6 Hours in the ER

Well, after 6 hours in the ER tonight, I learned that I have an unremarkable bum and am only slightly full of crap.

Seriously though, Mom & I arrived at the ER at 8pm. By 10pm still hadn't met the doctor, but as all 30 beds were full, that was rather understandable.

However, in that time I did have blood & urine tests done and was in the queue for a CAT scan. When the doctor arrived, I was sad to learn that he was extremely hot--not what you want when you are being asked to provide a stool sample, if possible, and are going to talk about your bowel habits, etc.

Based on my recent history (including the issues that lead me to see a new GI who then sought an ultrasound of my gall bladder which then lead to me having surgery last week), the possibilities of what was wrong with me included (going down the line from most to least likely): an obstructed bowel (as in obstructed with p-o-o-p), a tear or rip in my bowel somewhere (thus all the blood earlier), a twisted bowel, simple bleeding hemroids, complications from the gallbladder surgery, or some unknown quantity.

In the meantime, I continued to remain parched as a wanderer in the desert ("take nothing by mouth") and nauseated until they gave me IV pain and anti-nausea meds (yay!). Then I was only parched.

Doctor Hottie spoke to the surgeon on-call from my surgeon's office, ran the aforementioned tests, and finally did a rectal exam (which he referred to as an exam of my bottom--as though I were a child or something; endearing rather than annoying, probably because he's cute!).

Findings were:

Because the CAT scan showed no gall bladder stones or problems w/the incisions, no need to worry about that any more.
Because there were no tears, or rips or twists in my bowels, no surgery needed--YAY!!!
Because there was no solid or complete obstruction (yes, there was "stuff" in there and air bubbles) I didn't need to have a tube put down my throat and have my bowels vacuumed out--double YAY!!!
Because there was no blood in my stools and the hemroids he did see were external and not bleeding, I can see my GI and have him run the colonoscopy as planned in June.

Results were as I stated in my first sentence, I have an unremarkable ass and am only partially full of shit, which I said all my friends knew anyway!

But what this means is, the spasms, and attacks of pain, and blood were most likely caused by the constipation issues I've been having and these are most likely medication related. So I am to touch base with Dr Arjul (my GI) next week to bring him up to speed and see if he needs to see me sooner than my already scheduled appointment in June.

I am to drink plenty of water (which I do anyway), consume lots of fiber (which I thought we did), exercise (he suggested just walking for now because of the surgery--I'll give him that one, 'cause I've lacked in this area), and try not to strain or push when having a BM. LOL

If I have the bleeding issue again, back to the ER I go. In the meantime, they handed me a much coveted cup of ice water and my marching papers and sent me home, where I sat down with a huge glass of water, a slice of home-made bread (thanks Mama!) and typed this a 3 in the morning prior to going to bed.

I plan on sleeping til noon at the earliest!

Thanks for all your prayers, thoughts, concern, and love!!!!

WTH?!?!?

So, I had just watched I'll Have Another take first in the Preakness in before collapsing in pain. Ambulance just left. Not sure what happened-it's all just a blur of pain nausea sweat shakes.Of begging for mom to call 911. Now on couch on other side of tunnel of pain wondering what the hell just happened?!?

Apparently I had been sheet white. Slick w/sweat. Diarrhea. Nausea. Terrified I was going to throw up and screw up interior stitch-work. Black hole of darkness was trying to claim me. 

About an hour or two before, I'd had a "BM" that was mostly blood--not good! We'd called the on-call surgeon who said it had nothing to do with the surgery--suggested perhaps a hemroid? Seriously?!? She said if it happened again, to go to the ER as people have actually needed blood transfusions from bleeding hemroids. (Seriously?!?! OMG!!!!)

So, Mom stood over me with a cool damp cloth, looking into the toilet, seeing no blood, but then just called 9-1-1 when I was unable to answer, except for groaning in pain.

So glad she did! I was too out of it to make any decisions or to even know what was going on. I was just aware of being fairly certain that my death was imminent.

The surgeon had mentioned that I had a ton of gallstones and hethought they got all of them, but that there was always the possibility they'd missed one it could have escaped and get lodged in pancreas--but he didn't describe what that would be like.

But emergency responders said if that had happened, I would have been running a high fever and would not have been able to bend at the waist and the pain would have been even more excruciating than what I was currently experiencing...which I couldn't imagine at the time: and I have a high pain tolerance!!! 

Anyway, they got me stabilized and got on my case for not taking the oxy the dr had prescribed after the surgery-opting for the vicodin I keep on hand for when my fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain gets to be too much. 

