is where the COBRA part comes back into play...
My wife dropped me off at home and took my prescription to the pharmacy to get filled and that is where the problem reared it's ugly little head. Apparently our insurance company had terminated our policy for non-payment. Only problem is that we cannot make a payment if we do not have the papers to convert the policy or even better, know what the new premium might be. Of course this was all after 5pm last night so there was no way of getting in touch with the insurance rep from human resources at her old employer.
This morning she took the day off from work to keep an eye on me as while I am not as bad as yesterday I am still not feeling to great but she also started calling the folks in HR. Of course no one was there to take the call and she had to leave a message which 2 hours later had still gone unanswered. About Noon I asked her to call again and this time she was able to get someone, although she had to basically demand they put her in touch with the right people.
Once again they claimed the papers had been sent sometime ago so she calmly explained the situation and that their "it's in the mail" BS was not going to fly. I needed to get my meds and without the co-pay I could not afford them (the phenargan is $4 a pill, DAMN!) as well that would mean my entire trip to the ER last night was not going to be covered and that was not going to fly, especially since we have been on them for weeks about this information.
It took her some time on the phone and of course HR then had to call the insurance company to get it all squared away but they called a little while ago and I am back on the policy. I was able to go get my meds as well they made sure that we have until Nov 30th to get the paperwork back to them with my premiums. She also took my wife's email address and is going to send her the documents in PDF format so we should have them sometime this afternoon.
My problem with the whole thing is that this could have all been taken care of many weeks ago when my wife had to go to corporate on 2 separate occasions after she left the company. They knew she would be there to do some final outprocessing with HR and Payroll yet they did not think of having those papers there for her to sign then.
I know I could have told this story in 1 or 2 paragraphs, but where is the fun in that? My wife handled it much better then I would have. Generally I am calm when I am in those situations but when I am in pain and need my medications my tolerance for stupidity and passing the buck is less then zero and I am all too willing to shoot the messenger.
I just "took" one of the phenergan, I got lucky mine or not taken orally, and it is literally kicking my butt.
Now the whole time we have been going to the doctor and getting my meds and they have been approving the medications for co-pay so we figured that what they were telling us was the truth and our coverage was continuing.
Then my trip to the ER last....
The visit the ER was your standard ER visit. Your put in a cold room where everything is super bright and then the poking and prodding starts. I have no problem with needles and even joke and laugh with the staff as they do their job. Perhaps my way of coping, I don't know as that is how I always am when I am there. Now after they finished their exams the doctor wanted the CT Scan so I was taken across the hall to radiology where the tech must have had the A/C set on snow. It was without a doubt the coldest room I have ever been in. Of course the tech was apologizing for the cold (I am a home sick Eskimo according to the wife) and I was telling him not to worry. I know they have to keep it cold for the machines as the computers they use put out a lot of heat as well I had just been given a blanket fresh from the "oven" where they keep the blankets warm. I digress...
When the doctor wrote out all my discharge papers the nurse called my wife for me. I told her to go home and wait for me there as there was nothing for her to do at the hospital other then watch the boys bounce off the walls. ER visits can last 1 hour or much much longer and there is no need to make the whole family suffer through that time. Since we live 5 minutes from the hospital I went to it would not take long for her to come back if need be.
Before she left though my wife had reminded me to ask several questions which would have been fine except with mix of my medications and the ones they gave me created a cocktail that let me sleep for the next 1/2 a day, there was no way I could remember the questions. So when she arrived she talked to the doctor and before I left the doc filled out the prescription for the Phenergan.
Now this is where the COBRA part comes back into play...
My wife dropped me off at home and took my prescription to the pharmacy to get filled and that is where the problem reared it's ugly little head. Apparently our insurance company had terminated our policy for non-payment. Only problem is that we cannot make a payment if we do not have the papers to convert the policy or even better, know what the new premium might be. Of course this was all after 5pm last night so there was no way of getting in touch with the insurance rep from human resources at her old employer.
This morning she took the day off from work to keep an eye on me as while I am not as bad as yesterday I am still not feeling to great but she also started calling the folks in HR. Of course no one was there to take the call and she had to leave a message which 2 hours later had still gone unanswered. About Noon I asked her to call again and this time she was able to get someone, although she had to basically demand they put her in touch with the right people.
Once again they claimed the papers had been sent sometime ago so she calmly explained the situation and that their "it's in the mail" BS was not going to fly. I needed to get my meds and without the co-pay I could not afford them (the phenargan is $4 a pill, DAMN!) as well that would mean my entire trip to the ER last night was not going to be covered and that was not going to fly, especially since we have been on them for weeks about this information.
It took her some time on the phone and of course HR then had to call the insurance company to get it all squared away but they called a little while ago and I am back on the policy. I was able to go get my meds as well they made sure that we have until Nov 30th to get the paperwork back to them with my premiums. She also took my wife's email address and is going to send her the documents in PDF format so we should have them sometime this afternoon.
My problem with the whole thing is that this could have all been taken care of many weeks ago when my wife had to go to corporate on 2 separate occasions after she left the company. They knew she would be there to do some final outprocessing with HR and Payroll yet they did not think of having those papers there for her to sign then.
