Good news from the world of medicine

• Visited doctor today. He says it looks like I’m healing up fine and to basically just use the Prilosec OTC as needed, if needed, going forward, but to know that it takes around 3 days for it to start working. He said if I just need immediate relief, something like Pepcid might be a better solution.
• Today’s experimental food was pizza for lunch. It was not the best pizza in the world, but it was a good test, with lots of cheese and a greasy crust. All seems to be well with the tummy (and all the subsequent parts).
• Got call back from my NP at the gyn office. My test results from the pap and repeat HPV test came back. The HPV is all gone (as expected), but the pap did come back abnormal, so they’re going to biopsy my cervix as well as look at it under a microscope. Ouch! That won’t be fun, but better safe than sorry, right? Also, she said that quite often, the abnormal cells tend to get absorbed or re-built by the body anyways, and even if not initially, the biopsy process can help trigger the body to do it. Nonetheless, it’s important to get it checked out, because if it is something nasty, the early knowledge is better.

Edited to add: Did you know that having sex 24 hours prior to a pap can cause the pap to be abnormal? DH and I had gone at it like bunnies the night before. That’s probably all this is. I can’t believe that in 14+ years of seeing a gynecologist/NP and getting annual paps, NONE of them ever told me that I should avoid sex 24 hours beforehand. When you get a blood test that requires fasting, they warn you not to eat. Why in the world would they not warn you about this? So, I’m saying it here, as a PSA.

Amazon’s Amazing Customer Service – Kindle Edition

Last week, my Kindle died. The screen looks broken somehow. It has a big blank spot, and I can see the text refreshing around the blank area, but the blank area is blank. We don’t know what happened to it. Thanks to my hospital visit (and the “no electronics” policy) and subsequent dead-tiredness, I hadn’t used it in awhile.

I looked up the Kindle warranty service number and made the call. After a quick hold message that gave me a Spanish option, I was put through to an agent. He was exceptionally friendly, didn’t give me any guff, and basically after going through some troubleshooting steps (some of which I hadn’t thought of), he agreed that the Kindle was kaput. So, he said they’d be sending me an e-mail with a printable UPS return label as well as a new Kindle. My new Kindle would arrive on Tuesday. This was on Saturday. Yes, that’s right…2 day turnaround for a warranty-fresh Kindle. There was no hold placed on my credit card. And, as mentioned, the agent was exceptionally friendly. He even commiserated with me about how tough it must be to live without my Kindle, even for a few days (it was!).

Well, the new Kindle arrived yesterday (even faster than promised), but the return label still hadn’t shown up in my e-mail. I call them up, and once again, I get a super-friendly and congenial agent who almost seems delighted to talk to me. He asked friendly questions about my e-mail address and about the weather in Gurnee (while pulling up my account, but he did it so smoothly that it didn’t feel like he was killing time). He then stayed on the phone with me so that as soon as he sent the label, we could make sure it arrived. Furthermore, he apologized for the inconvenience and thanked me for giving them a call to check on it.

I deal with a lot of crappy customer service lines. (AT&T’s DSL support is topping the list right now, but that’s another story. Reference also this saga with EA.) Amazon’s support for this was not just good, it was stellar. The whole process was so pleasant that I was barely bothered that I was calling back.

As longtime readers know, I’ve been a solid Amazon loyalist for quite awhile. This just gave me yet another reason to love them and preach their awesomeness.

Debate Mad Lib

Credit goes to Greg for creating my version and to de stijl for creating the template.

I understand what Americans are going through. Why, just last week I met [Marcus], a struggling [bank teller] in [Fargo]. [Marcus] was desperately concerned about being able to afford [A1 Steak Sauce], and who could blame them? What with the latest news about [the economy], not to mention the situation in [France], many people like [Marcus] toss and turn at night.

My opponent thinks that spending money on [Medicare] will solve all your problems. But it wouldn’t help [Marcus], and it wouldn’t help [Regina], a single parent of [73] kids in [San Jose]. [Regina] despairs that the children are learning about [Mythbusters] when they’re supposed to be learning about [math], and that when it comes time for them to graduate, they won’t be qualified to go to college or to seek work as [porn stars]. And in the meantime, the bills for the kids’ [flowers] are skyrocketing.

I understand the problems on Main Street and [Oak] Street. I understand the crushing problems facing [Marcus] and [Regina], and the problems facing you and your family. And just like [Winnie], a young child bravely fighting [Ebola], asked me to do when I toured the Children’s Hospital in [Indianapolis], making sure that this nation is strong, looking out for working families, and tackling [War] will be among my top priorities when I am elected President.

Silver lining

I keep getting new “friends” on LJ who are Russian. I wouldn’t mind this if these folks would be so kind as to drop a comment or something saying why they’re friending me. They don’t, though, and there’s nothing I can read on their LJs to let me know what led them to me. I remember when LJ was invite only, and this sort of thing didn’t happen.

But, I’m getting exposed to all sorts of fun soft-core Russian porn. Like this, this, and this. Those LJs also have some interesting artsy pieces, too…which really makes me wonder what their purpose is, who they are, and why they friended me.

Improv Everywhere in Chicago!

If you’re in the area, join us at the MP3 experiment in Chicago!

Dreams

Suggestive but mostly work-safe content after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Dreams’

Threaded Comments

By the way, I’ve installed a threaded comment plugin for the site, as it was driving me crazy to not be able to reply to people. It was written by someone who does not speak English as their first language, so you may notice some grammatical oddities in the e-mails you get, if you opt to get e-mails with replies. I’ll get around to fixing the e-mails eventually; it’s a low priority task.

Happy Night

OMG, what a difference a good bout of sleep makes!