They couldn't understand why I hadn't taken it and laughed when I said I was afraid of becoming addicted. They handed me 2 and a glass of water and here I am an hour later looking back wondering what on earth that whole thing was about.

Maybe it's just that now that the neck and shoulder pain is gone, my body is finally aware of the internal pain of having had an organ removed!!!

So what the hell happened....quite simply: I don't know. But I'm feeling much better now. 

Post-Op

Just wanted to give a brief update on how I'm doing post-op.

Surgery started several hours late due to some random power outage that encompassed the entire hospital & surrounding area. Evergreen Hospital was totally on top of things and called us before we had planned on leaving so that I could stay at home and starve comfortably in my own living room rather than in one of their pre-op rooms! The power was back on by the time they called however the outage was followed by a bad car accident on the 405 that shut down several lanes so they were running about an hour-to-two-hours behind with their surgery schedule. They gave me a number to call prior to leaving for my new check-in time to make sure they were really ready for me. Second time around, they were.

I really like the way the surgical wing is run at Evergreen (this being my 2nd surgery there). They are very organized but also very caring. All of the nursing staff is incredible! My assigned surgical nurse turned out to be the same nurse as from when I had my hysterectomy 2 years ago! How funny is that?! And my anesthesiologist was awesome! He really put me at ease. He also assured me that he was going to stay with me in the surgical room until I was fully awake so that I wouldn't need to use my CPAP machine (even though he had it ready to go). I wasn't really cognizant of any of that portion~I became more aware of things when they had me sitting up in a recliner and were bringing in my Mom and Auntie Donna.

(This was pre-op when I still had a sense of humor!)

Now, even though I was out of it, I was aware that I was experiencing the most pain in my right shoulder rather than in the surgical area. My logical mind knew this was because of the air the surgeon put in under my diaphragm to give him more room to work in and that, because the diaphragm doesn't feel pain, the pain radiates to the right shoulder and neck, and that once the air worked its way out, the pain would also dissipate. However, my foggy mind wanted them to make it stop immediately!

Well guess what: It has been 4 days and the worst pain has remained in my right shoulder. To be fair, that was where I'd felt a lot of the gall bladder pain to begin with, but this just wasn't easing up! It was horribly excruciating! It hurt to take a deep breath. To move my arm. To turn my head. To sleep. To be awake.

And I am not a baby about pain! We fibromyalgia warriors handle pain that would cripple others, right?!
But this was killing me! My mom tried massaging me--I was urging her to push into the painful points as hard as she could...similar to pulling off a scab: hurts but you've gotta pull it off.

The tenderness where they operated was nothing compared to this pain in my neck and shoulder. I had slowly become convinced that someone somewhere had a voodoo doll of me with an ice pick stuck in its shoulder.  I was starting to wish they would just pull the arm off, that my arm would fall off and the pain would be less! Seriously!

Thanks Ro!!

But then my mom went to her water yoga yesterday and talked with a friend who had recently had surgery on a hiatial hernia and guess what her doctor told her to do???? Have someone burp her 2-3x a day for a week or so after surgery. Whaaaa????

So last night, my mother burped her 41 year old baby after having not done so for about, oh, about 40 years. And guess what??? This lil baby burped like nobody's business and is now relatively pain-free in the neck and shoulder area and can turn her head, move her arm, and breathe deep breaths!!! Hallelujah!!!

Of course, now I'm a bit more aware of the tenderness in the surgical area, but I feel sooooooooo much better over all!!! Yay for being burped like a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

And a big huge thank you to my mommy for taking care of me! She is the best care-taker and I am so blessed to have her taking care of me. I seriously do not know what I would do without her!! She is incredible: my support & my friend....Really, what comes to mind is that old-fashioned word, "Companion." I love you, mama!!!

Thanks, too, to my many friends & family who have been sending texts & emails, checking in on me via facebook, and calling. I've felt so loved by you all!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My sweet sister & niece came and took care of me on Wed morning while my mom went to the Y. When she left, Teagan left her 3 favorite friends to help take care of me:

Perry the Purple Mouse, Pinkie the Monkey, and

Baby Monkey. While she was here, she looked over

my wounds carefully, asked what happened, listened to my 

explanation and then pronounced me to be "very brave."

It's nice to be somebody's hero!

