This morning I awoke at 2 a.m. in considerable pain. It was abdominal pain. I assumed it would pass, so I paced, I sat on the throne, I paced. The pain went on and on, and then it got worse. By this time Attila was up for the day and getting ready for work. We pulled out of the driveway at the same time this morning, 6 a.m., Attila on his way to work, and me on the way to the emergency department at the hospital.
My hospital visit was a good one. My blood pressure was elevated, but since I know now that it will be like that when I go to the hospital emergency department, it was of no particular concern. They gave me pain killers and muscle relaxants intravenously, which took about thirty minutes to kick in. Blood was drawn, blood sugar was read, a urine sample collected. And after all that, the nurse covered me with a warm blanket and I fell fast asleep, for two hours. My problem was a UTI (urinary tract infection). I’d suspected this for weeks, but thought I had conquered it with cranberry juice and lots of fluids. I was wrong. They sent me off with a prescription for antibiotics, which I immediately filled at a local drug store. The whole adventure was done and dusted by 10 a.m. Fasting was required for the ultrasound, and by the time I arrived back home from the emergency department it was too late to eat, or drink anything but water. The appointment in the city for an ultrasound and bone density test were scheduled for 2 p.m., but I needed to leave the house by 12:30 p.m. to get there on time.
I was very tired by the time I had to leave to drive to my appointments, and kept myself awake by reciting rhymes and talking to myself. Not only had I not had much sleep the night before, I hadn’t eaten since suppertime yesterday, AND I hadn’t had my morning cup of coffee. The hardest part about the tests was drinking three glasses of water before leaving home, and trying to park in the city lot while distracted by my bladder, which was under considerable strain by then, considering I have a bladder infection on top of everything else. I was grateful that the violent sneezing portion of my cold had abated, that would have added a whole new level of stress to my parking efforts. Thank goodness for small mercies.
By the time I had made my way home again, I was exhausted. As I was unlocking the door to come into the house, Attila drove into the driveway, and we walked in together. He looked as bad as I felt, the common cold is still affecting him. We are both exhausted.
Attila says this cold is making the rounds where he works. Its characteristics are violent sneezing, persistent cough, runny nose, and significant eye irritation. One of Attila’s coworkers had to stay home from work with this cold last week, because his eyes were so irritated that it affected his vision. My eyes were very bad for one day, and have slowly been recovering.
It looks like we will attempt to have an early night tonight!
Tomorrow I have another Doctor’s appointment in the city. This time a pesky mole will be removed and biopsied. The only thing that concerns me about the visit is where to park the car! We aren’t that familiar with the city yet, and downtown parking is hard to find in busy traffic, with impatient drivers and aggressive pedestrians everywhere. Still, it has to be done, and eventually we will get used to it, and be able to find our way around with confidence!
Hopefully tomorrow is the last of this recent round of tests. Next are the doctor’s visits for the follow up after the results are received. I have my finger’s crossed that they all come back within the normal range!
If the weather was nice today I would not have noticed it! I think it was relatively nice, warmish, cloudy, with some rain. When I walked out to the car, to go to my appointments, the birds were singing and the breeze carried the faint scent of blossoms. I also noticed that our lungwort is up and beginning to bloom.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
9°C
Date: 6:00 PM EDT Tuesday 11 April 2017
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.9 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 9.2°C
Dew point: 8.5°C
Humidity: 95%
Wind: NE 13 km/h
Visibility: 16 km
Quote
“I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I’m gonna put pins into all the locations that I’ve traveled to. But first, I’m gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won’t fall down.”
Mitch Hedberg
1968 – 2005