I have not been sleeping very well, despite my wedge pillow and despite being exhausted. I went upstairs last night at 11:30pm. My DH was at the casino; as I’m now thoroughly mobile and mostly off of the vicoprofen, I gave him the night off. (He brought me groceries on his lunch break so that I could eat. Of all the things I thought to do before I went in for surgery, grocery shopping was not one of them.) I started arranging the pillows and experimenting to find a good position that might let me sleep better. You see, the problem is that I’m a side and stomach sleeper, and I can’t sleep on my side or stomach right now because it hurts. I end up sleeping on my back restlessly and unhappily. Well, I pulled off all the pillows and just put myself on the wedge pillow, and that seemed good…but then my arms were not comfortable (as they hang off of the wedge pillow), so I bolstered them with pillows, and that seemed good. Keep in mind that each of these experiments required me getting up out of bed, re-arranging, getting back in bed…so every time I got it wrong, I had to move around and it hurt…mostly because I’m impatient and not willing to go as slow as would be needed to avoid hurting. While I’ve figured out a good fast way to get up from the couch (with the assistance of the TV tray rack), I have not found a good way to get out of our elevated bed, short of the slither method previously discussed.

After making my good pillow arrangement, I curled up in bed and eventually dozed off. For some reason, Sarah Palin was haunting me while I tried to sleep. Bitch. But I did eventually sleep…until about 3am. I woke up at 3am and my back and neck were drenched in sweat. I guess the wedge pillow by itself is either overinsulating or is not absorbent or something, as the room was very cool. That felt gross, so I had to get up. I didn’t want to go back to sleep on the wet wedge pillow, so I started trying to find other ways to sleep. I tried just laying flat on my back, but that hurt. I tried both sides (again), but that hurt. Finally, I decided to give up and go downstairs, as I know that I can sleep somewhat comfortably on my back on the couch (with my head propped on a pillow on the couch arm). I’d be sleeping on the couch all the time, but the separation between the chair parts makes my back hurt after awhile.

I took some vicoprofen, deciding being painfree was needed at this point more than being off of it. I got two blankets, one to put under me and the comfy blanket to put over me. I closed up all the window shades and set up two bed pillows on the couch in the right position. Somewhere around there, I realized that there were lights on that I had not left on, which meant Scott was probably home. Sure enough, I called down into the basement, and he answered. I guess one bonus of a restless night is that I get to see my dear husband. He came upstairs, as he was restless, and we briefly discussed the possibility of sex (something we often do to try to get to sleep, solo or duet), but there’s no way I could manage it without hurting right now. Instead, I laid down on the couch, and he sat at the other end and rubbed my feet and legs while he talked to me about political craziness (to get it off his mind). Eventually, he was settled down enough to go upstairs, and I was beginning to doze.

But, that’s not the best part. The best part is that just after he went upstairs, I was still having trouble getting comfortable, and I decided to try laying on my non-punctured side, facing the couch back. And voila! A comfortable sleeping position! The couch has a poofy pillowed part that I kind of embraced and leaned against, which put the requisite pressure on my belly to keep it from stretching and thus hurting. I put a couch pillow between my legs to help straighten my back out, and I was out like a light. I slept and drooled happily until about a half hour ago, albeit with a brief waking break when DH left for work, to kiss him goodbye and tell him about my dreams.

Dreaming was another thing I’d missed. I’d been so restless that I wasn’t dreaming, at least not that I could remember. These dreams were particularly interesting, too, but I’ll save that for a separate post. For now, just know that I’m feeling MUCH better this morning thanks to an almost full night of sleep.

Flowers and more!

I got packages yesterday! Specifically, I got a box of a dozen mini-cheesecakes from my MIL and FIL. I also got a flower arrangement with teddy and balloon from my parents. Thank you, moms, dads, and toms!

(On the left are the flowers that my DH got for me upon arrival. In the center is a card from Cousin S. (DH’s side of the family). On the right are the flowers from my parents.)

And if you click the link just below this, you can see a small picture of my punctured belly. It’s not gross; I’m including it mainly because it’s amazing how tiny the cuts are when you think about it. As for status, I’m doing fine. I spent most of today without internet access. It just came back about ten minutes ago, so I’m catching up on e-mail and world happenings.

Continue reading ‘Flowers and more!’

Poop of Joy

I pooped! Yeah, I know…potential TMI and whatnot, but when pooping is your main way to know that your digestive system is intact and happy with the changes that have occurred, it’s a joyous thing. First post-surgery poop happened just a little while ago, and I’m thus excited.

I had trouble sleeping through the night. I’m not drugged enough to be exhausted anymore, and I’m not sleeping in my preferred position. DH was kind enough to go fetch me a wedge pillow so that I could sleep sitting up a little (which is the most comfortable position for me right now). So, that part was good and helped…but I kept having to fight the urge to roll over on my belly (as I normally sleep). I made an attempt to sleep on the non-punctured side this morning, but it wasn’t comfortable.

I also was waking up at roughly the intervals that they woke me up at the hospital, so I’m sure there’s some kind of habit there. Slithering out of bed is an adventure in itself. I found the best way is to get as close to the edge of the bed as possible, then slide my legs over to the floor, and slip out of bed such that I basically slide out into a squat. Then, I use the wall to help myself into a standing position and go from there. That seems to minimize the amount of ab work. It does stretch me at one point that is ouchy, but I just try to make that part go by quickly.

DH is back at work today. I’ve created a nest here on the sofa on the first floor. I have computer, Kindle, blanket, Wii controller (and Super Mario Galaxy as well as Lost Winds available to me), water, and my phone. I’ll probably alternate between dozing and other things.

Oh, and getting up from the couch is also an adventure. The procedure is to scoot over to the non-reclined area, then perform a similar sliding maneuver to the bed-exit strategy.