The big update is going to be migraine related, both mental health wise and my new neurologist. But mostly I'm making this as it's been a couple weeks and we're past the holidays and life is returning to normal.
Migraine
The gains I've seen since starting my mental health meds is continuing. I don't think it's been happening enough to truly call it a pattern, but let's look at this. On October 1st I started the Paxil. That was in the middle of a six day migraine. I also finished my low dose naltrexone taper up to 4.5 mg on October 2nd. The migraine ended on the 4th and I went until the 8th without a migraine. On October 7th, I finished a two stage Wellbutrin taper and finished taking it. The next day, the 8th, I upped my Paxil to 20mg. I then started another migraine. This one was bad as it was non working days every day for 8 days. On October 17th the migraine ended and I started the new extended release Wellbutrin (Wellbutrin XL) at 150mg. I went four days without a migraine and the next one started on the 21st. It was fairly mild and only lasted 4 days. On the 25th it ended and I was migraine free for five days. October 30th another migraine started.
Now keep in mind, during all the time I'm getting minimal mental health gains. I'm feeling better, but I'm still thinking about suicide often enough to be worried about it. All of these prescription changes were done by my general practitioner and I was handed off to a mental health specialist that I wouldn't see until November 7th.
That migraine that started on October 30th started comparatively mild, but turned severe and ended up lasting 13 agonizing days. During those 13 days of hell, I had that 90 minutes of dental work that I'm absolutely sure extended the migraine. The next day I also so my mental health specialist, my nurse practitioner (NP) and she had me increase my Wellbutrin XL to 300mg daily on the 8th. That migraine finally stopped on the 12 and I went six days without a migraine. That was a long time without a migraine, but I'd gone that long several times this year. Another migraine started on the 18th, was severe, and lasted for six days, ending on the 24th. When it ended, I was migraine free for 8 days and that was the feat that I hadn't accomplished since 2022.
The next migraine started on December 2nd and went for five days. It was moderate to severe. I then went another 8 days without a migraine followed by another five day migraine, again quite severe. December 20th started another 8 days without a migraine and it was followed up by yet another five day migraine that was on the severe side.
That migraine ended on January 2nd, and as I write this I've been without a migraine for six days (seven if it lasts through today).
I don't recall my migraines ever falling into that kind of pattern. 5 days on, 8 days off. It's the first real sign of improvement since they got severe in 2022 and ironically enough it seems to have come from mental health medications and not specific migraine treatments. That being said, it's a good step but not the final step. There's no way I could start working again with migraines lasting five days unless I was going like 3 or 4 months between migraines.
On January 6th, I finally saw my new neurologist. I ALMOST had to cancel, but I'll go over why down in the Family/Friends section. I'd been fighting myself on getting excited about this appointment for weeks now. I didn't want to pin my hopes on it. But, I'm human and when I sat down with the neurologist, I was almost buzzing with hope and excitement.
Our appointment was primarily spent with me going over my 'headache' journey. Remember, in a nutshell I've had headaches since childhood that I didn't even recognize as migraines until I saw my current doctor in 2014. Looking back and... well duh... they were migraines going back a very long time. I went over every treatment, every medication, and every step of my migraines growing continually worse and worse. He'd stop me every few minutes to clarify something, showing me he was doing more than just casually listening, and when we got to the last step of the migraines going terrible, me quitting work, and the last few treatments, he showed his true colors.
First thing he did to make me like him is showing respect for my neurologist. If he came in all chest huffed and puffed and saying he was going to shit all over my neurologist and previous treatment, I might have walked out. But he acknowledged no problem in the previous steps. The one thing he did admit to differing with my neurologist on is that he believes if there is no improvement with a medication, that I can be discontinued before moving on to a new treatment. So for instance if I was under his care, I probably would no longer be taking Propranolol, Depakote, Ajovy, and Namenda. That's as opposed to my current neurologist who believes if it isn't hurting you (side effects) then there's no reason to STOP taking it. While they disagree on that point, he said several times that he respects my current neurologist and has no problem with how he's cared for me so far.
