So I've been sick since late last week. By Friday I knew both that I wasn't contagious (well, physically; I understand I have other aspects that are completely infectious) and that I should see a doc. I felt like crap warmed over. At the doc's my air flow volume was about 65% of what it should be. No wonder ( Read more...Collapse )

---

Brunch on Sunday with popelizbet. I was very glad that I'd had experience with SCA feasts or I'd've been broken. As it was the coconut cream pie was nearly the death of me. Whoa was that a lot of food. AND we got to make karnythia jealous so that's a good thing and in return she attempted to get us back with garlic pita chips but by that time we were full. Monell's at Fitzgerald Manor in Gallatin, y'all. Do it to it. All for two people: cole claw, pickled beets with onion, refrigerator pickles which were nicely spiced, peach preserves (OMNOM), biscuits, cornbread, pork tenderloin roast, beef & gravy, fried chicken, green beans, fried applis, mac 'n cheese, corn pudding, lima beans, and mashed red potatoes. Choice of lemonade, fruit tea, sweet tea, water - I happily drank a fruit tea that had either no or very little pineapple juice in it. Well, or very good pineapple juice. Some facilities will use blades to remove the outside, then rinse the fruit, then use different blades to cut/mash the fruit. It makes all the difference. Anyway, I came home and made chicken soup for folks to have for dinner but ate very little myself because I got so full at brunch. Mmmmm. Likely going to see about having it for dinner tonight for me and B, with some cheese sammiches, maybe. With Delice de Bourgogne brie on, maybe, just for karnythia, because I am evil.

---

Weather.com says that it feels like 71F outside, and I believe them.

---

Rose's first pigtails were this weekend. Naturally, I needed an insulin injection afterward. She's going to prove to have more hair than her sister, I believe.

Fayetteville does a Dickens and 1860s holiday thing! I didn't know! It's this weekend, so I can't pull that together but maybe for next year...? Of course, I'd also need to find out their policy about "patrons" walking around in the clothing.

---

Rose has croup. This is about as delightful as ( you might think.Collapse ) Coffee is my friend, today.

---

It's Veteran's Day. If you serve or have served in any capacity, my thanks.

---

And just who the hell is this rude? His rudeness was outstripped by hers by far, beyond just willfully putting hands on another human being who didn't want her to do that.

I know some of my readers are atheist/agnostic/Gentile but I think you'll agree that this behavior is Not On. Who touches someone else knowing they don't want the contact? I have a hard time fathoming that behavior, much less excusing it as christianet is doing. ETA: It appears that christianet does not approve of the behavior. Whew.

can fuck right off. The timing was/is NOT appreciated.

Rose got to go to the doc today (she's fine; lingering cold stuff has given her a bad throat requiring antibiotics) - B had to be there, as it's a crapshoot today as to whether or not I could sit up well for the gut screaming at me. Fuck you, gut. I may be better tomorrow but it always takes me at least a day to recover from this shit AND I HATE IT SO FUCKING MUCH. Knitting today was for shit. I couldn't really even knit through the cramping, I had to hold my (elastic) waistband and the safety belt, when in the car, away from my stomach. Redeeming factors of today's episode have been no real nausea, just lack of real interest in food, and no throwing up. And a near three-hour nap when we got home. And the fact that the doc's office has its own dispensary, so we didn't have to kill an hour while waiting for meds. No knitting night out for me, tonight.

I so wish that there was a safe decongestant for babies. She could really use one - she'd rest better and she'd thereby start feeling better quicker. And of course, a Mommy in a Crohn's flare who gets rest is a Mommy who recuperates quicker, herself, so there's that, too. I need to go to Nashville on Saturday - but not if I'm not recovered. Dammit.

Right about now I wish I had to hand more fiction paperbacks that I haven't already read.

Feces. I was hoping I'd get a pass on this one. Looks like it's not to be. Think I'll be ill shortly.

Later, y'all.

Meg is now matching tones and picking up chord tones. Learning music by osmosis is cool

---

Fart on a biscuit, I am not going to make it to SH. ( tl; dr version: I feel like crapCollapse )

You'd think that this means that I will be able to stay home. Hahaha!, my dear reader. Not so. My cousin Ashley's son is three weeks old and I haven't yet seen him. I have to go to Murfreesboro, provided that I' m correct. We'll be going by the Harvest Days nd Fiber Festival in M'boro for a little while, but I don't know how that will work out - there's a lot of educational and fun stuff for Meg to do or watch, and, of course FIBER, but I don't know how long even the wool fumes will be able to keep me there, because I'm *pretty* sure that it's outside, too.