I know I could have told this story in 1 or 2 paragraphs, but where is the fun in that? My wife handled it much better then I would have. Generally I am calm when I am in those situations but when I am in pain and need my medications my tolerance for stupidity and passing the buck is less then zero and I am all too willing to shoot the messenger.
I just "took" one of the phenergan, I got lucky mine or not taken orally, and it is literally kicking my butt.
I am home
Well yesterday just sucked to no end. Right after posting the last one I got a call from my ex-wife. My son Great Grandmother with whom he is very close is not doing well at all and was not expected to live through the afternoon. This lady is perhaps one of the few angels on earth. She has gone so far to make sure to send my youngest, who has no relation to her at all other then being the brother of her great grandson, gets presents for the holidays and his birthday. I ended up having to break the news to my son when he got home from school.
After getting the phone call I decided that I would wait until after my son got home from school to go to the ER. In the meantime I figured that I would try to get the youngest to take a nap and then I could lie down for a bit myself. Of course Murphy is always hanging around my house so the more I wanted him to lie down and nap the more intent he seemed on jumping back and forth from my bed to the big bed. 2 hours of that was about all I could handle so I brought him back down stairs to relax and watch whatever he felt like. I actually handed a 2 (almost 3) year old the remote and told him to have fun.
My wife picked up the oldest from school about 3pm and that was when I broke the news to him. This is the 3rd time this year that I have had to do a "death notification" and I am hoping that I never have to do that again. Of course at that time my son did not know about my situation and after telling him I went to go take some more pain meds and as I did the pain got worse then I have ever experienced. I lost my balance and ended up on the floor of the bathroom. The poor kid still trying to understand what I had just told him about his Grandmother when his father passes out on the floor. Thankfully he called his mom and she was home quicker then an ambulance would have been.
She took me to the ER where they brought me in and started me on Phenergan and Toradol as well as 2 IV's to replace what I had lost. I explained to the doctor what had been happening and how often it does and she decided they would do a new CT Scan of my head. I am glad that nothing abnormal showed up on the CT but then at the same time I am bummed because that means the headaches are being caused by something else and most likely are just something I am going to have to deal with.
So that leaves us back where we started, with headaches that pop up on a whim and seem to have no real relief. The good news is that for the first time a doctor wrote me a prescription for an anti-nausea medication which she said should really help with the disorientation and some of the other symptoms which if we can control then we are left with just the headaches. While they do suck I would say that the other symptoms (dis-orientation, vomiting/nausea, blurry vision etc...) really make it worse.
I do have to say when they gave me the Phenergan it knocked me on my butt. Thankfully I was lying on the gurney or I would have been on the floor. I remember the nurse asking me a bunch of questions and I was trying to answer them but the words were all garbled. That was some powerful stuff and it is the same anti-nausea medication that the doctor prescribed for me before I left the ER. If what she gave me is as powerful as the IB version I am going to have to be very careful when I take it. Of course the version I got is not given through an IV. In fact it is not taken orally either. EEK!
When they let me go last night I came straight home and went to sleep. I actually slept most of the time in the hospital as well so I got a good 14-15 hours of sleep since last evening which is why I am up at 6am and while I do feel better I am not quite 100% so my wife is going to take this morning off to make sure that I am good to go. While I am up I am also still quite tired. The only reason I am up is that even with the new bed lying down for that long is not comfortable, I needed to be able to sit up for a bit. I can also catch up on the Law & Order that I missed last night (Gotta love TiVo!)
I want to say thanks to everyone for their well wishes, it means a lot to me to know that you all care.
After getting the phone call I decided that I would wait until after my son got home from school to go to the ER. In the meantime I figured that I would try to get the youngest to take a nap and then I could lie down for a bit myself. Of course Murphy is always hanging around my house so the more I wanted him to lie down and nap the more intent he seemed on jumping back and forth from my bed to the big bed. 2 hours of that was about all I could handle so I brought him back down stairs to relax and watch whatever he felt like. I actually handed a 2 (almost 3) year old the remote and told him to have fun.
My wife picked up the oldest from school about 3pm and that was when I broke the news to him. This is the 3rd time this year that I have had to do a "death notification" and I am hoping that I never have to do that again. Of course at that time my son did not know about my situation and after telling him I went to go take some more pain meds and as I did the pain got worse then I have ever experienced. I lost my balance and ended up on the floor of the bathroom. The poor kid still trying to understand what I had just told him about his Grandmother when his father passes out on the floor. Thankfully he called his mom and she was home quicker then an ambulance would have been.
She took me to the ER where they brought me in and started me on Phenergan and Toradol as well as 2 IV's to replace what I had lost. I explained to the doctor what had been happening and how often it does and she decided they would do a new CT Scan of my head. I am glad that nothing abnormal showed up on the CT but then at the same time I am bummed because that means the headaches are being caused by something else and most likely are just something I am going to have to deal with.
So that leaves us back where we started, with headaches that pop up on a whim and seem to have no real relief. The good news is that for the first time a doctor wrote me a prescription for an anti-nausea medication which she said should really help with the disorientation and some of the other symptoms which if we can control then we are left with just the headaches. While they do suck I would say that the other symptoms (dis-orientation, vomiting/nausea, blurry vision etc...) really make it worse.
