Catching Up

I took my Visual Analytics final today which felt good to get over with. It made me remember why they named me Diderot, Most likely to write my own encyclopedia, in high school. Poor guy has to grade essay questions, and he is working toward a paper deadline himself. At least my handwriting isn't microscopic like it used to be in middle school. I just finished editing my paper and creating my slide presentation for my final project in the class. So, I am caught up with my class, but now I have to catch up with my research.

Happy to report that Mike has been feeling better. Still headachy and spasmy, but able to get some work done and do some of his own driving. I kicked him out of bed early this morning because I couldn't get any sleep because he was snoring so freakin' loud. I seriously had ear plugs in and still couldn't sleep! I was about to go sleep on the couch myself, but he was a sweetie and realized that I had to take my final today, so he let me stay in bed.

We have both been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but I don't know about the whole CPAP thing. Since I also have restless legs, I pretty much dance around too much in my sleep to be able to keep an oxygen mask on all night. They have other surgeries and appliances, but they aren't they most widely accepted treatment, so I know our insurance won't pay for them. Trying to get A's in my classes while I am getting a low B in sleeping. :-)

We have officially decided that we are too poor right now to continue eating out so much. So if anyone has any good recipes, let us know.

Done with Christmas shopping, I think. We aren't going to do Christmas cards this year, but I am going to try to convince Mike to do a mini Christmas video with me. We will see how that goes. He is pretty much a sucker for me, so I sure it will be posted on here in a few days.

In the meantime, here is a video of the cats and their Christmas presents from Autnie Kim. Thanks, Auntie Kim - we loved them!

Sluggy

Well, Mike is sick with a cold now, but the ironic thing is that I think it is actually helping him feel a little better from his other symptoms. His uncontrollable muscle spasms are now happening mostly in the morning and evenings only, and he hasn't been feeling dizzy. So between the cold, the prayer blanket his aunt sent him, Tom's acupuncture, and the new medication, Mike is at least feeling well enough to drive to his own appointments now. Yay! He is still getting pretty bad headaches, so we are going to continue with the additional testing. The weird thing is that he can have multiple headaches at once. A dull headache in one place, another headache in another, and a sharp headache in another place. Weird. Oh, and I just looked up his medication Amitriptyline which says it is used for migraines and vaginal swelling. We have a lot more serious problems if he is having vaginal swelling!

Me, I am feeling pretty exhausted and stressed. I am behind in what I need to do for school, and I really just wanted to hit the ground running after we got back from the honeymoon. After all the set backs I was having with my old department, my new department has been a breath of fresh air. I just don't want them to think I am a slacker. :-( It has been difficult the last few months because we weren't sure if Mike could keep working, weren't sure if we would need to change our plans to have kids in a couple of years, etc. The economy crashing in the middle of it all didn't help much either.

But, overall, things are looking up. Mike is able to do more on his own now, and he is slowly getting back to work. I know money isn't the most important thing in the world, but it sure makes things worse if you don't have any.

Ugh, I am seriously about to fall asleep as I sit here typing. I swear coffee makes me sleepier than it does more awake. I hear that is a symptom of ADHD, but I am not going to bother to get diagnosed. I mean, all they would be able to do is give me Ritalin, and I already tried that for my hypersomulence, and it didn't do anything for me. It was supposed to help me stay awake/alert during the day, and I could take one and immediately take a nap. Sigh. Sometimes I think medication does more harm than it does good.

Core Dump

Empty Sad Lonely Helpless Numb Pointless Ungrateful Bored Confused Scared Fuzzy Annoyed Cold Fat Achy Aimless Misunderstood Dark Meaningless Tired Angry Crooked Pensive Hopeless Negative Crash Dry Passionateless Cowardly Detached Isolated Void Broken Mundane Stiff Worry Shame Pitiful Baffled Insignificant Mistaken Unworthy Repetitive Oxygen Dull Sore Random Guilty Naked Aware Effort Dumbfounded Unhealthy Wrong Different Waiting Lost Doubt Concern Fallen Breathe God Intangible Distant Contradiction Circles Old Foreign Yearn Flail Avoid Need Complex Questions Lacking

Flopsy the Snowman

Christmas 006
Originally uploaded by pamela_j_karr

We call him Flopsy because he keeps falling over. We figured that we have been a bit depressed over Mike's illness, so we tried to show a little Christmas cheer. Comment from my sister:

Looks great outside ;-)
Inside you're a wee bit Scrooge-y. ;-)

Another Non-Update

Monday - Mike went for an EMG. Came back normal but hurt a lot.
Tuesday - Mike went to Baptist/Wake Forest for 3rd opinion Neurologist Appt. She didn't run any tests, but she is sending his doctor here a list of about 3 more tests he can run. Kinda disappointing but not a complete dead end.
Wednesday - We went to see Nona Patterson, a psychologist just to make sure we are staying healthy emotionally at least. It went pretty good for a first visit. There must've been a major pressure change with the rain today, we both had horrible headaches in the afternoon.

So, still no diagnosis for Mike. Good news: his dizziness is going away. Bad news: he is still getting bad headaches and muscle spasms. Overall though, I think he has gotten to the point where he is getting better instead of worse.

Got my new laptop. Exciting. Still using my old one until I can get everything transferred over.

The Absence

Well, after more doctor's appointments, all we have been able to find out is what Mike does not have. He doesn't have Huntington's disease, West Nile, Syphilis, HIV, Diabetes, Lime disease, MS, Epilepsy, heavy metal poisoning, brain tumors, heart problems, Meningitis, restless leg syndrome, antinuclear antibodies, paraneoplastic syndrome, a drug problem, Cryptococcus, brain hemorrhages, or intra-axial abnormalities of the brain. So that's good.

Today's Update

We went to CMC to see a Toxicologist this morning. Boy, I must love Mike. First, I hate driving. Second, I had to wake up at 7 AM this morning. Third, there was frost outside (and I am from Florida). Fourth, I had to drive in I-77 traffic. I hate I-77 traffic. Fifth, I have to do it again tomorrow. We are going to CMC Neurological Clinic. Not sure what new stuff they can tell us, but we didn't get anything useful from his Neurologist in Concord yet, so might as well try.

Thank God for health insurance.

Mike has pretty much stabilized so at least he isn't continuing to get worse. He can do 1-3 hours of work from home a day (maybe). After that, he is headachy, spasmy, and dizzy. He has taken up eating a banana a day. Maybe he is turning into a monkey . . .

I am doing okay. I have been scheduling Geoviz participants and writing my paper for my final project for Visual Analytics. Other than that, I have just been getting stuff done around the house that has to get done. Cats and dog are doing well. They don't particularly like having to go to the bathroom in the cold (dog outside, cats in the garage), but they haven't revolted in the house yet.

I feel 60 years old. We actually went to K&W Cafeteria this evening for dinner because I didn't feel like cooking. We went to church on Sunday, but we haven't been getting out of the house much (minus doctor's appointments), so I am missing socializing with my friends. Hugs to everyone! Feel free to stop by; we would enjoy some company. Don't worry, we will kick you out before you over stay your welcome. :-)