Mind, if this *is* a head cold, all plans are moot. My happy butt will be home. I'd love to believe that I'd be in the bed, but I know better. B will want to play on the computer and I'll have to watch the girls because he won't be able to do it without being annoyed about the interruption.

Gonna go hunt down some Mucinex, now.

Anyone got a review of Soft Paws, and how well they work? Now that Gris's inside only, and with considering bringing another cat into the household, I'm considering getting some put on her. Which will annoy the snot out of her at first, but she'll adjust. She *really* needs a buddy. I think she's only just starting to adjust to the inside-only thing, and she's getting *really* sedentary and grooming herself A LOT. She's not got bald spots, and I know she's a long-haired Persian throwback, but I'm starting to get concerned. It's like she's so bored it's the only thing she's got to do, other than occasionally and decreasingly frequently yelling at us to let her out.

---

B has the 'flu. No Magna Faire for us. DAMMIT. He's been fighting it, but trying to make up the hours where he was out taking care of me, and then the remainder of this schedule, plus trying to continue to take care of me and forgetting to take any vitamins, or the chewable C, and refusing to get off the freakin' computer to go to bed at a decent hour to get enough sleep have all predictably resulted in his contracting it. He's feverish, has huge dark circles under his eyes, body aches, nausea whenever he moves, argh. Poor guy, and the timing sucks, too.

Y'all have fun. :(

I feel awesomely better today. Like food might actually be my friend. It's lovely to wake up and not feel awful, straightaway. With Meg at Vickie's today, B and I slept in a little, which was lurvely. I need to go back to the eye doc's and get this eye checked back out. It's a lot better, but I wasn't able to do a whole lot of much of anything yesterday, as I'd not eaten enough to get my energy anything like back up to normal, though I was in talks with my stomach.

And! Water tstes like water should taste. Awesome. Ima have chicken noodle soup for breakfast. Wish it were Progresso's but I'll deal. When B is frazzled and looking for chicken noodle soup he automatically homes in on the Campbell's, and he was definitely frazzled when he was looking this last time.

While we're out today, we'll be looking for a few things for Gris, including a hairball formula or some rye grass that's already grown. I'll get another pot started growing from the seed I've got on hand, but Gris definitely needs some greens. We'll also be getting her some flea control stuff, as she's still got a few left from when she was outdoors-y, and a good grooming brush, suitable for her multilayered, long hair.

The 'flu.

Yep. I'm likely about 2-3 days into it.

I know I keep whining and stuff about the sick, but I have *never* had such luck in my life. Normal preggers nausea, ramped up by Crohn's flare-up, not helped by oral thrush, not helped again by 'flu. And on top of it all, episcleritis in the eyeball (treatable).

---

All that said, I am feeling a decent bit better today than I was yesterday. Joints still hurt (elbows, thankyouverymuch, joined in yesterday, which I only discovered when I leaned on them while typing yesterday's entry).

I'm having some V8 Berry Blast. At the moment - the stomach's not completely decided that it's okay with that, so I'm taking it slowly. B is taking Meg to visit with my aunt Vickie, who's going to take her on Saturday to see the cut ice sculptures and lights at Opryland Hotel, which I think she'll very much enjoy. The theme is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It's still a surprise for her - right now she knows Daddy's taking her on a trip today, and she'll be overnighting. I *think* Michelle will be going along with them tomorrow, though I'm not positive. If she does, that would add to the awesomness of the surprise for Meg. She's getting over whatever it was she had, so that's good, but we're still sending the Tylenol Cold with her just in case.

Well, I need to write and sign a medical "okay to treat" thing for Vickie.

( This section TMICollapse )

I hope everyone's T'day is miles better than mine.

Hey, is it normal for every joint in my hands, knees and feet/ankles to hurt? 'Cause not only do I get the indignity and pain of of hurling, *then* I get the holy-crap-ow pain of standing up afterwards. I'm going to stop typing because it hurts my hands, and I can't sit comfortably, either.

This day has not been helped by B's being on WoW all day long, I'll say. It's not that his not being on it would have helped, but damn, it's just like being ignored.... It doesn't help that I'm cranky because it's THANKSGIVING DAY, and I can't eat.

According to the doc's office yesterday, I have lost about seven pounds with all this crap. And I get the feeling I'm not done yet.

I really can't recommend it as a diet.

This post is mostly for me, to helpkeep track of nausea and see if I can't figure out how to "disarm" it.