Fibromyalgia Awareness Month

Fibromyalgia Syndrome has been called the “aching-all-over disease,” but that epithet falls short of conveying the true wretchedness of the debilitating illness. An often agonizing muscle disorder in which the thin film or tissue holding muscle together becomes thickened or tightened, Fibromyalgia (or FM or FMS) is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal aches, pains and stiffness, soft tissue tenderness, mild to incapacitating fatigue, and disturbed sleep.

The pain of Fibromyalgia is typically felt in the neck, back, shoulders and hands, but it is not exclusive to those areas. Based on criteria set in 1990 by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia requires a patient to have experienced widespread pain for a minimum of three months in 11 of 18 tender muscle sites. Among those 18 sites are the hips, knees and rib cage.

Other symptoms of, or conditions that are linked with, Fibromyalgia include (but are not limited to): allergies, anxiety, carpal tunnel syndrome, celiac disease (gluten intolerance), chronic fatigue, depression, dizziness, headaches, irritable bowel symptoms, numbness, and tender skin.

A major symptom of Fibromyalgia is sensory sensitivity. Not only touch, but sound, sight, smell, taste and emotions, at times, can all become extremely (overly) sensitive. This is a real symptom, but is often discounted.

For instance, when a friend says something inoffensive in a (perceived) short tone a Fibromyalgia sufferer may burst into tears, even though she knows (logically) that she shouldn’t be offended—it is simply whatever it is that Fibromyalgia does neurologically to exacerbate sensitivity. The same can be said of five people talking to or around a FM sufferer at once making her unable to listen to any conversation at all, or music she doesn’t like playing way “too loud,” or the lights in the room that are suddenly glaringly bright, or the “fact” that her clothes have suddenly turned into sandpaper making her skin feeling raw against their roughness, or how she finds it an immediate necessity to remove her bra that she is certain is cutting and burning into her flesh. Sensory overload!

You can see why the butterfly is embraced as a symbol of Fibromyalgia awareness. Soft as breath, nearly weightless, it is an excellent allegory to the impact even the lightest touch has on a Fibromyalgia patient.

The ACR estimates that Fibromyalgia affects as many as 6 million Americans. Most sufferers of FM are women (often who are first diagnosed when they are of childbearing age), but it has also been known to strike men, children, and the elderly.

There is no cure for this condition. Patients’ pain is treated mainly through pharmaceuticals, but also through acupuncture, acupressure, massage, infrared saunas, other homeopathic methods, sleep therapy (and often use of a CPAP machine at night), water and land yoga and any other way a patient can come up with to stay relatively pain-free and able to live a relatively normal life.

In case you were unaware: I suffer from Fibromyalgia. Some days are good, some are great, some are down-right awful! I am typically in some level of pain every day and every night. Sometimes I need help just to get out of bed in the morning.

But I do it, each and every day—because while I may have Fibromyalgia, it doesn’t have me!

Play Monkeys with Me?

We had a fun couple of days this week with our TeaRose....

Extra Large, Extra Juicy, Extra Ripe Strawberries!! Yum!!!

Teagan  is loving helping out in the kitchen!

She created a new game with some stuffed animals. So for the past 2 playtimes, it's been, "Play Monkeys with Me?!?"

This game absolutely cracks her up!!! She plays with the brown Baby Monkey while Gramma (or Auntie M) is the pink monkey, Pinky. Then Teagan calls Pinky by the wrong name and Pinky gets upset and Teagan dies of laughter!!!

I love her laugh!!! Infectious!!

When she wasn't making Pinky hoppin' mad, she played with all sorts of animals in her own little house...

Or cuddled with us...and of course her sweet tooth had to be satisfied with a sugar-free popcycle.

Yesterday I was having a bad flare up and spent most of the day curled up in pain watching Gramma and Teagan play Monkeys. As a side note, how freakin' cute is her outfit? Rather French~Moulan Rouge, yes?

But Teagan also played the flute off and on. One of those times is when I fell asleep.

I woke up to hear Teag saying, "It's not working Gramma! She's still asleep!" When I opened my eyes, there was Teagan with a flute, that she had apparently been playing in hopes of waking me from a deep sleep!

I had to laugh! Also what first came to mind was Lottie from Enchanted April: "I always thought of myself as a flutey sort of person..."

Teagan wakes up every morning and no matter what the weather, pronounces it to be a beautiful day! Yesterday, she looked out the window and wondered when it would stop raining...and of course then the sun came out! Little sunshine girl!

Later, when Teagan asked me if I was feeling better and I said no, she helped Gramma get hot packs for my back and neck and then wrapped her very own special blankie, Purple, around me. And then kissed me and cuddled me. It helped a lot! Heavier pain meds would have really helped but then I would have had to go to bed and missed Teagan's visit altogether. In the long run, the pain was worth it.

