Genital Integrity Awareness Week. Via Rob Sama.
I’ve gone from having no particular opinion to believing circumcision is barbaric, and would even had I not eventually learned that mine was… performed less than skillfully, if not exactly “botched.” Pardon the TMI.
|
You Color Your Life With Subtle Coolness |
 You are a full of grace and peace. You don’t let yourself get worked up. You tend to be a bit reserved. You only speak when you really have something to say. You aspire to a lot in life, and you’re quietly working on your plan to take over the world. |
My back has not bothered me nearly as much since the mole was removed from the vicinity of the worst pain. I’ve still have the numbness and such, and can more or less predict what and when can cause it, as well as it being unexpected other times. Even that, with one extreme exception that helped keep me awake for hours, seems to have improved. Makes no sense.
Meant to call the neurosurgeon and doctor today. The former because I need to make an appointment, even if they have no results or copy of the MRI yet. The latter with questions, maybe for a freeform referral.
Maybe tomorrow.
Mainly intended to leave house to do combined computer work and job hunting work tomorrow, maybe go out just to be out, but I believe I am wanted here at the time that latter element would be. Plus then I am not forced to spend money I don’t have. I use a tank of gas every two weeks if I don’t do extraordinary driving, have car insurance and cell phone, and after that there is approximately zero per month left from my FredCo and ad money for anything else, if there’s not extra side or ad money, or a month when car insurance is paid off for the year. Everything else goes to rent and household. I’ve been spending too much, so I don’t know where the money will come from for the things I have to pay next time I have to pay them. But I digress.
|
You Are Pause |
 Compared to most people, you are reflective and thoughtful. You’re always willing to take a break and digest everything that’s happened. You are patient with life. You are happy to sit back and let things unfold. |
|
You Are Monday |
 Like this day of the week, you are ruled by the moon. More than anything, you are flexible. You are moody and impressionable. You are easily influenced by the world around you. While Mondays tend to be the hardest day for people, you don’t mind getting back to regular life. |
Yesterday I had my appointment to get the mole on my back removed, along with, of course, the usual blood pressure check. I was not counting on the visit being so focused on the procedure that I’d have no chance to talk to the doctor. In fact, I thought I’d have more, but laying on my side with three people working around me was not so opportune. About all I was able to do was find out he had not heard from the neaurosurgeon, and tell him about the MRI scheduled for Saturday and the EMG scheduled for May 4th.
They have a nursing student who’d just started. She’ll be there for seven weeks and is just the cutest. In an opposite world scenario, for her I relaxed completely and she got a lower blood presure, while I tensed and stopped breathing for the regular nurse and she got a higher one. Relatively speaking, since the highest they got between them all was about 130/90. Considering the circumstances and my BP being higher when I am there, I wonder if my recent faintness and vertigo had either low blood pressure or abruptly changing blood pressure (or drug side effects) connected to it, besides the sleep deprivation that was probably a factor. Instead of being thrilled, the nurse, at least, is still not happy with the bottom number. Half empty.
Besides the mole on my shoulder blade, the doctor noticed a skin tag he didn’t like a bit below it, so I got a twofer. They get biopsied as a matter of standard procedure. The whole thing took far longer than I’d expected, but was kind of interesting.
The doctor stitched the mole incision heavier than he would have, knowing what I do for work and that it had to hold. Seemed to be just fine. Oddly enough, the mole was more or less right in the spot where my back is worst. IMHO anyway, and it may be that the neurosurgeon is focusing on my lower back the way my primary focused on my neck, even though I emphasized the other spot to both. Not sure if he ordered MRI of whole back or just lumbar section, which is the part of his orders I heard. That and something about “both sides.” Guess I’ll know tomorrow. And if my doctor said “ouch” when he heard I was having an EMG, that could be interesting. Shame it’s not until May 4th.
What I was about to say is not only was the big mound of stitches where the mole was fine for a vigorous shift unloading trailers, but also that part of my back stopped bothering me. Probably pure coincidence. How could there be causality at all? Still, found it fascinating, considering how bad it got the past couple days. Then again, there seems to be some correspondence between the back pain and bowels often enough to stop ignoring.