The second thing he did to make me like him is prove that he was listening. I had told him that one problem with the Paxil/Wellbutrin changes that helped the migraines was the side effects. Specifically the muscle tremors. I'd told him that my NP was ordering me Cogentin for it (more on that in the Mental Health section). He said he'd like to discontinue the Depakote as it also has a side effect of muscle tremors. Maybe by cutting it out, as it hadn't shown much luck in treating the migraines, it could reduce the muscle tremors and prevent me from having to take the Cogentin at all.
The next thing he did to make me like him was to have several planned paths forward. Not only did he have several plans, he let me decide which one to choose and also let me decide how my care would continue going forward.
For the plans, he said there is a medication that's in the same class as Nurtec called Qulipta. Where Nurtec was designed to treat a current migraine and only later was found to be slightly effective in preventing migraines, Qulipta was designed from the get go as a daily pill to prevent migraines. He said he's seen a lot of success with it. Another plan was a medication (I forget it's name) that is an IV infusion that's similar to Anjovy. It proves to be more effective as more of it gets into your system as opposed to being injected into fat and having to work it's way into your system. Of course the downfall is that I'd have to go monthly to get hooked up to an IV. Inconvenient, but since Anjovy hasn't worked and was designed as the 'convenient' method of this medication, we might try that. And the other plan was a medication (again, I forgot the specific name) that works like Topamax but without the cognitive deficits. Remember, I'd been on Topamax before and it was effective, but it also screwed with my ability to speak. I forgot words and names. This medication might have that same success, but NOT have me forgetting words and/or names.
For the continued care, he said he could take me into his practice and take over my migraine treatment. He admitted it would suck as I'm almost an hour away from his practice. Even with a fairly severe migraine, I can painfully drive to my current neurologist's office as it's just 5 minutes down the road. I couldn't drive for an hour safely with a severe migraine for an appointment with this new neurologist, let alone have the appointment and drive back home. Another option was both he and my current neurologist working together. My current neurologist continues the care he's been managing while my new neurologist cares for my new treatments. Eventually, once I got my migraines under control to the satisfaction of me and both my neurologists, I'd return to my current neurologist for continued maintenance as he's just more convenient to me. Finally, he could write all of these ideas up, send it to my neurologist, and basically act as a consultant. All prescriptions and care would be through my current neurologist.
I liked the middle ground. Until this is solved, I'll have two neurologists. I also liked the Qulipta medication as I remember Nurtec, at least for a short while, was the only medication that worked to eliminate a migraine. Maybe this will work in a similar way and knock the migraines out. He even said it would show its effectiveness within a couple weeks. AND he even had samples of the medication that he sent me home with so I could start it the next day. The prescription went to their pharmacy, but they'll contact me and will be happy to deliver it to me.
So, that same day that I saw that new neurologist, I started to taper off my Depakote and I started taking Quilipta. I currently have an appointment with my normal neurologist in mid April. I'm going to request it be moved up to March when I'll have been off of my Depakote and on the Qulipta for a few weeks so that it can be evaluated. I don't expect them to be able to move the appointment up though. If that's the case, I can contact my new neurologist and get a follow up with him.
And, since I'm a getting too many doctors and medical professionals in my life, I'm going to have to start naming them like I do family and friends, with initials.
My general practitioner (my main 'doctor') is Dr. M
My endocrinologist is Dr. H
My current neurologist is Dr. W
My new neurologist is Dr. C
My mental health specialist is NP M
And my therapist is G (I refer to him by his last name, though he's a psychologist).
One final note, as I write below, I got a message from my mental health team while I was writing this post up. While I was in my electronic chart, I took the opportunity to write Dr. W and see if he'd be willing to see me sooner than April. Hopefully he can squeeze me in. If not, I'll call up Dr. C's office and see if they can get me in between early February and late March (any later and it'd be just as easy to wait for my April 8 appointment with Dr. W).
