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Sjogrens Topics => Living Life In Spite of Sjogren's => Topic started by: ashewoman on September 04, 2012, 02:01:34 AM

Title: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 04, 2012, 02:01:34 AM
I had to go to the ER tonight. :( You know how we feel pretty crappy a lot of the time?  Well apparently, I've had a cold for about a week that turned into a middle ear infection.   :o  Started out as a scratchy throat and escalated to fever, chills, and the sensation of having a screwdriver jammed down in my neck from my ear... Not trying to be dramatic but definitely aiming for descriptive.  ;)  Anyway, I'm sitting here with the AC on, an ice pack, a scarf and four kinds of medication.  I'm hot.  >:( I'm cold.  :P  I'm sleepy.  ???  I'm wired for sound.  :o  I'm cranky  >:( and I decided to share all of that with you guys.  ;D

Did I mention itchy?  ::)  That's the pain killers.  I guess the reason babies scream the whole time they have an earache is they hurt like crazy.   :-\  But I can't imagine the noise of their own screaming helps much or I'd try it.  :'(  Anyway, itchy itchy itchy is better than screwdriver jabbing deep down inside the ear so I guess four hours at the ER was pretty good time invested and really not all that long as ERs go also.  I should be grateful, but I'm not... I'm cranky.  >:(  All of this has also made my usual sjogrens, fibro, and RA misery act up more too.  I should have known something wasn't right with me when I was in soooo much muscle and joint pain last night. :( 

But have you guys ever noticed how auto-immune disorders seem to both aggravate and mask other illnesses at the same time.  ??? It's like there is so much going on in my poor body these days that I can't isolate where the problem is a lot of the time.  So I can have a cold for a week before I realize I'm not just exhausted.  I can end up with a ear infection before I even realize I have a cold.  It's like trying to distinguish what a single person in an auditorium is saying... I can't hear them for the roar of the crowd. 

Anyway, wish me well, or better yet, wish me less itchies.  That's what I really need. :) GG
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Cheryl on September 04, 2012, 04:59:51 AM
GG,
I hope your itching stops and you get some rest while the medicine helps your ear infection.  I'm sending hugs and good wishes!
Cheryl
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Gayle on September 04, 2012, 05:19:25 AM
Ashwoman!!
That was a perfect description! Less itching and feel better!!! Hugs!
Gayle
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 04, 2012, 06:02:40 AM
Quote from: Cheryl on September 04, 2012, 04:59:51 AM
GG,
I hope your itching stops and you get some rest while the medicine helps your ear infection.  I'm sending hugs and good wishes!
Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl-- this medication is stronger than a whole pot of coffee... I'm not sure sleep is going to happen.  I tried not to take the 2nd dose when I realized it was having that effect along with relieving the pain but the screwdriver started up again so I guess I'm just going to have to veg out propped up and be glad that I'm not in pain even if I can't sleep.  I feel like I'm drunk and hyper at the same time. ??? Don't know how that happened but I imagine its the same effect people drinking alcohol and red bull are trying to achieve.  They can have it... it's for the birds!  GG   
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 04, 2012, 06:10:31 AM
Quote from: Gayle on September 04, 2012, 05:19:25 AM
Ashwoman!!
That was a perfect description! Less itching and feel better!!! Hugs!
Gayle

Thanks Gayle.  I do love my metaphors.  :D  Spike the kitty sneaked out while I was leaving to go to the ER and he only came back a little while ago.  He has one eye puffed up and gooey so I know he was up to his catty shenanigans out there, but the reason I'm telling on him is because he brought home in his wonderful long black furr... every seed pod in the darn wilderness.  I held him for a while trying to pick those itty bitty little boogers out but they were just clumped in a matted mess.  So I go to the bathroom a minute ago and guess what was in my undies that usually isn't there.  Seed pods!  Keep your dang sticky seed pods to yourself Mr. Tom Cat!  No wonder I'm so itchy.  I mean that's not the only reason.  I'm sure the medication is also involved because that is clearly listed as a side-effect, but I'm also sure those little grabby seeds are at least partly to blame as well.  I think he got them all in my bed too.  Oh and you know how irritatingly sensitive our skin is thanks to Sjogrens.  Plus I just changed the sheets!  Anybody want a half strangled kitten.  He'd make a good duster because everything sticks to him like velcro with that curly long hair.  Brat cat!  Okay I'm rambling. I think that is the medication too.  LOL GG
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Gayle on September 04, 2012, 06:58:22 AM
Bad cat! Bad Kitty! Geesh, like you don't have enough going on... :)
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Iwantmylifeback on September 04, 2012, 07:01:56 AM
Did they mention Benedryl or an otc like Zyrtec to stop the itchies, help you sleep, calm you down???  Most ear infections come from a viral infection as opposed to a  bacterial infection..just saying.

Here is to hoping you feel better soon!  Thanks for the details I could def feel ya!
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 04, 2012, 02:53:07 PM
Gayle- He is... a bad bad kitty with a shiner from his bad boy fight.  LOL  It was like trying to comb dreadlocks on his belly.  It's no wonder he didn't like me trying. :)  Ever notice how dogs are like, "Please pet my belly. Isn't my belly cute?  Here let me show you my belly (just in case you suddenly need to pet something) it'll be right where you can find it in a hurry.  Are you absolutely positive you don't want to pet my belly?" Whereas cats are like this, "Worship me. Adore me.  HISS HISS!  Get your hand away from my belly or draw back nubs my friend!"  :D 

Iwant-  No, they didn't.  I can't believe I didn't think of that on my own.  I'm gonna go take two right now.  That's one thing that sucks so much about brain fog... you know there is probably a simple solution from experience but its like your mind takes you on a long detour and you can't seem to get to the answer.  LOL :)
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Iwantmylifeback on September 04, 2012, 03:33:54 PM
Hope it helped!  My husband puts our brain for this way..We have a large book of facts...the info is still there..the pages are just a little slower to turn,LOL he is a great help!  Feel better!
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: susanep on September 04, 2012, 06:31:17 PM
Hope you feel better soon soon soon.  ;D

susanep :)
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: lynnmarie219 on September 04, 2012, 07:08:55 PM
Hope you feel better soon!

