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‘in which my body slowly begins to fall apart’

Posted by petunia 18 Jul 2010

friday night, 10pm.  still in chilled out, post-surgery mode, no revelry for me.  hung out at home, watched a movie. reading a book in bed and my left eye starts watering.  no biggie.  don’t really pay attention at first.  keeps watering.  take out contacts.  keeps watering.  flush eye, look in mirror, don’t see anything.  go to sleep.  wake up at 6-something AM because eye is watering.  kind of a bizarre wake up call.

contemplate…doctor closed, eye doctor closed, no urgent care in staunton.  consult amy, dr quinn, go back to bed.  wake up around 10 and eye faucet down to a trickle. shrug it off as bizarro.  downstairs to feed the dogs and WHAM!  (not like the band) the daylight coming into my home feels approximately like someone taking a nine inch nail (not like the band) and driving it through my skull.

hello, augusta medical center.  hello 2nd hospital trip in 9 days.  i may begin a hospital band collection.  maybe they will become the new crazy bands.

after being “fast-tracked” -AMC’s way of sorting out the really hurt from the simply hurting; ironically the hurting get through quicker because we just need nurse practitioners and don’t need to wait for doctors – i am told i have bacterial keratitis.  basically, it’s a bacterial infection, origin unknown.  i get some insane eyedrop that initally feels like a cut red onion being stuck into my eyeball, but then it kills the ice-pick-to-brain type pain.  i am given an antibiotic eye goop that goes on my eyelid four times a day and effectively seals my eye into a permanent wink.  i have the feeling that everyone i saw at martin’s before going home thought i was hitting on them.

the med-folk at AMC didn’t make me feel too concerned.  said if by monday my eye’s not all better, head to my eye doc.  then i come home and research this shit online and all the articles are like, “potential sight-threatening infection” and i kind of feel like barfing.

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Bike: “I was pretty fast … until I threw up.”

Posted by ray 25 May 2010

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

That’s been the order of the day as I’ve been consuming lots and lots of water following yesterday’s 71 mile ride. And, sure, I go and pick the hottest part of the day on the hottest day of the year thus far. ‘Cuz I’m awesome like that.

Sadly, my stomach decided to go all Arizona State Legislature on Gatorade at about mile 55 and stop accepting any more. I tried to keep drinking, but my body just didn’t seem to want to process any more liquids. I drank well over 100 ounces but ended up not peeing for about 9 hours.

Yeah, that’s probably not good.

After a little more than four hours on the bike, I got home, took a shower and, feeling even worse, found that the Gatorade sloshing about in my stomach wasn’t keen on sticking around and decided to hop out. After that bout of unpleasantness, I felt great, though not exactly keen on eating. So, yep, after burning well over 4,000 calories I ate a small bowl of ice cream and went to bed. Possibly less than stellar for good recovery.

And that, my friends, is how you lose more than 5 pounds in half a day.

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Life: Quit yer bitchin’, America.

Posted by ray 6 Nov 2009

H1N1 is just the flu. If I made it through, so can you. It’s just a President. If the last one didn’t destroy America, this one won’t either. Everyone needs to shut their traps, turn off 24-hour TV “news”, chill out, harden up and just do what needs to get done. Cinch your underwear up real tight, America, because we’re starting to make France look like some hardened UFC fighter.

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Life: Here, piggy piggy…

Posted by ray 3 Nov 2009

I hear it in the night
playing havoc in the breast
of my youngest
I see it in the day
in the slowed step
of my oldest
I feel it
like a far off drum
beating frantically
in its hunt
for me

Stupid flu.

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Parenting: The things that break your heart

Posted by ray 26 Jan 2009

Rebekah has been getting sick the past couple of days, and I think it finally arrived in force this afternoon. Tonight, as I put her to bed, I leaned over and said, “Goodnight, sweetie. I love you.”

In the dark, she placed her hand on my shoulder and quietly said, through ragged sore throat and sinus blockage, “I love you … more.”

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dear body

Posted by tripp 4 Aug 2008

Just because the new curtains are somewhat thing and we didn’t close the blinds last night, which meant the apartment got colder than usual does not mean you should have a sore throat. Nor a fever. Nor awful head stuffiness. Nor tickling in the nose.

All of which suggest a cold coming on.

I’ve taken a “maximum strength cold relief” pill. But just one, as I bet it will knock me out and then some.

Seriously, didn’t you help write my last post? Don’t you know that this is the specific 15 days I do not want to be sick with something?

Sigh.

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Life: hitS sHappen

Posted by ray 14 Apr 2008

Ah, what a day.

As I mentioned, Rebekah was sick. The vomiting and fever have since given way to explosive diarrhea (more on that later). Of note is the fact that our dryer kicked the bucket exactly one load into three days worth of vomiting. As you might imagine, there’s lots of laundry to do with a sick child and having no dryer handy…well. I got a not-altogether-unpleasant flashback to hanging clothes out to dry as a kid. It was nice to reminisce. Only, when I was young, we were doing it in on a line in the backyard, not on a jerry-rigged system strung out across the kitchen and back. But this got us through about nine loads of clothes and Reed thought it was a lot of fun to run around underneath the clothes, towels and assorted linens.

Today, our replacement dryer showed up … with its partner, a new clothes washer. Our last duo had lasted ten years, so we figured we were about due. About five minutes after the delivery guys leave, I realize the new washer keeps cutting off after two minutes. Push start. Two minutes and it cuts off. Repeat. At this point, I’m getting fairly frustrated as the morning has consisted of waiting around to get all the vast quantities of household laundry started, removing all the fittings and associated crap from the old units, etc. Now the new one isn’t even working! And I’d just let my still-working washer walk out the door! 

I figured out it was the old supply hoses that were causing a water flow restriction. But given some problems with faucet handles… well, long story short I ended up flooding the laundry room, which then flooded down into the basement. Not huge. Not water standing inches deep. But still a pain in the butt. Soaking wet, I manage to run downstairs and shut of the water main, get the spill cleaned up, pull the carpet up, fans running, new hoses hooked back up, new washer running with the first load and I’m just about to plop my tired ass down on the couch when the baby monitor crackles to life. 

Ah.

So, how do I end this day?

Rebekah has spent the vast majority of dinner out of her chair and sitting smugly in mommy’s lap. Then she pops up suddenly, hustles over to me, clambers up into my arms, grabs me in a big hug (really sweet, right?) … and promptly explodes diarrhea out of her diaper. 

Yay!

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