First day back

Well today was my first day back to work after being off since July 8th. The day went OK but I'm still having problems with bright lights. I came home with a headache. I had the building guy remove the florescence lights from above my desk and wore my sunglasses at times. Let's hope tomorrow goes a little better.

The drive was OK - I wasn't as shaky as I've been lately. I just need to ensure that I concentrate and be careful.

I still have the red rash all over my body and it is itchy, but I'm hoping that starts to go away soon. My chest is still red and sore.

Unfortunately due to my little "accident" I won't be able to go on my trip south with my friend Sheila. We were planning on a road trip to Missoula, Montana to do some shopping and have a nice little getaway. But since I can't drive and it was my turn, I had to cancel.

It was going to be the "Great 2009 Cracker Barrel Odyssey" trip. I had it all planned out. It is about an 8 hour drive from Calgary, but I had some stops arranged and we were going to stay in Whitefish the first day in a nice little motel called "Cheap Sleep Motel". We were also going to take the "Going-t0-the-Sun" road through Glacier National Park. It is supposed to be very scenic.

We were going to hit a lot of antique and quilt shops until we got to Missoula. Sheila wants an old fashioned rocking chair from The Cracker Barrel. I love that place. It has a great restaurant and nice shopping in the front. I really enjoyed it when we went to Texas in November. The fried catfish was great!

So now I have to come up with something to do for Sheila for making up for our trip. So any ideas out there, please feel free to offer them!

Snoopy hasn't been feeling well the past few days. Last night she was moaning and shaking. I had to hold her to calm her down. My poor little girl is getting old. She is 11 1/2 years and starting to show her age.

I remember when she was a puppy. She was a wild thing. There was one time when we were still out on the farm waiting for taking possession of our house. She was a little bugger and would always run and chase gophers, roll in horse poo etc. No matter how much I called, she would just keep running. That's the beagle in her..... always following her nose. She ran out on the road and a semi was coming straight at her. I thought she was a goner. She was lucky and the truck just missed her. Little devil.

One little slip...

... is all it takes. This year isn't my year for staying healthy. Back in March I slipped on some ice at a client's site and hurt my knee. I was in physio for 3 times a week for 6 weeks and it still isn't the same. Thank goodness Workers Compensation paid for that.

Last Wednesday.... I week ago to be exact, I was going down the stairs after feeding Paige and Snoopy at 4:30am. I missed the second last stair and hit my head. My head hurt like a dickens so I just sat there for a bit thinking if I pass out it is better to be in one place. Everything seemed to be OK so I went back to bed.

I woke up as per normal, had a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast and then started to drive to work. Last week my boss was on holidays so I was in charge. Things were going sour so I wanted to get to work early.

On the drive in, the pain in my lower right back started. It intensified so much that I almost passed out. I made it to work and thought I just needed to stretch. Just walking across the street to the office was horrific. I went and got my laptop and files I would need and headed for home thinking I'd work from home.

Again the pain worsened so I called my doctor's office to see if I could get in. They were not open yet but I left a message and headed straight there. I was lucky as I was the first patient of the day and was able to see her right away.

She examined me and said that I had a mild concussion and would have back pain due to the fall. The back was starting to freeze up and she gave me some Robaxacet with a prescription for stronger muscle relaxants if I needed it.

I went home and told mom & dad what happened. I laid in bed for a bit and could not for the life of me get comfortable so I took my first pill. Well the pill didn't last for very long as I threw that up quickly.

That whole day I couldn't get comfortable and the pain was excruciating. I had thrown up another 3 times and had mom take me to the Urgent Care centre.

We got to the Urgent Care centre at around 8pm got checked in and then had to wait. We waited and waited. I was in so much pain I wish they would have just put me out of my misery.

I was finally called and was taken into a room. The nurse - the worse nurse in the world - came in, took my vitals, asked what happened and then left. Even after I threw up the 5th time she didn't come back for a long while. Finally she did and gave me a clean dish to puke in if I needed it.

