rainey 🌻It is Wednesday, everybody.
Wednesday the first of October.
Spoopy season has officially begun.
Ms. Addams is well pleased about this.
Whoever said "Brevity is the soul of wit" might have a few things to say about this post.
It is Wednesday, everybody.
I am still a zombie today after needing to get up early yesterday for a dentist appointment. The hygienist told me my teeth looked great, but then x-rays revealed that I need two fillings. One on the upper right and one on the lower left, meaning it needs to be two separate appointments because they don't like to numb the entire mouth.
So filling the first will be on June 10, which will be another early day because I also have a doctor's appointment that morning that involved fasting bloodwork. That's the first time I've had two appointments on the same day, but it should work because my doctor is three miles away and the appointment is at 9 A.M. My dentist is ten miles away and the appointment is at 3 P.M.
But in this case, the zombie exhaustion kind of works out. Whenever I need a dental procedure, I try to make myself as out of it as possible. Especially since, thanks to COVID, the nitrous delivery system has become absolute weaksauce. Instead of the industrial hose, I now have my own personal cheap tubing. Which for whatever idiotic reason only delivers to one nostril. And on top of all that, the physical sensation of the asymmetry really bugs me.
But yeah, since I need fasting bloodwork that morning, I won't be taking my cannabis gummy the night before, which means I'll already be getting significantly less sleep. I might take it before heading to the dentist, though. Don't worry, I already asked them and they said it's okay. Other patients do something similar and there have been no drug interactions to be concerned about.
And I don't drive, so my husband is always my ride, in case anyone was concerned. Even if I did drive, I know better than to drive while impaired. Hell, between my Tourette and my ADHD that's impairment enough to explain why I don't drive at all!
Anyhow, that plus my specially curated playlist on my phone ... you can tell this isn't my first rodeo! It would almost be an enjoyable experience were it not for the needles and the drills and the poking and the prodding.
It is Wednesday, everybody.
Even though I graduated from university for the second time more than twenty years ago, I still have school dreams. And I've had a handful recently for reasons unknown.
The specifics are always different, but the themes are the same: I can't find the classroom, I don't remember which class I need to head to, my homework is a complete mess, etc.
Last night even incorporated an element of another type of dream I often have, which relates to food. In those dreams, I'm always at some kind of buffet, but I got there late and everything is completely picked over or there's nothing left at all.
In my dream last night, I realize as I'm frantically searching through my overstuffed backpack for clues to what class I need to go to and where, that I forgot to pack my lunch. I had the thought that I'd need to buy food, but that part never happened, possibly because I woke up before it got to that point.
It is Wednesday, everybody.
I had my second shingles shot yesterday and now my arm feels like someone punched it really hard and I have a headache. Rather similar to how I felt after the first one.
I had intended to get this last month, but I forgot (thanks, ADHD). Fortunately, the pharmacy's automated system emailed me to remind me. Thanks, modern technology! The first one was early December, so I'm still within the 2-to-6-month period, but cutting it really close. Ah well. If the pharmacy says this is the time to get part two, then I should be good.
On a completely unrelated note, my husband expressed disappointment that there is not a Weird Al-themed game parody of Pokémon called PolkaMan.
And speaking of things that have nothing to do with what I was just talking about, I've been bingeing nuWho. Started with Eccleston and just got to Smith becoming Capaldi.
One thing I've noticed is that while Tennant was the cool, suave, sexy Doctor, Smith was the most touchy-feely and kissed the most. All kinds of kisses, too, not just snogging. Although there was that one time in The Crimson Horror when he got caught up in the moment and sexually assaulted Jenny by grabbing her, dipping her, and kissing her hard. He absolutely deserved the slap Jenny doled out. Like, I get it, you're excited to have been rescued and happy you can move again and aren't stiff and red anymore, but there are more appropriate ways to show your gratitude, Doctor.
I still haven't been able to watch the more recent Doctor Who, so no spoilers, please. I've only gotten as far as Ruby leaving the Doctor to spend time with her family.