I do have to say when they gave me the Phenergan it knocked me on my butt. Thankfully I was lying on the gurney or I would have been on the floor. I remember the nurse asking me a bunch of questions and I was trying to answer them but the words were all garbled. That was some powerful stuff and it is the same anti-nausea medication that the doctor prescribed for me before I left the ER. If what she gave me is as powerful as the IB version I am going to have to be very careful when I take it. Of course the version I got is not given through an IV. In fact it is not taken orally either. EEK!
When they let me go last night I came straight home and went to sleep. I actually slept most of the time in the hospital as well so I got a good 14-15 hours of sleep since last evening which is why I am up at 6am and while I do feel better I am not quite 100% so my wife is going to take this morning off to make sure that I am good to go. While I am up I am also still quite tired. The only reason I am up is that even with the new bed lying down for that long is not comfortable, I needed to be able to sit up for a bit. I can also catch up on the Law & Order that I missed last night (Gotta love TiVo!)
I want to say thanks to everyone for their well wishes, it means a lot to me to know that you all care.
10/12/2005
I am here
Just thought I would let you all know that I am still here. I have been having some very bad headaches for the last 2 days and right now I am waiting for my wife to get home on her lunch break. I hate to ruin her lunch but I have no choice, I am going to have to go to the hospital. I am having trouble even typing this right now, I am dis-oriented, nauseous and my headache hurts so badly that if I even turn my head it makes it worse.
This time I am going to demand they do more then just stick me with an IV. I want them to do a contrast CT Scan or an MRI to see what is wrong. There is no way this is just a "headache" anymore.
I will let you know how it all goes when I get back.
This time I am going to demand they do more then just stick me with an IV. I want them to do a contrast CT Scan or an MRI to see what is wrong. There is no way this is just a "headache" anymore.
I will let you know how it all goes when I get back.
10/09/2005
Kids!
My youngest is a great kid.
I am sitting here in my recliner watching my youngest, who just like his older brother, has the uncanny ability to entertain himself for hours on end. He could have nothing more then a piece of string and a stick but he is quite content to just do whatever. Top that with the fact he is the most adorable (parental bias?) little guy and he will steal your heart in a matter of nano seconds.
The oldest is also a great kid, when he is not being a typical 12 year old snot. You know pushing the limits, playing mom and dad off each other and so on. He has not figured it out yet that I was once a 12 year old boy and I know all the tricks. Hell ask my parents and they will probably agree that my brother and I invented a good portion of them.
He is the kid who will neglect his room for weeks, regardless of what freedoms he might lose from it. He would rather go to bed an hour early each night then clean that room. Of course like many things in life that you neglect this one came back to bite him on the butt last week.
He had asked a girl (an older one at that!) to go to the movies with he and his friends. Not a problem from our end as my wife and I have talked to him many times about "dating" and "girls" and he understands perfectly well where we are coming from and what the rules of being a young man AND a gentleman are.
Now he asked this girl to the movies for Friday night but he failed to do one simple thing prior to doing so and that was clear it with mom and/or dad. The reason being is that 1- we have to drive them to and from the theater so he needs to clear it first that there is not something else planned as well that his mom is available (because I do not drive unless absolutely necessary, especially at night) to drive them. However there is an even bigger reason and that is we need to clear it for him based on his performance at home and school. Obviously for school his grades need to be at a certain level and for home he needs to have been doing his chores without having to be reminded.
Now his grades at school are decent this marking period, mostly B's & A's, but he has a C in one class but they have several weeks to go before the period ends. It is his work at home that cost him his date on Friday. The boy has not done one single one of his chores let alone clean his room for several weeks now. You practically have to drag him with the trash bags down to the cans and the dishwasher? Forget about it!
The funny thing is that on Friday afternoon he comes in from school and the first thing he blurts out is that he would like to go with this girl to the movies. Now mom is still at work so this is all me and based on his lack of chores I had to tell him he could not go but I also explained to him why citing his disaster area of a room as his biggest ding.
Thinking that was the end of the discussion we parted ways. I moved into the rec room with the little guy and the oldest took off presumably to do his homework. Well about 30 minutes later he comes down drenched in sweat asking me for the vacuum cleaner. Of course I am curious so he tells me that he has finished cleaning his room and just needs to vacuum and he will then be ready to go to the movies. LOL!
It took me all I had to not laugh in the poor kids face as I calmly explained to him that he was not going this evening. He had neglected his chores for weeks and not only that but he had failed to honor the 10 commandments (we are Catholic and he goes to Catholic School), most notably "Honor thy father and mother." I could not let him now go to the movies because he cleaned his room, it is more involved then that.
The best part though was me telling him that he had actually just screwed himself over. All those times he has taken 3 hours to clean his room only to still not have done it properly I now know he can do it in 30 minutes flat. Generally he will just shove everything under the bed or into the closet but this time it was cleaned. Clothes folded or hung as appropriate, bed made properly, desk cleaned off and toys in their proper places. The look on his face was priceless when he realized what he had done.