They gave me some spare strips to go over the incision to help keep it together, and had me buy waterproof bandages to go over it before showers, to come off immediately after. That makes things interesting, since I can’t reach. Well, almost can reach the big one, kind of, but the small one not at all. When it was time to take the bandages off they’d left over the spots, I had to ask Sadie to help. I’m dependent on Deb for the bandaging part to take showers, so I can only take them if she is going to be here and awake before and after. Doh.
I go back on Wednesday April 8. They put it in as an appointment for 8:30 AM, but I am supposed to drop by between 7:30 and 12:30, check in, then go in and find my congenial friend the student nurse. Presumably I will see the doctor and he will tell me when to come back. Perhaps I can even discuss other things. Minimum, though, they’ll want to monitor my blood pressure regularly. Maybe I can get extra visits while the student is there!
Meanwhile, I think I need to start logging stuff. If I get numb here or there, skin crawling, involuntary urge to flex or twitch, sensation of warm water running down my thigh (nope, not from me), what is happening or hurting at the time besides, where and how long, those kinds of things, then I can stop forgetting what I wanted to mention and give them more to go by. I spent about three days recently with my feet feeling numb, even if the rest of me seemed fine. I’ve had that for a long time, but blamed it on shoes, or an association with gout attacks, or on my feet always having been weird, and if I mentioned it then hello, they might decide I had diabetes. I’m conditioned not to draw attention to things, especially if they might be dire but haven’t felled me yet, most of all if they might be diabetes or another “mother told ya so” malady. Not sure how I’ll do the mechanics of that. Maybe e-mail myself from wherever I am with the Blackberry, then compile it.
Can’t think of what else I might have been planning to say. Guess I’ll call it a post and move on with the day. Have a huge list of stuff to do.
|
Your Deadly Sins |
 Sloth: 40% Wrath: 40% Envy: 20% Greed: 20% Lust: 20% Pride: 20% Gluttony: 0% Chance You’ll Go to Hell: 23% You will get bugs, because you’re too lazy to shoo them off. And then you’ll die. |
|
You Are The Liver |
 You are a very versatile, adept person. You are able to do many jobs. You seek balance at all times. You are good at adjusting yourself to keep things level. You are able to counteract bad influences. You can neutralize anything toxic. |
|
You Are Twitter |
 You are energetic to the point of being hyperactive. You are the ultimate multitasker. You don’t have much of an attention span for anything. You like things short and sweet. You can’t help but let everyone know what you’re doing, even if it’s just what you’re having for dinner. |
Happened across this picture yesterday (click for full original) when someone mentioned Lea Thompson having been in a movie I didn’t recognize her as having been in. Since I’ve always… admired… her, I went and looked, and here we are.
There was a secretary/paralegal at the law firm that was my big client, there forever, chipping away at college and law school on the side over the course of many years. Most people didn’t like her much, I’d say. Or some, anyhow. She could be intense. Just as I often get along with the boss or teacher others dislike, I got along well with her, and there was a bit of admiration going on there as well. Lopsided, but not necessarily one-sided, even if I tend to credit such things too little too late. Besides, I doubt it would ever have worked.
About the same time she finally finished law school, she ended up a disappointment to the firm’s owner, not sure why, and was essentially a non-person, then gone. It would have been weird for her to stay anyway, given that if they hired her as a lawyer she’d be in that new role with respect to fellow support staff with whom she’d had a sometimes feisty relationship.
Along the way, she’d mutually flirted mercilessly with one of the younger, newer attorneys, probably not helping her cause over the course of time. He got divorced at some point, and eventually the two of them ended up married.
Between the initial heat and the eventuality was a period of time in which they were not together, Kim and I were flirting, and there were regular after work outings by some of the people at the firm to the bar area at the 99 Restaurant. At the peak of that, it was almost as if we were on a date, but my actual role was, I assume intentionally, to make him jealous and get them back together. Clearly it worked.
As I was telling Deb, not the only time I’ve been used to cause ultimately a marriage that someone or another desired. In another case it was a girl in college ending up married to her adequately Catholic high school sweetheart, who she was less certain of than her cheering mother.
Tangential verbosity aside, the point of this post is that the above picture could as easily be of Kim. Spitting image, at least of how she looked at one point and perhaps with slightly lighter hair. The face is the same as I remember it. Subject to the foibles of my memory. I was amazed, and that would explain, given my thing for Lea Thompson, why I found Kim so appealing.