It is Wednesday, everybody, and I have a frustrating mystery on my hands.
A few days ago, my phone has started chiming at 7:45 AM. While in "do not disturb" mode. I've been through the settings and I can't figure out why it's doing that. It's also a chime I haven't heard before.
I doubt it's a virus, since my phone doesn't visit strange places.
Android version 12, if anyone might have any ideas or suggestions.
It is Wednesday, everybody.
It's been a while. I can partly blame the ADHD, because it's hard enough to form habits with daily things, fuhgeddabout weekly things. I can also blame my sense of not having anything new to talk about, even though I know intellectually it's okay to talk about the same topic multiple times.
I applied for financial aid from the hospital and apparently a single-income no-kids (SINK?) blue-collar household with a modicum of savings isn't poor enough to qualify. And even if I did, they don't cover the separate bills from the doctors.
All associated bills have cost me a total of $968.66. Even if I subtract office visit co-pays and an extra lab test, that's still $826.89.
Very ouch. And that was for a single overnight stay with one CT scan, 4 or 5 rounds of IV antibiotics, and a few blood draws.
I recently heard from a friend of mine in Germany. He was in the hospital for an entire week and his total expenses were 60 euros.
And that's just my money woes! (I guess it's true: Wednesday's child is full of woe.)
Dietary restrictions suck. I've been vegetarian since 1997 and I'm not ready to give that up, but medically I also need to restrict
* salt (causes fluid retention and high blood pressure)
* carbs (I'm pre-diabetic)
* bad fats (I'm on cholesterol medication)
* ultra-processed foods (my colonoscopy had to remove a few polyps)
The first three are fairly straightforward, but the last one is insidious. There are some foods I truly thought were healthy that turned out to be ultra-processed. And I'd been eating them every day! That could certainly account for those polyps.
Any low-budget healthy meal suggestions that are low-carb vegetarian are welcome. I'm starting to go slightly mad. I will spin my wheels for two hours trying to figure out what to eat because I either want something I can't have or isn't in the house, or nothing we have appeals to me.
It is Wednesday, everybody, and I woke up very sad today.
It's nothing particularly new, it's "just" the state of the world and my medical bills and feeling more powerless than ever. And who knows? Maybe this is also PMS for a period that won't happen because the seeds for this were planted when I had my hysterectomy three years ago.
The hospital has already sent me a bill for $150. Me, being a sweet summer child, breathed a sigh of relief and paid it even though it didn't break down what that amount covered. Now the attending doctor whom I barely saw just sent me a bill for $200. Doesn't the hospital pay him a salary or something? And of course there were some other related office-visit co-pays that added up to $100.
Seasonal tax documents are starting to trickle in, so I should reach out to the hospital's patient advocate and see if they can help me fill out the financial aid application. I hope paying that one bill right away wasn't a mistake!
There aren't antidepressants strong enough for all this.
It is Wednesday, everybody.
For those of you who have been following my unexpected medical journey, I'm almost -- not quite but very close to -- completely better.
I finished my oral antibiotics on the 24th and celebrated with a rousing game of D&D that evening followed by going to bed when I felt like it and waking up the next morning when I felt like it. I think I've finally properly caught up on my sleep now, after that sleepless night in the hospital and a week of needing to get up in the wee hours to take a pill and sit up for 30 minutes before going back to bed.
The 23rd I had a follow-up appointment with the surgical consult, who told me that everything looked as good as could be expected at that stage. She also explained why she didn't want to do anything. It was a combination of the antibiotics doing their job and the fact that any potential remaining sutures would be too deep to deal with Dr. Pimple Popper-style. And since sutures are invisible to scans, the only way to explore would be to do proper surgery. And even if it were free (ha!) it would only create a new potential opportunity for this problem to repeat itself. Just 10000% not worth the time, effort, or money.