Sure he can be a pain in the butt at times but what 12 year old boy was not? He likes to think he is getting away with something but like most kids he only sees what is right in front of him. Hopefully this last weekends "date" lesson is one that will stick with him and he will realize that 1- Mom & Dad do not forget anything and 2- You have to earn your way, even as a 12 year old.
I have 2 great kids and I would not trade them for anything in the world.
I am sitting here in my recliner watching my youngest, who just like his older brother, has the uncanny ability to entertain himself for hours on end. He could have nothing more then a piece of string and a stick but he is quite content to just do whatever. Top that with the fact he is the most adorable (parental bias?) little guy and he will steal your heart in a matter of nano seconds.
The oldest is also a great kid, when he is not being a typical 12 year old snot. You know pushing the limits, playing mom and dad off each other and so on. He has not figured it out yet that I was once a 12 year old boy and I know all the tricks. Hell ask my parents and they will probably agree that my brother and I invented a good portion of them.
He is the kid who will neglect his room for weeks, regardless of what freedoms he might lose from it. He would rather go to bed an hour early each night then clean that room. Of course like many things in life that you neglect this one came back to bite him on the butt last week.
He had asked a girl (an older one at that!) to go to the movies with he and his friends. Not a problem from our end as my wife and I have talked to him many times about "dating" and "girls" and he understands perfectly well where we are coming from and what the rules of being a young man AND a gentleman are.
Now he asked this girl to the movies for Friday night but he failed to do one simple thing prior to doing so and that was clear it with mom and/or dad. The reason being is that 1- we have to drive them to and from the theater so he needs to clear it first that there is not something else planned as well that his mom is available (because I do not drive unless absolutely necessary, especially at night) to drive them. However there is an even bigger reason and that is we need to clear it for him based on his performance at home and school. Obviously for school his grades need to be at a certain level and for home he needs to have been doing his chores without having to be reminded.
Now his grades at school are decent this marking period, mostly B's & A's, but he has a C in one class but they have several weeks to go before the period ends. It is his work at home that cost him his date on Friday. The boy has not done one single one of his chores let alone clean his room for several weeks now. You practically have to drag him with the trash bags down to the cans and the dishwasher? Forget about it!
The funny thing is that on Friday afternoon he comes in from school and the first thing he blurts out is that he would like to go with this girl to the movies. Now mom is still at work so this is all me and based on his lack of chores I had to tell him he could not go but I also explained to him why citing his disaster area of a room as his biggest ding.
Thinking that was the end of the discussion we parted ways. I moved into the rec room with the little guy and the oldest took off presumably to do his homework. Well about 30 minutes later he comes down drenched in sweat asking me for the vacuum cleaner. Of course I am curious so he tells me that he has finished cleaning his room and just needs to vacuum and he will then be ready to go to the movies. LOL!
It took me all I had to not laugh in the poor kids face as I calmly explained to him that he was not going this evening. He had neglected his chores for weeks and not only that but he had failed to honor the 10 commandments (we are Catholic and he goes to Catholic School), most notably "Honor thy father and mother." I could not let him now go to the movies because he cleaned his room, it is more involved then that.
The best part though was me telling him that he had actually just screwed himself over. All those times he has taken 3 hours to clean his room only to still not have done it properly I now know he can do it in 30 minutes flat. Generally he will just shove everything under the bed or into the closet but this time it was cleaned. Clothes folded or hung as appropriate, bed made properly, desk cleaned off and toys in their proper places. The look on his face was priceless when he realized what he had done.
Sure he can be a pain in the butt at times but what 12 year old boy was not? He likes to think he is getting away with something but like most kids he only sees what is right in front of him. Hopefully this last weekends "date" lesson is one that will stick with him and he will realize that 1- Mom & Dad do not forget anything and 2- You have to earn your way, even as a 12 year old.
I have 2 great kids and I would not trade them for anything in the world.
10/08/2005
I saw my good friend today...
A good friend of mine stopped by today. I have known him for years and consider him to be one of my closest friends, someone I would trust with my life.
When I worked in the brewery I met him. He worked across the parking lot and would come in for lunch and generally after work we would all sit around and have a pint of beer and shoot the breeze. When my wife and I bought this house it was by strange coincidence that he lived just 5 houses down and across the street. Of course that just meant more time to hang out.
Anyway when I had to leave work for my surgery he would stop by here and there as work allowed but shortly after that he was alerted for duty in Iraq as he is a member of the Army Reserves and I did not get a chance to see him again until late this Spring after I found out he was back home.
It turns out that he was wounded very badly last February and while he has been back home most of his stay originally was back and forth between home and the hospitals while they patched him back up.
With his medical needs far outweighing my need for adult companionship (try being with a 2 year old 24/7 for 2.5 years...) I have kept my distance to avoid being a distraction to his healing but at the same time I have talked with both he, his wife and his son (who is also a great friend). Well today he stopped by my house and was able to come in and sit down for about an hour.
It was great to see my friend again, to sit and have those conversations that I have missed. He is pretty much done with the hospital, or perhaps I should say his schedule is more like mine which consists of mainly follow ups and prescription refills. He is still working a bit each day but his injuries do limit his ability to work a full day and in fact will result in his being medically retired from the Army.
