I need to bitch, vent &
whine a little - both kinds, whine & wine. Between my father's health needs
& lately, my own, I swear that I spend half my life dealing with medical
issues & the other half at WalMart or WinCo. All I do is go grocery shopping
& call or visit doctors & nurses trying to figure out how to handle the
next medical crisis.
Let's start with my dad.
Unfortunately, his health issues have been one problem after another for the
past 13+ years. It would take writing a book just to give you the Reader's Digest
version of his ailments but I'm not going to subject you to that. Thank God we
have a great live-in caregiver who really wants to be there for him - & for
me. But it still involves almost daily problem solving, running around to buy
this or pick up that & far more time than I'd like to spend.
He drives me crazy
sometimes! Okay, lots of times. I always tell people raising my kid was a piece
of cake. It's the parent who will drive you batty! It is like having a 200
pound toddler AND to make it worse, they never grow up, they just get worse. My
sister says that if our mother were still alive she would have killed him by
now. Maybe.
Now, let's move on to me
since I'm my biggest problem lately. Damn, damn, damn it! About 6 or 7 weeks ago, my right hip started
bothering me. And I don't mean, oh, that is kind of sore. Every step I took or
every move I made (hmmm, sounds like a Police song) hurt like hell & at times I was afraid I might fall down.
In the past I've occasionally had a day or two of this sort of thing.
But this was not going away. I went to the chiropractor a couple times with no
improvement.
We went on a four day trip
to Southern California a month ago & it
really limited what I could do. Sitting hurt, standing hurt, walking hurt -
laying didn't hurt too much most of the time. It was not fun. A couple weeks
later I flew to Albuquerque
By now I was getting
somewhat used to my limitations & made a point of standing as soon as the
plane landed so I could start putting weight on it gently before the mad dash
off the airplane. I didn't want to be sprawled in the aisle as everyone either
"ooohhed" & "aaahhed" or just stepped over me.
Fortunately, it didn't hamper my playing with the Monster High ghouls, watching
movies or going to Taco Bell with Charley. But it wasn't getting any better
& I was really getting tired of it.
Upon returning I made an
appointment with my doctor who determined that I had bursitis in my
hip. Well, shit! Since I have moderate arthritis in both feet, I assumed it was
in my hips, too. Arthritis
is one of the causes of bursitis (inflammation of the bursae that cushions your
joints). Sure enough, an x-ray confirmed - mild to moderate arthritis. Looks like
my 25 years of jogging finally caught up with me. The doctor said take
ibuprofen 3 to 4 times a day for a week to try to knock down the inflammation.
Today was day 7 & it isn't any better at all.
We will discuss a
corticosteroid injection and/or physical therapy at my follow up appointment
tomorrow. I'm on the fence about the shot after reading horror stories online
of people who got worse afterward. BUT when it hurts like hell, I'm thinking
give me the damn shot - NOW!
So, feeling every bit of my
67 years & dealing with my 89 year old father & his myriad of health
problems had me feeling the need to do some serious bitching & venting. As
I hobbled & limped around, struggling to get up off the floor when
adjusting my dad's wheelchair brakes & then putting up his Christmas
decorations, I was ready to scream - literally.
In fact, screaming is VERY
therapeutic. By yourself in the car is the best place to indulge. I haven't
done it in a few years but today I just took a deep breath & screamed at
the top of my lungs for several seconds! Try it sometime. You will feel better.
But if that isn't enough then just have a good, old fashioned cry. The kind
that Oprah calls the "ugly cry" where your nose is running, your eyes
are red, you're sobbing & snorting & gasping. Every now & then you
just have to get it all out of you in order to face the next day. Oh, yeah,
& grab that glass of wine, too!