She is a sweet little blessing to us all...but yesterday, I felt especially blessed!

Flare

Is it rotten that I am glad to have a circle of friends who not only understands my pain, but (on this particular weekend at any rate) actually felt it too? Big ol' fibro-flare all around. This latest storm must have been messing with the barometric pressure, because I heard many of my fibromyalgia friends also were curled up in bed in pain this weekend. Bugger!

Looking forward to brighter days: tomorrow, Teagan is coming over to play and if I feel well enough, I'll go out to Whidbey again on Tuesday with mom to play with Dante. And last night I had a text from Van and Kenyan asking when they can come spend the night, so we'll have to get them on the calendar too. I don't have time for the pain!!!

Ma Compagne Ininterrompu...

...Douleur.

Ma Compagne Ininterrompu...Douleur

Doesn't that sound so much nicer than "My constant companion...pain." Makes being in pain at least sound more glamorous.

Sadly, I don't really speak French...I'd had plans/dreams once of going to the Loire region in France to study it for a year or so. But those have gone on hold (probably permanently) because of ma maladie (my illnesses), so I dont even know if this (Ma Compagne Ininterrompu: Douleur) is even correct.

Regardless, the statement itself is true. And the past three days have been filled with more pain than usual. I had a fibro flare-up on Monday, probably caused by the inconvenience of one of my teeth breaking, falling out, disappearing last Tuesday. And then needing to wait for a custom crown to be made, during which time, the temporary cap fell out (on Sat). And then my dentist was out of town & his fill-in had the flu...so I had to fix it myself.

That pain probably triggered the fibro/neuropathy flare up on Monday which then cause excruciating mouth pain on Tuesday when my freakin' cap fell out (again). The pain radiated up into my sinuses, my ears, my neck. I wanted to blow my head off, thinking that wouldn't hurt as much (yes, I know that's illogical). I practically ODed on pain killers trying to keep the pain in check (which obviously it didn't).

But now my mouth is nicely numb again with a new temp cap in it while we wait to see if I can have the crown put in or if I'll have to have a root canal first.

Sadly, the intense pain I was in yesterday was most likely exacerbated by my constant "maladies": my hypersensitive nerves that send pain signals out with great gusto.

Because I find complaining about being in some form of constant pain boring/irritating (both for me and the listener), I really try not to complain too much. I actually try not to even think about it too much. Yesterday, however, it took every bit of conscious energy to not cry out in pain, vomit from pain, or become a total freakin' bitch to my mom who (being a saint) took even more special care of me than she already does on a regular basis.

Side-note: Seriously, my mom is awesome: she totally supports me emotionally, financially, and in every other way: cooking, cleaning, helping me with paperwork (which I have trouble with since suffering from not-so-temporary temporary encephalopathy-which is a nice word for brain damage) and on and on and on.

Anyway: this posting is one big complaint: I hate being in constant pain. I hate having dreams dashed. I hate living a limited lifestyle.

And then I remind myself that
a) my physical pain isn't as bad as other peoples'
b) physical pain is easier to deal with than emotional pain~especially grief
...So I should just suck it up and deal with it.

And I will.

Tomorrow.

I found this on Google Images. It's pretty good illustration of my life...I added the items in pale green (smaller font).

Can I Just Say...

...how much I detest being in pain? Today I want to scream in agony. Nothing has helped. I hate days like this.

This is how my body feels....

Dontcha Just Hate It...

...when you spend ALL day having medical procedures and they still can't give you a definitive answer for why you are in pain???

That's right: today I spent the day being poked and prodded--I had a pelvic ultra sound, a pelvic MRI, a good old-fashioned pelvic exam--the whole nine yards. And except for all of that sort of exaspirating my pain, we still don't have answers. Of course, I'm not really being fair: we may have more later this week when all the radiologists have written their reports & my doctor looks over everything.

In the course of all this, however, I've decided that perhaps my new OBGYN up here in the grand state of Washington is not the best match for me. Each time I've left her office, I've left with a sense that she isn't truly listening to me and that I'm being bullied in to doing a health regimine that I don't agree with.

She's wanting to "experament" with some various things (drugs/hormones) to see if we can get the insomnia, migraines, ovulation pain, cramps, & heavy menses (doesn't that sound soooo polite???) under a form of "control." However, my last OBGYN (whom I am really missing right about now) already kinda had me prepared that when all these symptoms returned, that it would be time for a hysterectomy. We did the birth control & hormone experament thing 5 years ago both before and after the surgery I had then.

