no appropriate title comes to mind

Feeling better about stuff today. I've been pretty busy the last couple days, so maybe that has something to do with it. I think I get in trouble when I have nothing to do and am left to my own devices ... though sometimes that's my favorite way to be. Go figure.

Monday I had a doctor's appointment, and we're going to continue lowering my Prednisone dose since I've been doing so well with the Enbrel. Yay me! So hopefully I'll be back to my normal-faced self very soon! I should be completely off it in 6-9 weeks, depending on how I do my taper - I've been given a bit of flexibility since I know my body better than any doctor ever could. Plus, I'm putting myself on a diet, and I MIGHT even start EXERCISING!! OMG, what is the world coming to??!! And in a fit of self-improvement energy, I bought some moisturizer with a touch of self-tanner in it so I don't look like a glass of skim milk this summer (complete with slight bluishness). My goal is to look smokin' hot by my 10 year HS reunion, whenever that decides to be. Don't exactly know why I want to look good for those people, but it never hurts to put your best foot forward. And any motivation is better than none at all, right? RIGHT?

After the appointment I took an unplanned trip to Trader Joe's since I was passing by, and I bought a basket full of yummy treats - mostly healthy, too! For some reason, this shopping made me feel incredibly happy. I'd been hankering for some TJ's goodies.

Yesterday I had to work for 10 hours (long story), so afterwards, instead of fighting the nasty rush-hour traffic, I went to IKEA and browsed for a while (bought some new sheets, and a pot for a plant I want to transplant). Got a couple ideas for some things I might buy for the apartment, but I didn't want to make any major purchases until I did a bit of comparison shopping and visualizing things in the actual space. I recently purchased some items online, one of which has been delivered and is sitting happily in its spot in my living room - a shoji screen! This is serving the dual purpose of dividing the space into a living room and dining area, while also hiding the ugly cords and wires behind the desk that my TV/DVD etc. are on. I also ordered a rug for the living room that is being delivered on Friday. I'm TOTALLY excited to see how that will look in the room, and even more excited to get rid of the abomination (hesitate to even call it a rug) that is in there now. So now my goals are thus: 1) find a trunk/chest for my bedroom - I'm having storage issues and need a place for purses, belts and other accessories, but also want something that will be attractive and not look all "storage-y" (read: nothing plastic). I'm currently looking at one online (here's the link - I like the nutmeg. Opinions?), and I saw one at IKEA that costs considerably less, but has a more rugged look that I'm not sure if I like as much. Oh look, here's a link to that one, too! These were also neat (they had a larger size at the store that doesn't seem to be online), but I 'd definitely need two and I'm not sure they're ideal. 2) I need some lamps for the living room. I saw this and this at IKEA, but I swear everyone and their brother owns these lamps, and do I want to be a follower? I think not. The only benefit is I'd be able to get these shades, which match the old rug I don't have anymore and LOVED. 'Course I could get the shades with any lamp, really, couldn't I? 3) I need a microwave cart. I think I've firmly decided on the one at Target, so I just have to go pick one up ... unless something better comes along between now and whenever I get my butt over there to buy it. I guess that's not so firm, is it? 4) I'd also like to get a baker's rack for the kitchen, but I have a dilemma here too. I really like this one, but it's a bit expensive, and the wood won't really match the microwave cart (not that that's incredibly important, but I don't want it to look ridiculous sitting next to something so obviously mismatched). This one is a better price, it matches better, and the style is slowly growing on me, but it's out of stock and who knows when it will be back in. This one - same deal. My other option is the one from Target that will match for sure, but I don't particularly care for, looks-wise. Which is also something that everybody and their brother owns. Hey, I just noticed ALL THREE of the other racks on the Target site! Hmmmm ...

MAN, can I ramble!!

Anyhoo, yeah, I've completely lost the point of this post. Um, I guess I'm just saying that I've been busy. Or something. Tonight I'm going out with some gal pals (I hate that phrase, I can't believe I just used it!!!) for some much-needed socialization, so I'm happy about that. And tomorrow is Thursday and I have Friday off! Woo hoo!!