Mental Health
I had my follow up visit with NP M at 11 AM on New Years Eve. It sucked because I both had a migraine that morning and had plans to watch the Michigan Alabama bowl game that day that started at Noon. The migraine might have made it look bad to her, but I told her that I was doing MUCH better than the last time I'd seen her. Remember, she picked up my mental health care when I was already on the Paxil and Wellbutrin XL. She just increased the dose of Wellbutrin XL. As these meds can take weeks to show improvement, I may have well been improving on just the Paxil or the Paxil and the previous dose of the Wellbutrin, but regardless, we're not changing now as I'm feeling very good.
I told her about the two side effects I've experienced since increasing my Wellbutrin XL dose. Night sweats and muscle tremors. Neither are consistent, neither are debilitating, both are incredibly annoying. Oh, and they both could be caused by the Paxil, the increased dose of Wellbutrin XL, and even the Flowmax I'm on for the urinary issues.
For the night sweats she basically said what I expected... it's probably the increased Wellbutrin XL dose. There isn't a real good fix for it as a symptom other than reducing the dose and I absolutely do not want to reduce the dose as my mental health stability is worth far more than sweating at night.
For the muscle tremors though, that's a more serious side effect. It can effect my driving, my nursing profession, my typing... it can affect just about anything. And yes, at times it's very bad. For example, I tried to pour some milk from a jug into a glass and had to stop as I was about to spill the milk everywhere. Both of my hands were shaking that badly.
She'd already earned my respect on my first visit, so I can't say that she earned it here, but she certainly solidified that respect. She immediately wanted to treat the muscle tremors and contacted the psychiatrist she works under to get some suggestions.
A quick aside about Nurse Practitioners (NPs or CNPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs). Some of this will differ state to state, but most of it holds true. They are just about as good as any MD or DO. Any 'doctor'. They can handle 'normal' medical issues for 'normal' people in most 'normal' circumstances. For instance, I come in as a mental health and physical health wise stable patient to see someone about my depression. The NP can assess my needs, and so long as nothing indicates something more serious like Bipolar or schizophrenia, can treat me with many medications without consulting with a psychiatrist or general practitioner (MD or DO).
Where they differ in practice is thing outside of 'normal'. I come in as an undiagnosed schizophrenic, or I come in with certain pharmacological side effects, or my treatment for depression isn't helped by standard treatments, the NP or PA would consult with the MD or DO or specialist they're working under. In Michigan specifically, NPs and PAs can't practice without working under an MD or DO of some sort.
I don't have any problem being treated by an NP or a PA. Even my general practitioner, who is an MD, sends me off to specialists when my ailments get beyond his level of practice. My migraines got too severe for him, so he sent me to a neurologist. My diabetes grew to severe, so he sent me to an endocrinologist. An NP or a PA would have probably sent me to a specialist earlier or at least consulted with the practitioner they're working under.
So, for every day maladies, for continuing care, for a general practitioner, I think NPs and PAs are just as good as MDs or DOs. When I work with them, I give them the same respect as any 'Doctor' and even call them 'Doc'.
Okay, back to me. NP M sent out a request to the psychiatrist she works under but didn't hear back from him within a couple minutes (literally like 120 seconds!) so she sent the request out to a couple other psychiatrists. The initial answer was to treat the tremors with propranolol. Unfortunately she realized I was already on 240mg of propranolol a day. Propranolol has many MANY uses all at different doses. It can treat muscle tremors at 10 or 20mg. It treats migraines at 80 to 240mg. As I'm already on its max dose, there's no possibility of even increasing the dose and seeing if it works. So, the recommendation came back to Cogentin.
Cogentin (benzatropine) was initially designed to treat Parkinson's disease. So far as I know, it's still used to treat it. But it's been expanded to treat tremors that can be caused by many medications. Most of these medications are psychological in nature, so I've seen it prescribed a lot while in the prisons and certainly at the state mental health hospital. I know it's an old medication, has few side effects, and for the most part works very effectively.
