Barking Mad

Here We Go Again!

Remember how, back in May I thought I had an allergic reaction to something I used on my face and then used something else on top of it and it caused all hell to break loose?   Well, what actually happened was that I was in a cheerleading/stunting/tumbling gym that is filled with foam latex products and there were also rubber balloons...everywhere.  I have severe allergies to latex and rubber (adhesives as well, and almost all fur-covered animals!), so anyhow, once we figured that out, I knew to avoid the inside of that gym - which happens to be Gaby's gymnastics/cheer/tumbling gym.  That dooms me to a life spent in cheer jail (the observation area for parents).

Anyhow, I've had a couple of other "face blow-ups" since May, namely having to do with balloons.  I've helped friends blow balloons up a couple of times, or filled our front room with them for a birthday, and as a result, my face has blown up. Enter Prednisone, ice compresses and Benadryl.

So, keeping away from rubber/latex/adhesives is Cardinal Rule Number 2 in my life when it comes to allergies.  What's Cardinal Rule Number 1 when it comes to allergies?  

NEVER EVER EVER TOUCH AN ANIMAL, EVEN THOSE IN MY OWN HOME THAT I'VE BUILT UP A TOLERANCE TO, AND THEN TOUCH MY FACE WITHOUT FIRST SCRUBBING MY HANDS!

That's pretty much been a life-long rule with me.  Always always wash my hands after touching any animal. 

Last night we went over to Kim's house to celebrate my birthday.   Kim and her family have a gorgeous Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog.  Ricey is the sweetest dog on the planet and she's very affectionate.  She also has the softest ears . . . ever!   I can never resists petting her and playing with her and running my hands through her soft fur and flopping her ears around.  For some reason, last night all sanity left my brain and my eyes started to itch and what did I do?   That's right, I rubbed them.  Immediately after playing with Ricey. 

My hand happened to have dog hair stuck to it.  One of those hairs lodged itself under my right eyelid which sent me into sheer agony.  The harder I rubbed my eye the more and more that piece of hair was scratched all over my eye and the inside of my eyelid.

It wasn't even ten minutes before I looked like this . . .

My right eye is now completely swollen shut.  I look like I was punched in the face by Rocky Balboa.

Benadryl and cold compresses are helping.   If the swelling hasn't gone down by 8AM tomorrow morning, I'm headed into my doctor's office (2nd visit this week.  Yesterday he and I talked about my completely lack of appetite, and he was supposed to have consulted with my hematologist and then run some more blood work.  I'm down to about 700 calories a day, sleeping up to 16-18 hours a day and feeling like crap!)  to get a Prednisone shot.

I'm an idiot.  I know better than to pet an animal and then touch my face or eyes let alone not wash my hands.

I've come to realize that as I get older, my sensitivities to certain things, especially animals, are growing as quickly as my grey hairs!   My GYN confirmed that as a woman enters perimenopause, all sorts of fun things can happen within the body to cause all sorts of fun things to manifest outside on the body!   Doesn't that sound like a day at the park?  NOT.

More tomorrow on what I find out from my doctors in regards to my missing appetite.

In other news, we did it!  We went and joined the Y!

While it was $11 more expensive a month than I thought it would be (our Y back in Saratoga Springs was only $70 a month and I assumed this one would be the same), all of the classes the Y offers are included in that fee, as well as swimming lessons for Gaby, and 12 sessions with a gym trainer per year!!!!  $81 a month seems like so much to our family right now, and it will be for the next 5 years while we're under the watchful eye of a bankruptcy trustee, but I think my health is worth that expenditure, and Gareth insists that we do this.     I think he's a little concerned that in my zealous effort to work out at home, I'm going to end up hurting myself, or as is probably the case, having to replace our carpet because of my "oops" with the colored-water-homemade-hand weights.   Food coloring does not easily come out of white berber carpeting, just a little FYI!

I've also managed to wean myself to half a Coke every other day.    I talked to my doctor about my compulsive need for Coke and he would have leaned towards a sugar addiction if I had the same physical reaction to other sodas, which I don't drink, or juice or other things that are highly sweetened.   However, I don't.  I don't sweeten my iced-tea (gross!), or coffee, and other than fresh-squeezed OJ, we don't drink any other juices.   It's probably more of a psychological issue for me than a physical one, outside of the caffeine-withdrawal headaches.   Plus, I absolutely love the taste of an ice cold Coke.    I've done away with it before, and I will again.   It just takes work.  A lot of work.

Off-the-record (because our health insurance will deny any claim that is coded with anything resembling "obesity treatment" or "diet and nutrition counseling"), my doctor advised me to stick to a low-fat, low-salt, low-processed-sugar diet, and to avoid all processed foods, like I've been trying to, and despite my lack of appetite, to try and get in as much lean protein and high fiber as I can while getting at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day.   I end my treatment for blood clots on December 5th and hopefully things will turn around, and my appetite will return and the tiredness and exhaustion will dissipate.

Hopefully by then I'll not resemble a last-prize-fighter, too!

This and That

Right when I finally have some actual time to myself in order to sit down and write and not feel guilty about taking time away from Gaby, I'm completely unable to string together even the simplest words in order to form sentences into paragraphs which will [hopefully] eventually make a post.