OH! About the dude with the problem and the cats (he'd still have a problem even without the "cat problem"), I've come to the realization that in addition to his lack of a conscience, he's a person who I'd do best to avoid if I don't want an argument. My professional opinion (if I was in the psychology profession, that is) is that he has some deep-seated need to prove himself, and is therefore very argumentative, challenges and/or disagrees with damn near everything I say, and lives in a fantasy world where anything that he has not personally experienced cannot possibly be true. Case in point: I was sharing some experiences a while back about when I was sick as a kid and spent a lot of time in the hospital. Obviously, this was a harrowing experience for me, as it would be for anyone, and I was talking about the different emotions I went through during this time. At every turn, his response was, "Why did you fee like that? I'd think you'd feel more this way. I wouldn't have let that get to me. Why did that bother you? I would have been more like this." Well, excuse me, but until you've been a 12-year-old girl who has an unnamed disease giving her pain and swelling in her neck and weighs 76 pounds because she is unable to eat due to the nausea, and has no idea what's causing it or whether or not it's going to kill her, you have no right to tell me how I should and should not feel. But that's just one of my issues with this guy. I'd just rather I never had to see him again.

Okay, that's enough. I think I should do some work now, no?

and stuff

Just a few more ramblings from me today.

1. I will not miss our upstairs neighbors when I move. I will delight in the fact that I will be living on the top floor and won't have to deal with people dancing on my head anymore. Friday night, our upstairs neighbors were having a party. This is fine. I have parties, so I can allow for others to have parties as well. However, I do try to have a little bit of respect for neighbors when I have my parties (for example, turning the music down as the night gets later), which our upstairs neighbors do not. At about 12:30 a.m. (yes, I know this is relatively early, but read on), after listening to their bad music for several hours, I noticed that each song was getting progressively louder than the next. Not only that, but the stomping overhead (I could only assume it was dancing) was getting ridiculous. I could hear the music as if it was coming from a speaker smashed up against my ear, and the "dancing" was literally shaking the walls of the apartment. A particularly heavy jump actually caused one of the bulbs in the overhead light to flash and burn out (granted, this was probably on the verge of happening anyway, but still). I needed to go to bed, and was already irritable to begin with, so I decided I had to go up there and ask them to turn it down just a scooch. Upon opening my door I was greeting by an even more deafening version of the current musical selection, and as I ascended the stairs, I noticed, "Wow, their door is open, how nice of them to treat the ENTIRE BUILDING to their noise." I stuck my head around the corner and saw no sign of the two guys who live there, but an entire apartment full of girls, who were all wearing heels or boots and were "dancing" (stomping) to the music as if the floor was on fire and it was their job to stamp it out until it was dead. I waved one of them to the door and politely (aggravatedly) asked her to turn it down a little, which, thankfully, they did. They're probably scared of me now, but what do I care? I'm outta there in less than 4 weeks, and then they can annoy their new neighbors to their hearts' content. :) Actually, I hope the new tenants are a couple with young children and a grandmother, so the bastards upstairs can learn the hard way that not everyone is ... nevermind. I'm scaring even myself with this train of thought. Geez, I'm mean. And old.

2. Yesterday I successfully injected myself with poison - I mean medicine - for the first time ever. I am starting a new drug treatment which requires me to give myself weekly injections of Enbrel using this Sureclick thingie that is kind of like an Epi-Pen. In actuality, the process is super easy, but the trepidation is all psychological. I mean, I've had all kinds of shots before, but never one I've had to give myself. You know, you go to the doctor for a vaccination or whatever, and you trust that the doctor or nurse administering the shot knows what they're doing, that they've been trained for all eventualities, and they've done this a thousand times before. But I was shown how to do this once, practiced once on a little foam pad with a syringe filled with water (two weeks ago), and read over the instructions five thousand times. I didn't exactly feel like I knew what I was doing. But I had to do it so I did it. And I survived. I did it exactly right. It burned a bit, as I was warned it would, and it wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't unbearable either. I think I'll be able to handle it once a week. So I'm good. :)

3. I came across this online comic last week, and I found some of them to be oddly funny. Or maybe odd AND funny. Either way, they're all odd, and some of them were extremely funny ... in a weird, odd way. Anyway, here's a glimpse into an odd little corner of my sense of humor.

Love it!
Yum.
My favorite
And for good measure ...

And I haven't gotten through them all yet, so I'm sure there are plenty more that will tickle my funny bone!! :)

Oh, blog.