We talked mostly about what has been happening in the time we have not seen each other but we also talked about being able to get together here and there through the week. Oddly enough my wife and I just talked about this the other day as with her schedule change and being home for dinner it means I can get away from the house for a few minutes and hobble on down to see my buddy. Of course with his new schedule he is home in the evening as well.
The last time we were truly hanging out was almost 3 years ago, kind of hard to believe. Of course back then neither of us walked with a cane or a limp and did not pop pills like candy. While I would prefer to have things the old way I guess I will settle for my friend being back home safely. Of course we know have many new topics of conversation like the most comfortable shoes, which canes are the best, new pain management techniques and so on.
I am glad my friend is back home. I missed him.
When I worked in the brewery I met him. He worked across the parking lot and would come in for lunch and generally after work we would all sit around and have a pint of beer and shoot the breeze. When my wife and I bought this house it was by strange coincidence that he lived just 5 houses down and across the street. Of course that just meant more time to hang out.
Anyway when I had to leave work for my surgery he would stop by here and there as work allowed but shortly after that he was alerted for duty in Iraq as he is a member of the Army Reserves and I did not get a chance to see him again until late this Spring after I found out he was back home.
It turns out that he was wounded very badly last February and while he has been back home most of his stay originally was back and forth between home and the hospitals while they patched him back up.
With his medical needs far outweighing my need for adult companionship (try being with a 2 year old 24/7 for 2.5 years...) I have kept my distance to avoid being a distraction to his healing but at the same time I have talked with both he, his wife and his son (who is also a great friend). Well today he stopped by my house and was able to come in and sit down for about an hour.
It was great to see my friend again, to sit and have those conversations that I have missed. He is pretty much done with the hospital, or perhaps I should say his schedule is more like mine which consists of mainly follow ups and prescription refills. He is still working a bit each day but his injuries do limit his ability to work a full day and in fact will result in his being medically retired from the Army.
We talked mostly about what has been happening in the time we have not seen each other but we also talked about being able to get together here and there through the week. Oddly enough my wife and I just talked about this the other day as with her schedule change and being home for dinner it means I can get away from the house for a few minutes and hobble on down to see my buddy. Of course with his new schedule he is home in the evening as well.
The last time we were truly hanging out was almost 3 years ago, kind of hard to believe. Of course back then neither of us walked with a cane or a limp and did not pop pills like candy. While I would prefer to have things the old way I guess I will settle for my friend being back home safely. Of course we know have many new topics of conversation like the most comfortable shoes, which canes are the best, new pain management techniques and so on.
I am glad my friend is back home. I missed him.
10/07/2005
The A Word
As many of you have come to realize, my memory sucks and right now I am not in the mood to search the archives so if this is a duplicate post, oh well! LOL!
I received an email from someone who is not only well known in the field of arachnoiditis but well respected. She sent me a link to a site that I have not seen before and it is a great source for information so I have to share it.
The site is called The A Word and is perhaps one of the more complete sites that I have come across in terms of information on/about arachnoiditis. They have articles on the site as well as provide external links to even more information on arachnoiditis, which many sites seem to lack.
Spend some time checking out the site but set aside enough time as it is more in depth then its meager splash page lets on. I think you will find a well done site that has done what many other sites have failed to do and that is provide as much information on arachnoiditis as possible.
After all they even cover headaches which until I was pointed to this site I was unable to find much (if any) information on.
A great job by those at "The A Word"!
I received an email from someone who is not only well known in the field of arachnoiditis but well respected. She sent me a link to a site that I have not seen before and it is a great source for information so I have to share it.
The site is called The A Word and is perhaps one of the more complete sites that I have come across in terms of information on/about arachnoiditis. They have articles on the site as well as provide external links to even more information on arachnoiditis, which many sites seem to lack.
Spend some time checking out the site but set aside enough time as it is more in depth then its meager splash page lets on. I think you will find a well done site that has done what many other sites have failed to do and that is provide as much information on arachnoiditis as possible.
After all they even cover headaches which until I was pointed to this site I was unable to find much (if any) information on.
A great job by those at "The A Word"!
10/06/2005
Switching insurance companies
Ok, I have been pecking away at the list of insurance companies and the policies we have choices from with my wife's new position. It is a total of 7 different medical plans including 3 HMO's, 3 PPO's and 1 HDHSA (A high deductible major medical policy with an accompanying medical savings account). The pro's and con's of each plan were so far across the spectrum that listing them all would be a LONG entry.
The HMO's ranged from co-pays for doctors visits ($20) and specialists ($30) with a 90/10 co-insurance and $1000 per person max out of pocket or $2000 per family to an HMO with $30 doctor visits and 35/65 co-insurance and HUGE out of pocket max's (like $5K) and all of them with the same prescription plan. Of course the difference in the plans meant a difference in premiums. However for the major differences in the co-pays and out of pocket maxs there was only a $100 a month difference in premiums, it just did not seem worth it skimping on the $100 a month to have to pay that much more per year if you should happen to have something go wrong.
The PPO's were outrageously expensive (we have one right now) and while I like the not having to get referrals to see specialists the premiums almost double. There are some other issues such as co-insurance, none were better then 80/10, and the out of pocket maxs could bankrupt you should you have a major problem.
