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July 09, 2003
Well, shit.
Things that suck:
Jeff's current employers (soon to be former employers. Asshats.)
The herniated disc in my back -- the one that's been causing me no end of pain lately.
My cousin just found out that the baby girl she's adopting from Nepal, the one she's been waiting for for more than a year, is officially hers. BUT, for some reason, she can't go and get her until September. She was expecting a 4 month old, and is getting a toddler, which is all well and good except it'll be that much harder for the baby to adjust to her new life here. Plus, the waiting is driving my poor cousin mad. It's hard for the whole family; I can't imagine how she's feeling right now.
Lee's father is in the hospital, recovering from cancer surgery. She talks tough, but she's worried. I hope he recovers quickly, and can go home soon.
I owe Lee a huge thank-you, because she went with me to my MRI exam on Monday. I thought it would be no big deal -- I had told the doctor about my massive claustrophobic freakout when I had the last one done (October 2001, I think) and asked him if I should take the sedative this time. He assured me that, since this scan was of my lower back, there would be no need for me to have my head in the machine (which was what freaked me out last time) so I should be okay. Ha. Ha ha. We got there, I changed into obscenely tight scrub pants, removed all metal from my person (including, alas, my shoes -- I forgot and wore my toxic sandals of doom that day. They're Danskos, and comfy as hell, but mother of God, do they stink. They're sandals, for crying out loud, how does this happen?) and went off to be scanned. There were two technitions -- a young woman who was maybe a student, and a somewhat older woman. The younger one started explaining what they were going to do, and the first thing out of her mouth was "We'll put you in head-first..." Um. No. Don't want to do that. I explained that I'd been told differently, and she said the machine wouldn't work any other way. Lee tried to figure out another way, but there was none, so, okay, I'd just have to deal with it. I was okay until we got into the room with the machine, and then I wigged out a little -- the younger tech had a really bad bedside manner, and snapped at me that I was just getting myself all worked up by crying -- yeah, thanks, hon, that helps. I couldn't help the crying. That machine scares the hell out of me. The older tech was much better -- she grabbed a handful of tissues and instructed me to blow my nose "or else all the snot's going to run down your throat and that feels nasty, so blow!" It was funny at the time, and cracked me up, which helped a lot. She also put me into the machine very slowly, patting my leg the whole time, and generally fussing over me like a mother hen. The scan was fine -- when I started freaking out, I reminded myself that my best friend was right nearby, and that she would surely pull me out if the machine tried to eat my head. It was actually over very quickly, and we were out the door before my appointment was even scheduled to begin. (They were really ahead of schedule that day, I guess.) So, that's done, Lee got to witness me freaking out, and I just got a call from the doctor telling me I have a "small extrusion" on my spine. (It actually wasn'y my doctor who called, but someone from Urgent Care answering a phone message I'd left.) She said it's nothing serious, it just looks like the disc is off-center, maybe bulging a little, but that I should follow up with my own doctor. I'll be doing that as soon as I can because this sciatica shit can stop any time. So, it sounds like my fears of needing surgery or something are not coming to pass, and that's good. (An aside: I actually gave myself a fit of the giggles during the MRI, because I realized Lee was probably standing near my feet, and they really, really smelled, and it struck me funny. Because I have the maturity of a ten-year-old boy.)
Sunday, Jeff and I will be road-tripping to Vermont, to visit my mom. He's staying for a couple of days, and I'll be stayting there the rest of the week, which should be fun. Mom's already got plans for feeding and entertaining us. Whee!
Posted by Mary Ellen at July 9, 2003 09:56 PM
Comments
Now we just need to get you healed, sweetie. Soon you'll be right as rain, whatever that means.
Posted by: Jeff at July 9, 2003 10:26 PM
Been in the tube myself--no fun that. But since I had taken the 10 mg. of Valium, my Evil Twin had to threaten not to take me into Wal-Mart (our next stop) if I didn't stop singing. The stuff our friends have to do for us.
Hope that old buldgy disc slips back toward it's home place in the near future and gives you relief.
Posted by: Wendy, NC at July 9, 2003 11:12 PM
Ha! Yeah, Wendy, I would have had to take the subway home while drugged. Probably not a good idea. :-)
Posted by: Mary Ellen at July 10, 2003 08:14 AM