Sunday, April 26, 2009

MRI results

I got a phone call Friday morning from my family Dr's office. The receptionist wanted to know who was following up with me on the results of the MRI, them or my Rheumatologist? I told her I wasn't sure... she said she would phone my Rheumatologists office and ask them. I hung up the phone knowing that something must of showed up..right.. or why would the Dr.'s office call..?

Late Friday, the Rheumatologists office called, the Dr. himself actually. He said they had the results, I had a herniated lumbar disc in my back. He wanted to know if he was handling this problem or my family Dr.? I told him I thought he had referred me to the neurologist for the MRI, he says no... I said well the neurologist office called and gave me an appointment, then after that the hospital called and set up the MRI appointment. He was baffled, and at this point I was too.

Then he asked if I was in enough pain for him to call his favorite back surgeon in Saint John and make an appointment for him to see me? I said "no, having surgery right now just doesn't fit in with my life plan".  He laughed, asked again what my pain level was. I told him I had this pain for 30 yrs, that I knew what I could and couldn't do, and if I did too much in one day then I was in pain, but that I was "use to it".   Of course Dr's don't like to hear you say "your use to it", they like to fix things if they can... so he asked if I was sure I didn't want a referral... maybe go to physio at least? I thanked him, but told him no, not now, if it gets to where I can't handle it, then I will take him up on his offer.

You may think I'm being silly, but I was happy to hear the diagnosis. Not that it was this serious, but the fact that I now know why I have had this back pain, why my left leg has been totally numb every day for years. Its so numb that they can't get it to do the reflex thing when they tap it with the little rubber hammer thingy... to me this was good news, I now know why!

Over all these years, I have learned what I can and can't do. I can make the bed as long as it doesn't take more than 5 minutes because being leaned over in that position causes pain. I can mop the floor, vacuum, sweep as long as I do it fast,(ten minutes top) don't twist too much or I will have shooting pain that starts in my lower back and then run down my leg. I can't crouch down more than one or two times to do stuff like clean the baseboards, or to paint ..or I am in pain. Bending down to clean the cats or the dogs litter boxes is difficult, putting dishes in the dishwasher, standing at the sink to wash the pots... its all hard to do, but it gets done... after all if I don't do it, who the heck is going to?

We all do things we "have" to do whether we feel like we can, or we can't.... its our nature. I find that since I have been diagnosed with Lupus, I want to do this stuff just so I keep telling my body "yes you can and you will"! Its a control thing. I don't want Lupus to control everything about my life. It tries to beleive me... but I want to still have some control over my life...after all, that's my personality. Its who I am, before and it will be after this Lupus decided to try to take over my life.

I know I should be doing something for the back, but I can't do physio again. I did it for 7 months when I had my big Lupus flair and couldn't move. It did help, but having to drag JJ along and trying to keep him busy while they work on me is a nightmare. Surgery is totally out of the question because we are trying to sell the house. We do open houses every Sunday, that means keeping the house cleaner than I normally would every day of the week so it only takes 3 hours to super clean up before the open house instead of 6 hours. It also means who would look after JJ, get him ready for school and take him to the bus every day if I'm in the hospital. It means weeks of recovery, and trying to keep me from doing things when I got home so it wouldn't "undo" what was done in surgery...Nope, just not possible. Right now, I'm irreplaceable. Now if you could clone me, that would be fine. If my clone just stepped in and took over, yep...I would consider it.

Then there is the issue of the warfarin, and not being able to go off it or I would get another blood clot because of the Hughes syndrome... how do you operate on someone on warfarin and not have them bleed to death? I'm not even suppose to have dental work done (which I desperately need) because of that. Then there is the problem with the pleurisy in my right lung. How would going under anesthesia affect that problem? See having Lupus and all the wonderful physical problems is so much fun... of course I'm being sarcastic.... If I didn't have Lupus life would be simpler, but it wouldn't be half as interesting...lol

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Why you should look in your rear view mirror...once in a while at least...lol

After my niece V told me her story about her run in with one of Fredericton's finest and then her trip to SNB I thought I would share my ticket story so you could all have a laugh...some of you have heard this before, so you don't have to read it.


I lived in Vancouver from 1975-1981, and I got my drivers licence in 1977 at the ripe old age of 20. The first two years out in Vancouver I relied on the cable cars or my two feet to get around to work etc or hubby when he was sober, or not working..


I bugged him so badly to take me to California, that in 1977 shortly after I got my drivers licence he finally gave in and we took our first trip to the sunny coast if I shared the driving... I mean how hard can it be to drive on 4-8 lane highways?