How I have neglected you. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me??

I swear I am alive. Well, I think I am anyway. My coworker is finally back from her honeymoon, so my workload is back to normal, which means I once again have plenty of slack-off time. :)

As a general note on "how things are," I think I can say that my life is currently on an upswing. The very beginning of one. A personal issue that has been been causing me some serious stress over the last few months has, I believe, finally been resolved. Some sacrifices had to be made, but I think they were in everyone's best interest, and I can finally have a little peace of mind about my role in the sequence of events. I think that everyone is happy now, and that makes me happy too.

In other happy news, I got some good test results back from my doctor, which means that he is tapering off my Prednisone dosage (again), in favor of the Methotrexate as my maintenence medication. So if all goes well, I will be Chipmunk Cheeks no longer!! Yay! I seem to be responding well to the Methotrexate (no surprise to me since I had been on it before), which was one of the doctor's main concerns. I guess people don't always react well to it, but apparently I do. This is good 'cause it gets me off the Prednisone, but bad 'cause it means this 2-drink-per-week limit will be sticking around for the long haul. Not that I've been following it all that strictly anyway. ;) And also, if I plan of getting knocked up anytime soon, this will put a damper on those plans. But the likelihood of that happening is about the same as me getting struck by lightning, winning the lottery, and getting elected president of a small Eastern European country all in the same day.

Well, I certainly hope that this holiday weekend has been more exciting for everyone else than it has been for me. I have spent almost all of it cooped up in my apartment with nothing to do!! Friday night, I went out for a late dinner and drinks with some work friends, which was the extent of my social interaction during the weekend proper. Saturday I did zilch. The roomie went out dancing with a friend that night, and they brought some random Texan home with them, who apparently peed in his bed. Don't ask. Sunday, the only thing I really accomplished was baking a batch of cookies for a barbecue I will be attending later this evening. Unfortunately for me, I have to be at work today. There are maybe 7 people total working in the room where my cube is today, which is about 1/3 of the usual number. It's nice and quiet for a change, but it sucks to be here. At least I have the BBQ to go to tonight. I guess we're going to try to catch the fireworks, but with the weather as gross as it is, those plans might be abandoned. We'll see what happens. And tomorrow, once again, no plans, except for a tentative beach outing, and an attempt to clean my apartment. God knows it needs it. And I need the beach too, so let's hope that both of those things end up happening.

Cheers!

Week in review

I don't usually just write about the everyday things that happen to me, like what I had for breakfast, or which bars I went to last Friday, but I think I may start a weekly thing where I just sorta give highlights of what's been happening lately. Yes, I think I will do that. And this will be the first one.

So, I feel like I have been extremely busy lately and haven't had much time to just chill, but I'm probably not really any busier than any other week. Anyhoo, last weekend was pretty cool. Friday was Cinco de Mayo, so some friends and I went to a little Mexican restaurant on Ashland for some good food and tasty margaritas. Though the wait was excruciating, they sent their waiting patrons to the bar across the street, where they could get drinks if they so chose, or in our case, bowl after bowl of chips and salsa. The food at the restaurant was pretty good, but if I go there again I will be getting what Jillybean had, which was plantain enchiladas with mole sauce. Yummy! Saturday I ran a bunch of errands in the morning, including hoofing it over to the Metro to get my tickets for the Secret Machines show tomorrow (yay!!). Jillybean was having a jewelry show over at her place for a friend of ours who makes really cool jewelry, so I headed over there and hung out for a while. I ended up buying a very cool necklace made of pyrite and a pair of Russian serpentine earrings which I can't wait to wear. So pretty! Afterwards, I met up with Nora for an eating extravaganza!! After a bit of trouble getting over there (D and K beat us even though they left considerably later!), we made it to the restaurant Sweets and Savories on Fullerton. All in all, I had a good impression of this place. It was very small, but classy and comfortable. And even though some might be a little taken aback by the extremely friendly and chatty staff, I liked it a lot. Nora and D went there specifically for this one dish that I won't get into the details of (you can read all about it on Nora's livejournal), but I do believe we were all very satisfied with the food. I know I was. However, given the rather pricy nature of the place, I decided it was in my best interest to call it a night after that, and give my wallet a little rest. :) Some people, including my roommate, were planning on heading over to the Musicbox around midnight for some 3-D porn, but as intriguing as this was, I decided not to partake, and I'm sorta glad I did, because I heard the next day that 3-D porn tends to lose it's excitement factor after about a half hour. *mental note* :)