I was warned that because of my right ovary's love to produce large cysts & my nasty ol' endometriosis, that the surgery he did (a general clean up, I guess you could say) would probably only last me 2-3 years...and, hey, it's been FIVE!!! So I feel that's pretty good.

He probably would have done a complete hysterectomy last year except my neurological state was still to fragile. Now however, I've become more stabilized and all the problems gynochological problems are making me unstable again. (Yes, I know, some of you are thinking, "She's kidding herself if she ever actually thought she was stable!!") So my neurologist says, and I agree, that it's time to take my "female" innards out!

Problem: my new OBGYN is of the opinion that women should keep these innards~even if useless to one such as me (where getting pg can quite literally kill me!). And I experience so much pain in my day-to-day living, that I'd like to eliminate some of it if possible, rather than experamenting about seeing how long we can keep 'em. So, as you may have gathered, we're not quite seeing eye to eye.

And so, I'm going to have to say it's my way or the highway and if she won't do surgery, I'll be hiking around looking for yet another new doctor. Cuz I really need a doctor who will listen to me. And who will listen to my neurologist. I gotta say it: I'm fiercely loyal to the doctor who saved my life & my ability to walk, etc. I know all doctors think they are mini-gods, but in my book, my neurologist is the highest god in my medical hiearchy of gods.

So there!

And there we leave it until we know more.........

However, for my dear friend Ashleigh, and cuz I can't believe the pictures you can find on Google, here's another lovely picture of someone's female anatomy (and their friend, the ovarian cyst.) Ready for it Ash???








And here we have today's nasty picture! Can we all say GROSS?!?!?!?! hee hee

I think shrinks should use this as an ink blot kinda test:

"And what do you see here???....

Ah, veh-ry interesting..."

(said w/Freudian accent)

Are you still reading??? Oh good, cuz how adorable is my niece & her new baby doll?!?!

(double click on picture for larger view)

And now we are through for the day! Wasn't that fun???

Dontcha just hate it when...

....you totally mis-diagnose your self & spend hours at the Urgent Care when you should have been at the ER?

I do.

Totally thought I had a kidney infection. I mean, after having had 7 of them in the past 10 years, I should know, right??? Apparently not!!!

So now the question is: kidney stones or ovarian cysts.

Now, as already stated, I apparently suck at this self-diagnostic stuff, but I'm going to go with ovarian cyst. Why? 'Cause I've already had  surgery for these twice...and have thought that another was in the works...

So, why am I blogging instead of sitting at the ER? Well, I have an OBGYN appointment tomorrow & already have a pelvic MRI ordered so why go today when I can sit at home in comfortable agony versus being miserable at the ER. And with any luck (finger's crossed) I'll be scheduled for a full hysterectomy for sometime soon. (Yes, you read correctly: I want a hysterectomy!!!)

And because of my other health issues (see labels, below), I have plenty of pain meds on hand, so I'm pumped full of those, with orders from the Urgent Care doc to head to the ER if the pain becomes unbearable.

In the meantime, I have the joy of watching my darling niece wander about in the most adorable golfing outfit. SO much better than watching le miserable in the ER!

And now, since this is my blog, I'm totally going to post the grossest picture I could find of an ovarian cyst!

How gross was that?!?!

And now, I will have to leave you in suspense until I know more.....

Blur of Pain

I try not to complain too much or really even mention the pain I live with day in and day out, but today is one of those all-consuming pain days…every joint hurts. In fact my whole body hurts so much that it’s been making me nauseous. My wrists & hands can barely move to type. It’s hard to focus on anything but the pain…I hate days like this.

While I am in pain of some sort every day, days like this have been fewer and farther between. But as for today, I just want to curl up and die. Figuratively of course. But being pain free would be so very wonderful. I can honestly say I don’t remember those care-free days of being pain free. But I know they existed. I hope someday I will experience them again…if not forever then at least for a couple days at a time.
I knew this would happen. I had to fly to CA for a couple days to see my doctors and did really well while there—maybe cuz the trip was so brief. But any sort of stressor, like travel or change in schedule or even emotional ups and downs can be debilitating.

