Entries Tagged as 'Sickness'

Recouperating

January 18th, 2008 · 6 Comments

I’m not one to faint at the sight of blood, but whooo. .. over the past couple days I almost have a few times.

This week I had to have minor surgery to get a mole removed, which is not that big of a deal, except that the mole was in a not very public area that has made it difficult to dress properly and has caused a good amount of pain if I move around too much. The prescription for Vicodin has helped, but has also made me woozy so I don’t like taking it too much.

The surgery itself went really quickly, although I was really freaked about it. I mean, I know it’s minor, but a series of things were really putting me on edge. I had gone in last week for the procedure and after getting checked in and waiting in the waiting room for an hour, I found out that my doctor canceled all appointments because he was really sick. There was a voice mail that I didn’t realize I’d gotten so that was my fault, but they couldn’t tell me why the front receptionists didn’t know my doctor wasn’t even in and allowed me to sit in the waiting room for an hour. As an “oops we screwed up” gift I got some killer lip balm and some dermatologist-recommended sunscreen. I guess the thing I was most upset about was that I just wanted to get it over with and now I had a week more of worrying.

So then this week I go in for my appointment and as the nurse brought me into the room she said “you’re here for a cyst on your head, right?” err… I wanted to turn and run. Then the nurse started asking me all the basic questions I answered on my initial visit like “what are you allergic to and what medication are you on?,” and the doctor walked in and didn’t remember me. That wasn’t so bad though, because my I’d only met him once at the initial appointment that was weeks ago and as soon as he saw the mole again he said he remembered.

I guess I then realized that I’m used to getting babied by my other doctor who has wonderful bedside manor and by my dentist who is the coolest chick and really very conscious of holding needles out of eyesight until the last second and things like that. I didn’t even realize my other doctors were so good at it until the nurse at the dermatologist office just sat there holding needles in front of my face and passing them to the doctor while I sweated bullets. It also didn’t help that the doctor and the nurse barely acknowledged my presence and just talked over the top of me about random crap. After making a whole bunch of injections, they both left the room and let me sit there for 15 minutes by myself while I stared at the ceiling and thought about scalpels and needles and freaked myself out.

During the procedure, they did the same talking around me and holding things over me but I tried to look away. Not to be gross, but even though the spot was numb, you can still totally feel everything cutting and tugging and blood dripping. Finally they did try to involve me in conversation some, but before I knew it the doctor just walked out. Guess he was done. The nurse cleaned up, put some “steri strips” over the stitches, gave me some instructions and supplies and said I was ok to go. I was like “don’t I even need a bandage?” and she was like “oh! my bad! omg, im so sorry.” I guess she just forgot.

I was waiting for Dallas to come and meet me because my bags were too heavy and I wasn’t really in pain yet, but I felt so weak and drained and dizzy and faint. I was just sitting in the lobby of this place trying to take deep breaths. Of course then when he got there we still had to walk for 15 minutes in like 20 degree weather to get prescriptions and things, but once we got in a cab and got home Dallas took care of everything. He has been a good, if not stern, nurse.

For a few days I took the Vicodin, but it made me feel really out of it. Then was the day to remove the heavy bandages. I took a shower and then tried to do it but it was hurting pretty bad and I felt so dizzy and my eyesight was like spotty.. I sat on the toilet but it didn’t get better right away so I had to go and lay on the couch with my feet up. Finally I had to get up the courage to finish undressing the wound and putting a new bandage on. The cut and stitches look to be about two inches long. Eek. I don’t even want to think about it. I made Dallas help me the other times I needed to change the bandage.

I don’t know if its the placement of the cut or just that I haven’t had any sort of injury for a long time or because the location of it makes it hard to do things and get dressed properly (actually I haven’t been able to get dressed to go in public for days) or because I’m getting old, but whew. I am not liking this!