Talk about irony!  I have all the time in the world to write, and am unable to get anything out.

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Miraculously, I survived Gaby's first day of school, then the following week.   Her first day was tough.  When I got home from dropping her off at the bus stop, I cried like a baby.  I walked into her room, was immediately surrounded by various shades of pink from her bedding to her toys to framed art on the walls, and then stepped on a Polly Pocket that she'd tossed on the floor when I let her know it was time to head out to  meet the bus.   I cried out in pain and didn't stop for the longest time.   I woke up, on her bed, cuddled between Geronimo and two of Gaby's Pillow Pets.  I haven't told her that I sorta-kinda snotted all over the unicorn Pillow Pet.  We'll keep that between you and me, OK?   Well, I did wash the Unicorn, but had she known I so much as shed a tear on it, she'd have been grossed out for life!  So, let's keep that mum!

By the way, she loves school!  Loves it!

This week and next at school they're reviewing colors and as a part of that, they're supposed to come to school wearing an item of clothing in the "color of the day."  Today's color was red.

Her smile inspiRED all sorts of happiness in me this morning!

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Here's my PSA (Public Service Announcement) for the month . . .  If you have a varicose vein that suddenly looks very angry, is sore to the touch and the area around it has turned into a huge, hot, red, mess?   Don't ignore it.  PLEASE DON'T IGNORE IT!   Don't be careless, like I was, and wait to find out that it's not just an irritated varicose vein, but two blood clots! 

Good news is that it's treatable and I'm getting it taken care of.  Bad news is that I am unable to fly until the clots are gone, which means putting off my trip to the UK to see Meg and Kennedy, until mid-November.  I was booked and ready to fly out on October the 19th.   Thankfully my ticket can be changed.

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Speaking of Kennedy and amazing smiles that make me happy . . . Can you believe this little pumpkin is going to be two months old on the 21st of this month?  Meg took this photo with her cell phone back on September 10th.  This itty bitty girl already has such a big smile!  I can't wait to go snuggle her!

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The other good news I found out during my doctor visits for Clod and Clem (yes, I've named my blood clots.  Did you expect any less of me?) was that I've lost 11lbs.   Now, that might seem like a big deal, but when you are still 200lbs overweight and on top of that, recently gained 17lbs due to massive dosages of Prednisone - well, it's not such a big deal.   But, I'm still counting it as a win.   I'm taking them wherever I can get them, at this point.   And, I'm off of the Prednisone.  If I can manage my stress levels and keep my eczema flares under control with the topical steroids, I shouldn't have to go back on it! 

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In other news, I'm blonde.  Again.   We all knew it was coming.   Besides, it's the only thing that does a good job of camouflaging all of the grey!  I did it myself.  Well Gareth helped.  He yanked pulled my hair though one of  those goofy looking caps, and I highlighted it from there.  Those caps are definitely meant for women (and I suppose men, too) with much shorter hair than I have. 

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Bankruptcy.  

Ugh.  There. I said it.   I don't feel much better though.    Bank of America has finally, 22 months later, started to move on the foreclosure of the house in Maine.     We were just served with notice that they'd filed suit in court and I guess everything moves pretty fast from here on out.   Yes, we deserve to lose our home because we could not pay for it.   We weren't going to just stay there and live for free, off of the bank, when Gareth lost his job.     Gareth accepted the offer here in New York and we did what we felt was the best thing for our family, we moved.  We were unable to rent the home out, the bank wouldn't approve a short sale and after several false modifications (on their part!), and then telling us they'd accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure and then reneging on that, we gave up. 

So, while foreclosure is what we had coming, it still bothers both Gareth and me a great deal.   However, we didn't want a deficiency judgement hanging over our heads and bankruptcy is the only way to deal with that and the numerous medical bills that have become overwhelming. 

We know we aren't the only ones in this boat, and others tell us that this will enable us to start fresh and move on.    That's cold comfort though when the economy is as bad as it is and we're not sure we'll ever be homeowners again or be "credit worthy" ... ever.

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Weight and See starts in earnest next week (I lost the permission I was recently granted to have my weekly weigh-ins, videoed.  Bummer.  ) and I was wondering what sort of stuff you want to see me document?   My original plan was to post the weigh-in vlogs, 1-3 weekly meal preparation vlogs, video diaries, etc.   There won't be any world-class trainers yelling at me and standing on my back while I do push-ups.   So, I'm not real sure what all I should be including.

I'm still going to be posting more in the Emotional Fat series of posts.  So, those are coming, too.  Parts 4, 5, and 6 are written but I ran them through something called grammarly.com and it turns out that I pretty much suck as a writer.   Once I've corrected all of the hundreds of grammar and myriad other errors that were pointed out, I'll post them.  I suppose this means I am going to have to end my illicit love-affair with commas.  Damn!

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 So, how have you been?  What have you been up to? 

And hey, I've missed you.  Let's not wait so long again, to get together!

 

Because It's Monday, and You Deserve to Laugh!

For those of us with daughters that will be eventually entering "that" age, or those of us who have already had daughters go through this and we can say "been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt!"  And, finally, for all of those dads out there who pray something like this never happens to them!

This is for you!

 

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