:::: Grumble Grumble ::::
I swear, if I type up one more long winded journal entry, and some freak act of nature (lightning/power outage) or environment (ferret running across the keyboard) closes the window, making me lose my entry.... :::grrrrr:::
Here, let me try this again…
I’m sitting at home contemplating naptime. It’s that time of the day when I know I should, but there are so many other things to occupy my fancy. To be frank, I haven’t quite figured out my sleep schedule since my work hours changed on June 12th.
For those that don’t know, I work odd hours, and generally I have liked it. On my old schedule, I worked from 8ish-PM until 5ish-AM or later. This gave me time to shop, run errands, and have some quiet time at home before having to lay down to rest for the day. Granted, if I wanted to have dinner with friends, it would have to be an early dinner before work or on the weekends. But dates and life were progressing nicely, so I didn’t mind.
With the promise of the new schedule (working midnight to 8ish-AM), I could have much better date and dinner nights with friends and the like. Heck, I’m even going to get to come to more local Happy Hours and Meetings, which is always nice. Next week’s BR meeting in particular looks like a really interesting topic. And besides, I haven’t been to a meeting in so long, I’ve yet to go to the new hotel. Yikes… that’s a long time folks.
Usually I work about 15 – 25 hours of OT a week. However, with the new schedule, I’ve found it hard to get back into the groove. I need to do it soon, because I have a myriad of vacations and fun weekend getaways lined up between now and my birthday. There was LR (a blast, to be sure), and now I’m looking forward to Beach Week in NC, my roommate’s wedding in FL, various weekend getaways, the Boston Flea, and a trip to visit one of my brother’s in NYC.
Yep, got to get crackin….
My recent (and thankfully brief) neck injury is recovered, and I’m getting back into the exercise groove. That, coupled with the new schedule and the summer heat, and I’m not really pushing up to capacity working OT.
Gawd, the injury was so stupid! Here’s what I pieced together as the probable cause of the incident. So I’m doing this new-to-me exercise routine, and I’m starting to get confident. You know how that feeling goes when all the moves stop feeling awkward and start flowing. So… I don’t want to exercise to the video with my resistance bands and such, I want to watch CNN or something instead. Maybe Comedy Central… I forget. ;-)
I get to one particular part, and I’m confused. Which way do I stretch my legs vs. my neck? I’m stretching, I’m stretching, and I’m not feeling it in my outer thigh. Okie, I need more stretch. I’m stretching, I’m stretching… still, nada. So I push and push till I start to feel something, and chalk up the soreness in my neck to a wonderful muscle increasing soreness like I’m feeling in my thighs. Yea me.
Yes, rocket scientists, I was stretching the wrong way. Looking over the wrong shoulder, and pulling my neck way too hard in the wrong direction.
The next day I wake up with 2 or 3 hours of sleep in me, excited to go white water rafting with some friends. I’m feeling sore, and a bit stiff in my neck, but no biggie, right?
As the day goes on, the stiffness is growing. The guide is barking orders at us to stroke FORWARD, FORWARD WAIT… NOW BACK, OKIE, ONE STROKE, NOW FORWARD. I’m giddy, giggling, but have trouble looking behind me to him when the need arises or there’s a lovely piece of scenery that everyone is oooh-ing and aahh-ing over.
The drive home was terrible. The pain was developing, but the neck was so stiff that I couldn’t turn it left or right. Up and down head movements, no problem. Trying to look around the corner to make a turn into traffic? Problem.
We get to one of my friend’s houses for a shower and a fabulous dinner. It’s ethnic, so a lot of time and effort are being expended to make us all happy. I’m exhausted and feeling the pain grow, so I get sent to a bedroom for a long hot soak and a nap before dinner. They play cards, watch TiVO, and talk about the day’s adventure below me as I melt into the warm waters of the mega-tub.
The hot bath was a really good idea, as it started to relax me. As I lay my head on the pillow (on my side, as always), I feel the pain grow. My body drifts asleep for what seemed like a minute when someone from downstairs pounces upon the bed to announce “…it’s dinnertime!”
The meal is wonderful, but I am miserable. I want to go home, fall asleep, fall away from this non-consensual pain and into some long overdue sleep. Dinner was delicious, as expected, and my hunger (wow, I guess I was hungry!) was reminded how much I loved my friends cooking. With hugs and kisses, I made the drive home.
My roommates were up and cheery to hear about my day. I gave a brief run down, but excused myself to get into my PJ’s and finally into bed. At last, sweet sleep, I was totally psyched.
After preparations, I sit stiffly on my bed and take some Motrin strength ibuprofen. My second dosing of the day, still not feeling any relief. I lay down and gasp, frozen in this wave of ache and pain. I couldn’t move. My neck hit the pillow and screamed at me, frozen in a spasm that would not stop. Tears jumped from my eyes as I tried to roll over, to get up, to do anything. I was stuck.
Anger and fear pushed me out of the bed and back into my clothes. I was still wet faced, in that steamy, frustrated cry that comes in like a storm and sets across your stinging eyes. You can feel the heat rising from your every facial orifice, and you can’t really shake it off till it comes out. It’s got no where else to go.
I pop into some jeans and a button up shirt (read – not over the head) and find my roommies again. One of them is kind enough to drive me to the emergency room as my neck throbs in the rhythm of my heartbeat, and I somehow had the clear mindset to grab the purse with the insurance card inside.
You know, luckily for me, I haven’t had to make many trips to the emergency room. However, whether the patient or the attending family member/friend, there is almost always a long, LONG wait to get seen. They want your history, your id, your insurance card, and your patience as you wait through the masses that are there before you. Not oozing blood everywhere? Take a number and a seat, we’ll call you soon… maybe… sit by the TV, it’ll be a while.