Now having experienced a major surgery, costing well into the 6 low six figures and facing down another in the near future I am looking to switch to a plan that is not going to have me footing several thousand dollars before they will treat me, so the PPO's are instantly out of the question as are the high co-insurance HMO's. The HMO with the 90/10 seems like the best choice based on everything and with the $1000 maximum per patient the most I would pay in a calendar year for a co-insurance is that $1000.
Going on that I called the company to find out more about their plan and to see if my current physician and pain management doctor accept their coverage. There are some subtle nuances to the co-insurance and out of pocket maxs, issue like hospital stays also have a $200 a day co-pay regardless of co-insurance but it is still a better plan then the others. Top it off both my PCP and pain management doctor are on their insurance with the only draw back being that even though I have been seeing this pain doc for almost a year I will have to go back to my PCP and get a new referral. That should not be a problem though.
My concern still though is prescriptions as they do not have a standard co-pay like most companies tend to have. They have a percentage of the manufactures price that you pay ranging from 20% to 100% depending on the meds and how they are prescribed. Now you would think that med X would cost the same no matter where you are buying it but that just is not so. That means I will need to call all the local pharmacies and price out all my meds to see who will be able to save me the most. The problem there is that Pharmacy A may have med X cheaper but Pharmacy B may have med y cheaper. That means depending on the OVERALL cost for my meds from each place will determine where I go. Yet one more hurdle to jump over yet I am held up. The company that handles the prescription coverage will not speak with me as we are not yet members. WHAT? I just want to know what tier they consider my meds in so that I can apply the right percentages when I call the pharmacies. It does me no good to know that they charge $D if I don't know where between 20% & 100% I will be paying. Sigh....
I am in a good mood nonetheless as we figured out which insurance plan we will be going with and I feel good that we have picked the best plan to suit our needs now and down the line. I also found out that they have excellent vision coverage as well as "ok" dental.
The vision plan is only $30 a month for all 4 of us BUT it will cover 100% of my contacts for the year! Sure I have to pay $50 for the eye exam but if I buy my contacts through the plan they are 100% covered. If I go with glasses it is a $25 co-pay for frames and then lens but 100% after that. While I do wear glasses (very light prescriptions) I cannot stand them being on my face. For some reason they always feel crooked so I prefer contacts. Until now though I have stayed away from them as our old plan only covered $100.
The new bed is working like a charm. Since we got it I have slept through the night everynight which is the best I have been able to do since my surgery. I feel SO RESTED that I was able to take the youngest out of the house for a bit today. He has sprouted since we last bought him some long pants and with the temp dropping shorts just are not cutting it. This morning it was 45F which is obviously pants weather but when I went to his closet the poor kiddo only had 1 pair of sweats that fit him.
It felt good to just go out for a few hours with him and do some browsing. We hit Sears as they carry Carters and Lands End as well they are the only store in my EXTREMELY small town that carries children's clothes that are not "gently used". I would have gone down to Old Navy or the Carter Store but we only had 2 hours before we had to pick up my oldest from school.
We did find him some pants, a few pairs of sweat pants for playing and running around the house and this weekend I will take him to Old Navy to find him some slacks and jeans. Since we still had some time to kill we hit Wal-Mart for his bubble bath and his training pants (someday we may make it to actual undies!) and then we hit the grocery store as someone drank all my chocolate soy milk and whole wheat chips ahoy!.
All in all it was a productive day.
Ok, so enough of the rambling on and on and on. It is time to sit down and try to actually hear my show.
The HMO's ranged from co-pays for doctors visits ($20) and specialists ($30) with a 90/10 co-insurance and $1000 per person max out of pocket or $2000 per family to an HMO with $30 doctor visits and 35/65 co-insurance and HUGE out of pocket max's (like $5K) and all of them with the same prescription plan. Of course the difference in the plans meant a difference in premiums. However for the major differences in the co-pays and out of pocket maxs there was only a $100 a month difference in premiums, it just did not seem worth it skimping on the $100 a month to have to pay that much more per year if you should happen to have something go wrong.
The PPO's were outrageously expensive (we have one right now) and while I like the not having to get referrals to see specialists the premiums almost double. There are some other issues such as co-insurance, none were better then 80/10, and the out of pocket maxs could bankrupt you should you have a major problem.
Now having experienced a major surgery, costing well into the 6 low six figures and facing down another in the near future I am looking to switch to a plan that is not going to have me footing several thousand dollars before they will treat me, so the PPO's are instantly out of the question as are the high co-insurance HMO's. The HMO with the 90/10 seems like the best choice based on everything and with the $1000 maximum per patient the most I would pay in a calendar year for a co-insurance is that $1000.
Going on that I called the company to find out more about their plan and to see if my current physician and pain management doctor accept their coverage. There are some subtle nuances to the co-insurance and out of pocket maxs, issue like hospital stays also have a $200 a day co-pay regardless of co-insurance but it is still a better plan then the others. Top it off both my PCP and pain management doctor are on their insurance with the only draw back being that even though I have been seeing this pain doc for almost a year I will have to go back to my PCP and get a new referral. That should not be a problem though.
