Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Nice Kitty

Days like today are what make living in Seattle great.  When the sun is out and it's warm - it's the best!  I've been to other sunny places and it's not the same.  We were in Arizona recently and it was sunny for a day or two while we were there and - eh.  It's just not the same.  It's a flat brown sprawling deserty suburb.  Of course, the company was fantastic.  And the cacti and citrus trees.  Those were super cool.  So cool in fact I took a bunch of pictures of orange trees.  Next time we go maybe Ryan and I will venture off to Sedona or something - I loooooovvvvvveee Sedona.  Anyhoo.... back to the Emerald City.

We've been cold and soggy since a nice week in March.  At least it feels like we've been living in perpetual rain.  The other day I thought about making some hot cocoa to warm myself up.  It's the middle of freakin' May!

So, with the sun out in it's full glory we hit the road for the zoo.  And by hit the road I mean, ate a leisurely breakfast, put Theo down for a nap, let Gavin play my Nintendo DS (he has his very own Elmo game) on Ryan's side of the bed so I could doze, and wrangle the boys for an hour and a half in an attempt to get out the house to do something fun. 

Our first stop was fun, fun, fun!  For me.  We went to True Value where I picked up an obscene amount of seeds to plant in my obscenely tiny garden.  I picked out carrots, colored carrots, peas, swiss chard, lettuce, cucumbers, pumpkins (I will be happy with just one pumpkin), beets and.....  I think that's it.  Now I just need to get one or two tomato plants.  Oh, and actually plant everything.

The penguins were a hoot today.  Well, one penguin was a hoot.  He was swimming back and forth along a glass enclosure following the kids as they walked back and forth.  It was so entertaining.  The kids shrieking with excitement wasn't my cup of tea, though.  I felt kind of like a scrooge.  Gavin is pretty quiet but I think if Theo was a little older and understood how unusual that little show the penguin was putting on was he would have been the loudest of them all. 

The hippo wasn't much of a hoot but it was the first time I saw the hippo in all the years I've been going there so I was really excited about that.  Another first for me and the boys was that this was the first time I didn't take them to see the ducks.  The ducks are my favorite part of the zoo.  No joke.  I really like ducks.  They are so cute what with all of their waddling and quacking.  So cute!

Every time we go to the lion exhibit they are always off in the distance taking a nap and just looking really depressed.  The last time we were there I couldn't help but notice some ducks who were in their enclosure by a small pond.  I kept thinking, "Does the lion not see them?  Do the ducks not see that huge cat over there?" 

Today we were in for a real treat as the lioness was front and center at the glass.  Looking into the eyes of a lion from 3 inches away is a little unsettling even with a nice thick glass barrier between us.  I crouched down and put my face right in front of hers and she sized me up and looked right in my eyes.  When our eyes connected for a very brief moment a shiver ran down my spine.

Gavin and Theo had noooo idea the lion was sizing them up as tasty little snacks.  Gavin and Theo were so excited to see this big cat that they were jumping up and down and trying to touch her face through the glass.  I told them that even though they were safe they should not tease the lion and to have some respect for it.  Sheesh.  Don't tease the lion!  It feels like you are just asking for it.    

Friday, May 06, 2011

Pharmaceuticals

This has been quite a week for me and Big Pharma. 

Last Friday morning I woke up and at some point inspected the disheveled woman staring at me in the mirror and to my dismay I saw little red bumps lining my upper lip.  I rubbed my lip and felt the familiar tingling sensation...

It looked like round 5 or 6 of the cold sore/impetigo mystery was brewing.  There was still hope, though.  I've had little bumps and the cold sore tingles that just *poof* went away.  I was hoping there would be some *poofing* but no such luck.

My regular doctor told me to see the dermatologist because she has no idea what's going on with me.  The dermatologist's office said they couldn't see me until next Wednesday and, after I called back to plead for an appointment they said they don't reserve space for same day appointments.  This is the same office where the last time I was there the Dermatologist said to me (after I asked him about my latest outbreak and if there was anyone he could refer me to and he said, "Well, maybe this is the last time it happens.").  I know - I should have never gone back after that profound medical insight on his part.  Is that what 8 years of medical school gets you?  Maybe it won't happen again?  Really?!

As each minute ticked by in the late morning I could feel my face being transformed.  Staph was colonizing my lips and chin and there was no one who could see me.  I sat on the steps in front of the house on the phone with my mom crying about how I wanted to see someone about this - I just needed to start antibiotics ASAP.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining, it was warm.  The day was too beautiful to be marred by this ugly, ugly thing. 