At around 11 pm the doctor finally came in. He again asked what happened, this time physically examined me and was sending me for some x-rays of my back. He also said he'd give me some medication for the pain and that I needed to be re hydrated. Well duh! I couldn't keep any food down, had thrown up 5 times and was sitting in a room for a good 3 hours with no water or anything.

So I had the x-rays and they came out normal. I then had 2 other grumpy nurses come in and take my vitals again and hook me up to the IV. They started me with saline, then something to calm my stomach down. Finally I was given a bag of Toradol but that didn't do the trick. The pain was still very intense. I think the nurses and doctor wanted to go home as they next came in with a shot of morphine. Well Ladies and Gentlemen, that surely did the trick.

Mom & I got home around 12:30am and I went to bed before the medication started to wear off and I couldn't get comfy nor sleep.

The next few days weren't much better. I had been given Tylenol 3s with codeine and oh by the way have I told you I wasn't able to have a bowel movement??? Also whenever I ate the pain intensified.

I finally had a bowel movement and boy did I feel 100 times better. The pain was gone in the back! I could handle the headache and dizziness now.

Monday I went to the doctor as the pain is still there and my bowel movements weren't the greatest. Also it burnt like heck when I peed. Yup, you guessed it - an urinary tract infection. Oh the joy!

So I got drugs for the UT infection and an appointment to have ultrasound on my kidneys and bladder. That is today. I've fasted and am ready to drink my 4 glasses of water before having to be at my appointment.

I've been off work this week (with a doctor's note) but have been worried about it all along.

So the moral of this story is that a little fall is very dangerous or painful.

Thunderstorms and Farts

Thunderstorms - Snoopy HATES them! She can hear them coming and she starts to pace, ears back and listening intently. As they get closer she starts to shake. I'm not sure what happened to her when she was little to make her afraid of thunderstorms but she is a complete wreck. She also then pees due to them.

Mom and I were in the office the other day when a storm was brewing. We had Snoopy in the room with us and I thought she'd be fine. But she then squatted down on the dog bed and peed! Good thing the bed was washable. I couldn't believe it. I had to get out one of her doggy diapers to put on her.

When I had to leave her and put the diapers on her, she would rip them to pieces and I'd come home to find a huge shredded mess to clean up. Also - you guessed it - a nice pee spot.

The only way to make Snoopy calm down and not pee is to literally squeeze and hold her. It is a sad sight - me squeezing Snoopy in my arms and physically laying on her. She still shakes and also whimpers but that is the only way I can keep her settled. What would Cesar Milan say about that!

Thursday night a storm blew in and I heard the bang. I jumped out of bed to find Snoopy to make sure she didn't pee anywhere. Thankfully she didn't. I grabbed her and took her back to bed. I had to squeeze her tight and lay on her for a good hour. The storm must have blown over as I woke up later with her in my arms still but me no longer squishing her.

I hear this coming up week is to be full of thunderstorms so I am doubtful I'll get any sleep. Ah the joys of owning a neurotic dog.

That reminds me of a funny story about Cali. Cali was awesome with no fears.... except of her own farts! Yes I said it.....her own farts. If she let one go, she would quickly turn around to see what that noise was and where it came from. It was a funny sight. If you were standing near her, she would look up at you with her eyes as if saying "what did you do that for!".

Then one day she must of have gotten into something as she had the farts all night long. If she moved, she farted. If she laid down she farted. Poor girl probably thought she was dying. It was so bad that she started to whimper and any movement she would let out another ripper. I had to at one time lock her in the spare room as she was farting constantly. Being the softy I was and hearing her whimpering I brought her back to bed and held her. I had to talk her to sleep where the farts seemed to have then disappeared.

Farts will always remind me of Cali - especially of the day she had the bad gas and it didn't matter what she did, a fart would come out.