My concern still though is prescriptions as they do not have a standard co-pay like most companies tend to have. They have a percentage of the manufactures price that you pay ranging from 20% to 100% depending on the meds and how they are prescribed. Now you would think that med X would cost the same no matter where you are buying it but that just is not so. That means I will need to call all the local pharmacies and price out all my meds to see who will be able to save me the most. The problem there is that Pharmacy A may have med X cheaper but Pharmacy B may have med y cheaper. That means depending on the OVERALL cost for my meds from each place will determine where I go. Yet one more hurdle to jump over yet I am held up. The company that handles the prescription coverage will not speak with me as we are not yet members. WHAT? I just want to know what tier they consider my meds in so that I can apply the right percentages when I call the pharmacies. It does me no good to know that they charge $D if I don't know where between 20% & 100% I will be paying. Sigh....
I am in a good mood nonetheless as we figured out which insurance plan we will be going with and I feel good that we have picked the best plan to suit our needs now and down the line. I also found out that they have excellent vision coverage as well as "ok" dental.
The vision plan is only $30 a month for all 4 of us BUT it will cover 100% of my contacts for the year! Sure I have to pay $50 for the eye exam but if I buy my contacts through the plan they are 100% covered. If I go with glasses it is a $25 co-pay for frames and then lens but 100% after that. While I do wear glasses (very light prescriptions) I cannot stand them being on my face. For some reason they always feel crooked so I prefer contacts. Until now though I have stayed away from them as our old plan only covered $100.
The new bed is working like a charm. Since we got it I have slept through the night everynight which is the best I have been able to do since my surgery. I feel SO RESTED that I was able to take the youngest out of the house for a bit today. He has sprouted since we last bought him some long pants and with the temp dropping shorts just are not cutting it. This morning it was 45F which is obviously pants weather but when I went to his closet the poor kiddo only had 1 pair of sweats that fit him.
It felt good to just go out for a few hours with him and do some browsing. We hit Sears as they carry Carters and Lands End as well they are the only store in my EXTREMELY small town that carries children's clothes that are not "gently used". I would have gone down to Old Navy or the Carter Store but we only had 2 hours before we had to pick up my oldest from school.
We did find him some pants, a few pairs of sweat pants for playing and running around the house and this weekend I will take him to Old Navy to find him some slacks and jeans. Since we still had some time to kill we hit Wal-Mart for his bubble bath and his training pants (someday we may make it to actual undies!) and then we hit the grocery store as someone drank all my chocolate soy milk and whole wheat chips ahoy!.
All in all it was a productive day.
Ok, so enough of the rambling on and on and on. It is time to sit down and try to actually hear my show.
10/05/2005
What the heck?
CLERMONT, Fla. -- School officials in Lake County, Fla., said a substitute teacher pulled out a student's insulin pump after mistaking it for a cell phone.
Cliffton Hassam told East Ridge High School officials that his insulin pump began beeping in class Friday. But before he could turn it off, Hassam said substitute teacher Richard Maline ripped it from his leg.
Hassam is diabetic. The insulin pump regulates his blood sugar level.
Lake County School District officials said Maline pulled the pump because he thought the beeping came from a cell phone. They said Maline realized his mistake after he grabbed the pump.
In the written statement Hassam gave to school officials Tuesday, he said the pump fell to the floor and the tube came out of his leg. The high school junior said his blood sugar levels did not return to normal until early this week.
School district officials said Maline has been removed from the pool of substitute teachers.
Removal from the substitute pool is all that is happening? I hope the parents of the boy pursue a harsher penalty then that, perhaps even assault charges as he had no rights at all to put his hands on the boy. His inability to think and reason before reacting could have caused this boy serious injury/harm.
10/04/2005
2 nights rest!
Having my wife home for the evenings has been great and couple that with a few nights of great rest on my "new" bed and I am quiet content.
We spent the last few nights having time after the boys were in bed to watch a movie by ourselves. Albeit we were upstairs watching it but instead of her falling asleep 10 minutes into it from having worked a 15 hour day she was awake through the credits and everything.
Tonight though I lose her to one of her friends for a few hours. It seems this friend has decided to go ahead and have breast augmentation surgery. This was out of the blue and she went from an A to a D cup from what I have been told. Of course having been under general anesthesia this afternoon she has to have someone with her for the next 24 hours, which is even more surprising that they allow patients to be released before that 24 hours is up.
This is a good friend of my wife's and I personally think she is a nice girl, although she is a bit younger then we are. My concern for her is that this was a spur of the moment choice and perhaps one that she really does not want and possibly cannot afford. I hope I am wrong but with the speed this decision was made and the lack of a solid reason I doubt it.
So for the next 3 hours my wife is going to go sit with her as her roommate has class this evening. I told her to bring something to read as I doubt her friend is going to be much of a conversationalist and she does not have a computer (or the internet) and the TV only gets the 3 local stations.
My back has been feeling good for the last 2 days since sleeping on the bed. I did not adjust it much last night, just enough to raise my knees and take a bit of the pressure off my lower back. I once again slept straight through the night waking up with my youngest at about 7am which was early enough for him to then take a nap this afternoon.