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Views From the Signature Room Lounge

January 16th, 2007 · 4 Comments

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Jeannette, Jessica, Rachelle :: Signature Room, Magnificent Mile, Chicago

Jessica and Jeannette, two of my best friends from New York, visited this weekend, taking advantage of the cheap airfare JetBlue was offering now that they’re flying out of O’Hare. Highlights of the weekend were having dinner at Volo, meeting up with Scott and Erin for a drink at Riverview, brunch at Kitsch’n, seeing the musical Putnam County Spelling Bee, shopping on Michigan Avenue, sitting at Cheesecake Factory and eating and talking until at least midnight, having a football viewing party, playing Sequence, and … where these photos were taken… going to the Signature Room Lounge.

The Lounge is the bar portion of the Signature Room, which is a restaurant on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. The Lounge is on the 96th floor. Our table was right next to the window and we had a southern view of downtown and way beyond. The views are stunning. I can imagine they are during the day too, so any time you’ve got guests in from out of town, or you’re from out of town visiting, and you’re shopping on Michigan Avenue and tired and need a rest, I’d suggest going to the Signature Room. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to get in and it was probably about 8pm on a Saturday night. The drinks are expensive but the view is priceless.

Thanks to Jeannette and Jess for coming in. It made me realize how much I miss them and how great of friends they have always been to me.

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This Post is Dedicated to Paul Baker

September 27th, 2006 · 9 Comments

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Paul Baker, who has grossed us all out at work with his many injury photos.

Tonight I was walking home after work from the supermarket and I was pretty weighted down. Big heavy backpack on my back: Check. Heavy bag of groceries in one hand: Check. Heavy purse in the other: Check. I came to that liquor store on School and Damen and there were some papers and leaves on the ground, but what I didn’t see was the circle of plastic, like a loop, a strap. Basically that thing lassoed itself around both of my feet and I face planted onto the ground. And since I was carrying to much weight it seemed to only take a millisecond and have an enormous amount of force. All I heard was the noise of the bag, but I’m pretty sure I made some sort of scream/grunt too. A guy in the liquor store made sure I was ok. I stood up and thought my pants legs would be gone, they were still there, but I just walked as quickly as I could home, everything stinging – I could tell there were some injuries. It was about a 10 minute walk.

The damages? Skinned right palm with a flap of skin hanging. Skinned and bruised left knee. My right knee isn’t skinned but is developing a really big purple bruise. It feels really deep. Both of my wrists are sore and my shoulders hurt too. I guess it was just that jarring. I don’t know what I’ll will be like in the morning but I have a feeling it’s gonna get worse. Right now I’m already hobbling around and the stairs are pretty impossible. I just feel throbbing all over the place right now.

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At the Allergist

August 18th, 2006 · 8 Comments

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Allergy Test, Magnificent Mile, Chicago

I gave the allergist that Ray recommended a try yesterday. He was pretty cool. I went in told him what the deal was (ragweed season is upon us), he gave me 26 quick pokes to confirm, let it sit for 10 – 15 minutes*, wrote me 3 prescriptions and I was outta there. I was trying to be proactive. My allergy symptoms haven’t been too bad, but yesterday, MAN! Maybe it was because I was pricked with everything, but I was sneezing like crazy and blowing my nose. My eyes hurt and were so itchy. This morning I woke up with crusty eye boogers. YUM! Can’t wait to pick those prescriptions up today!

* This photo was taken after only a couple minutes. Most of the dots were tree pollen and didn’t do anything, but the two that were types of ragweed and the one that was cats got really huge and red and itched like crazy. They stayed that way until late into the afternoon yesterday, grossing everyone out at work.

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Behold! The Big Mac

November 19th, 2005 · 6 Comments

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Big Mac, Michigan Ave., Chicago

I was pretty hung over yesterday from having too much fun at the Chicagoist Happy Hour the night before. I was craving grease but in the morning was rushing in for a client call (which got canceled! guh!) so I didn’t have time to get breakfast. For lunch the urge had only increased, so McDonald’s seemed like a great idea. I’ve been to McDonalds only a few times in the last couple years and couldn’t even remember the last time I got a burger there. The last times I was there was to try out their fruit and salad options. So, Big Mac, it was. And instead of making me feel better, it just felt like a hard ROCK in the pit of my stomach! Ahhh. Should have gone to Blackie’s.

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