And speaking of money, guess what one night in the hospital, one CT scan, and 4 rounds of IV antibiotics costs, prior to insurance stepping in! If you're in the USA and you're me, that comes to just shy of $17,000. And even after insurance steps in (which is still pending, fingers crossed) I hate to think of my share of that. 'Murka!
There is financial aid available, but the application process confuses me. There are some questions I don't know how to answer.
If I were a real Addams, not only would I not have any financial concerns, but I would never have been in this situation to begin with.
It is Wednesday, everybody.
I'm sorry I completely forgot to toot last week. I wasn't feeling well, so my hyperfocus on something else was in overdrive.
Thursday I found myself in the ER, which turned into an overnight admission.
Technically this all started in the wee hours of Saturday onto Sunday the 11th/12th. I have a scar in my navel from my hysterectomy three years ago that I occasionally play with. It started out as "new thing to get used to" and became a "tactile thing". Well, this time it kind of felt sore after a while. I didn't really think anything of it and just settled in to sleep. Maybe I was being more aggressive than I realized?
When I woke up, the sore feeling had not gone away. I found it slightly odd but didn't give it much thought. But then it steadily, gradually, started to get worse. On Tuesday, I made an appointment with my dermatologist for Thursday.
On Wednesday, my life-long innie became an outie. At some point it began to weep, and that night it started to bleed a little bit. Meanwhile, the whole surrounding area had been growing more red and tender. I couldn't lie on my side and certain movements hurt. It kind of reminded me of how I felt after my hysterectomy, although the nature and intensity of the pain and discomfort were different.
On Thursday, my dermatologist essentially told me I had wasted $50 on the co-pay and that I should go to the emergency room. At this point, my atheist ass started praying to Saint Luigi.
I was in the waiting room for not more than an hour before they took me back. I changed into The Gown and over the next several hours a doctor poked and prodded at it (good news: we caught it before it became an abscess), I had a CT scan (good news: it was relatively shallow), and they started me on IV antibiotics (which they would be giving me every 8 hours until I was discharged). Then I was informed that I had been admitted, and now we were waiting for my assigned room to get cleaned. That was another few hours.
Meanwhile, I hadn't eaten since a light meal at noon and I was ravenous. They offered to bring me what food they could find (it was after dinner hours at this point) but I wanted to wait until I got my room so I could wash my hands and feel more secure taking off my mask. As it was, I had to lower my mask every now and then so they could take my temperature.
When I got to my room, the whiteboard said "Diet: Regular", which meant no one anticipated I would need surgery and "Activity: Ad-lib BRP", which meant I was fully mobile and not a fall risk and therefore did not need any kind of assistance or supervision to get up, move around, use the bathroom, things like that. But navigating a toilet while tethered to an IV pole and juggling a loose hospital gown is ... an interesting experience. Especially after you've untied it because the knots weren't comfortable to lie on.
Anyhow, dinner. Y'all, that had to have been the saddest peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've ever seen in my life. One serving of peanut butter is 2 tablespoons, but I don't think there were 2 teaspoons. Imagine lightly buttered bread, only the butter is of the peanut variety. I suppose they were scraping the bottom of the barrel at that hour, or more to the point the bottom of the peanut butter jar. The yogurt was decent, though.
I ended up getting zero sleep that night. There was too much light, too much noise, too many nurse visits, and no access to my usual sleep aids. I was able to get some washcloths to put over my eyes, but darkness alone was not enough.
Honestly, my two takeaways from this experience are to keep a spare pair of earplugs in my purse and to get a one-hand grip thing for my phone. I'm very nearsighted, but when I'm wearing my glasses the distance where it's in focus is too far away and I end up squinting. So I just take off my glasses and hold it up to my nose. It's much more comfortable that way. But bending my elbow too far squeezed the IV tube and made the machine beep to alert the nurses. So using my phone was very awkward. I spent half my time keeping myself entertained and half my time texting with friends to give them updates. I tooted a bit on my main account. For some reason, beige.party was not loading at all on the hospital wi-fi.