His nap went fairly well but I made the mistake of adjusting the bed while he was sitting near it and he did not like that one bit. From there everytime I tried to adjust it he would holler for me to "put it down", the poor guy. To be so young and not understand what is happening must be pretty scary. When he finally fell asleep I adjusted it back so I could watch TV for a bit and then I feel asleep for about an hour as well.
Tonight however I have another movie for my wife and I to watch, Robots which we are looking forward too believe it or not. Last night was The Lords Of Dogtown which was a good movie but more so perhaps because that is the generation I was growing up during and when my brother and I first started to skate and ride BMX. A lot of the names in the movie were our idols as kids.
Well it is time to get the boys something to eat.
We spent the last few nights having time after the boys were in bed to watch a movie by ourselves. Albeit we were upstairs watching it but instead of her falling asleep 10 minutes into it from having worked a 15 hour day she was awake through the credits and everything.
Tonight though I lose her to one of her friends for a few hours. It seems this friend has decided to go ahead and have breast augmentation surgery. This was out of the blue and she went from an A to a D cup from what I have been told. Of course having been under general anesthesia this afternoon she has to have someone with her for the next 24 hours, which is even more surprising that they allow patients to be released before that 24 hours is up.
This is a good friend of my wife's and I personally think she is a nice girl, although she is a bit younger then we are. My concern for her is that this was a spur of the moment choice and perhaps one that she really does not want and possibly cannot afford. I hope I am wrong but with the speed this decision was made and the lack of a solid reason I doubt it.
So for the next 3 hours my wife is going to go sit with her as her roommate has class this evening. I told her to bring something to read as I doubt her friend is going to be much of a conversationalist and she does not have a computer (or the internet) and the TV only gets the 3 local stations.
My back has been feeling good for the last 2 days since sleeping on the bed. I did not adjust it much last night, just enough to raise my knees and take a bit of the pressure off my lower back. I once again slept straight through the night waking up with my youngest at about 7am which was early enough for him to then take a nap this afternoon.
His nap went fairly well but I made the mistake of adjusting the bed while he was sitting near it and he did not like that one bit. From there everytime I tried to adjust it he would holler for me to "put it down", the poor guy. To be so young and not understand what is happening must be pretty scary. When he finally fell asleep I adjusted it back so I could watch TV for a bit and then I feel asleep for about an hour as well.
Tonight however I have another movie for my wife and I to watch, Robots which we are looking forward too believe it or not. Last night was The Lords Of Dogtown which was a good movie but more so perhaps because that is the generation I was growing up during and when my brother and I first started to skate and ride BMX. A lot of the names in the movie were our idols as kids.
Well it is time to get the boys something to eat.
10/02/2005
They brought the bed by this afternoon and as I expected, that thing is freaking heavy!
We got it upstairs but I cant figure out for sure which is the head and which is the foot side as there is no headboard/footboard. It came with a bonus too! It has a massage feature on it.
We had an interesting evening last night or perhaps I should say early morning. It was raining when I went to bed at about 10pm and it continued through the ENTIRE evening and into the morning. In fact it got so bad that we lost power at about 4am and the creek down the road overflowed. Now creeks overflow but this one is normally seven or eight feet below the top of the bank which is just amazing. In ten years I have never seen it overflow and this morning they had the city crews out pumping water back into the Missouri river from both the creek and the areas that were flooded.
Of course then I checked the AP wire this morning which not only mentions the severe storms in the plains it specifically mentions my small little town. Ouch!
Now while the rest of the city was flooding and we were trying to sleep in the pitch black (isn't it odd how eerily quiet your house is at 4am with no power?) my house started to leak in odd places. I could hear the drip upstairs between the walls and when I came downstairs to get the other flashlight the a/c vent above the sink was leaking like a faucet.
Now the roof does need to be fixed but it is not so bad that you would expect to find those kind of leaks. Then again the amount of rain and the rate it was coming down would do some explaining.
Time for to get the youngest into the bath and ready for bed.
We got it upstairs but I cant figure out for sure which is the head and which is the foot side as there is no headboard/footboard. It came with a bonus too! It has a massage feature on it.
We had an interesting evening last night or perhaps I should say early morning. It was raining when I went to bed at about 10pm and it continued through the ENTIRE evening and into the morning. In fact it got so bad that we lost power at about 4am and the creek down the road overflowed. Now creeks overflow but this one is normally seven or eight feet below the top of the bank which is just amazing. In ten years I have never seen it overflow and this morning they had the city crews out pumping water back into the Missouri river from both the creek and the areas that were flooded.
Of course then I checked the AP wire this morning which not only mentions the severe storms in the plains it specifically mentions my small little town. Ouch!
Now while the rest of the city was flooding and we were trying to sleep in the pitch black (isn't it odd how eerily quiet your house is at 4am with no power?) my house started to leak in odd places. I could hear the drip upstairs between the walls and when I came downstairs to get the other flashlight the a/c vent above the sink was leaking like a faucet.
Now the roof does need to be fixed but it is not so bad that you would expect to find those kind of leaks. Then again the amount of rain and the rate it was coming down would do some explaining.
Time for to get the youngest into the bath and ready for bed.
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