What turns out to be helpful is the fact that I had her send it to my mail in pharmacy. My mail in pharmacy notified me at like 5 PM on New Year's Eve that they put a hold on it and needed me to contact them. So I waited through New Year's Day and contacted them on January 2nd. It turns out they took the order in as 30 days and just wanted to know if I wanted to have it be a standard 90 day prescription instead. It seems stupid that they were threatening to cancel the order if I didn't answer that question instead of just simply filling it as it was prescribed for 30 days. But whatever, pharmacies are going to pharmacy. I told them 90 days would be fine knowing that any change in dose would likely be doubling it, and they said I'd have it in about a week. Turns out it was delivered to my mailbox on January 6th. The same day that I saw Dr C and got the order to discontinue Depakote which could also be contributing to the muscle tremors.
So, I sent a note off to NP M telling her that I was discontinuing the Depakote and that my new neurologist suggested I hold off on starting the Cogentin until I'm off the Depakote and see if it stops my tremors. She hasn't written back, but I can't imagine her having a problem with it. The big thing is the follow up appointment with her. It's in late January, and I won't be fully off the Depakote until a couple days before that. Not enough time to re-assess my tremors. Hopefully she'll write back and I can reschedule that visit for early to mid February. It might be the first time I've ever asked a medical professional to push off an appointment!
While I was writing the next section, I actually got a message from my mental health team. I'd say it was from NP M, but it was a colleague of hers as she's out for the week. He said it would be fine to hold off on the Cogentin and that it was up to me if I wanted to keep my appointment on the 22nd. I decided to take the path of least resistance and keep the appointment. If nothing else, it will be nice to check in. If my tremors remain then, with having reduced the Depakote to 500mgs for a week and being off of it entirely for a couple days, we can discuss if I should start the Cogentin then. And of course if they tremors are resolved, she can just discontinue the prescription. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeasy.
Physical Health
No big changes here. While the Flomax has certainly helped with my urinary issues, they're not fully eliminated. I think I may write to my doc and see if he wants to increase the dose. We'd talked about it and he mentioned that it was possible. I think it's been long enough to admit that while it's effective, it's not as effective as I'd like.
The other physical health issue was of course the dental work. After the new year I got a call from my dentist's office (which by the way is Dr. P or DDS P) and they got me in yesterday (the 7th) to pull my temporary crown and install my permanent crown. When this was initially scheduled for November 27th we'd also planned on some more dental work. I honestly can't say what that is as I need dental work on my upper and lower teeth on both my left and right sides. I know I need at least one more crown and at least three fillings. When they scheduled this appointment I just assumed they'd be doing that work as we'd initially planned.
When the dental hygienist brought me back and sat me down, I was in a good enough mood. No migraine but apprehensive because I was almost sure to get a migraine from the work they were going to do. So when she asked me if I wanted to be numbed up, I was distracted and didn't think as to why they'd ask me that. Instead I just said that yes, I'd like to be numbed up. It might not hurt much to pull a temporary crown and put a new one on, especially after a root canal made that just a hunk of senseless rock in my mouth, but it would certainly hurt when they start drilling on some other tooth.
Anyway, they went through the process of the numbing gel followed by the numbing injections. When I felt like I was having a stroke, having the left side of my lower face droop uncontrollably, Dr P came in and got to work. Again, I shouldn't have been surprised at the amount of work it took to get the temporary crown off, clean the dental glue off the stub of remaining tooth, and fitting the permanent crown. This after all is my rearmost molar on my lower left side. The work was initially done almost six weeks earlier and it had not only been pulled off and glued back into place in the meantime, both the crown work and the root canal work took almost all my effort to get my mouth open enough for them to get their tools in.
Quick by the way, I get a real kick out of how writing about dental work and writing about oral sex sounds the same. "He worked hard to get his tool into my mouth, jacking me open wide. I was powerless to stop him and could only lay back and take the assault, trying to get enough breath through my nose the entire time." Heh.