We’re there long enough for me to sign my name and tell my condition, and to sit down for a minute and point my roommie in the direction of the closest coffee machine. Then, miracle of miracles, a nurse calls me into the back. Not the mini-offices out front for form filling out and question time. The back. This is a new experience.
I’m brought into a triage nurse’s office where I briefly describe my symptoms and what I think happened. At that point in time, I didn’t think it was the exercise so much as maybe some strained movement, or sleeping wrong. She didn’t even ask for much info before she got me on a gurney in a room. I’m asking for my roommie, and she’s introducing me to the doctor.
The nice lady doctor talks to me, and tries to stretch my neck briefly. More water literally jumps from my eyes. It was the weirdest reaction, I swear. She smiled in sympathy “…yeah, that hurts, sorry about that.” But she reaches a conclusion and prescribes me 3 sets of pills. Valium, Vicodin, and Ibuprofen. There’s a nice male nurse there with an injection of Valium – it’s going to relax my spasm. They’re going to call my roommie in there.
Oh yeah, doc, would you like my ID and Insurance card?
They give me the iv on my left hand. It’s ouchie to get it in, especially since I’m not to fond of needles. I’m making small talk, looking at ANYTHING but the needle as he pokes and swishes it around in my hand. Thank God this is a temporary inconvenience… I’d hate to have one of these in my bod for any length of time.
Suddenly I feel warm, like he said I would. The injection is supposed to make me relax so maybe I can sleep better later tonight. It’s already late – what is it anyway? 1, 2 am? I have no idea anymore. In fact, at the moment, I don’t really care.
So now the medicine is kicking in… I’m in pain still, but I don’t care. I’ve heard people say that before and I always thought they were a bit nutty in the description. How can you not CARE if you’re in a great deal of pain? That makes no sense. Well, I can tell you first hand that I’ve been there, I’ve felt that, and I truly didn’t give a darn that my neck was still in a painful spasm. Oooh, a TV remote… cool.
My roomie, R, comes in at some point. I remember one thing, and he remembers something else. From my prospective, he came in and looked at my IV for a moment and asked how I was feeling. “I’m still in pain, man, but I don’t care. Geez, I’m tired. Did you see the IV? Yuck.” Then he said he had to go to the bathroom, and I didn’t see him again.
Well, apparently he was sitting by me for a little over an hour. I would wake up, say something, then doze off. Then I’d wake up again, repeat myself exactly, then fall asleep again. “Hey R, did you get your coffee? When are they going to put the IV in? (it’s in, see Josie?) Oh, yeah… when will it work, cause zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. This went on 6 or 7 times before he told the orderly that he needed to make a plan as he was working in the AM, how long would I be in this state? Could he take me home? When?
Well, they wanted to observe me more and such, so he asked if it would it be OK if I caught a cab home (we had planned for this little scenario on the ride over). They consented, and he left.
When I twitched in my sleep and awoke again (it was always the pain that woke me up), I noticed he was gone. I wanted my sweater, cause I was getting cold, and noticed they had put those baby gates around the bed. When did that happen? Hmm… weird.
Eventually they released me, and I went home via cab. The driver didn’t have but $5 change for my $20 (what a scam!), but I didn’t have change. He got an enormous tip, and he can spend it in hell I guess ;-)
I got very little sleep once I got home due to the IV wearing off. I had asked my roommies via note to please drop off the prescriptions at the store on the way into work. When I finally got them at 10am, I was still not feeling any difference.
You know what a bummer it is when VICODIN won’t make the pain subside long enough for you to sleep? I was a very, very grumpy girl. Sleep would come in spurts. First me trying to relax enough to fall asleep on my spiking pain of a neck, then my twitching and re-awakening the pain in my sleep, thus waking me up. :::grumble:::
This went on for days. I was miserable, exhausted, and the meds weren’t working. The emergency room doctor had told me that if in 3-days the pain was the same or worse – as it was – that I needed to see a doctor immediately. So I scheduled an appointment and went in as soon as they would see me.
I got a new doctor in a practice recommended to me by a friend (as my doc was not available that day). He is some nice old guy that also practices at NIH, so I said what the heck. He tried the neck stretching thingy, and again, jumping tears.
He tells me that a neck x-ray would probably tell me that it’s just a frozen muscle spasm from over taxing the X muscles (I forget the names), and that this could go on for a while longer or just vanish if I could only get the muscle to relax. I show him the meds I’m taking and he shakes his head. I’m not taking enough.
So he prescribes more, and tells me that I’m a big girl (duh). I figured that one out on my own, doc, thanks for the pep talk. He laughs and says that if I double my dosage on the Vicodin and take what he’s prescribing me, I should be fine. I make an appointment to see him in two weeks, no worries.
Oh, and one more thing… he tells me to go buy Benadryl. Over the counter, non-addictive, and wonderful for sleep. Take two, I’ll feel like sleeping for the whole night.
So I follow the doc’s orders, and instant success! Sleep is mine, at last… delicious sleep!
The next day I’m sore, indeed, but the incredible pain is gone! Why did I suffer needlessly? Yay Benadryl-Vicodin-Valium-Ibuprofen cocktail! Yay me!
Soreness went away, camp (LR) soon followed, and life was good again. LR… well that’s another story.
Anyway, I’ll figure out my social life vs. work life vs. OT vs. sleep schedule any day now. Just takes more planning I suppose. Extra summer daylight and pretty people passing by doesn’t help my concentration level any, though.
Thankfully :-)
Much to do, got to run. Talk to you later!
Hugs, ~ me ~