2 posts tagged “general ranting”

I didn't expect to be away for so long, but my body decided to seriously turn on me with two slipped discs in the last month. Kill me now, because I'm not sure I can take another one.

It's never anything dramatic or interesting either. It's not like I climb mountains or jump out of airplanes. I'm petting the cat, or shaving my legs, or sitting completely still, reading the paper. Yeah, that was a good one. How do I protect myself from that? I can do all the strengthening and use every tool available to me, but if a disc is tired of its current position and wants to be somewhere else (just a little to the left please), there's nothing I can do about it. It's going to go where it wants to go and do what it wants to do.

I managed to get an appointment with the doctor, and went back on Cymbalta, even though the stuff scrambles my brain and makes me forget my own name and what JP just told me five minutes before. "No you didn't set up my favorite websites with tabs." "Yes, I did. I sat here a few days ago and did it for you. And I showed you how to do it." "Did not. How could I forget that?" Stupid question. I'm lucky I knew what state I was living in.

I'm also on a massive, short term does of prednisone. Because why not bulk up a little more? Who needs pizza when you can just take steroids? Honestly, can't I just drink beer and deal with it that way? It's lots more fun. And it's not like I can drive these days. Just break out the Yuengling and everything will be fine.

After a few completely painfree days, I'm having another flare-up. Nothing too serious. I'm just hoping I don't press it by doing something insane like reaching for a cigarette. They say smoking kills.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten about the movie review that I promised you, and that I'm sure you're waiting for impatiently. I'll try to get that done this weekend.

Happy frakkin' 2007 everyone. I think y'all know last year was kind of rough for JP and me. My back went out one morning when I bent over to feed the cat. Doctor visits, tests, PT, more tests, ineffective shots, more PT and the announcement from the surgeon that my back is so messed up he can't help me. The affordable health insurance that was the #1 factor in my taking a job at Duke last year was of no use, because when I went on medical leave I was also required to sign-up for COBRA benefits. We get the same benefits, but are now paying more than twice what we paid when I was employed.

Duke essentially fired me by refusing to extend my medical leave. They wanted a permanent employee filling my job, and I wasn't ready to go back yet. The Department director put my wonderful supervisor in the position of having to do the dirty work. They tried to get me to sign a letter stating that I was resiging my position, which I refused to do. I have never refused to sign anything like that before, but I wasn't going to let Duke off that easily. As a result, I think my friendship with my supervisor is ruined. I think she could be upset with me because I refused to sign the letter; it's also possible she thinks I'm mad at her because she sent it to me. We haven't spoken since before Thanksgiving.

Still, even in my bad luck, I know I'm luckier than many people. Right now, we still have food in the refrigerator and we stil have the house. I'm healing slowly, and think I might be ready to go back to work part time. Of course, I have to look for a job. Bah!
So, enough whining. We went to a fun party last night, met a few new people and had a great time. I'm making black eyed peas with collards and ham hocks for dinner. JP's watching a Penn State game, the cat is sleeping contentedly on the bed, and I have two Buffy reruns to watch today. I guess life could be worse.