Anyway, it took him about a full hour to get the permanent crown in. Even with the fact that I had no nerves going to that tooth and even with the fact that I was numbed up, I hurt when he was done. Just opening my mouth that wide for that long hurt. It seriously stretched out the muscles surrounding my jaw. Add in the fact that lying back like that hurts my head, add in the fact that the rooms lights, the spot light, and the light on the dentist's forehead were all shining directly into my eyes along with the sound of the drill he had to use to get some of the dental glue off of my tooth, and the fact that at one point there were four tools and two sets of hands working in my mouth, I had every symptom of a migraine surging through me.
When we finished up Dr P said goodbye and the hygienist walked me out. When I got to the receptionist desk I was a little woozy from the light sensitivity and just general achiness, so I didn't think of anything as I said goodbye to the hygienist. When the receptionist got me my co-pay amount and gave me a receipt though, she smiled and said she's see me in May for my next dental cleaning. Nothing about more dental work between now and then.
At the time, I was fine with that. It's terrible to get dental work done with these migraines in place. But now that I'm away from it, I realize I had a plan of getting more work done between now and then as my dental insurance is going to expire before May.
I'll have to consider whether it's worth it or not. The majority of the dental crowns I've had have required root canals. That could be VERY expensive if my insurance drops in between the crown and the root canal. Then again, you don't just call for a dental crown, it's when there is just too much rot on the tooth for a filling to fix. If that rot isn't fixed, it leads to the nerve and then you're in tight bad pain and probably need to have the tooth pulled. I've been through that once and would rather keep the rest of my teeth.
I'll have to think about it and probably call their office at some point to schedule whatever they think should come 'next'.
And by the way, as I was writing this up, I got a message from my mental health team (mentioned above). So long as I was in my health care provider electronic chart, I sent a message off to Dr. M asking him about the inhaler for the COPD and increasing the Flowmax dose. We'll see what he says.
Finances
Whelp, this is the frustrating time. It's funny (not funny) how when Sedgwick needs information or paperwork for me, it's needed in the matter of days, if not hours. But when I need information from them, it's nothing but crickets.
Technically, my long term disability finished on December 31st, 2024. I got paid at the end of the month and am fine. For now. They sent an email that if I needed an extension, I needed to get updated medical paperwork to them by January 13th. They also sent me a text message saying to call them if I need an extension.
I contacted Dr. C's office just after Christmas and they confirmed they'd sent in the new paperwork. It's not really 'new' it's just the same paperwork they put in in August with new dates on it. Nothing has changed significantly enough to warrant something truly new.
So the email was done, but I kept that in my inbox as a reminder. I responded to the text message by calling the provided number, but beside it saying that they've received my medical paperwork, there wasn't anything to do. There wasn't even a 'Press 1 to request an extension'.
And finally I logged on to their online LTD system. It shows that my LTD expired on the 31st and that they received my updated medical paperwork on the 27th. The message that accompanies them receiving the medical paperwork is:
"Supporting documentation on your Long Term Disability claim was received. Upon initial review of the medical, we'll be able to make a claim determination or refer your claim for additional clinical review. We'll get in touch with you with next steps once our initial review is done."
At first glance that sounds good, right? That they received it and just need to do an initial review and then get in touch with me with the next steps once that review is done. But... that was on the 27th. Even considering crazy days off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, that's six business days ago now. If they need more paperwork they'll need it by January 13th. Three business days from now.
Fuckers. Just tell me it's been extended or if I need to give you more paperwork and stop leaving me hanging on this!
Family/Friends
What a difference three weeks makes! E sent me a text on New Year's Eve saying he was going to be in Austin for apartment shopping between January 3rd and 5th if A and/or I wanted to go down to hang out with him. This is something I would have absolutely loved to jump at. I could leave January 2nd (still celebrate New Year Day with Mom and R), get in Austin on January 3rd, hang for that night, the 4th, and 5th, and then drive back the 6th and 7th or even go back up to Dallas and hang with A and his family for a bit. And I absolutely would have done that, but my new neurologist appointment was on the 6th. If I was to make that appointment, I'd have to leave Austin on the 4th. So I'd arrive late Friday Afternoon and head out Saturday Morning. I'd go to great lengths to see my friends, but even if I could guarantee they'd all be migraine free days, hanging out for like 12 hours (including getting sleeping for at least 5 hours of that) isn't worth 4 days of driving.