Hoping I feel better tomorrow, cuz I have some funny stories from my brief trip in CA…at least I found them funny. In the meantime, I’m taking more pain meds and am curling up with my saintly mom waiting on me. Bless her heart. My mom is so very supportive of me. I really wouldn't be able to make it without her!
Right now she is doing dishes and washing the towels and rugs from my bathroom…poor things met a terrible plight involving a 5 year old nephew and a tube of toothpaste! But I’ll have to leave that story for another day. Let’s just say Sid the Science Kid probably won’t be viewed in my house or my sister’s for a while as it seems to inspire Van to make his own experiments! Ha ha!!!

In the meantime, this photo may give those of you with keen eyes a clue as to one of my future "funny" stories. Hint: I do not have freckles on my ears and only have one piercing. Can you guess what's going on here???

Perspective Check

Today has been a difficult day for me for a variety of reasons...from pain to interpersonal relations, but then someone sends you a simple link and your whole perspective on life changes in an instant. I have it easy in many regards...

Should you wish to meet a very brave young woman, who has been blessed to love and be loved in return, the greatest of all gifts, click here. If you are as moved by Eva as I was, please leave her a message of love~quickly

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has been close to my heart for more years than this sweet young woman has been alive. I get their updates regularly in the mail. I support them as often as I can. But sometimes we tend to forget why we do what we do. It becomes routine. We forget the passion behind it all. Eva's story reminded me why they do what they do and why it is so important to help them/her in their fight.

Thank you Eva for sharing your life with us.

Spoiler Alert

So, invariably, when I have a migraine, I get sick to my stomach. Last night was no different. What was different however was the song I woke up to while sick that has remained stuck in my head, even now.

Having a 9-almost-10-year-old niece in the house, we have been introduced to a new genre of television shows (don't worry--this is not totally random; it does connect to the previous paragraph). Such shows include: The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, iCarly, and (of course!) the oh-s0-popular Hannah Montana.

Here comes the Spoiler Alert: Do Not Continue Reading if you have not yet seen the most recent new episode of Hannah Montana! I mean, I wouldn't want to ruin it for you or anything!

Having now seen this episode twice in one week and having never seen HM before, apparently Miley AKA Hannah is growing up & is dating (gasp!) a boy from her past (double gasp). That's right, Jake (whoever he was/is) is back. Miley wants her Dad's approval to date the guy who has broken her heart multiple times but kinda screws up that plan when she fails to tell him for 3 weeks that Jake is back & that they are dating. Dad is not happy. Dad acts juvenile. Miley schemes to make him like Jake by pretending to like "bad-boy" guitarist Jesse (who plays in her own band) but accidentally falls for him too. In the end, after composing a song & much dilemma, she choose Jake~which is good cuz otherwise they wouldn't have been able to do that whole memory montage to the new song (something like "He Could be the One"-which at 16 the emphasis should definitely be on the Could!).

Point being, prior to composing the above song, Miley strikes a tune & begins to sing about how she's angry at her dad. The chorus of said song goes (roughly) "Neaner, neaner, neaner. Neaner, neaner, neaner. Neaner, neaner, neaner...."

So going back to my migraine & waking up in the night to be sick & having a song stuck in my head, sadly said song was not the "He Could be the One" one, but rather the Neaner-Neaner-Neaner one. Perhaps this is really why I was sick in the night. I must say that after being sick, I lay in my darkened room & cursed the day(s) I saw that episode.

Here's another observation based on my new exposure to these television shows, aside from Hannah Montana's dad, where the heck are the parents to all these kids who are running around?!?! Is the TV industry subtley trying to get kids to resent having parents? Or are they unwilling to pay the larger salaries an adult might try to garner from them? Or can they simply not find any adults willing to play a full-time roll on these series. Either way....it's weird!

And those are my musings for the morning. On a brighter note: the sky is blue, the air is crisp, & it is shaping up to be a beautiful day sans head pain. Yay!

Black Out

This is the view from under the black blanket blocking out the light that was attacking me during today's migraine:

(yup, that's my foot)

Sadly, even w/black drapes, my room is always extremely bright/light. Even at night. The whole neighborhood is "safely" lit with street lamps & garage door lamps that burn all night.

We had to leave the lake today because of my migraine (sigh)...oh & because Spiderman left his mask at home by accident. Hate it when that happens.

If I can ever get the pictures on my to down-load to my computer, I'll show you the (birthday) story behind the costume. [These pix are from my phone.]

As for now: it's back to bed & a darkened room for me.

Hey Bren! How is it that I haven't had a migraine since October & I have one little conversation with you about them & 2 days later, bam! One hits me outta no where! Hope that means that you are currently migraine free. :-) I'll gladly bear your pain, chica!