So I’ve been sick for the last two days. It’s your standard issue coughing, wheezing, sore throat, Fall seasonal cold, but I’ll be glad to be rid of it. I guess it could be the continuation of what I was fighting last week or something left for me by the lovely little boy who sat next to me from Atlanta to Memphis and sneezed every 6 minutes. In either case, I’m glad it held off so I could enjoy last weekend and until I could be miserable in the privacy of my own home.
Category Archives: Health
That’s not some kind of Forrest Gump rig is it?
Well, yesterday was the big visit with the podiatrist and he confirmed that I do indeed have a giant-assed heel spur. Of course he looked a little deeper and root causes… I hate it when they do that. Apparently, the tendons in my foot are all out of whack and that’s causing the spurs and the underlying pain. So, after more x-rays, having him yank and pull at my foot, and having a delightful plaster cast made of my feet, and waiting for three weeks, I’ll have shoe inserts that are theoretically going to force my feet back into something like a normal position and alleviate the tendon issues. I’ve got the inflammation knocked down with regular doses of the giant Aleve tablets I’m popping every four hours so the pain is much better than it was. Fortunately now I can walk without totally gimping around. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll have this whole unfortunate episode resolved and get back to complaining about normal things. I’m just glad they didn’t try to stick me in the Forrest Gump leg brace set.
I’ve got spurs that jingle jangle jingle…
If the x-ray is correct, I apparently am now the proud owner of a large heel spur in my left foot. It hurts like a mother and has basically brought me to a grinding halt over a period of about five days. The only way I can describe it is that it feels more or less like having a permanent cramp in the arch of your foot. After you’ve been sleeping or sitting down for more than a few minutes, forget it. My doc, who’s usually all about the pills decided to give me some industrial sized painkillers that are more or less useless. They did manage to get me an appointment with the specialist on Monday morning, so I’m super excited about another trip to the doctor. So, for the rest of the weekend, I’ll be gimping around the house. Bloody lovely.
Things fall apart…
I’m not sure what it is about the magical age of 30, but it feels like I’m falling apart at the seams lately. Finally over the foolishness with my mouth and now I’ve apparently done something to my foot. I say “something” because I don’t have a clue what the problem is other than it feels like I have a constant cramp in and around the arch. Of course being paranoid, I’ve done my research and have found several possible culprits for this issue. I’ve got an appointment with my normal doc tomorrow to get her opinion and some options. Whatever the issue ends up being, it’s going to get addressed toot sweet, cause I’m damned near killing myself trying to get to the coffee in the morning on one foot.
Clean…
After two weeks of waiting for the results, I met with the surgeon again today and he confirmed that I have a clean bill of health. It seems the spot in question was no more than a little surface irritation. So, for tonight at least, all is right with the world.
Update…
OK, so it seems that the most likely culprit that sent me to the oral surgeon on Tuesday is some kind of infection. At least that’s the early diagnosis. The authoritative word will come back from the biopsy that he sliced out of the roof of my mouth… Yeah, and incidentally, if anyone every wants to take a hunk out of the roof of your mouth, I highly recommend looking for an alternative course of action.
First time for everything…
In 5 years of service, I’ve never turned down any task that’s come my way until yesterday. I had to give up an all expense paid trip to Kansas City because of this damned bug that keeps disappearing and then coming back a week later to kick my ass. So yeah, I said no to my first assignment ever this week and it bothers me more than it probably should. Putting self above work is sort of an unnatural act for me. It goes against my basic instincts.
In this case, though, I think getting on a plane yesterday afternoon would have done god-awful things to the inside of my head. Apparently if you let a sinus infection fester for too long, it turns into something really bad… Which helps explain why I’ve been feeling like my brain is trying to sneak down the back of my throat and make a run for it. Fortunately, my case is only regular bad and should be cleared up in a week or two with the help of our food friend penicillin. I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again… Hurray for better living though science!
Thanks, Folks…
Hey gang… I just wanted to post a quick thank you to everyone for your thoughts and comments over the last few days. It has meant a lot to me. I’m happy to say dad is doing well and expects to be discharged from Hopkins on Monday. With his imminent recovery, I am back in Memphis for a week getting ready for my next trip and trying to catch up the odds and ends of life. I owe a lot of you a call back from this week and I promise, I’ll be getting around to that this weekend at some point. I’m hoping to get back to my traditional ranting posts in the near future, so be sure to stay tuned.
Lost…
I’m in the process of losing my voice and had never realized how much of my day I spent talking until it started to hurt when I did it. So, for the time being, I’m going to be doing my best to keep the talking to a minimum. Maybe I’ll actually catch up on a few posts I have been trying to hammer out, but haven’t quite found the time to work on lately.
I’m heading to Baltimore on Monday, incidentally. There’s a bit of a family medical issue that I’ve been asked to keep under my hat for the time being and since it’s embargoed to other members of the family, I’m certainly not going to blather about on the details on MySpace. Suffice to say, it’s serious enough that I’m flying back to Maryland to be there. The operation has a high rate of success, but the consequences of failure, though unlikely, are quite simply more horrifying than I can imagine. Tuesday is going to be one of those days without end.
Set your clock by it…
It’s said that there are no guarantees in life, but one tradition I can nearly set my watch by is that sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas I’m going to wake up sick. I don’t mean full-blown deathly ill, just with my typical warning signs – a tickle in the throat, nose a little stuffy – just a general feeling. This morning was that day for 2007. I’m popping vitamin c and Coldeez like candy in an effort to at least keep things to the minimum possible duration.
You know, it’s not so much that I mind feeling sick, but it throws me off my normal routine, and you know what I think about that. Fortunately, today is a day off (gotta love use-or-lose leave) so I’m going to self-medicate most of the day and catch up on a few movies I’ve had good intentions of watching.
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