So, we had to skip that and are making loose plans to come down and visit with E in March when he moves in. I'll try to get him a 'Michigan, California, Texas' gift (although if I wanted to make it inclusive I'd have to include Illinois, North Carolina, and several areas of China!).
Then there's the family. I mentioned that B came over to watch the football games on New Year's Eve. We watched Michigan v Alabama, but he went home for the night before Penn State v Boise State. During the Michigan v Alabama game we figured he could come over the next day to watch the three other semi final games. Texas v Arizona State, Ohio State v Oregon, and Georgia v Notre Dame. he did and fun was had. He even enjoyed the Prime rib although he hates having it rare like that. We just swapped out the rare parts of his hunk of meat for the cooked edges of ours. Even cooked fully, it was still moist and tender and incredibly flavorful.
I drove B home after the Ohio State v Oregon game as Georgia v Notre Dame got postponed because of the New Orleans New Year's Night terror attack.
I mention all of that because I'm pretty sure that was the vector. You see, everyone in B's house came down sick. Sore throat, fever, congestion, body aches. Then on January 5th, just a few days ago, both R and Mom came down with similar symptoms. Except Mom admitted that nothing smelled right and R said he couldn't taste anything.
GOD DAMNED MOTHER FUCKING COVID IS BACK!
Obviously Mom being sick is the most serious part of this. If it's COVID, she needs to see her doc and get on the treatment drug (Paxlovid). I head out to the local pharmacy and buy four tests. One for R, one for M, one for me (if I get symptoms), and one extra. When I get back home, R and Mom test and R's immediately gives the bar saying he's positive for COVID. While we're waiting for mom's to see if she's positive, I'm actually already sold. R is positive with COVID, mom is sick with symptoms... she needs to see the doc. They can do a lab test which will be far more effective, test for COVID, flu, RSV, Norovirus, and other things. Once they know, they can then prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Mom's test ends up coming out negative. I'm sure you remember these tests. They have a frustrating amount of false positives and false negatives. Plus I'm relying on Mom to swab her own nose, so I'm not concerned with a negative result and still treat her as if it was positive. Since this is on Sunday night, I tell her that I suggest contacting her doc first thing in the morning so she can get in and get seen. I push it just a little saying that I recommend this because any of those viruses can get bad fast and she doesn't have the capacity to get much worse without ending up in the hospital.
She agreed.
Monday morning comes and I'm not at home. I'm up at my new neurologist appointment. Did I mention that appointment was at 6:50 in the fucking morning? Well it was. 6 Fucking 50 in the Goddess Damned Morning! And remember, it's an hour away from me, so I had to leave my house at 5:50. I wanted to shower and remote start my car, so I had to get that going at 5:10. And I wanted to have a cup of coffee and wake up, so I had to get out of bed at 4:10. I know technically that's 4:10 in the morning, but doesn't it seem more correct to call that 4:10 in the evening? It's like late LATE night instead of early EARLY morning.
Anyway, when I get back it's about 10:30. I see that Mom is still there and assume she's already been to the doc, so I don't make a big deal about it. When 11:00 rolls around and it's lunch time I ask her how it went and she tells me that she hasn't heard back from the doctor's office.
A quick aside here. I have to struggle against the urge to be a Nurse for Mom. I know that's not what she wants. She wants me to be her son. Yes, she'll often use my nursing knowledge, but she knows the difference of me being a nurse (pushing her into the best medical situation I can) and me being her son (respecting what she wants over what is medically necessary).
It takes me a good half hour to stop my inner nurse from getting up and shouting at Mom. Her doc damned well knows that she's 70+ years with advanced and crippling COPD and CHF. ANY respiratory disease can spell out disaster for Mom. Whenever you hear on newscasts or medical shows that something is 'particularly bad' for the elderly or immunocompromised... they're talking about my Mom. So I know damned well that her doctor doesn't yet know what Mom is going through.
