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GoGoGadgetNewDrug

I thought today was the day I had my follow-up appointment with the neurologist. I was wrong. That appt is next Tuesday. Today was the pumpkin patch field-trip with Erin’s preschool. oh boy. If anything is going to put this new medication to the test, it is a day in the sun surrounded by a bunch of hopped up 4 year olds.

Now I don’t want to jinx myself, but so far this stuff seems to be working. Although this will be the week to watch, I have not had a migraine since I started taking it. And I must say it is strange. There have been days where I know that without the medicine I would have had a headache. It kinda feels like cheating death or something. I have not noticed any negative side effects either. So. I’m hopeful.

To celebrate surviving the day with my head intact, I published a bunch of pictures on flickr for your viewing enjoyment. That little girl was wiped out by the time I literally dragged her out of there. I think she had fun.

And she wants a goat.

And if I hit publish and wake up with a headache, I am going to be mightily pissed off.

Just sayin’.

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Head head go away

Hey look! I have a blog! Who knew? Maybe I should just dedicate this space as a place to write about my migraines. You know, like 500 words on trying to figure out the combination to the gun safe, or my waxing all lyrical about the ebony handled ice pick I found online. Maybe detailed descriptions of what it feels like to have an elephant step on your head. People would like that right? The rantings of a mad woman?! If reality TV has taught us anything it’s that crazy sells! My blog would become extremely popular, allowing me to use ads that would then generate enough income for me to finally purchase that guillotine I found on Ebay!

::sigh::

Maybe I need to write a little program that locks my computer down for 48 hours after I type any combination of the words: migraines suck, day #4, hey I have an idea.

Anyways, I went to see a neurologist this morning. He basically said that I am a walking 24/7/365 migraine waiting to happen. great. And guess what? I get to try another drug! Fun fun fun. And then I go back in a month.

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Commercial break

We interrupt this program to bring you a brief message from our sponsors:

Oh I'm nervy all right!

That’s right friends, more drug experiments! My favorite Dr. has made it his life mission to find a medication that will reduce the number of migraines I have each month. So again “we” are trying a new preventative drug and crossing our fingers. oh boy. This time it is Neurontin, a seizure medicine. The brief amount of reading I did on it mentioned its use to treat Restless Leg Syndrome and that was intriguing. Especially after all the twitching on those blasted planes. I’m started out on the lowest dose possible since we have determined that I am indeed a delicate flower. The pharmacist says it takes 3-4 to kick in. We’ll see what happens. ::sigh::

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
“Boston: Oh my aching feet!” will be up as soon as I finish editing the photos.

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human guinea pig

Oh joy. I am again playing human guinea pig with a new drug. I’ve already mentioned the routine doctors appointment last week to get a refill for my migraine medication. Well, my doc is still not happy about the number of headaches I have each month. “So, how about we try another preventative treatment?” I like how he says “we“. But since I am not happy with all these headaches either, I said yes. He scribbled something on his prescription pad, said somethings I didn’t catch (I had a fever remember!) including a warning about dizzy spells, and sent me on my merry way. I should have asked him to repeat all that. I had no idea what I was going to be taking until I actually picked up the pills and talked to the pharmacist.

Turns out I’m going to be taking the  calcium channel blocker Norvasc, which is used to treat high blood pressure and angina. Apparently it also help with migraines since it relaxes the blood vessels. So the warnings were about potential low blood pressure. oh boy. My blood pressure has always been on the low side of normal. This might get interesting. I’m not sure how my sessions with Evil Trainer Adam will be effected.

Hey, since I am not always the most observant person and (as Chris is oh so happy to point out) I have no self-preservation skills, if you notice that I start mentioning being tired, or dizzy, or anything out of the ordinary, let me know will ya?

And now, apropos of nothing, a picture of Erin! Enjoy.

Erin

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GRAPHICs – how NOVEL…

I am procrastinating. I should be changing into a pair of pants that fit so that I can go to the grocery store. But I made a quick stop by my desk and here we are. And here a couple photos of the kiddies that I did some Photoshop magic to.


Yes, another tutorial. This one was the Stylized Comic Book Effect by Corey Barker of PlanetPhotoshop. Fun for me!

And here is a super simple Halftone Dots and Linear Light Effect:

In other news, I am reading Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore. It’s…

Oh.
Now I must find pants and get out the door. Chris just came upstairs and told me to buy drugs. Lots of drugs.

I’m sure he will clarify exactly what he is looking for before I leave. He knows me a little too well…

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And the ones that mother gives you. Don’t do anything at all…

Hmpf. This blog needs a new post. I finally have a little breathing room this morning while I wait for IT to call back, and what do you know- I feel like crap. I’m border-line contemplating getting a headache. So, fun for you. Buckle up. Odds are this will make no sense at all. Hmm, I wonder if Bob Mould is on Twitter. No. So onward for better or worse. Ya know, somewhere there is a smart-part of my brain that is shouting “take the pill now!” I’ve heard it’s message faintly a couple times this morning. I suspect that part of my brain is being sat on by the ‘you-only-get-6-pills-a-month’ pill-horder part of my brain. The same part that has enough vicodin to choke a cow stashed away in the bathroom, but never sent up the suggestion to take some while I was suffering excruciating pain pre-ER visit last month. Yeah, that part. The evil s.o.b. part of my brain. Oh dear, this is not going well. Must focus.

So, last Friday was a good day. I had planned to write a nice post on Friday afternoon, telling you all about this wonderful chickpea sandwich that had brought me one step closer to world domination. But no. As soon as I got home – woosh! I was swept away by Chris’s Big Weekend Project. His plan is to get rid of our storage unit. To do that we need to make room in the garage for the stuff from storage. Of course this can only happen after a giant purge of crap that we no longer need. So Chris started to go through all the boxes and sort the things we wanted to keep and the crap to toss or items to donate. Now, my possessions were already pretty streamlined. But Chris has been luggin’ around a lot of stuff. Like all his college text books! All of them! To the dump they go! In fact much stuff went to the dump. Two van loads of stuff. And then a van load of stuff went to Goodwill. That’s a lot of stuff!

It was a weekend trippin’ down memory lane. Chris looking through boxes of old climbing mags – literally – boxes! Photos. I won’t even mention the love notes from high-school girl friends. Yikes. I went through all my old artwork. Whoa, the Blurry years watercolor phase is some seriously weird shit. Sadly for you, I didn’t think to pull out the camera and photograph any of it. Now it is all repacked is nice new portfolios and back up on the shelf. But my old canvases are still to come back from storage so we have that to look forward too. I’m sure that some twisted stuff in that stack too. I did find the self portrait I painted while I was going to Wayne State. I don’t think Chris will let me hang it in the house.

So, the point – yeah, like there is a point to any of this! – is that we worked in the garage all weekend. And we got a lot done – beside my canvases, a couples chairs and the shelves, the storage unit is empty! But my thoughts of world domination were lost. And when I got back to work on Monday, I was faced with an email migration that still is not working right. So blah. What’s a girl to do? I babbling on one monitor and staring at this on the other.

All while waiting for someone from the IT dept Helpdesk to call me back. It could happen.