Bein' Haved

Well, I'm still alive and kicking. Just barely. My head hasn't exploded yet. The Man checks my blood pressure about four or five times a day, and it's been high a couple of times, but 140ish high, not scary high. Most of the time it's been fine. I have an appointment to get an MRI next week, and then I go back to the doctor the week after that. So I'm off work for two weeks. An unexpected vacation. I'm under strict orders from The Man to do nothing. So I'm stuck on the couch all day, reading books and surfing the web. The tragedy never ends.

For the first time I have a rainbow collection of pills I have to take spread out all through the day. Pain pills, muscle relaxers, high blood pressure pills. All kinds of pills. I knew I was cool when I had to take a pill to counteract a side effect of one of the other pressure pills. When I get hot, I break out in red bumps like I'm covered in chicken pox. I've blogged about that before. One of my pills makes that worse. I decided to pamper myself with a nice hot bubble bath today and ended up looking like a dalmatian. What was I thinking.

I'm trying to keep upbeat about this whole pinched nerve thing. This is like unexpected research for the sequel to Sassafras. I haven't gotten that far here, but Joan gets shot and never fully recovers. She ends up with nerve damage in her right side. She can't lift her arm above her head, her hand is weak and her fingers are numb. Pretty much like me, except it's my left side, not my right, and I can lift my arm no problem, but the weakness and numbness is definitely there. It's strange being able to move my fingers, but they feel like they're asleep. Just lifting a large glass of water with my left hand hurts, but it's a weird, numb pain. Like I know I might drop it if I'm not careful. At least it's better now. Monday my whole hand was numb, even my forearm felt funny. In the sequel, Joan's trying to be a trouper about the whole thing, but Rick feels guilty and tries to be Superman to take care of her, whether she wants him to or not. Pretty much like real life. The Man is pampering me to within an inch of my life.

It's a good feeling.