Owie

Last week, I scraped my elbow - a little scrape. Annoying, because it was right on the part where you rest your arm. Flash forward to yesterday morning, when my elbow wakes me up because it hurts, at 7:00 am. I try to go back to sleep, and if I'm going to call my dad for medical advice - he's a doctor - then I'd like to wait until it's at least 7 back home.

I couldn't wait that long - I called the house at 6:45 his time and told him I thought I had an infected elbow. At this point I was crying, since my still sleepy brain immediately jumped to the time my cousin had an infected scrape on his knee and wound up needing surgery. Aaah. After I calmed down, my dad told me that it could be inflammation or an infection, so I should go to the 24 hr clinic, if I could.

Luckily, the clinic is only a few blocks away, and I was the only person in the waiting room when I got there. The doctor's must have been changing shifts, because I still had to wait 40 minutes. Once I got in, the doctor was very nice, he thought I might have a minor infection and definitely some inflammation, so he gave me a prescription for some heavy-duty antibiotics and told me to keep warm compresses on it.

Off I (yes, I - Mr. D stayed home) went to the pharmacy, which was a block away. I handed the scrip over to the tech, and he acted surprised that I wanted to wait for it - wouldn't you think that people who are getting really strong anti-biotics would want them as quickly as possible. He didn't seem to think so - he told me 15 minutes, and after 20, I walked up to the counter to check. The pharmacist had no idea that I was waiting, but 30 seconds later it was ready - thanks, buddy.

On my way home, I played good-wife and picked up one ingredient for Mr. D's gumbo (J&R were coming for dinner) and grabbed coffee. After I got home, I used the heating pad on my arm, then fell back to sleep for an hour. Then we went to the market to get some last ingredients for dinner - which I regretted the whole time we were there. I could feel every step in my arm. I spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between cleaning and laying in bed with the heating pad on my arm.

Luckily, the swelling in my elbow went down by the time I woke up this morning, which meant that I didn't need to go back to the clinic to have it drained. My arm still hurts, but I can move it without wincing every time.

Don't Try this at Home

Last week was a bit stressful (more on that later); so stressful, in fact, that I think I had the beginnings of a cold on Thursday. I really thought it was allergies, which it could have been. I started having symptoms Thursday afternoon at work, where I was a bit sniffly and sneezy. Not that big of a deal, considering most people come to work sick at my office. I think there have been maybe 3 times when people have taken a sick days in the almos-two years that I have been there.

That evening I was meeting J for drinks, so I took some of my allergy medicine. I felt better pretty quickly, but I knew that I wanted to nip a cold in the bud, before it started, so after drinks (really just one glass of wine) with J, I came home and ordered some pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). Then, right before bed, I decided to take some NyQuil and some Aleve. NOT a good idea. Too many antihistamines at once. I woke up with the worst fog/hangover ever. I didn't lose the fog until 2 pm in the afternoon!

Note to self: allergy meds or cold meds, not both

Dog Issues

We have been out of town the past two weekends, so Sasha has been at the kennel from Friday morning until Monday afternoon. As a result, she has been a bit clingy - instead of sleeping at the foot of the bed, she'll fall asleep at waist-level. By the time I wake up, she's sleeping between our pillows. Honestly, it's kind of cute - she wants to be close to us. Awww.

This morning I woke up around 6 and had to go to the restroom, so when I got back she had crawled into the spot right below my pillow. I picked her up and moved her to the middle. She paced around for a second, then decided to climb onto Mr. D's pillow, above his head, which was pretty funny. Then she managed to throw up onto his chest. Gross and funny all at the same time. I'm kind of impressed that she didn't throw up on his face, it took talent for the little dog to miss that.

Nurse Newlywed

This weekend is going to be somewhat of a long one. In preparation for Mark's recovery from having his wisdom teeth taken out and a weekend of soft foods, we bought groceries to make some soups we'd been wanting to make for ourselves (nothing fancy - potato & leek and split pea). Then, last night he decides that we need to make a soup, because otherwise, what is he going to have for lunch. I started to explain that he might not want to eat after surgery, but gave up after deciding that it would be easier if I didn't have to make dinner while taking care of him.

Nurse duty today started when I left work at lunch to pick him up at the doctor's office. When I got there he was still coming out from under sedation, so the nurse (or technician, or whatever) brought me back to sit with him while he came to. She handed me an ice pack to hold against his face to help with the swelling.

Aww, he looked so cute and helpless. For about ten minutes, then he started coming back to full consciousness, which meant that he noticed that someone was holding ice against his neck and pushed it down. As he drifted in and out for a few minutes, I kept putting it on and he would wake up and push it off. Well, whatever. Next thing you know, he's telling me (more garbling) that he's ready to go, but of course the nurse is nowhere to be found. A couple of minutes later, she comes by, checks to see if he can stand, and then sends us on our merry way.

We hail a cab and sit in midtown traffic until we get to the apartment, where it becomes urgent that I stop at the desk and get whatever package came that morning before we go upstairs. Once upstairs, M tells me hi is hungry, so I ask if he wants me to make him a smoothie. Luckily, all he wants is a pudding cup, so I give him his painkiller and antibiotic, then realize his mouth is still numb, so he's dribbling orange juice on his shirt, the sofa, and the floor. I grab a towel and set it near him, next to the comforter, and his pillow. Then I gather all the electronic accoutrement of a good recovery (xbox remote, tv remote, and plugged-in laptop) and arrange them strategically near him, along with dog treats in case he needed to bribe Sasha. I feel guilty, but rush to get back to work, just a little more than two hours after I left, which really isn't that bad.

I commiserated to one of my co-workers, whose husband must be like M, because she knew exactly what I was talking about. Taking care of M is great, until he's decided you've stopped taking care of him and are now nagging him, which is when he gets cranky. The crankiness will usually go away, but then the cranky line moves, I cross it, he gets cranky, and then I get annoyed and stop being helpful, which is seen as uncaring and witchy.

We usually close up shop early (between 4 and 5) on Fridays, so I got to come home after not being away for too long. He seems good so far, not in too much pain, though the xbox controller may have to have the battery pack switched out before too long. We've only crossed the cranky line once, but I was being a little to naggy, and he apologized, so we're off to a good start.