At least my breakfast and lunch the next day were halfway decent. Breakfast was a cheese omelet that was actually pretty good, a cup of cottage cheese, red grapes, and black coffee. Lunch was a bland "egg salad" that was more like egg paste, a bland cream of mushroom soup, and red grapes. At least you can't mess up fresh fruit! Those grapes were good!
At one point when another doctor came in to look at my belly button, we figured out the root cause of the problem. Some sutures that should have dissolved years ago were still present! Unfortunately, they fell apart while trying to pull them out, which means the area needs to be cleaned out more invasively if we want to prevent this from happening again.
In theory, the surgical consult they brought in at that point could have given me a local and taken care of it right then and there, but she just looked at it and said "I don't know what they expect me to do". I'm seeing her tomorrow and hopefully I can convince her to do something. Alternatively, fingers crossed my body has already expelled the remaining suture material.
I was discharged Friday late afternoon early evening. Technically I could have made it to my D&D game that night but I was too sleep-deprived to function. Fortunately, we're a small group of friends and our number one table rule is "Real Life Comes First," so they were all very understanding and just pulled out a one-shot from the stash kept in reserve for such occasions.
But at the same time, I couldn't just go to bed because I had to start my one-week course of antibiotics every six hours at midnight. With a full glass of water and no lying down for 30 minutes after.
This of course means I'm not able to catch up on my sleep as quickly as I'd like. And since I need to be able to wake up at 6:00 in the morning, I'm also not taking my bedtime cannabis gummies. I didn't need them that first night. I was asleep by 1:00 and only woke with my 6:00 alarm. Then I was asleep by 7:00 and only woke with my noon alarm.
But it's worth it. The end is in sight and the antibiotics are doing their job well. And I have been feeling better rested, just not fully yet. Same with every other aspect of this. I'm not at 100% yet, but I have been noticeably making my way there.
I never did get around to writing an #introduction over here, did I? Not sure there's much point anymore, but here goes:
I'm rainey and I'm a shy weirdo who needs encouragement to let my freak flag fly. When I'm not being ooky, I'm shamelessly appreciating cute kittens and the like. (Here I pause and reach out to pet @netkitty ) Gen X, child-free, married, and an abject failure at adulting. The sunflower in my display name is the "invisible disability" symbol.
This is my third Mastodon account and second "definitely probably not a cult" experience (the first being pretty much the only reason I'm still on reddit). 
My first Masto account is @raineyday [MSTDN.games] where I talk about #GenshinImpact a lot, and my second is @raineyday [NeuroDifferent.me] because I'm not autistic but I do have #ADHD and #Tourette, although I don't post to the second one very often and when I do, it tends to be boosts, memes, and information-seeking.
Anyhow, if you can't tell from my avatars, I'm a fan of the #AddamsFamily and #DoctorWho. I also despise #spoilers with the blazing heat of a trillion trillion suns, so always ask "How caught up are you with XYZ?" before discussing with me (and ponder for a moment why "Have you gotten to the part where they--?" is a terrible horrible no-good very bad way to ask).
I created this account on a Wednesday the 13th (naturally), but the timestamp on my account page got messed up and fails to reflect this. It's goth erasure, I'm tellin' ya! 🦇
I write blog-like toots on Wednesdays (of course) under the hashtag #raineyWednesday and tag @weirdfolks
I do my best to write good #AltText for my images. Even when I have low spoons, I strive for a bare minimum of "acceptable". I have similar standards for what I will boost. If there is no alt-text or it is insufficient, I will either leave it or I will "steal" the image to post myself with better alt-text. This applies to all of my accounts, of course.
I come to Mastodon for virtual human interaction and fun times, and while it's nice to take a break from politics and the news, please don't mistake that for me being so-called "apolitical". I am quite progressive-left and often wonder how it came to be that I had to trade in the label of "liberal" for that. Perhaps a combination of I moved forward a little bit and they moved backwards a lot? But that's enough of that topic. This is just background info, not my desired focus.