One Diagnosis Down, One To Go

I went in to see the doctor today. I found out that the rash and severe pain are indeed Shingles. Someone commented as much on my last post, and he/she was right. Thanks, Anonymous. The doctor prescribed a pain pill and an anti-viral pill which I'm taking now.

The other problem - the distended abdomen - is still a mystery. The doctor did that thing where he tapped on my abdomen with his fingers and all he could say was that it didn't sound like it was gas. He didn't say "sound like." He used some more technical, medical term. He sent me for an X-ray, which I got today, and he's scheduling me for an ultrasound, to be done as soon as they can fit me in. Hopefully one or the other, or both, will let them know why I look like the octomom when she was pregnant. There are apparently several things that could be causing this. The doctor didn't like my suggestion that I've been knocked up by an alien (the space kind, not the immigrant kind). (I've decided to name it "Dave.")

I guess the pain pills are working, because I haven't felt any of the shingles-related burning pain. But other pain is present, like the pain I've recently started having in my lower back, right side. Wouldn't the pain pill work for that pain, too? The pain medication is Tramadol, in case you're reading this and think it might make a difference.

I will update the blog as information becomes available.

The Week

I've been extremely tired this past week. Don't know why. Usually when I start the week tired, I stay tired all week. It's not until my days off that I can catch up on my sleep, which I seem to need a LOT. Anyway, I've been dealing with the puppy, and doing something for a friend, and other general stuff. Got a lot of drugs from the VA Hospital as a result of my last appointment. Three types of pain medication! Two in pill form, and some liniment! Didn't know they still made liniment! I'm pretty sure it's just a liquid form of Ben Gay. Smells the same. They sent me four bottles of acetaminophen (aka Tylenol), and two bottles of etodolac (an anti-inflammatory)! That's a lot of pain meds! I still need to go back to the VA and have some X-rays and tests. Until I can get down there and get a blood test I won't be able to find out what's making me so tired. But when I have time to go, I'm usually too tired. It sucks.

Got my Economic Stimulus Payment (ESP). The only frivolous thing I bought was a DVR (digital video recorder). I want to transfer my "vacation" videos to DVD so that I can upload them to the web. Of course I'll post here when I do that. I went to London twice. One of the trips included a side trip to Stonehenge. That was freaky!! There was a guy there with two metal rods shaped like the letter L. I don't know what kind of metal. He let me hold them and walk around Stonehenge. I held them loosely by the short ends, with the long ends facing forward, and there were four places where the rods would move by themselves. It was a very strange feeling! I have that on tape and it's the one I want to transfer and upload first.

The rest of my ESP went to pay bills. Dammit. I really want to get an HDTV. It doesn't have to be a big, expensive one. Since Wal-Mart cut out their layaway department it's hard for me to buy a "big-ticket" item. I'm going to check with Sears to see if they have layaway. I could go to Aarons, but then I would end up paying $1,000 for a $600 TV.

Okay, so.... I wasn't planning to write so much. I only wanted to explain why I hadn't posted for awhile! Now I'm going to go to bed.