all gone

so i didn't write about our "excitement" over the weekend.

saturday night we had watched a dvd (clerks, in prep for clerks 2, since -- much to alex's horror -- i had not seen it before.)

at any rate. we're getting ready to head up to bed and i realize there is laundry to be brought up. i head down to grab the basket. usually alex doesn't "let" me carry the laundry up the 2 flights, but i guess he forgot this time. at any rate, halfway up from the basement i felt a twinge in my back and by the time i got to the top of the stairs i could no longer carry it. hell, i could barely stand up straight.

let me back up. i'm a klutz. a huge klutz. i fall going up the stairs. if there is something to step on that will hurt/make me trip on the floor or ground i'll find it. we joke about if we lose something on the floor, not to worry, i'll step on it. and inevitably, i do. anyway. back in college i slipped on some ice and fell on my lower back. and ever since i'll have back problems sometimes. i have a herniated disk, my last one. and every now and again i'll do something stupid and throw it out. i know what to do to fix it though usually when it's my lower back. i know the exercises and taking NSAIDS usually resolves itself. once i had to talk with a cane for a week. once i even had to call and ambulance to get to the hospital since i could not move. back pain effs you up. like nothing else.

well loving 200+ pounds certainly has helped my back. also the yoga and activity level we've had the last two years.

well, we haven't been to yoga in a few months. and this pain on saturday? it wasn't my lower back. it was my mid back on the left side. but, being the back-pain veteran i am i let alex help me to bed and figured i'd take some tylenol and see how it worked itself out. no, i can no longer take NSAIDs because of my bypass. and yes, that does suck.

you know what else sucks? i had about a gallon of liquid vicodin that they discharged me from the hospital with after my bypass that i never opened. it was in the medicine cabinet since. we just got rid of it. last week.

this goes to show you how bad the back pain was. i was willing to take liquid vicodin, but i didn?t' take any after they cut open my stomach with an 8inch incision and rerouted my intestines. i digress.

anyhow, about 2 am i'm trashing about since it hurts. so. much. no position is ok for more than 1.5 minutes. the spasms wave through my chest, it makes breathing difficult. alex suggests lying on the floor might be better. seems reasonable. but that was such a mistake, just getting on my knees had be sobbing. and him freaking out. he got me somewhat settled on the floor and ran out saying he'd "be right back."

i knew what he was doing. trying to call our new insurance to see if we were covered. we were supposed to be as of july 1. but we didn't have cards yet. we had gotten temporary insurance for the 2-week gap when we wouldn't have any insurance. that expired on the 15th. being 3am at this point, it was officially the 16th. figures. only i have luck like this.

finally he decides who cares, we're going to the ER anyway. we should be covered. we made the long trek to the car and over to st. joe's. where we waited. for 3.5 hours.

but before waiting i was triaged, of course. the nurse asks if i'm allergic to any meds and i give the standard "no, but i cannot take NSAIDs due to my gastric bypass" to this she pauses. lets it register. turns to me and looks at me in disbelief "you had a bypass? you're so tiny!" and i answer, "well yeah, but it was 2 years ago. isn't that kinda the idea of having one?"

anyway, after the 3.5-hour wait we're seen by a resident who has the same reaction regarding the bypass. "wow, it really worked for you, huh?" she says it's probably just a muscle stain, and wants a urine sample and says the doctor will be in shortly.

then the doctor comes in. love her! she was so great. she tells me how NSAIDs would be the best but since i can't take them she's going to give me a vicodin/valium cocktail that i'm promised will kick in within 30 minutes. however, she can't send me home with both because "someone as small and petite as yourself shouldn't take both since it could cause breathing problems." seriously, at this point alex and just stat laughing. petite? me? c'mon.

anyhow, they sent me home with valium. which seems weird to me, but it works. but now i'm out. i'm hoping when i go see my pcp tomorrow for my b12 shot they'll give me a refill. of course i do have temporary ins cards now. i just called the hospital to give them the info so hopefully we won't get billed and it will go smoothly. also, have to see if i can keep my MRI that's scheduled for the 29th. i've started that process.

what's more fun? we might switch insurance AGAIN with alex's job transfer. it might make more sense $$ wise.

so, this is what this weekend has taught us:

1. laundry is off limits to me
2. we're going back to yoga. tonight (if i think i can handle it.)

hey, both of those are good by me! let's hope i can get a few more nuggets of goodness. for when this happens again. because we all know it will. it's me.