Going down was uneventful, we had just purchased a 1975 Datsun 280Z which my husband boasted could go from 0-60 in 7 seconds .... and it could,LOL I had a very heavy foot and being young and stupid (yeah, I admit it) I drove at full tilt when ever I got behind the wheel. Now maybe it was because I liked to race, or the fact that I had just learned how to drive, but hubby was a bit nervous with me behind the wheel. It was a toss up to him, not drink and have to do most of the driving, or let me drive and sit there and get drunk. Luckily for me the call of a nice cold beer took over and I drove most of the time.


Going down I out drove a BMW who was really pissed that some chick was beating him... I lost him some where in Oregon..LOL I don't remember much of the scenery when I drove,,LOL most of it is just one big blur.. Vacation was ok, hubby spent his time with his lips wrapped around a beer bottle and I spent most of my time on the beach or trying to cool off in our tent. I decided that I was really a west coast girl from the east coast...lol


On our way home, hubby decided that since I got us to California in one piece I could do the drive home as well. He split his time from drinking to pissing in the bottles and chucking them out the car window.... I know ewh!!!


Now you have to picture me back then to get the full grip of my story... I was tiny back then, 115lbs with sun bleached hair and my rather large chest was a pretty good combination..of course my clothes were anything but conservative...LOL I had it and I was going to flaunt it too...

We are on a nice long flat stretch, I mean for hours there had been nothing but one overpass going to some obscure town. Miles of nothing to look at and not much to talk to since hubby was past his 6 beer limit of making any sense...lol

It was hot, the windows were rolled down and the underwear in my short,shorts were riding up my crack (I presume that why the made thongs) and chafing me like crazy. I had on a pink lace up the front crop top halter top and most of the laces were undone to let a little breeze blow on the girls...LOL


Some where along my travels I had picked up a police car, probably at the overpass, cause I sure didn't see him sitting along the side of the highway anywheres...LOL I would of have noticed that!!

I didn't see him behind me, at all,,, nope not one bit, what I did see was a small airplane that was coming straight for me up parallel with the highway and doing this little wiggle thing, tipping from side to side. I slapped my husbands arm and said something like "what is this idiot doing"...lol and he snapped out of his 8 beer snooze, almost spilling the open one he had in his hand resting between his thighs. Even as drunk as he was, hubby looks in the side mirror and says "how long has the cop been behind us with his lights on?",, to which I was introduced to the "rear view mirror" and said "What cop?" LOLPMP


My next words were a jumble of "what do I do's" and hubby swearing and trying to hide his open beer as he hollered "slow down and pull over you idiot!!" (of course I cleaned that sentence up a bit for publication) LOL


I started down shifting and slowing and pulled over to the side of the highway as the airplane made one last pass and wagged his wings at me again! The police car pulled in behind us as I sat there shaking and almost in tears.

The officer came up to my window, peeked in and saw hubby, looked in the tiny back seat and saw all our luggage and then tipped back his hat.

His first words were "do you have any idea how long I have been trying to catch up with you?
"No sir", I replied hoping that if I was polite it would work in my favour at this point.
"I have been behind you for 5 miles, do you not look in your rear view mirror?" he asked, at this point looking down my open laced halter top.
"Actually my husband just asked me the same question" I replied with a nervous laugh.

He then got down to the personal questions, like where we were from, where were we going and did I know what the speed limit was in the state of California? LOL
I took this opportunity to ask if airplanes always flew that low in California, to which he laughed and said "I called him in to get your attention and stop you"... I could feel my face getting red.

He asked me for my licence and registration and walked back to his car shaking his head at my stupidity...LOL

He came back with my paper work, announced that I was doing 105mph and the added offense of "evading police" which would be a fine of $200.00 and would have to be paid before I would ever be allowed to cross back into the US of A !

I think I said "oh shit" or something along those line, and noticed that the whole time he is standing next to my window, he hasn't taken his eyes off my boobs! I decide to play this up and turned a little more towards him, shifting in my seat which gave him an even better view of the girls. With our chatter about just buying the car, and my newly acquired drivers licence it seemed to break the ice. He starts writing out the ticket as I continue to chatter away.


He hand me the ticket, wishes us a safe and "slower" trip home and walks back to his car. I glance at the ticket, he's made it out for a speeding offense only for $150.00 Now who says boobs aren't an asset? Oh, and the moral of the day is.... don't forget to watch out for low flying airplanes.....LOL