Okay, so far, no hurling. I'm very... low energy right now, and not so interested in food at all. It almost feels liek I've got a bit of reflux, actually, and I'm sitting up. The guts cramp every once in a while, then reflux feeling, then burp.

I've had two doses of Zofran (six to eight hours apart dosage for this newer prescription), one at 9 am and another at three. I may retime that to take it later in the morning, as the morning isn't a problem time for me.

Eaten today:
1 can Slimfast (incidentally, Ensure does NOT have more vitamins and whatnot as Momma thought. We compared.)
part of a grilled chicken breast
a few quarter-inch pieces of potato
a very, very little salad greens with dressing (tasty, but I didn't really dare more)
a little sweet tea
some V8 juice drink
an Activia cup
a little knocked-up lady's hot tea

The last I think I'll stop drinking for now and save for later. The stomach is not seeming to like it overly much, and pretty much cramps up every time I have a little more.

Still really crappy nutrition. But at least, so far, it's all stayed down. Step in the right direction. Man, but the laundry and dish detergent aisle at Wal-Mart was Bad Idea. Very bad. Very smelly, and not at a good time of the day for that, for me.

ETA: Evening nausea subsided without throwing up. Had some Stove Top.

In addition to the OB appointment today, yours truly will also be going to see an eye doc. With all the GI activity of last week, something got strained/brokwn in my right eye around the iris, and remains pretty unhappy. It's stayed uphappy and weepy for enoguh days now that I'm going to have it checked out at the first opportunity. B is going to pick us up around lunch time. I'll have some hour and a half in between getting into town at that point and needing to go to the OB office and will go over there during that time.

It looks like the guys who were interested in the Blazer yesterday may *actually* be interested in and have the money to buy it. Yay, new easy chair! *Maybe* two, or a love seat, but I sort of doubt the Blazer will bring that much.

Poor TInk, she's got a pretty good head cold, and the kids' Mucinex doesn't seem to be helping. Stuffy widdle nose.... :(

---

( Food and nutrition concernsCollapse )

So, after a week of little to no good nutrition, wherein I believe I lost about seven pounds, that's not fabulous, but it's also not a bad day. Some protein, some carbs, some dairy, plenty of liquids (yes, really), some fruit/veg, some fiber.

Food so far today is a can of Slim-Fast, because kid's cereal is not sounding very appealing to me this morning. That's not going to do me for long, but it is cutting through all the saliva in the belly, which makes things more appetizing. I'll have a boiled egg or something here in a bit.

---

We will in fact be staying home for Thanksgiving, going to Cracker Barrel for our Thanksgiving dinner. B was just too worried about my ability to travel without getting ill to be comfortable driving me that far. Motion still runs me a bad one for causing nausea, and that's not just in the first-person-camera video gaming sense, but in travel in general. There's a solution for that (sucking on a sour hard candy - seriously, try it the next time you find yourself with a bit of motion sickness) but IME it lasts only as long as the hard candy does, and I'm not a sour candy fiend. To be bluntly honest, I'm very okay with staying home. I love them, but the travel is just.... Yeah. Yet, it's B's family, and he hasn't seen them in forever, so I feel badly about that, though of course I *certainly* didn't choose to get sick like I have.

All right, gonna go boil my head an egg or two.

MUCH better. Woke up today and actually felt like getting out of bed and like putting clothes on and facing the day. And maybe, maybe even sewing something - though I'll confess that at this point I'm not likely to have anything like what I planned to make for Magna Faire in *time* for Magna Faire. The energy level is there in the morning - when I answer email, teach Meg, and, from now on, try to eat enough food that will get me through if I lose it later in the day (ugh). I need some maternity clothes (which don't have waist seams or belts, and then some which do) and Meg has two pairs of pants. That needs fixing, before garb, I'm afraid.

It seems like Holiday Faire was many and varied sorts of not on my list this year. (WAHHHHH!) I'm hopeful that Thanksgiving with my in-laws will still be possible for us though, with me now improving every day. ANd if road travel for Thanksgiving is possible, then travel for Magna Faire becomes increasingly more likely, too.

Okay, gonna eat some breakfast. ::bouncebounce ooohhhhhh, breakfast:: After that, one more appointment with the soon-to-be-ex-OB to schedule, as my last ER visit needs to go on my records - and maybe I can convince him that the Zofran is made of flambéed awesome. I ended up needing one last night. Food wasn't solving the problem, and, well. I took one. However, that *is* better, as I didn't need one before that all day!