Don't be too hard on kitty... :)
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 05, 2012, 03:46:45 AM
Iwant-  I slept until an hour ago.  That was good.  LOL  I woke up throbbing again because I slept so long all the pain meds worse off.  But now I'm properly dosed again and if the itching starts back up I know I can just take one or two if I need sleep.

Susan and lynnmarie-  Thanks for the well wishes.  GG
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 05, 2012, 03:50:30 AM
Hey I've got a funny for you guys. 
So this doctor tells a patient... "You have a middle ear infection." 
The patient says, "but that's impossible doc." 
"Impossible?  Why would that be impossible?" the doctor asks.
"Because I don't have enough ears.  I only have two--a left and a right." HA HA HA HA!  GG
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Iwantmylifeback on September 05, 2012, 06:07:31 AM
Ashewoman  GREAT! glad to help! Glad they helped! 

Here is a funny for you!  My husband is blind, no thats not the funny!  He was being bothered by a fly Labor Day.  I was reading the forum at the time.  He said "If I had a flyswater, I would get that little pest!"  So  I got him one chuckling the whole time.  Nothing funnier than watching a blind man smack the stuffin out of himself trying to hit the fly!!  Yes my cheeks hurt from laughing and even managed a couple of funny tears!  I swear he did finally get him!
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: meow on September 05, 2012, 09:26:50 AM
Ashewoman--- the itching from your painkiller may be a mild allergic reaction...if it has codeine, that's probably your culprit. Next time, let them know and they'll give you something else.

I love the description of your bad-boy cat. You are hilarious! What's his name?
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 05, 2012, 12:49:50 PM
Quote from: meow on September 05, 2012, 09:26:50 AM
Ashewoman--- the itching from your painkiller may be a mild allergic reaction...if it has codeine, that's probably your culprit. Next time, let them know and they'll give you something else.

I love the description of your bad-boy cat. You are hilarious! What's his name?

I named him Spike after the punk rocker vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv show.  He does have very sharp fangs so it seem to fit.  But mostly he gets called by one of his many nicknames... Spikette, Spikester, Chiclette (because he's so pretty they thought he was a girl and almost fixed him twice, they shaved his tummy and started the incision before noticing he had nunus LOL), Speed Bump (because he tends to dive right under my feet when I'm walking), Noodle (because he has the adorable habit of jumping in my lap for his daily kitty massage and once I start he melts like a wet noodle), and of course the most apt nick name of all, you-little-toe-bitting-evil-poop-head-get-away-from-my-feet-before-I-boot-you-across-the-room-cat!  I don't know how he got that last one.  :D  It's a mystery.

(http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z452/ggaea/family%20friends%20and%20pet%20kids/021512213047-1.jpg)
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 05, 2012, 12:53:10 PM
Quote from: Iwantmylifeback on September 05, 2012, 06:07:31 AM
Ashewoman  GREAT! glad to help! Glad they helped! 

Here is a funny for you!  My husband is blind, no thats not the funny!  He was being bothered by a fly Labor Day.  I was reading the forum at the time.  He said "If I had a flyswater, I would get that little pest!"  So  I got him one chuckling the whole time.  Nothing funnier than watching a blind man smack the stuffin out of himself trying to hit the fly!!  Yes my cheeks hurt from laughing and even managed a couple of funny tears!  I swear he did finally get him!

HA HA HA HA HA HA!  Sounds like something I would do.  Of course I have the best flyswatter even invented.  Molly, my service dog, is like a ninja flyswatter.  She catches them with her teeth and eats them.  It reminds me of Mr. Miagi in The Karate Kid catching them with chopsticks.  She will not let a fly buzz at me.  Snap! And the fly is toast.  I keep telling her "good girl" but inside I'm thinking, "no more kisses for you this week."  Aren't you glad your husband can't catch them with his teeth?  LOL GG
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: meow on September 05, 2012, 03:01:35 PM
He's gorgeous! Gorgeous George!
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: Iwantmylifeback on September 06, 2012, 07:05:33 AM
Ashewoman, we have a service dog as well. His name is Dan.  He is getting older and the fly catching has slowed down...never used to miss them, now he attempts and is happy to let them go after a bit. He is a lab and his joints are beginning to hurt and crunch when he moves.  Poor guy, I  know how he feels.
Title: Re: ER visit
Post by: ashewoman on September 06, 2012, 06:30:47 PM
Iwant-- Oh I know what you mean! I went to a Veterans for Peace Meeting tonight with Molly.  It was in a three story art studio warehouse on the top floor.  Yikes!  Poor Miss Molly by golly was not too happy about that one.  The vet told me last year she was hobbling and reluctant to jump up in the car because she has hip arthritis which is very unusual for both her age and her breed.  Poor boo boo.  You know how it is... you start limiting yourself for their sake after all they've done for you over the time you've been together.  Miss molly is being replaced next year.  I'm already a little huffy at the new dog and I haven't met him or her yet. LOL  But life is all about adjustments and she really is having great difficulty with her duties.  She hardly even chases the cat any more... and I need him tortured daily to keep his ego in check. :D hee hee hee hee.  none of us can survive that feline getting the upper hand in this house... it could be the end of the world as we know it. LMAO  I wish you and Danny boy all the best... Now I'm going to have irish drinking songs in my head.  <wink>  GG