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Sunday, July 27, 2008

This weekend...

So, Malcome Blitz didn't play Friday night like we thought. The show was cancelled, and we found out when we drove by the bar and their marquis named a different band as Friday's entertainment. About half of our crowd chose to go anyway, while Mike and I went to the City Museum. THAT WAS COOL!!! I loved climbing around on the contraption outside, and the slide was exciting. I can't wait to go back and take some kids! and my camera! I think I could get some really cool pictures of the boys at this place!

After we left the City Museum, we headed to the bar and met up with the rest of our crowd. We got there just in time to see some drunken hot chick twirling across the dance floor topless. That isn't the type of place this bar is, and she was kicked out after that song. She was part of a bachelorette party, and the party stayed, while topless dancer left.

The band didn't suck, but they weren't as good as Malcome Blitz. I was stupid, and didn't eat very much, so I ended up sick on Saturday. I was miserable until probably 4:00 or so - and regretted every beer I drank on Friday night! Well, not really, because I had a good time, I just should've eaten dinner before I went out.

Uncle Jerry was there, along with Gina and Tim, Roseanne, Tim's dad and dad's buddy, Holly and Gary, Danielle and Steve. Gina had me out on the floor dancing - a rarity, at best! (Believe me, that is better for EVERYONE)

We ended up barbecuing on Saturday. Mike barbecued rib steaks, pork steaks, brats, hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken - seeing as how Abby is only 2'4" and not really into beef or pork or chicken, I would say we completely overdid it. He totally takes after his dad.

We went to bed early last night. We were both exhausted. Today, we did laundry, grocery shopped, and ordered some shelving for our basement. I can't wait for that to come in - I have wanted to order it for a long time! I will feel so much better about the basement when we get everything organized! I don't know if we'll ever finish the basement, but to get it organized will make it feel bigger down there - and I want the pool table set up down there so bad!

Anyway, today was fairly mellow. Abby took about an hour-long bath, and then we all had cookies and milk before bed. I hope to get another video of Abby sometime this week - she's learning "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and it's really entertaining!

Also, I haven't yet taken her 15-month pictures yet, so look for those coming soon - hopefully by next weekend.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Tomorrow night

Mike and I are going to 5 O'Clock Somewhere to see Malcome Blitz play. I always look forward to seeing them - and know we'll have a great time! The bar is close to home - so close we could walk home if needed.

After that, our weekend is open. That's still a strange feeling to me.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

What are you willing to go through to get rid of hives?

So...my allergist prescribed a medicine for my hives - called Doxepin. Supposedly, it is an older medicine. I read the side effects and this is what it lists:

Side effects that may occur while taking this medicine include dry mouth, drowsiness, dizziness, headache, nausea, weakness, diarrhea, excess sweating, heartburn, unpleasant taste, weight gain, or an increased appetite especially for sweets.

These are pretty standard side effects for most medicines these days, and didn't alarm me too much.

The next section reads:

Check with your doctor as soon as possible if you experience constipation blurred vision or other vision changes, eye pain, fast slow or irregular heartbeat, hair loss, shakiness, fainting, twitching of the face or tongue, mood swings, loss of balance, uncontrolled movements of arms and legs or stiffness, difficulty speaking and swallowing, unusual bleeding or bruising, sore throat or fever, skin rash and itching, swelling of hands, face, lips, eyes, throat or tongue, irritability, ringing in the ears, seizures, yellowing of the skin or eyes, hallucinations or chest pain.

Holy shit! I don't even know where to start...I mean, eye pain sounds horrible - like my eyes could pop out of my head because of this medicine. I don't think that's cool, man. Where it says "uncontrolled movements of arms and legs", I read: flailing appendages. Yellowing of the skin sounds as though my liver is going to fail. Also, if I have difficulty speaking and swallowing, you can bet I will be irritable! I am not sure what would be classified as unusual bleeding...and if I have a skin rash - well, that's what I am taking this medicine to get rid of. You know what I mean? This sounds horrible.

And it gets better!

Contact your doctor immediately if you experience severe nervousness or anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, difficulty sleeping, feelings of irritability or hostility, impulsive behavior or other unusual changes in behavior, severe restlessness, worsening feelings of depression, thoughts of hurting yourself, or any other mental or mood changes.

I think that any of the previously discussed eye pain, flailing appendages and difficulty swallowing - those would probably make me feelings of irritability and hostility! I might have a panic attack if I think my eyeballs are going to pop out, and believe that it could be pretty depressing to think my liver gave out on me, too.

Next,

An allergic reaction to this medicine is unlikely, but seek medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash, itching, swelling, severe dizziness, or trouble breathing. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Now, seeing as how I am taking this to treat an allergic reaction, I think it would be a horrible twist of fate to have an allergic reaction to this medicine. But, what I would really like to know is what other effects do they think I will have that are too horrible to list here? Really. They have mentioned heart problems, liver problems, central nervous system problems, and difficulty breathing. What is worse than that? The diet aid Alli comes to mind...

And, when was the last time you tried to get ANY drug information out of a pharmacist? I have noticed that pharmacists are not at all the resources that they used to be. I assume that it is because they are too worried about getting sued to give advice, rather than that they are too stupid about their profession. During the past few years, any time I have asked a pharmacist questions about medicines, I get the most ridiculous answers. For example:

Heather says - "I am 6 months pregnant, and have a cold. Is there anything I can take to feel better?"
Pharmacist says - "Have you called your doctor? You really should check with your doctor."

Hello - you can't tell me what medicines are safe for a pregnant woman to take? What the hell?