This week has felt like a whirlwind. Nothing too exciting happened on Monday, aside from watching the finale of "What About Brian" which was filled with drama! Can't wait for next season (if there is one)!! Tuesday, I went to work an hour early because I had a doctor's appointment later in the day and instead of using up sick time I wanted to try and make up as many hours as I could. Surprisingly enough, it is much easier for me to get up earlier for work than it is to stay later - traffic starts to suck coming back into the city if you leave any later than 4, and despite my best efforts, I think I am becoming a morning person!!!! Ack!! (I feel like Cathy when I say Ack.) So, I asked my Mom to come to the doctor with me (though, in retrospect I didn't need her there at all), and the appointment ended up going really well. We were there to discuss prescription options, and I had pretty much made a decision before I went in, and was happy to hear that my doctor had basically come to the same decision. Made things easy. Perhaps I will discuss in more detail in another entry. Anyhoo, the rest of the afternoon/evening was for me and my Mom. We went to lunch at the Grand Luxe Cafe (very good) and then went shopping for a while along Michigan Ave. We looked in Crate and Barrel for what seemed like hours (that place is frickin 'uge!), then went to Borders where I couldn't leave without buying 3 books, and then made a short stop at Watertower where we were very disappointed in the housewares section of Marshall Field's (soon to be Macy's - boo hoo!!). After that, we were pooped so we went to *$'s to set for a spell, then went our separate ways. I think I got home and crashed on the couch, then just went to bed. It was an exhausting day. Wednesday I went in to work early again, and then went out to the 'rent's for my usual Wednesday visit. Dad and I popped over to Pier One to get some pillows for the new wicker furniture the parents just got for the sun room (apparently my Dad didn't trust himself enough to go alone - heaven forbid he buy the WRONG PILLOWS!!!), while Mom made a delicious spaghetti dinner. Then Mom and I watched "Lost" (so exciting!! another hatch!!) and I hit the road back home. I think by this time, the early (and busy) days were finally catching up to me because I was exhausted and decided before I even got home that I was going to go in at the normal time on Thursday. I totally needed that extra hour of sleep. Then on Thursday I was hoping to have a relaxing evening at home, but that didn't really end up happening. I told a coworker that I'd help her out after work by following her and her carpooling friend to a mechanic to drop off her car and then drive the two of them home (they live near me). This was kind of a pain because the weather was nasty and traffic was nasty, and after dropping them off I realized I had to go to the drug store, and I didn't end up getting home until after 6, only to have to go back to the drug store again at 6:30. Blaarrrgh. But then I watched some "Curb Your Enthusiasm" I got from Netflix and I thought, "Well, at least I'm not Larry David."

So now we've reached today. Aren't you happy you made it this far??!! :) Today I came in at the normal time but I'm planning on staying an hour later because I am staying out in the burbs for a while tonight. A coworker is having a bachelorette party nearby work tonight at 8, and it seemed like a pain to go all the way back home after work only to come all the way back out here again at 8. So I decided to stay here until 5, then head over to the mall to get some things I need (still need a Mother's Day gift!!), grab some dinner (possibly with another coworker friend who is also going to the bachelorette party), then head over to the bar where people are meeting. Should work out I think. Tomorrow I have a bunch of errands and chores to do in the morning, then there is Kristi's baby's birthday party (Yay for 2 year old's!!), then the Secret Machines show at midnight - which I still have to coordinate the meeting-up plans for. And then, of course, is Mother's Day on Sunday. I'm going out to the burbs again (man, my car gets a lot of miles put on it!!) to see the Mama, and my grandma and great aunt will be there as well for a little barbecue. That should be nice. But once again, I don't think I'll have ANY time for myself to relax this weekend. Oh well. Maybe next weekend - wait, no that won't work. Maybe the one after - nope, not that one either ...

I promise!!

