It's gettin' hot in herrrrr

Where should I even start... I'm going to go stream-of-consciousness with this.

I am in such bad pain right now. This is by far the worst pain I've experienced since the ER on Thursday. It's partially my fault, too. I tried to wean off of the pain pills for work, but I really made a bad decision on trying to tough it out. It's so weird because my pain is an 8 on a 10-point scale, and I hadn't gotten over a 4 since Thursday. I just know it's because I didn't adhere to the pain pill schedule, but frankly I was sick of being out of it. Life goes on. I have taken four Percocets in the last eight hours. It's weird because, when I breathe in, I feel a click in my right kidney. Good or bad? No idea. But painful.

That brings me to my next point, which is that the doctor's appointment today was a complete waste of time and money. I really want to walk into a doctor's appointment and hear something I didn't already know. Telling me to drink water is kind of irrelevant at this point. The doctor told me that he only needed to hear from me if things got worse. Well, his wish came true. Congratulations. He also made it sound like there are more than two of those silly suckers in there. Whateverrrrrrrrrrr.

While I'm being depressing, let's talk about my air conditioner. When I got home from rehearsal last night, it was making a weird clicking noise, much like my kidney is right now. So, today an AC guy was supposed to come out, but he called after 3:00 p.m. to say he wasn't going to make it. Thanks for the heads up, punk. Here I am, it's mid-80s in my house, and my new roommate has seen one disaster after another. I swear I feel bad for everyone who knows me right now.

I was in an improv show tonight. Did I think this was a good decision last night? Yes. Did I think this was a good decision this afternoon? No. I definitely toughed through it, but it was hard to fake it near the end. There were probably about 90 people there, 60ish being under the age of 18. Wow. I played Sounds Like A Song, Dialects, Narration Switch, and Musical Styles. Despite the pill-popping, I had an enjoyable time. It felt good to be back on stage. Honestly, I can't even believe I played Dialects, but I guess that's the bonus of doing a show while taking medication for kidney stones.

I think I might sleep like a baby tonight... on the couch.

I just re-read this post to look for errors since I'm not all here right now. It's amazing how pitiful I sound. I know it's annoying to hear someone who is being negative all the time, but I truly need a free pass to Negativityland right now. Yowzers.

Waiting is the hardest part

Oh, kidney stone, how I hate thee.

So, this kidney stone thing is getting a little awkward. I get a text/email/call every couple hours asking me if it has passed. As people know, I'm not very shy about much, but it's just kind of a strange topic since it involves human waste and what not. Anyway, as far as my body and my strainer indicate, it is still hanging out inside of my body.

Since I've been fortunate enough to have never experienced this before, I really don't know what to expect. I mean, theoretically, it could be out in a few minutes and everything would be back to normal (excluding the fact that there's another one in my kidney that could choose to jump out whenever it wants). I'm hopeful that it will be gone today, but in my "big picture" mind, I'm already trying to strategize about tomorrow. I feel most secure at home since people aren't here to witness everything, but it's also hard not to leave the house when I'm feeling pretty good. Who knows how much of that has to do with the painkillers, though...

Today I'm supposed to go to my grandmother's for a little birthday celebration for my mom and uncle. The trickiest parts about that are: 1) I'd have to get a ride, 2) packing the strainer is awkward, and 3) I keep dozing off at a moment's notice. I haven't yet decided whether or not I'll try to truck it over there.

I didn't make it to the theatre last night. I was confident that I could be pain-free while I was there, but I'd HAVE to use the bathroom in the time I was there, which would involve bringing the strainer. AND, given that the camera person is literally in the audience, I'd need to guarantee I wasn't going to fall asleep. Thankfully the theatre folks were very understanding and encouraged me to stay home and get better. All I'm waiting on is the "get better" part.

Well, this is going to sound nutty, but I might go try to exercise. I read that activity can help it pass, so perhaps that's what I'll do. The thought of it makes me anxious.

It feels like it's time to take another narcotic, though, because I feel the dull pain returning in my lower right back. The doctor told me to take medicine at the first sign of pain because the oral painkillers only work up until a certain point before IV painkillers are needed. Maybe the exercise thing needs to be moved to the back burner for now. Sigh.

Thank you to all for being so supportive!

You've gotta be kidneying me

Seriously.

I woke up today and got out of bed, ready to head to the gym. After I'd been standing for a few minutes, I was in excruciating pain. Now, though, it was more localized in my abdomen than in my back. I got in the shower to tough it out, and literally couldn't stand. By the time I got out of the shower, I was just in tears. I called my mom and just started bawling like a tiny little baby.

She was headed out to my place and I couldn't take it anymore. She called my sister, who came to get me so that we could get a head start. We went to Emory because it makes it so much easier for the doctors to know everything about me. I was that person in the ER doubled over, crying out in pain. They got me back to a room and my blood pressure was hovering at 160-something over 100-something.