My consultation with the neurosurgeon was today yesterday, so I thought I’d post a report. I managed to be super early, despite leaving later than planned. Had to stop for MRI films on my way, which these days means a CD. Drove to Boston, which turns out to be the best option all around. BMC is far south, right off 93. Parking took me 5 minutes of driving around garage to get a freshly cleared spot, but cheap,
MRI shows disk bulge in neck, but collected symptoms would seem mainly something else. He was surprised my doctor hadn’t ordered MRI of rest of back.
He did a very thorough exam, compared to what I am used to. More like having a physical than having the doctor barely look at fully clothed me. Not sure I like the proportion of visits that have been $95 blood pressure checks over the years. Oh well.
My impression is that one or two of the reflex taps I wasn’t as responsive as I could have been, and that I may have been misidentifying some of the needle prick versus hand tests. Could be wrong.
As always, I didn’t get to or remember to give every possible detail. I am beginning to think I should keep a log and take that or notes. Yet in some ways he got more detail because he was so professional, direct, and systematic.
He seemed to think there was not a strong or at least immediate need for surgery, but that was the start of what seems like it will be a longish process. I am waiting to hear from the MRI place regarding when they want to schedule me for that. I have already been scheduled for the EMG (nerve conduction study) he ordered. That will be May 4 at 8:00 AM. Both that and MRI will be in Brockton, which is convenient. Once I have an appointment for the MRI, I have to call BMC to make a followup appointment.
In the meantime, I need to find work that isn’t “FredCo” or similarly hard on the back (for all it often bothers me least, in the spot that seems most tied to numbness and in terms off feeling numbness itself, during all that activity). And doesn’t involve driving. And involves sitting in a chair that won’t hurt me. And I need to replace my chair, which apart from cost I was waiting to do after this visit in case it affected that action.
I know it sounds odd, but I keep realizing things in retrospect. I’ve had numbness in my feet routinely for ages, which always seems worst when I have gout attacks, but happens any time. Thing is, anything like that that might make the medical people cry out “aha, diabeeteeeez!” tends to go unmentioned. Same with peripheral neuropathy symptoms that aren’t numbness but are funky. I’ve posted about those now and then over the course of time. Or I am sure I have, without actually going and searching to point to the instances.
Did I remember to mention that? Of course not.
Anywho, I have an appointment Thursday with my doctor for a normal checkup and removal of my funky mole. Aw shoot! Forgot to take my blood pressure meds this AM. Doh! Hate to skip a day so close to a checkup, but no way this late in the day. I’ll sleep through work. It’ll be interesting discussing this whole thing further with him, assuming he allows a couple minutes for that. Since I have him for an appointment for a procedure and not just wham, bam, blood pressure’s still high per usual, there may be hope of more chat time.
Sounds like a blog name.
|
You Are a Papaya |
 You are a calm, balanced, and mild mannered person. While you’re peaceful and together, you’re also quite complex. You are authentic and honest. There are some very distinct elements to your personality. |
|
You Are Going to Heaven |
 You’re so saintly you’re practically an angel, and there’s no other place for you than heaven. You are always concerned with doing the right thing. You consider being a good person a joy… not a burden. You’re not perfect, and you don’t expect anyone else to be. You are ethical without being sanctimonious about it. |
Scarf is a cool one Deb made, experimenting, that ended up as basically a kid toy. Val is a natural superstar.
This is a picture of Henry on my shoulders at the mall after we’d both gotten haircuts. Deb took it with her phone. Not bad, eh? Love how the hair doesn’t look that good once it’s had a chance to be mussed after leaving the barber. The piggybacking didn’t last more than a few steps because of the silly back. You can see he looks more like Deb than me, more than people usually note when they see him.
This is from the set of pictures downloaded off the camera on February 3rd, which means it was taken sometime between then and January 5th, date of the prior download. I’d lost most of the weigh, but not what I added to the tally in this last burst. It documents my role as his favorite place to sleep.
|
You Are Spring Cleaning |
 You are an organized and efficient person. You don’t like messes or chaos. You like simple, high quality things. You don’t have room for clutter in your life. You believe that everyone deserves a clean slate from time to time… including you. |
|
You Are Vanilla |
 You are incredibly sexy and sensual – yet still sweet and innocent. You have an exotic, mysterious vibe. You leave people wanting to know more. You know how to make lovers relax, calm down, and be vulnerable. |