December 2011
4 posts
6 tags
Seriously? A Christmas tree?: a saga Part 2
Picture, if you will, me in Steve’s pajama bottoms, all saggy crotch and pooling fabric at the bottom, and one of his old tee shirts. All my jammies were still dirty from the hospital. No makeup. Hair- just bad. I ordered Steve into the car. I wasn’t even polite or asking anyone’s opinion. I didn’t bother to change and just threw on my coat and boots (untied and no socks)...
Seriously? A Christmas tree?: a saga Part 1
Looks pretty good, right? How did this happen? How did I wind up with a freakin Christmas tree literally outshining the little Chanukah banner that I rescued from the garbage pile on clean up day at the synagogue- dwarfing our menorah setup on the windowsill?
As I was nearing the end of my hospital stay, my doctor asked me if there would be any stress during my holiday. After I stopped...
6 tags
Lucky me and RSD
To my surprise, any sense of self-pity at being stuck here for a week has been subsumed by a sense of gratefulness. There are people here who are really sick in totally different ways, or really old, or both. They have cancer or have undergone major surgery or, in the case of my roomate from the first half of the week, have RSD.
No, I’d never heard of it either, but catch this. She is a...
8 tags
DHEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! and TV
I am reaching the middle of my 7th day here in 8B 23. I am receiving regular infusions of DHE to try and break this nasty, persistent migraine. Amidst and between the bouts of grogginess, I have had an impossible amount of time on my hands. I have not felt focused enough to do much reading or writing, which is what I imagined I would do with all this time. I refused my dose of Benadryl this...
August 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Re entry
Coming home has certainly been a double edged sword.
In Indiana I got out of the car in what must be the skankiest rest stop in the lower 48, only to be hit with a wall of humidity.
The closer I got to home, the worse my neck hurt. The worse my headaches got.
Is it the humidity, the storms, the crazy barometric pressure rollercoaster that is the East Coast?
Is it the mountain of unopened...
July 2011
11 posts
Headache //
dadaisme:
5 tags
Chicago and home
Aunt Audrey and Uncle Lefty are a hoot. I feel happy for Aunty Audrey because I think she feels she’s lived in the just the right eras. Her sense of thrift and the way she holds on to things fits with her view that technology has corrupted social mores. What a memory! She will tell a story from her early teens as if it happened yesterday. Uncle Lefty, nicknamed in his baseball-playing...
Bye bye
The Badlands was short and sweet. Our meander through was tinged with sadness because Esme and Stephen had to say goodbye to their Papa and Abuelita there. No skinned knee or sharp words could make them cry like that. It was deep and hiccuping and sweet.
Those pioneers and Indians were serious badasses, by the way. That is some strikingly harsh land. They called the failed settler claims...
The Black Hills of Dakota
The Crazy Horse Memorial was intense and strange. The Native American Museum there is very well done and there are craftspeople there working and selling jewelry and such. It is both fascinating and creepy, because the sculptor who made it had ten kids and they all worked on the mountain. Only a few are still deeply committed, so I am dying to know where the others are. Were they grateful or...
7 tags
to the Black Hills
So far, we have driven 4,100 miles. What else has their been loads of besides gas stations? Making toilet paper seat covers. Hay. Papyrus font. Bison. Whining. Gift shops. Laughter. Stars. Cows. Potty humor. Trucks. Bear carvings.
I need a thesaurus because all I can think to say is that Yellowstone is beautiful. The colors. Opalescent white terraces and creamy, shiny beige mudpots. Strange,...
Yellowstone
7/15
Talk about rugged. No WiFi in this whole park, so I will have to post all of this later. Yesterday we drove through Yellowstone’s Hayden Valley and got caught in a couple of buffalo jams. Seeing bison kind of close with binoculars just does not compare to having them surround your car and look you right in the eye at about a foot’s distance. We saw lots of red dogs, which is...
Tetons plus
7/13
The Grand Tetons were, well, grand. They are the youngest North American range, which makes them all craggy and cool looking. The coolest one is Grand Teton, but Teewinot has the best name. The float trip down the Snake was a unique experience. HIghlights for me were floating right under a perched bald eagle and the seeing beavers on the shore. I never knew they were rodents and they...
Behavioral Chronic Migraine Treatment a Cost... →
ahealthblog:
Treating chronic migraines with behavioral approaches – such as relaxation training, hypnosis and biofeedback – can make financial sense compared to prescription-drug treatment
4 tags
Fort Collins
My in-laws, Lynn and Steve, live in lovely Fort Collins. It’s like a giant REI. There are abundant mountains, creeks, horses, groups of people in tight pants riding really fast on bikes, scads of wicking clothing and athletic sandals, and breweries every couple blocks.
Steve and I are hoping to sneak away for a night to Boulder or Estes Park before we head out, but at the very least...
June 2011
1 post
I'm back and I'm off
It’s been nearly a year since I posted, and what a year. Somehow I managed to take on an extra job teaching middle school, have a total physical breakdown, and quit them all.
I am now officially on federal disability. It’s been a month-long process of taking it in. That someone objective could look at my life on paper and decide I am disabled makes my daily reality more real somehow....
August 2010
7 posts
4 tags
3 tags
water
My pediatrician told me that my son is fire and I am to be like water. Where to begin?
On the (unintentionally) 10 mile first bike ride with Stephen yesterday when, after a roaring start, things deteriorated rather quickly, I was definitely not water.
He stopped his bike every 10 feet to scratch his head or his nose and whined more than I thought was possible for a seven year old and though I...
Dear Neurontin,
I can’t stop eating. These words have often emerged from the mouths of my countless Jewish female relatives, but I really mean it.
This goddamn medication has taken over my body. Good that you might possibly be one of the several that is abating my headaches, or not.
Bad that I am at the same weight as when I birthed my last placenta.
Very irksome that I just bagged up...
tumblrbot asked: WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?
3 tags
5 tags
Stephen’s 7th birthday went more or less like this. It was his real birthday, therefore a family day. His choice of activity: Splashdown Beach water park.
I awoke on this day, like many others, with a headache. Let the roller coaster of emotion and decision making begin!
I have a cake to frost for tomorrow’s party and, despite the endless trips to ridiculous places like The...