Followup appointment update

Gee, I feel bad. I haven't updated this in a couple weeks. I usually try to be more on top of things. I'd like to say that I haven't updated it because I feel good, but that's not entirely true. So far, the muscle relaxers are doing their job and I'm sleeping at night. But I'm not entirely pain free.

Yesterday, I had my three-month followup appointment. Long-story-short, we're going to stay the course on the muscle relaxers and my doctor would like me to exercise more. She actually said that exercise and moving around is the best way to feel better and "I'm so glad you see this, because too many people don't."

It isn't that I see it that way, I just want to exercise because I can't lose weight unless I exercise. That I know. I don't ever expect to be a size 12 again and I don't ever expect to walk four miles a day, but I'd like to be closer to both of those numbers.

The good news for exercise is that this weekend is opening weekend at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Kenosha, WI. And I've got a season pass. So, every Saturday and Sunday between now and Labor Day (that's September 5th to my non-celebrating friends), I'll be walking my fat ass around the faire.

Speaking of my fat ass, why do people take offense if someone calls themselves fat? I mean, especially if its true? I'm not thin. I know how much I weigh. I know what I look like. I'm not deluding myself in that I'm not overweight. I know how big I am. I'm wearing a size 24 in jeans. Sure, they're loose, but that would still put me at size 22. That's huge, people. I'm fat and I know it. Don't feel bad for me, it isn't your fault I'm fat. Of course, it isn't squarely my fault either, but that's not the point. The point is that I'm fat. I'm not chubby. I'm not "pleasantly plump". I'm fat. Let's move on.

Yesterday at the VA hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, I had to park in a car park on the opposite side of the hospital. They had a door right there to enter the hospital, but little else to guide a person back to the part of the hospital that looked familiar. I followed the signs for the UW hospital because I knew I'd eventually reach something that looked familiar. I did, after I trekked from one end of the VA hospital to the other- I ended up in radiology, which is the set of elevators I needed. Then I had to walk all the way back to the central elevators- which, I learned yesterday, were where I could have gone to go up the one floor as opposed to walking all the way down to where I did. But that's a moot point now. After I went to that office I have to go to before every visit, I had to go all the way back down to the elevators I'd just left to go up to the sixth floor Rheumatology clinic.

Surprisingly, I wasn't curled up on the floor in the waiting room when they called me back to the exam room. I actually felt pretty good. That gives me hope for this weekend at Faire.

And making it back to the car park wasn't even an issue. No, the issue came after I left the hospital. Turns out the street I take to get the hell out of Madison- actually, the street I take to get me to the street that I take to get the hell out of Madison was completely torn up with construction. I was zig-zagging through construction equipment and blockades like an Olympic skier during finals.

So, I did what anyone would do in that situation. I took photos. What? You wouldn't do that? Weird...



















And I get past all that construction... I turn right onto Park. I get a couple blocks down...

TRAFFIC!

Three month Follow-up

Good news, the pain in my hip/thigh isn't anything serious. Just bursitis. What's that? Inflammation of the bursae. You know how you take care of inflammation? With anti-inflammatory medicine. That I can't take. Because when I take it on the long-term (meaning more than twice in a row), it causes me to swell up. That's right, something that's supposed to take away the swelling causes me to swell.

So, for the fibro, we're going to increase the Gabapentin dosage. A little at a time. An additional 100 mgs at bedtime for a week. And if that helps, then I can do the same with the daytime dosages (just like last time, no faster than once a week). This is the reason she gave me this particular drug, because we can up and down the dose by a wide margin before we can call it a failure.

Speaking of the good doctor, my next visit with her- in three months- will be my last, with her. She's graduating and moving on. Yeah. And I like her. At least now I know if I get stuck with another lousy doctor, I can demand another. No more two-year limbo till someone helps me.

On this visit, we also addressed the humidity issue in that the humidity levels are a key factor in fibro patients' lives. The disabled guy doesn't believe me when I say I can tell when the humidity is high. I even said, "Trust me, it's at least 75%..." and he checked, it was 80%... He claims it was because I looked online. I can't convince him that the real reason is because I can feel it in my muscles, in my skin. When I feel exhausted and weak, as if I'm being pulled to the ground slowly... that's from the humidity.

As I sit here and type this, the sun is going down. And it looks like it will be a brilliant sunset. The only problem is that I'm an hour into my pain meds and I'm listening to Shake Hands with Danger Radio online... so even if I wasn't drugged to the gills and could drive out and take photos, I wouldn't take these headphones off. And the cord isn't that long. I only mentioned it because the sun is starting to blind me from the left side because someone opened the blinds on the door.

But I digress...

No, I don't, actually. I'm done for now. Back to the frustrating project of trying to create decent business cards. I've actually created them already. I can't get them tweaked just so and aligned properly.

For what? you ask... For my etsy shop... Pahz Photography...