I am really going to try and write in this thing more often. This posting every couple weeks thing has got to stop or I will start to lose my loyal readers!! All three of you!! :)

Well, the news today is that there still isn't any news. I went to see my rheumatologist on Monday and I have him seriously stumped. I described my pain to him in as much detail as I could muster (which is an accomplishment in and of itself since I usually become a mute as soon as I step into the office, and can't seem to remember how to describe things in a coherent way), but my symptoms rang no bells to him. He did tell me that the first thing he would have thought if I didn't have the history that I had was that it was muscles. So what he did was prescribe some muscle relaxers for me to take at bedtime and see if it helped the pain, and meanwhile he would be taking a second look at my most recent MRI results with the radiologist to see if there's something that they may have missed. Basically, he has no idea what's wrong with me. Heh. So what else is new, right? Anyway, I've been taking the muscle relaxers at night and nothing has changed, so unless the guy calls me with some epiphany they've had, I'm going to go back to my general practitioner and see what he has to say. I kinda trust him more anyway. Meanwhile I'll keep popping the ibuprofen until it just doesn't work anymore.

Well, I was gonna write more, but it was all boring stuff, so I'll just stop here and spare you. :) You can thank me later.

News!! (sorta)

So, here's the scoop. As some of you may know (that is, if anyone actually reads this. Helloooo??), I had a relapse in my Takayasu's last September-ish and have been taking steps to make this better (i.e. going back on Prednisone and getting periodic CAT Scans/MRIs to check my progress). Just before New Year's I had a CAT scan that showed improvement, so my Dr. started a tapering regimine to eventually get me off the Prednisone (you can't just quit it cold turkey as it tends to do damage to the adrenal gland - man, have I done my research!). Well, during this time, I started experiencing a new pain in the same general area as my inflammation and was worried that my body was not reacting well to the tapering and the inflammation was coming back - or worse, spreading. This has been going on for about a month with good days and bad days (if I've cancelled some sort of social engagement on you, a bad day was most likely the cause, and I apologize for the wierdness of my innards), and about 2 weeks ago, I got another MRI. I was due for one anyway because of the tapering thing, and my Dr. suggested I get it sooner rather than later because of this pain. Well, after nearly two weeks of me nagging the hell out of the people at his office cause he wasn't calling me with results, he finally called me back yesterday (funny story about how my mom was involved in this - maybe later I'll tell it). The good news is that apparently there isn't any inflammation to speak of anymore and the blood flow in the whole area looks good, so he didn't see any reason for me to go back up on my dosage but wants me to stay put for a while (which I'm totally cool with). The bad news is, I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHY I AM HURTING!!! Everyone has their theories. My mom says she's experienced similar pain before but it went away on its own. My dad said he's had pain in the exact same area and it was his trapezias (sp?) muscle, which had gotten tense from stress and developed all these little knots, and after he started getting massages the pain went away. My own theory (the TA rearing its ugly head) was just shot to pieces with the results of this MRI. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY glad it's not that. I just wish I knew what it WAS!!

But anyway, I have another appt. to see my (not-so) trusty specialist in a couple weeks to see if he can't figure something out. If not, I guess it's back to the drawing board. Maybe I'll try massage (lord knows I could use a few of these anyway!) to see if that helps. Or maybe I'll just live on Advil for the rest of my life!! Hah!! :)

(BTW, I totally overuse parentheses, in case you couldn't tell!!)
H

Crappity-Crap

I feel awful. Physically. I feel worn out, and even though most of the symptoms of my cold are gone, I have this horrible, horrible pain in the center of my chest and back (mostly my back, actually). Everyone seems to think it is a lingering symptom of my cold (my doctor included), and I hope they're right. I hate to think I have any other wierd diseases on top of the one wierd disease I already have. My Mom even says she's had this pain before and it eventually goes away. I reeeeeeally hope it goes away. And soon. Sometimes it hurts so bad it makes me want to cry.

On a related note, I will be going in for another MRI soon to check on my aortic arch, in hopes that the inflammation has stayed down with the decrease in Prednisone dosage. Here's hoping. Though with this crippling pain in the core of my body right now, I find it hard to be optimistic about anything. Add to that, the increasingly intense wisdom tooth pain that I will need to get checked out soon, the unexplained pain in the back of one side of my neck that insists on keeping me up at night, and the sharp pain behind my right shoulder blade that has been plaguing me for months and shows no sign of letting up.

Hate to be a complainer, but yeah, it sucks to be me right now. I hurt.