- STILL FIGHTING MY SPRING ALLERGY SYMPTOMS. It’s the middle of summer and I’ve still got my annoying spring allergy symptoms … a runny nose and watery eyes! The problem with my eyes is especially difficult because I can’t read anything on my computer screen. I use FloNase every morning and Ayr Saline Nasal Gel four or five times a day, but what I really need are two teeny windshield wipers.
- A ”GRAVEYARD” SLEEP SCHEDULE. I honestly don’t know how I got started with this, but for the last several months I’ve been awake all night and asleep all day … just like Sam. Both of us are completely upside-down.
- THE BURNING BLADDER SPASMS ARE BACK. I’m having four or five strong spasms a day now. They’re wretched, they’re painful and they definitely ruin my life. If the number of spasms increases I’ll have to start taking Tolterodine again. Unfortunately, though, Tolterodine gives me powerful migraines, so I’ll try only taking it for one or two days at a time. It’s a strong anti-spasmodic drug that works instantly (like Imodium), but this time I won’t take it every day and put myself through that blinding headache horror again.
- MY APPETITE IS SHOT TO HELL. I’m rarely hungry, food doesn’t taste very good, and most of the time I’ve got “swallowing” issues, anyway. Sam tells me I’m getting skinny. I guess I can thank diabetic neuropathy for crap like this.
- I HATE MY HAIR. I probably don’t need to say too much about this, but … the mop on my head has grown long and annoying again so it might be time to make another haircut appointment with Mr. Sam of Beverly Hills. Mr. Sam probably isn’t the best stylist I’ve ever had, but he’s the cutest (and tallest), the price is right, and he has an unforgettable scissors.
It’s an extra-wide — 14½" deep x 22" wide x 11½" high — convection toaster oven broiler with a 60-minute timer and space for eight slices of toast or a 12-inch pizza. Holy crap … EIGHT SLICES OF TOAST OR A WHOLE FROZEN PIZZA! With free same-day delivery!
Therefore I had to fall back on Plan B — a telephone call — which worked quite nicely, and I’m pleased to report that a replacement Black+Decker toaster oven is already on the way for delivery by 6 p.m. tomorrow. All’s well that ends well!
Beginning around 3 a.m. Monday morning I got smacked with another blinding migraine headache, and when Sam woke up a few minutes afterwards I was already so miserable he called the hospice to let them know what was going on. They immediately gave Sam approval to get me started with my migraine “drug cocktail” … Sumatriptan, Xanax, a huge dose of Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Zofran for nausea. It didn’t help. So an hour later the hospice sent us an R.N. (Rachel) and an L.V.N. (Nicolette) to evaluate my medical condition and stay with me around-the-clock, which they did. Nicolette, the L.V.N., spent all night here administering drugs* every four hours and giving Sam a chance to go to bed and get some sleep. Nursing duties were shared between Rachel and Martha.
A new shift of angels showed up at 8 a.m. Tuesday, and Mary Grace (an L.V.N.) spent all day here filling me with pills. After wasting a considerable number of hours moaning, whining, crying, swearing, rocking, squeezing my head and almost puking, the pain finally began to subside, and the last nurse left around 7:30 Tuesday night. At the time I felt well enough to open both eyes at the same time, eat a few bites of food and watch a quiet movie on TV. For instance, NOT The Guns of Navarone (1961) starring Gregory Peck and David Niven. I think I picked Red Dust (1932) starring Mary Astor and Clark Gable with very low volume.
Unfortunately, the migraine returned this morning (Wednesday) at 2 a.m., and so did the moaning, whining, crying, swearing, rocking, squeezing my head and nausea, followed by several hours of searing pain, full-time attention from Sam, more anti-migraine drugs and sleep. Sleep is a blessing from heaven when you have a migraine. It’s nearly 1 p.m. now and I’m feeling better again. Let’s see how long it lasts this time.
One amazing and positive thing that came out of all this … a couple of days ago my first L.V.N., Nicolette, asked why the hell was my noisy oxygen concentrator situated directly behind my hospital bed. It’s actually been parked there for the entire 15 months I’ve had it, rattling, belching, gurgling and driving me crazy. We asked Nicolette what else we could do with it, and she suggested moving it into another room and using extra-long tubing to connect it to my cannula. She actually had the extra tubing in the trunk of her car, brought it inside and helped Sam shlep the concentrator (which is on wheels) into the guest room, resulting in NO MORE CONCENTRATOR NOISES AND GLORIOUS DEAD SILENCE! Why didn’t anybody ever suggest this before?!
I think I need a snack now. So … thank you for reading this, thank you for your support, and thank you for remembering the Alamo tonight so I won’t have to. (Frankly, I’m not in the mood.)
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