Heather says - "I have a 6 month old baby who hasn't had a bowel movement in 4 days. Is there any medicine I can give her? Suppositories that would be safe for her age and weight?
Pharmacist says - "You should check with your doctor about that. I can't really tell you what you can give her."

Heather says - "I have been taking benadryl for an allergic reaction. I have hives covering my body and with the doses that the box lists, they aren't going away at all. Can you tell me how much benadryl I can take?"
Pharmacist says - "You can take one to two tablets every four to six hours." (For those who don't know the benadryl box by heart, like I do, this is reading the box to me.)

Screw the pharmacists! And, it is no mystery why they don't prescribe this medicine anymore. I think I will live with benadryl and/or hives, thank you very much!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

My trip to the ER

On Wednesday, just before I left work, I realized that I had a small patch of hives on each of my forearms. I came home, took some Benadryl, and went on about my night - having dinner with Mike and Abby, giving Abby a bath, etc. I took more benadryl at 8 p.m. and then went to bed. I woke at midnight, so I took another full dose of Benadryl. When I woke at 2 a.m., my hives had spread all over my body. I was nauseous and light-headed. I woke Mike, and asked him to put the Benadryl topical cream on my hives that I couldn't reach and he commented that we should go to the ER. I asked him to get online and find out what kind of hives wouldn't respond to Benadryl. He found information on anaphylactic shock - which I always thought was when your throat swelled shut and you couldn't breath. In fact, there are 6 different signs of it - including hives, nausea and dizziness or light-headedness.

Add to this that I had at one time been in my doctor's office with hives and blacked out because my blood pressure bottomed out (and the doctor called an ambulance to take me to the ER), and Mike felt that we should go. So we did.

I received steroids, more Benadryl and Pepcid AC - which is also a histimine-blocker. I didn't go to work on Thursday - I spent much of the day in a Benadryl-induced coma - except for the time we spent at the funeral home for Mikey's wake.

Friday I felt pretty good - good enough that I didn't take much Benadryl at all that day. But, that night, around 3:00, I woke with hives covering my body and it took 4 doses of benadryl over the next 12 hours to make me feel better at all. It was ugly.

The last time this happened to me, it lasted a month. I had to take Benadryl every night because if I didn't, I would wake with hives that night. I am tired of this already.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Mikey

Last night, Mike Heavey, 23, died in a motor vehicle crash. He was the only person in the only car.

I laid awake after I got the phone call - with my arm around my husband - and cried. I cried for the family I know he left behind. I cried for his mom - who didn't know that the last time she saw him was the last time she would ever see him. I cried for my brother-in-law, Gary - who is Mike's older brother. Gary was 12 years older than Mikey, and always felt more paternal and responsible for him. I cried for my two nephews, Mason and Brandon, who are old enough to miss him, and too young to understand why. I cried for Mikayla - his 2-year old daughter who will not ever remember her father.

I have been obsessed today with how fragile life is. I think that most people, when they lose someone, will think about it for a few days, weeks or months. Most people will hug their friends or family before they leave the funeral home - with the image of life's delicate fragility fresh in their minds. But, after a week, two weeks, a lot of people get back to taking life for granted.

Four years ago, my father-in-law died in a motor vehicle crash. He left for work one morning, and never made it to his job. He was driving his motorcycle – which he had wanted for years and had only owned for a week – and he evidently braked hard enough to lose control of the bike, and his injuries were fatal. The accounts of this accident are fairly sketchy, because the ambulance arrived at and left the scene before the police arrived. When the ambulance took my father-in-law away, all of the witnesses got in their cars and left for work. Weeks after the accident, a witness contacted the family and explained that, from her point of view, it looked as though someone cut him off. Some person in front of him slammed on his brakes without regard for how his actions would affect other people, and because of that single, thoughtless action – my father-in-law died.

When Mikey died last night, his actions affected his siblings, nephews, daughter, mother, friends. How many times do people act without thinking about their effect on others? How many times have you been driving down the road, and for whatever selfish reason, you drive erratically - maybe you're late for work, on your way to a wedding, have a lot on your mind, are anxious to get out of town for vacation - without thinking about the danger you put others in?

This is something that I have been thinking about pretty consistently since Abby was born. I have had people cut me off, tailgate me, slam on their brakes in front of me, and drive 50-mph in sleet on the same highway I am on. Every time something like that happens, I yell out "what right do you have to endanger my life?" If Abby is in the car with me, I don't yell, normally, but I really do question when God gave them the right to endanger my baby's life? Or my baby's mommy's or daddy's life? I get really pissed off about it. I think that a lot of people don't drive considerately - and sadly, if something would happen to you or your loved ones, you don't get a second chance. If you're the driver who kills or maims someone, you don't get a second chance to do it right.

I am an extremely passionate and emotional person. The old adage about wearing one's heart on one's sleeve - that was written about me. I am far too emotional to be able to think about this all the time - I guess, getting back to normalcy at some point is a coping mechanism - at least it is for me. It’s scary to realize that you can close your eyes forever without any warning. I can't leave for work in the morning while I am mad at my husband - because I am afraid one of us won't come home that night. I can, and have, laid in bed and worried about that stuff. I am afraid that the friend I have been meaning to call will die before I make that call.

I know, everything I am typing is pretty cliché - and it is something that makes rounds in emails every day. I know that life is too short – and try very hard to enjoy it. My dad, who also died four years ago, was very good at this. He was happy to be alive, every day of his life. When he was driving to work, he was happy to be going to work. He enjoyed his job – and I believe he would’ve enjoyed whatever job he had, because that was the kind of person he was. He embraced life. I hope that Abby thinks that about me someday.

RIP, Mikey.