That afternoon, after I get the preachy nurse voice to stay away from my mouth, I ask Mom how she contacted her doctor's office. By the way, her doctor's office is in the same location as my doctor's office. It's a huge medical center with dozens of primary car providers, a lab, an x-ray suite, and it used to have it's own walk in clinic. If you call in there and can't get your doctor, they'll get you routed to a medical assistant, LPN, or most likely an RN who can make a triage decision. But Mom didn't call. She sent them a note on her electronic chart. When you send a note on this system it says plainly that this isn't for urgent or emergency situations and that a response can take up to two business days.
Okay, but we generally get quick responses to the notes. That evening, after she doesn't get any response back from her doctor, and I be the good son and not push her, I hear her growl at not getting a response. So I have Mom read me what she wrote. I'm going to paraphrase it as I saw red while she read me her message and have forgotten most of the specifics.
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Dear Doctor,
I've been feeling sick for a day or so including sore throat, body aches, feverish and a little cough. I didn't want the techs to get sick so I skipped my scheduled CT scan but I'll call to reschedule at a later time (this is her lung cancer screening and isn't medically important). I also didn't get my lab work as I told you I would as I didn't want to get the girls there sick. My son is also feeling under the weather and he tested positive for COVID. Should I go on the Paxlovid?
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WTF MOM!!?? Talk about burying the lead! I can't stop the nurse from coming through and explain that her message likely went to a medical assistant first. That medical assistant read your message in terms of importance, reading it as the first thing is the most important and ending with the least important issues. So you sent a message, on a system not designed for urgent or emergency situations, telling your doctor that you didn't get your lab work done and didn't get your scheduled CT scan because you felt a little sick, both of which can be done a month down the road without worry. You then mention that your son is sick (the MA might not know that you live with your son), tested positive for COVID, and ask if you should go on Paxlovid. More than likely that MA didn't put together her medical diagnoses, medical history, and didn't realize how urgent this message was. They probably just put it on the pile for the doctor to get to eventually or even a general pile for the next available medical professional if Mom's doctor isn't there that day. Remember, they have two days to respond.
Unfortunately I said that in my 'nurse' voice. A voice that Mom knows and does NOT like. In other words, it went in one ear and out the other. I tried to apologize and get through, telling her to call in the morning, but she ignored me.
I've laid out what Mom needs to know including the risks of waiting. It's ultimately her decision, and I know she wants me as a son instead of a nurse, so I flipped that switch and turned back into her son.
The next morning when she woke up, she was worse. She sounded terrible. She said she didn't feel 'much' worse (the much was carrying a LOT of weight in what she said), and that she didn't want to call because obviously the doctor didn't see her message as important. I bit my tongue just in time to prevent "Well she probably hasn't seen your message because you sent it in via the least urgent method you could besides US Postal Service, in a manner that barely acknowledged that you felt sick let alone deathly ill!". Instead, I agreed with her and just kept an ear out. I had my dental appointment that morning and when I got back, I was in near migraine pain so I was neither a good son nor a good nurse.
That afternoon I heard Mom telling my brother that she heard back from a doctor (but not her doctor). They got her message and agreed she should be treated, but put her on Lagevrio as it doesn't interact with as many drugs as Paxlovid. If she were to go on Paxlovid, she'd need to stop two or three of her important medicines. There's no reason to fight COVID if you let her heart go into a deadly rhythm. The problem? No one has Lagervio in stock, so we're waiting for the local pharmacy to get it in tomorrow.
And finally, Mom sounded even worse this morning. She was having serious troubles breathing and had my brother R turn her oxygen level up. So when I heard her coughing and having trouble breathing she was already on 6.5 L of O2. I got her to take an emergency breathing treatment and then sat out with her until she started sounding better. I told her that she sounds like she might be developing pneumonia. It would explain the rattle from her lungs in the morning that cleared up with a breathing treatment and time. As she was lying down to sleep, the pneumonia spread out across more of her lung, but when she gets up and sits up, it flows (slowly flows) back to the bottom of her lungs. I gently remind her that she might want to tell her doc that she's feeling worse, but I didn't push as I doubt mom will tell her doctor that. Mom's logic will go something like this: I told her that I was sick and she prescribed a medication. I therefore can't complain further until I've taken that medication.
