10 May .,..

 

I’m baaacccckkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been out-of-commission for more than two weeks due to first … a cat scratch infection in my right hand which resulted in a rather large blood blister with accompanying swelling which greatly restricted the use of that hand, and second … a surprise “tear”, “strain”, possible side effect to the sulfa I was taking for the infection.  It was in a muscle in my lower right-side (sacro-iliac area) with resultant rather severe shooting, fiery pain with movement.

In the beginning it was difficult to know if it was muscle or possibly a kidney stone, so I drowned in water which was two-sided since I knew that would help a stone but it made getting to and from the loo a real challenge. 

Oh well …

The pain peaked on monday evening, the 1st, and I agreed to go to the Emergency Department about noon on tuesday.

A urinalysis was negative for any sign on a stone.

I left with the same level of pain I had when I arrived but with a diagnosis of back muscle strain, prescriptions for a muscle relaxant and an NSAID for the pain, and the prognosis of four to six weeks before I could expect a return to “normal”.

When I was working ED, we would have either hospitalized a patient with the level of pain I had, for observation, or sedated them to a comfort level and sent them home with a stronger pain reliever.  But medical charges have changed in the years since I retired and there is now a drug addiction pandemic which causes ED personnel to be highly suspicious of pain complaints with no overt, obvious cause.

Since that “visit”, things have been improving … slowly.  I can now go to the table for meals and navigate to the toilet with a bare minimum of discomfort (probably due as much to fear as to actual strain).

On the upside, being mostly immobile left me with a lot of reading time once I got over being “looped” by the relaxant.

Speaking of being “looped” …  That medication seemed to relax brain muscles as well as others.  I had a couple of “doozy” (apologies to the insurance salesman in “Groundhog Day”) dreams. 

One I’ll share was one in which I was upset with the “bridle” they were using while trying to bring a beef cow in from pasture to be milked.  I told them they had it on backward, so I put it on (in?) correctly and was able to ride the cow (wearing a skirt rather than jeans) in from the pasture and right up the front steps into the dining room of a resort.  I think the last time I rode a cow I was a preteen.

Urging me on was a rancher I’d know for at least 35 years (who died last fall). 

Many of the patrons in the dining room weren’t troubled by me and the cow, but were busy taking pictures.

I woke before I learned why it was necessary to get the cow into the dining room to be milked.

Oh well …

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So now you are up-to-date on the adventures of the dowager of Cold Comfort Farm.  I am being well-cared-for by both George and son John.  And son Mark’s coverage for me here allowed me time.  I am truly blessed with their concern and care and offer grateful thanks several times a day.

I realize this is probably more than you wanted to know. 

Oh well …

~~~

Spring is arriving.  I noticed this morning the lilacs are coming into bloom. 

And the daffodils at the driveway entrance are lovely (thank you to Michael H. for the photo).

~~~

So …

 

If you are super brilliant, there is nothing holding you back from being silly.

… or from having silly dreams.

 

So … ’til next week …