In all seriousness, it was pretty scary. There were moments when I wasn't sure I was going to make it through. I have never been through pain anywhere near this bad at any point in my life. The central theme throughout the day was that "people say they'd rather have a baby than a kidney stone." I was in a room just bawling and yelling at the top of my lungs for more than an hour. Finally they started giving me IV morphine, which worked for a few minutes and then wore off.

At this point a doctor came in, heard the story, and was pretty sure it was a kidney stone. She ordered another painkiller that's good for stones, and got me scheduled for a CT scan. The painkiller did wonders and I was able to lay flat for the first time all day. I went to get the CT scan which showed two kidney stones. One of them has already made it through the toughest parts and is hanging out just before my bladder. The other's just chilling in my kidney.

I got to come home after 10 long hours, and don't really have to go back unless I vomit, get a fever, or have the severe pain again. It's about time for another pain pill. I'm on four different medications while we wait this out, but it should take care of itself. We're just hoping the second one stays put in my kidney. Jerk.

Thanks to everyone for helping minimize the accident drama from last night. Honestly I've forgotten almost all about it since I didn't get to call the insurance company while in the dungeon.

I've already found a crew shift replacement for tomorrow night, and am going to try to wait it out and attend on Saturday if I'm functioning. I know some folks who are on crew Saturday and I bet someone would drive me (!) if I'm still on all of the medicine.

This has got to be the end of this series of events.

I've fallen and I can't get up

Yes, my back hurts. I mean, ouch. I was somewhat numb for the first portion of the day, probably because I took some of the prescription Motrin I got when I was in the ER several months back. Now, though, my back is just screaming at me again. I didn't hear a response from the doctor, but I will say that today was an improvement from yesterday, so I'm hoping it's just something muscular... The good news is that my SC joint hasn't hurt since I got back in town. I sound like such a hypochondriac right now.

While I'm on the topic of health and what not, my bloodwork was a breeze today! I dressed warmly and put on a jacket for about 30 minutes before the actual blood draw. As I walked into the clinic building, the study coordinator came down the steps and told me to stay there in the lobby versus coming up to the lab where it's COLD. So, I got needled in the middle of the lobby of the building. Either way, it was beautiful. I know a lot of people hate needles and blood, but it was so refreshing after the unsuccessful sticks yesterday. Plus, this means I don't have to withdraw from the study over something ridiculous.

There was some major improvement on the appetite front today. I went to Willy's and was able to sustain my appetite throughout the entire meal! Maybe I was just having Willydrawals. Man, those nachos were good.

The Braves lost tonight, which was disappointing after a good winning streak. I handled it very well, though, because they've been playing so well lately.

What else? I need to do my annual self-evaluation for work when I'm telecommuting tomorrow. I've tried to work on it the past two days, but I get so distracted when I'm trying to answer the narratives at work. Plus, I wanted to give it some time to get over the shock of returning to work after vacation. I did it at this same time last year (the day I returned from Florida), and wasn't the most positive person.

Last night I couldn't sleep for anything. I literally got about two hours of sleep. I have no idea why I'm still up at 1:00 a.m. I thought I would have crashed a long time ago. I took a small nap tonight, but I'm surprised I've lasted this long. Tomorrow's probably going to be tough.

Cheers to all. Life is precious.

Back to work

It's hard to imagine that I haven't been to work in almost a week. Yeah, I was telecommuting, but it will be nice to see everyone's faces when I'm back in the office tomorrow. I kind of wish I was feeling 100 percent, but I'm not sure when I will be given the weather, etc.

I haven't had any of the same pain that I had on Friday. However, I've also been taking the prescription Motrin pretty regularly, so I don't know if I'd be pain-free without it. I was experiencing some shortness of breath (again) Saturday and today, but I do think I'm on the road to recovery. Fatigue has been trying to hold me back, so I'm hoping tomorrow won't be too difficult at work.

Guess what! Today I went to the gym for the first time in what felt like forever. I haven't tried to run in at least two weeks, but probably more like three. As I mentioned recently, I was starting to feel like I needed to work out - just that my body was withering away or something. The gym was tough, but I walked for three minutes, ran for five, walked for two, ran for five, then walked for three again. I then did twelve minutes on the elliptical, and finished with a ten-minute walk. It felt a little measly compared to how I usually push myself, but it was the most I felt like I could do. I have high hopes of getting up and going over there again in the morning to start my week off on a positive note.

Yesterday we went for a get-together at my aunts' house, and today we had a gathering at my grandmother's house. It was fun to get to see everyone on my dad's side of the family; it seemed like it had been a while. I enjoyed today, but everything was set up to eat outside and I knew it probably wasn't the best idea for me. Last year I got very, very sick from allergies on Easter Sunday and missed a week of work. Geeee, sounds sort of familiar, but I'll say this year has been nothing in comparison to last year (knock on wood). Anyway, I ended up sitting inside and one of my cousins joined me so I wasn't all alone. :-)

I know it seems like all I've been talking about lately is my health, but whatever - I'm more cognizant of it now than I usually am. That reminds me that I have only a few days left on this oral antibiotic, and a doctor's appointment next Tuesday. We'll see how all of that unfolds...