It's not a bad logic tree, even if I know its entirely wrong. But I don't want her to shut me out again, so I gave her the Son response and not the Nurse response. "Okay Mom"
Entertainment
Nothing much here. I got back into watching The Americans. It really IS a great show. I'm now on the last season which only has 10 episodes, meaning I should be done with it in a few days. I honestly have no idea what I'll move on to next.
New Tech
Nothing new here
Writing
Okay, it's now been almost two weeks since I wrote anything. Getting the momentum back up is a problem. I mean, I'm going to have to read the entire last chapter (maybe the last two) to catch up on what I was thinking. And even then, I feel guilty as while the chapter is important, it's not going to be all that much fun or sexy. It's just Sadie buying her car.
Michigan Football
I mentioned above watching Michigan bowl game, Michigan vs Alabama in the Reliaquest Bowl. Michigan had almost all of their starts opt out for draft prep. On the other side of the ball, Alabama didn't have any opt outs and would be hitting Michigan at full strength. This is the team that's snubbed because it 'should' have been in the playoff vs the Big Ten team that barely got to 7 wins. Sure, Michigan beat Ohio State which is IN the playoff, but that's more about Ohio State having a Michigan problem than Michigan being better than Ohio State. And we won't even have the stars that made that game possible. So when we sat down to watch it I was ready for the loss. The beat down. Not only would the Alabama players want to vent their playoff snub frustration onto Michigan, they'd want to get 'revenge' against a Michigan team that beat them earlier this year at the Rose Bowl in last year's playoff. And even though Nick Saban left as Alabama's coach, their new Coach is Kalen DeBoer... the guy that coached Washington in the National Title Game. You know... when Michigan embarrassed them. Even he's going to want to crush Michigan.
Honestly, this whole game was done in the first quarter. I'd be one to blame it on the weather, but both teams were playing in the same weather. Still, there was a huge rainstorm which favors the team better at running. You'd almost think that would mean it favors Alabama since Michigan's top two running backs opted out of the game.
Nope. At the end of the first quarter Michigan was beating Alabama 16-0.
Alabama scored 10 points in the second quarter, making it 16-10, but there each team only got another field goal in the 4th goal making the final score 19-13.
So while an 8-5 season is never going to be good enough for Michigan, if you told me that Michigan was going to beat Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan State (all three of which are trophy games), USC, Ohio State, and Alabama this year, I'd be over the moon excited.
As for the playoff, people continue to bitch about it. I swear I heard people saying that Oregon was at a disadvantage vs Ohio State because Ohio State got the 'privilege' to play a game where Oregon had to sit and wait. Seriously? The BYE is the problem now?
I could go over all kinds of improvements, but I'm not seriously going to get into how to make this system better after one attempt. Up next is Ohio State and Texas in the Cotton Bowl (should basically make it a Texas home game as it's only 200 miles from their campus!) and Penn State vs Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. I think both will be spectacular games. With the way Ohio State played vs Tennessee and Oregon in the playoff so far, I think they're going to crush Texas. I honestly have no idea who is going to win between Penn State and Notre Dame. Either would be a monster game for Ohio State. All B1G national championship game of OSU vs PSU, or the Buckeyes vs the Fighting Irish. It'll be huge!
Computer Issues
I'm still dealing with the music issue. I'm at least going about 30 minutes between lock ups now. And the wallpaper background problem continues to work. My only real issue is getting Photoshop set up the way I want. I always forget just how many settings I like to tweak. I'll tell you, there's something to be said about changing the way you work when they introduce something new, rather than using the tools to make it back to the way you were used to. Every version adds something and it's just something more that I have to change 'back' to the 'good' way.
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