Last Monday was my makeup appointment at the pain doc's office for the postponement at the end of September. I should have been happy that I only had to wait an hour past my appointment time to see the doctor. Unfortunately, that was an hour in the main waiting room where CNN was blasting on both TVs. I'm a diehard liberal Democrat but the news failed to catch my attention. For one thing, I heard about the reports they were explaining over and over again at least a week before. The TV wasn't just boring but was genuinely painful.
I'd been worried that I had a worsening problem with sensory overload because the problem has come up recently. Melissa did assure me that the TVs were, in fact, loud. It was like having a bad teacher repeat herself (the anchor at the time was a woman) over and over at top volume. For a brief time, the coverage was so bad that I stopped caring about the election but that was a very brief time.
The next phase of the appointment was a pleasant surprise. A nurse with whom I have had a mostly terrible relationship was nice to me. She asked about taking my vitals and I said no. Instead of arguing, she did what I asked despite the fact that the head doc wants vitals taken. I'm sure he'd be willing to give me a break but I haven't spoken with him yet. My nemesis was polite almost to the point of warmth and explained the reasons for the delay. I know that sounds terrible but I believe in giving credit for people who take steps in the right direction. She took big steps that way. Normally, I don't like being told something I already know like the fact that the day of postponed appointments from the week beforte had to be made up but I appreciated it this time. It let me know that nothing else was going wrong.
My doctor was her usual cooperative self including her explanations for things she couldn't do for me. I like that sort of thing. When I ask someone for something, no has to be an acceptable answer. Otherwise I'm a tyrant and an awfully pathetic one at that. The rest of the appointment was as painless as these things can be. It didn't take long to get home once things got started.
Unfortunately, I was already in a state of terrible agitation with twitching all over. I did what I could about it which was sleep a lot on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday, I had what I thought were symptoms I get when I sleep too long all at once. I get congested in all sorts of nasty and unpleasant ways. Worse, I had the cold sweats. It felt as if I hadn't showered in days and all that sweat left me with damp chills. The good news is that there's an easy remedy for feeling dirty. I forced myself to overcome the odd exhaustion that still plagued me and got my shower.
When I got out of the shower, I couldn't dry off because I was sweating so badly. When Melissa fixed dinner, I felt much better. Yay, wifey! On Thursday, I had a terrible sore throat but that was treatable as well. Friday brought false hope. I improved a lot on Friday which is understandable for payday. That just happened to be the night when Melissa had to stay up with me holding my hand because I was miserable. We're talking miserable enough to borrow trouble. If Melissa hadn't been here, I might have given in and found some minor self destructive behavior in which to indulge. She stayed with me and was wonderful.
I woke up on Saturday feeling like an elephant or a certain cat named Meekers was sitting on my chest. I didn't think I could get out of bed but I did. After some medicine and some time in the bathroom, I felt able to breathe. (If you don't understand the bathroom part, try having a coughing or sneezing fit while incontinent.) There was no game plan for the way I felt. Most people would stay in bed but I felt that's what caused the congestion to become so severe so fast.
I tried alternating two strategies. For starters, I stayed upright until I was too exhausted to sit comfortably. That sent me back to bed for six hour stretches. Individual stretches might have been shorter but none were longer. I didn't want to fill up again. Melissa and I spent the time like any self respecting invalids lacking TV reception would. We watched "MASH" on DVD. It's probably my all-time favorite show anyway but, when the alternatives are watch more or stand up, I watched more. I think we've watched ten hours or more in the last 24 real life hours.
As night approached, I started to worsen fairly drastically but I remembered that there's a fever reducer in my narcotic pain meds. I doubt that I ever had a fever but I improved and read a little more about armored vehicles. That's when I came upstairs to play more "Diablo II" and try to avoid the frustration of trying to sleep when our bodies are programmed to feel the worst for the day. So far, so good. I haven't felt the despair of poorly timed insomnia and I should be good and tired when Melissa leaves for the day.
It would be nice to have a good Sunday. I can't watch football but I can hope for pleasant dreams.
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