Answers tomorrow?

I've had a rough weekend. I felt terrible on Saturday. Slept most of the day. I managed to walk down the hill to get the mail. That was about the extent of my activity for the day. I had a headache the entire day on top of the fatigue and dizziness. I also went the entire day without caffeine.

About 1:30 in the morning I woke up not feeling well at all, which is unusual for me. I normally sleep very well. I felt somewhat nauseous and almost feverish. The inside of my head hurt feeling like it was buzzing. I suddenly broke out in a horrible sweat. My entire body hurt as if it were on fire. I was cold and hot at the same time. I seriously got very scared. It felt as if my consciousness was starting to fade. I laid on the cold floor praying and willing the pain to go away. At first I wanted to call out to Joni but didn't want to scare her. After several minutes I felt myself returning back to normal. I stood and was soaked in sweat and was shivering.

Joni was out in the Living Room watching TV. I walked about and just stood there, still feeling a little out of it. She looked up at me and said, "we are going to the hospital." She said I was completely white. We argued back and forth for a while about going to the hospital. Even though I was scared I knew I was getting better and the drama of rushing to the hospital would just set me off again. Eventually we both settled down enough to go back to bed. Joni watched me for a while making sure I was okay.

Today I felt pretty good overall. Bad headache still and, of course, dizzy. But feeling much better than yesterday.

So, I'm not sure what's going to happen tomorrow. But I need some answers!

MRI on Monday!

Went to see Lynn Burtane today, my nurse practitioner. I had made out a list of my symptoms and handed them to her:

• Dizziness (light head) and fatigue. I feel flush although temp is normal. Head feels hot to the touch. Occasional headaches along with dizziness. I have noticed it seems better in the evening. Started in July, 2008.
• Face, lips and ears feel tingly.
• Slight pressure in the head and eyes with periodic blurred vision.
• Starting mid November my left hand fingers started feeling tingly and then numb. It spread through entire hand. Come and goes but there is a constant pain in the palm of my left hand.
• Intermittent and random “hot spots” on my skin.
• Sporadic jerky eye movements.
• Electric jolt in my right hand now and then.
• Periodic confusion. Not so bad that I don’t know where I am but enough to concern me.

We both agreed that the next step should be an MRI. I called the insurance company right then on my cell phone and got right through. I handed the phone to Lynn and she got the pre-approval for the MRI (with and without contrast). Apparently they run you through the machine once. Then they inject you with radioactive syrup and run you through again. Sounds FUN!

Part of me is really hoping they don't find anything. But another big part of me is really hoping they do. So I'm happy either way!!!

Sick Blog!

I am tranforming my travel blog into a sick blog (hopefully temporarily). I am starting to realize that whatever "sickness" I'm dealing with is more than just a food allergy or sinus infection. My symptoms are getting more serious and scarier. I'm not playing the doomed card but I'm thinking I need to really address this and try to get on top of it...whatever it may be.

I have a couple calls into the doctor to try to schedule an MRI. First message was left last week. Another this morning. Still no call back. UPDATE: Appointment for tomorrow at 1:15. I'm really dreading talking to the doctor/nurse because I am going to have to ask them for a big favor. My insurance company requires pre-approval for an MRI. The only way to do this is have a doctor/nurse call a 1-800 number and sit on hold for up to an hour. RIGHT! What doctor/nurse has that much time? I went through this before trying to get pre-approval for the CT scan. It was a major pain in the ass.

Also, my deductible starts over at the beginning of the year so I would REALLY like to get this done before then so I don't have to start all over again without reaching my deductible.

More ranting, raving, bitching and complaining coming soon!

Seattle, cont.

Spent Sunday and Mondy night at the Roosevelt. It's an older, very nice hotel downtown Seattle. Best of all it's just a couple blocks away from the office. Very convenient. I ended up ordering in room service Sunday night and hitting the hay early. I got up early and headed for the office. Grabbed some hot chocolate and a danish on the way.

Things at the office went well. Got our cheap version of videoconferencing up and running. Joel and Pam had their evaluations with Greg via the webcam. We are getting Hi-tech! I met the new folks in Seattle. It's strange realizing I've been with the company longer than everyone there except one person.

Well, I'm thinking more and more my dizziness crap is related to food. I ate well staying with Tasha and Donal and felt pretty good. I pigged out on my own and feel like crap. Although I did eat at my favorite Indian restaurant, Pablos (mango shake...yummy!) That is such great food. I LOVE curry!

I called Donal later in the afternoon to see what they were up to. Tasha had a busy night so they were just going to hang. I felt like a movie so walked down the block and caught Role Models. It's actually not too bad. I ate a HUGE bag of popcorn and gigantic diet coke ($13). Went straight back to the room and ordered in again.

Got up, had another big meal for breakfast and headed to the airport. The guy on the shuttle asked where I was going. I told him Missoula. He'd never been but remembered hearing about the Testicle Festival on the travel channel. He thought Rocky Mountain oysters looked good but thought by eating them it would mess with his sexuality. FUNNY!

So just sitting at the airport waiting for my flight. Chatting with my friend from NY. He invited me to come over next year to help out in his bobybuilding show. I'm trying to talk him into paying for the airfare.

Seattle!

I headed to Seattle for some work and some play. I got up early Saturday morning, about 4:30 AM. Direct flight from Missoula to Seattle, so I arrived in Seattle about 7:30 AM. It was a quick, uncomplicated flight yet the airlines managed to lose my luggage for about one hour. I picked up the rental car and went straight to the office and did some work for a few hours. I then headed to my favorite cousin's house, Tasha and Donal (and Realta, of course).

Donal baked some Irish bread while we visited with his friend and Realta's Godfather, Roger, and his little girl, Gracie. Nice guy original from Ireland. Tasha cooked a great dinner for us. She actually knows her way around a kitchen...who knew?

Both Donal and Tasha look great. They have both lost a lot of weight. Donal has been suffering with dizziness too and having a hell of a time trying to diagnose it, etc. It's so freaky. It's like a dizzy epidemic. It seems like so many people are fighting it lately. He has cut almost all salt out of his diet and the pounds have been melting off. Hmmmm...might have to try that.

Aunt Joyce called while I was at their house and got to chat with her for a few minutes. It was good to talk with her.

My dizziness is still there. I felt pretty good today. I'm using the Seattle trip as an experiment to see if it disappears away from Missoula/house, etc. But doesn't seem to, which is good news maybe.

We watched my Europe DVD and watched slideshows of their trip to Ireland and Venice. I'd love to travel with them someday. I reinstalled Windows on Realta's laptop. She's a great kid. I'm glad I got a chance to interact with her more this trip. I ripped a few DVDs of theirs. I showed Donal how to download using torrent. Spread the Pirate!!!

Tasha, Donal and I got up about 8:00. After a huge breakfast by Donal, we headed off for a hike. We ended up hiking up to Wallace Falls. It was about a 5 1/2 miles round trip with some fairly steep terrain. But we made good time and had a lot of fun. See Donal speaking gibberish at the falls. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=46620400

I was invited to stay overnight again at Tasha and Donals but thought it would be easier to stay at the Roosevelt Hotel, across the street from the office. I need to get up early and get to the office.