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Aug. 20th, 2015 10:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThe Cancer Center folks finally got around to giving my mammogram report this morning. I had the mammogram on the 5th, so there's really no reason for it to have taken so long except that they didn't want to give it to me, possibly out of fear that I'd panic or something. The mass is small. Well, it's bigger than I like, but it's small as such things go, and the tissue around it that may be involved isn't really all that much either. Also, although the thing feels well defined when I push on it, it's apparently not particularly, nor is it symmetrical.
I emailed Cordelia's principal and one of the 7th grade teachers (I couldn't remember the other teacher's name) last night to tell them what's going on. I wanted to make sure that, if this affects Cordelia's behavior (and it may not), they have some context. I also wanted to find out exactly what bureaucratic hoops we'll have to jump through for her to be able to ride the school bus for a few days while she stays with her best friend's family. I know that, for a single occasion, she needs a parental note co-signed by a teacher (any teacher) and someone in the office. I'm hoping it's not as complicated as needing a new note for each ride to school and each ride home. It doesn't make sense to me that it would be.
I'm going to email my primary care doctor and explain to her what's going on with these headaches. I'm pretty sure that the problem is that the headaches have multiple components (tension/anxiety, sinus, migraine, poor sleep) and that I need to address all of the components in order to get rid of the headache. Unfortunately, the tension/anxiety component is going to recur pretty constantly for a while, possibly for weeks. My psychiatrist only wants me using Ativan two or three times a week, so Ativan is not the answer. I have a terrible history with valium in that it cranks up my anxiety considerably, and really, it's unlikely that anybody's going to want me to be taking valium for weeks on end. I will let my primary care doctor coordinate with my psychiatrist and the cancer center people to figure out what to do.
My own suggestion for addressing the tension component is likely to be two or three wine coolers a day, but I suspect that none of the medical folks will like that in spite of me having no history of substance abuse and twenty five years of knowing what I can handle with regard to alcohol. I don't enjoy being drunk and haven't indulged to that point since I was an undergraduate. I'm not keen on self-medicating with alcohol, but it may actually be the least addictive option and have the least potential side effects. It shouldn't interact badly with any of my other medications, either.
I slept fairly well for the first part of last night. The key was a cold pack directly under the back of my neck. I replaced it in the middle of the night, but the replacement was a different brand and wasn't shaped in quite as useful a configuration. I seem to be waking frequently and to be having the sorts of dreams where I'm aware of my body and of what it's doing with itself, even to the point of being able to decide to move in minor ways. That last is common for me when I'm injured or otherwise in pain.
Only one person from our biweekly game group was able to come last night. The three of us played Sentinels of the Multiverse. The villain was Deadline, and the settings was the something or another of the Endlings (which, by coincidence, turned out to be where Deadline came from). I played Tempest, Scott played Skyscraper, and the other guy played a magic user whose name I can't remember. It actually turned out that we had a good group for facing Deadline. None of us fell below twelve hit points, not even the magic user who fueled effects by taking damage. It helped a lot that two of us had a fair number of cards that could get rid of ongoings.
I did some link finding yesterday, mostly after Scott got home, when the headache wasn't as bad. I took an Ativan, too, but even that didn't seem to help. I think I got through 1/4 to 1/3 of what I needed to. I'm hoping to do more today, but it will depend heavily on how bad my headache gets as the day goes on.
I tried to get Cordelia to deliver her paperwork to the school yesterday. At first, she just refused. A couple of hours later, she said she would but that she wanted to go over to the school first to make sure that she could actually get in. After that, she'd come back for the paperwork. I pointed out that it's three sheets of paper, not exactly a huge burden to carry home again if, for some reason, she couldn't get in. We ended up putting things off until today. I'll have to make her go soon.
I emailed Cordelia's principal and one of the 7th grade teachers (I couldn't remember the other teacher's name) last night to tell them what's going on. I wanted to make sure that, if this affects Cordelia's behavior (and it may not), they have some context. I also wanted to find out exactly what bureaucratic hoops we'll have to jump through for her to be able to ride the school bus for a few days while she stays with her best friend's family. I know that, for a single occasion, she needs a parental note co-signed by a teacher (any teacher) and someone in the office. I'm hoping it's not as complicated as needing a new note for each ride to school and each ride home. It doesn't make sense to me that it would be.
I'm going to email my primary care doctor and explain to her what's going on with these headaches. I'm pretty sure that the problem is that the headaches have multiple components (tension/anxiety, sinus, migraine, poor sleep) and that I need to address all of the components in order to get rid of the headache. Unfortunately, the tension/anxiety component is going to recur pretty constantly for a while, possibly for weeks. My psychiatrist only wants me using Ativan two or three times a week, so Ativan is not the answer. I have a terrible history with valium in that it cranks up my anxiety considerably, and really, it's unlikely that anybody's going to want me to be taking valium for weeks on end. I will let my primary care doctor coordinate with my psychiatrist and the cancer center people to figure out what to do.
My own suggestion for addressing the tension component is likely to be two or three wine coolers a day, but I suspect that none of the medical folks will like that in spite of me having no history of substance abuse and twenty five years of knowing what I can handle with regard to alcohol. I don't enjoy being drunk and haven't indulged to that point since I was an undergraduate. I'm not keen on self-medicating with alcohol, but it may actually be the least addictive option and have the least potential side effects. It shouldn't interact badly with any of my other medications, either.
I slept fairly well for the first part of last night. The key was a cold pack directly under the back of my neck. I replaced it in the middle of the night, but the replacement was a different brand and wasn't shaped in quite as useful a configuration. I seem to be waking frequently and to be having the sorts of dreams where I'm aware of my body and of what it's doing with itself, even to the point of being able to decide to move in minor ways. That last is common for me when I'm injured or otherwise in pain.
Only one person from our biweekly game group was able to come last night. The three of us played Sentinels of the Multiverse. The villain was Deadline, and the settings was the something or another of the Endlings (which, by coincidence, turned out to be where Deadline came from). I played Tempest, Scott played Skyscraper, and the other guy played a magic user whose name I can't remember. It actually turned out that we had a good group for facing Deadline. None of us fell below twelve hit points, not even the magic user who fueled effects by taking damage. It helped a lot that two of us had a fair number of cards that could get rid of ongoings.
I did some link finding yesterday, mostly after Scott got home, when the headache wasn't as bad. I took an Ativan, too, but even that didn't seem to help. I think I got through 1/4 to 1/3 of what I needed to. I'm hoping to do more today, but it will depend heavily on how bad my headache gets as the day goes on.
I tried to get Cordelia to deliver her paperwork to the school yesterday. At first, she just refused. A couple of hours later, she said she would but that she wanted to go over to the school first to make sure that she could actually get in. After that, she'd come back for the paperwork. I pointed out that it's three sheets of paper, not exactly a huge burden to carry home again if, for some reason, she couldn't get in. We ended up putting things off until today. I'll have to make her go soon.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-21 04:45 am (UTC)