We had just returned from a mom's group when my doctors office called and the above series of phone calls set me off on my calls of pleading for an appointment.  It was now well past noon on Friday and if no one could see me I would have to go to the Emergency Room. 

As I was making an appointment to see a regular doc at a local clinic I almost shouted to the receptionist, "WAIT!  Do you have any same day appointments available with a dermatologist?!" 

When she said yes but it's at 1:45 with a 15 minute check-in so I would have to be there at 1:30 and could I make it, I probably did shout, "Yes!  I'll be there!" 

Fortunately I never took the boys out of the van - they sat in their car seats with the doors open while I called everyone under the sun that I could think of to make an appointment. 

Unfortunately I never took the boys out of the van while I called everyone under the sun.

They were hungry.

They were tired.

They were cranky.

Normally I am really good about feeding my children.

Normally I am really good about letting them sleep.

This was not a normal situation.

To make a long story a little less long - I saw the doc and she was befuddled.  She didn't give me antibiotics because she didn't know my history of the raging impetigo and as a good responsible doc she didn't prescribe me antibiotics all willy nilly based on some new patients self reporting even though she did see the first start of the infection.  Just the faintest beginning.  She had me take an extra strong dose of something I already take in hopes that would quell the beast.

But the beast was not to be quelled; by Saturday morning my face (read:  lips and chin) was a gross, crusty, drippy, honey colored, swollen mess.  That afternoon I had Ryan drop me off at the ER.  There the doctor who saw me gave me not one but two kinds of antibiotics to take. 

I didn't sleep well that night but the next day - from 10 am to 5 pm - I slept like a log.  The only reason I woke up was because Ryan checked on me to make sure I was still breathing.  After a few hours up and helping put the boys to bed I went back to sleep but not before I noticed a red patch over my left eye.

Frick! 

It had never spread beyond my lips and chin before this.  Why oh why would it decide to leap up my face?

About 3 am when I was up for a trip to the loo I noticed that what started out as a red itchy patch that was a tiny bit puffy was now flaming red, very itchy and my eye was almost swollen shut.

"Ryan, wake up.  I'm going to the emergency room, my eye is almost swollen shut."

"OK.  I'll pray for you...."  zzzzzzzzz

Just kidding.  I'm sure it took him at least two minutes to fall back asleep. 

3:30 in the morning is a great time to be in the ER.  It was a ghost town.  When the receptionist asked why I was there to be seen I pointed to my face and she said, "Oh, the obvious, huh?" 

"Yup."

The 2 nurses aides and nurse who checked me in - no joke - they were bored - had me change into a gown because they were certain I was going to be there a while since it looked like something was obviously going on. 

But no.  The doctor gave me a big dose of prednisone and sent me off with a prescription for more to take throughout the week. 

Whew. 

Geez, this is just getting longer and longer.....

On Monday it was back to the dermatologist who said it was probably an allergic reaction and sent me to the lab with a boat load of things to be tested for.  She kept looking at me and patting my knee and saying, "Oh, you poor thing."  I think she was really shocked to see how quick and virulent this thing on my face was.

I am eagerly waiting to hear what she has to say when the labs come back but in the meantime she's befuddled. 

Since the non-drowsy anithistamines did nothing to keep me from wanting to scratch my face off my only source of comfort on Tuesday was dunking my face in ice water every few minutes.  Ice.  Water.  I set up a big bowl full of ice, poured water on it and dunked my face in.  I told my friend I wanted to shove straws up my nose so I could just keep my head in the water all day.  It felt soooo good to make my face go numb. 

As a result of my facial melting, so to speak, Ryan was super helpful.  He's already helpful, mind you, but when your spouse's face looks like the spawn of Satan, the helpful factor gets ramped up.  So, I slept a lot over the weekend and late into the mornings. 
Sleep, as many of you know, is the great restorer of many things.

Well, two things:  energy and sanity.

Everything after that just falls into place.  When you have energy you can clean the house and yourself. 

The sanity is just gravy.  Sweet, soapy scented gravy on a freshly scrubbed body floating in a fur and dirt free, clutter free house.

Oh, that whole dirt and clutter free thing was compliments of the prednisone. 

So, sleep + prednisone = energized mommy.

And maybe a little crabby mommy by the end of the day.

And by the end of the week a wide awake mommy who is going to crash when I don't have prednisone to boost me up anymore.

Anyone have Barry Bond's trainer's number?

Mama needs some juice.