---

One of the other things we've learned with this episode is that our living room/den seating arrangement is NOT cutting the mustard. Ugly Orange Upholstered Rocker and Brett's grandmother's goose-turd-green upholstered chair need to go, and that's that, and he's finally realized it after years of insisting on keeping them. I never sit in them, but had to this weekend, and making people sit in those chairs for longer than ten minutes is just this side of inhospitable. Wow. I never knew - or rather, didn't know conciously. Back burner knowledge, I suppose. B has been so freakin' attached to his grandmother's green chair. We've discussed having it re-upholstered, 'cause the thing is quite solid, but I doubt that would increase its comfort rating. It was okay for a college kid's butt to sit on. It is NOT, however, comfy.

OK, time to call the OB office.

While it sounds like the ingredients would make a great smoothie that I could enjoy/drink/keep down, perhaps the name suggests some, um, displaced unhappiness?

I give you the Baby Shake.

No shit.

---

I'm feeling better today. Food helps a great deal, and I find that I have most tendency to nausea in the afternoon and evening. The evening one may be solvable with a series of small meals starting in the late afternoon, and then an earlyish bedtime to get me past that nausea with unconciousness. Mornings, I'm fine. We'll see, but the Zofrin should last till I can get to the OB tomorrow ::crosses fingers and wishes::.

Made a smoothie from the stuff we've got here. No protein powder or molasses in (or milk, just yet), but it'll do, I think.

C'ville Regional needs to take some lessons from Sparta's ER, no doubt.

Nice people who *listened.* And gave me medicine that worked, and then sent me home with some to tide us over until the pharmacy opened.

I have Bentyl (relaxes the smooth muscles of the gut, oh, joy), so now I can tell if I'm hungry, as opposed to just hurting/crampy. I also have Zofrin (anti-emetic) which is happy happyness. Because I can keep down jello again. I feel almost human again, yay!

Side effects are that I'm sleepy and my maiden great-aunts Ruby and Raslee showed up to sit with me and remind me to drink. I'm not sure why great-grandfather McCafferty was there, as I never met him, but he was in the corner on a rocker. How is their showing up a side effect? He died before I was born, and my aunts both died during my childhood. Raslee and Ruby were both teachers, and we had a light conversation about Meg, who makes them smile.

---

I've got some Pedialyte and Gatorade, but I'm sorta loathe to try the Gatorade again. Yesterday I didn't have the energy to make tea, but I think I might today. Other than that, there's juice, which isn't a fabulous choice for me today. If my nose will let me, I'll have some chicken broth later. Think I'll pour myself some Pedialyte, now.

If I don't stop throwing up, I'll be back in the hopsital tonight.... :(

I'm this close to needing an IV and some Phenergan. Everything smells awful and stomach-churning. I'm glad water has no scent, but if I drink any more I'll hurl again. I've had maybe thirty ounces of liquid since I threw up last night.

ETA: Fixed drug spelling. WHY on earth do people pronounce it that way, when it's spelled so differently? I mean my maiden name was complex, but phonetically pronounceable....

Further clues this morning that I am actually a human!
1 - I can walk fully upright!
2 - Dry white toast - goes in my stomach. Via my mouth.
3 - Toast is awesome.

I'm still not feeling well, but I *can* walk fully upright today, and that's an improvement. Toast does rock, yes.

Appointment later this morning with my potentially nigh-useless OB/Gyn. Y'know, I do understand that when the other doctor partner goes down, it's hard to deal - but when you're a high-risk OB you have an obligation to your patients to have an plan for such times. "I'll just cover everything" doesn't work when you can't even be reached for days. Or your office won't talk to the gastroenterologist's office.

Yeah, I think I'll be looking at Maternal Fetal Group in Nashville, 'cause this guy can't seem to do much for me but fail. This was the guy that I coulda sworn I'd told that my grandmother had had strokes, but kept me on the pill anyway and dismissed my concern, as my *mother* hadn't had a stroke. At age 45. So he had a black mark against him, already.

Another flare up of Crohn's in the wee sma's of Monday, and the doctors seem to have their heads stuck in places they ought not. More on that later, but hey, sitting up is an improvement for today.

The Rescue Team guys are nice.

Thanks again for the well wishes and hydration warnings - heh, Momma had the same warning. I was as careful as possible (i.e., though I fell asleep around 9, I had water on the night stand and drank some every time I woke up, and I've had at least two full glasses this morning), and woke up feeling tons better. I can eat cottage cheese with no problems! Yay!

I think those several hours of sleep have done me a world of good. Today should be much, much better, thank goodness. And I'm still really happy about the no need for hospitalization thing.