Although I am all talk regarding my book, I've been thinking about it a lot over these last couple days. I think that the revelation I had at the end of the year is gonna get tossed by the wayside and I should take a slightly different approach. Sometimes I wish I was better at acting rather than talking my way through things. I'm getting annoyed with myself by how badly I've been procrastinating. However, to go easy on myself, I haven't had much free time on my hands and, when I've found it, I've ended up using it for life's essentials - i.e. sleeping and eating.

Speaking of sleeping, I'm just finishing up a round of vesting so I can get a good night's sleep to start my week off... and so I'll get up to exercise!

Trial and error

Well, today was a big ol' waste of time.

As you know, I emailed the doctor in the middle of the night to try to get some sort of answer for the unusual pain I was having in my chest/lungs. Well, I got a return phone call right as I walked into an 11:00 a.m. appointment at work, so I made a quick exit. The nurse recommended that I go to the ER because the pain in my lungs was concerning and the doctor didn't have clinic hours until Thursday. Sooooooo, one of my coworkers and I headed over to the ER. Mind you, I hate the ER, so I hope that illustrates the desperation I was facing.

Upon arriving, we had to wait practically forever to check in, even though I marked chest pain and shortness-of-breath as symptoms (two of the top things to acknowledge according to the signs all over the walls). When they finally took me back to check out my vitals, my blood pressure was by far the highest it's ever been - 154/96. That's absolutely unheard of for me, but they didn't seem too concerned.

After a while, they opted to do some bloodwork and a chest x-ray. The bloodwork came back showing elevated white blood cell counts, and the chest x-ray came back looking really good. Soooo, thinking the x-ray would be the tell-tale sign of what was causing the lung pain, we were left with really no indications. However, we got one of my doctors on the phone who highly encouraged that I be admitted to the hospital, but I wasn't quite buying the argument since there aren't any symptoms that are typical of when I have a lung infection that requires IV antibiotics.

So, after spending six hours in different holding areas of the ER, I walked out with a prescription for a different, higher-dose oral antibiotic, as well as prescription pain medicine. I promptly went to Target and got my prescriptions filled and enjoyed a medicine cocktail for dinner. I'm not even sure what to think of today's colossal waste of time, but I guess it's relieving to know that they didn't see pneumonia or a collapsed lung or anything. I was honestly terrified after the way last night went.

Well, I am just ready to try to sleep. I haven't yet decided what I'll do workwise tomorrow, but I guess it will depend on if I feel well-rested after tonight. I'm happy to report that nothing seems to be overly concerning...just the usual shenanigans.

Thanks to everyone who was looking out for me today. :o) If I didn't get back to you, that's where I was - between the guy with the sliced-open hand and the perforated-bowel dude.

Hold on while I ice my chest

GREETINGS! IT'S THURSDAY!

Well, my chest is really sore today because I got my much-anticipated Cortisone injection. It was kind of what I imagined it might be when I tried to conceptualize what it would be like for a needle to go into my chest. I was on the gurney (or whatever) and the guy put the gooey gel on my SC joint. He started moving the ultrasound thingy (these are all medical terms) around to get a good picture of the joint. He moved it around for a while, then told me to get ready for a cold spray. After the cold, the needle went into my chest at a diagonal. When the needle got into the place they were going for in the joint, the doctor could not make the syringe cooperate. I think it was a matter of being at a place in my chest that didn't want the medicine. So, they ended up having to take it out.

Then, then tried again. This time they got in the joint pretty easily at an angle that was actually willing to receive the medicine. He slowly started to push the syringe. He warned me that I would feel a lot of pressure, but it was kind of like someone had just put a twenty-five pound weight on my chest or something. It was weird because it was in such a specified location, but it felt like the joint was about to explode from the pressure. Anyway, he warned me that after the injected Lidocaine wore off, it would start to get sore. And boy, was he right. There's a little bruise in the center of my chest and I'm feeling pretty sore. I iced it after rehearsal last night. I'm probably gonna need to pop a painkiller today. He said the pain should only last a few days.

The week has gone pretty well, I'd say. It has actually flown by; I can't believe today's Thursday. Tonight I'm going to the improv show to support some fellow actors. I think I'm meeting a friend for MEXICAN! beforehand, which will be the perfect after-work activity on a Thursday. Then tomorrow I will be working from home until I need to head down to the theatre to work suggestions and camera again. Saturday I will be worthless.

I really need to finish getting ready for work. I forgot that I'm going to be relying on my less-coordinated arm to dry my hair and what not. Here goes!