The First ER visit of my 30s

First off, I had an awesome birthday. And an awesome time Saturday at the #SLCTweetup. Sunday was a tough day.

The morning started out in a wheezing coughing fit. I went to urgent care as soon as they opened. After a quick exam, a listen to my lungs, chest x-ray, and review of my health history, the doctor diagnosed me with "bronchitis with reactive airway inflammation." He gave me some narcotic cough syrup for the cough, and Advair to restart my maintenance asthma regimen. I spent the day in bed, coughing and wheezing. It felt like my chest was on fire.In the early evening, Taylor and I were laying down and talking. To ease my shortness of breath, I took another puff of Albuterol, which set me off in a coughing fit. After coughing so hard that I couldn't control bodily functions, my breathing was sporadic enough that Taylor hauled me off to the ER. 15 minutes later, I stumbled into the Mountain View Hospital ER waiting room, with feet numb from lack of oxygen. The ER staff pulled themselves from the Super Bowl, plopped me into a wheelchair, bypassed triage, and took me to bed. They helped me peel off my clothes, dressed me in a gown, and started my examination. My pulse-ox was at 91 and I had a fever of 102.5*. Within 45 minutes, chest x-rays and nasal cultures were done, breathing treatments and steroids administered, and I was finally feeling some relief. They confirmed that my illness was not caused by influenza or H1N1, and concurred with the earlier diagnosis of bronchitis. They gave me a prescription for Z-pak, and told me to get lots of rest. I was in and out in 2 hours. That's the way an ER visit should be.

Sounds dramatic? To be honest, I'm used to all the lung drama. I've mentioned my "organ recital" of medical history in a previous post. I've talked about how I got pneumonia after an accidental spray paint inhalation. I've talked about how I was "poisoned" at work from inhaling an industrial strength aerosol chemical. If something you can breathe in exists that can make you sick, I'm susceptible to it. This nasty Utah inversion air? Makes me sick. When I say I'm dealing with "SOB," I mean shortness of breath.
I've had asthma since I was 11. I have sleep apnea. I've seen pulmonologists in 4 states. I have tried most of the inhalers on the following chart:
But as I went through my old posts, I realized that I never blogged about my biggest lung condition of all, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. ARDS is a life-threatening lung condition that prevents enough oxygen from getting into the blood, typically resulting from trauma or sepsis. I survived it after three weeks on a ventilator. Would anyone like to hear my story?

Dental Drama and PT Pain

The past few days have been somewhat miserable for me. Anyone who's read my blog for a while knows that I've had a ridiculous about of dental work and other tooth woes: crowns, root canals, periodontal work, the Cerec fiasco, etc. Last week I went to a new dentist, who informed me that two recent crowns would have to be replaced due to shoddy work, and one would need an implant. He also suggested to crown a molar that had an old gigantic amalam filling. I was bummed that I needed to have so much recent (expensive) work replaced, but I'm kinda used to it.

On Sunday night, after returning from my quick trip to Florida, my upper left gums and molars started throbbing. I was in an immense amount of pain, and I had no idea why (because all of the work scheduled was on my right side). Through the night, I used Orajel, Lortab, and many ice packs to try to take down the pain level. Between 2 am and 8 am, I only dozed off a few times because I hurt so bad. Despite my perpetually sore back, that pain had NOTHING on my jaw.

I called the dentist's office as soon as they opened, and they got me in a few hours later. After a round of x-rays, he informed me that I had 4 abscessed teeth, with infection permeating both my upper and lower jaw. The two worst teeth were ones that had ceramic crowns, so he drilled them and did two pulpotomies. He handed me a prescription for Amoxicillin and told me to come back on Thursday to complete the root canals. He hoped that the other infected teeth would improve with the antibiotics, and would not require invasive treatment.

Over the past three days, I've been miserable. Not only was I dealing with the dental drama, I had a little mishap at physical therapy on my back. I finished an hour of electrostim and traction, and as I sat up, my hip popped about 3 cm out of place. My physical therapist did some manipulation and nearly and hour of electrical ultrasound to get me to the point I could walk. I still feel like a disconnected insect. Or a bowlegged cowboy.

Luckily, Taylor was home for a few days to take care of me. He replenished my ice packs, made sure I took my meds on time, prepared soft foods and offered general support and entertainment till he had to fly back to Memphis yesterday. Just before heading up to SLC to drop him off at the airport, I started getting a fever and body aches. By the time I dropped him off, my fever was up to 103*. My face was so hot, I felt like I could fry an egg on it. Something tells me the Amoxicillin wasn't strong enough.

I have my appointment for the root canals this morning, right after the office opens. I have a sneaking suspicion that they will postpone the root canals, and send me straight to Urgent Care.

Healthcare Rant: When Quality Care Goes Wrong

As I've been dealing with many difficult health issues this past year, the U.S. healthcare reform debate has fallen below the Nicole radar. It surprises me that I've avoided it, as my career is in healthcare administration. I know it's an important time in my field, but seven months of unemployment have kept me out of the trenches. Despite a very concerted effort, I have not been able to find work in my field. Although I have skills that would be portable to many other fields, I don't want to give up what I love. I believe that quality care should be available to all people, regardless of their ability to pay. While it's true that many healthcare organizations offer charitable care to the needy, it seems like many people in need fall through the cracks.

I am currently insured through my husband's employer on a plan with Cigna. The plan provides excellent benefits at a low cost for in-network providers. I am extremely lucky to have $5-10 copays, and very reasonable coinsurance. Unfortunately, the Cigna network has been fairly limited in both the Atlanta and Wasatch Front areas. In Atlanta, I couldn't use Emory facilities in network (while working for Emory, and promoting their Campaign Emory fundraising). In Utah, 90% of Intermountain Healthcare facilities are out-of-network for Cigna. This is frustrating to me, as I'm a previous 4.5-year employee of Intermountain. I believe in their Mission, Vision, and Values, and want to support them with my healthcare dollar.

My previous positions with Intermountain were as an assistant to a medical director at LDS Hospital, and as a Patient Service Rep in Accounts Receivable Management. I have also worked for City of Hope Cancer Center, Prime Healthcare Services, and University of Michigan Medical Center. I have experience in customer service, billing, coding, transcription, Joint Commission an AOA accreditation, physician credentialing, training, research, and have processed countless financial assistance applications. I have participated in executive-level hospital management meetings. Although I am not an expert by any means, I can confidently say that I am qualified to have an educated opinion on what works in healthcare, and when healthcare goes wrong.

Case in point: My daughter Rosie has been sick for a few weeks with kidney problems. My otherwise lively child has been mopey and lethargic, and complains of pain daily. On Christmas night, Rosie was very sick and begged me to take her to the hospital. We left our family holiday party an drove to the IHC Provo Instacare (which is in-network with Cigna). I advised the Instacare registrar that I had submitted a financial assistance application to the Lake Park and Creek Plaza billing offices a few weeks prior, and was unable to pay a copay. The Instacare flat out refused to see her without a copay...so I ran out to the car, grabbed a Christmas card, and paid her copay with the Christmas cash I got from my grandma. And what happened then? They took her blood, scanned over the results, and told us to go across the parking lot to the Utah Valley Regional Center Emergency Room immediately (which we later found out was out-of-network).

The ER registrar was a little nicer, especially when I brought along the copy of my recently-completed financial assistance application. We sat in the ER waiting room for over an hour, and spent a few more hours in the ER room 9 (which had a broken recliner, and no other chair available). After 4 hours, they said her urinalysis showed that she had inflammatory cystitis. If the Instacare would have taken 5 extra minutes to take her urine, she could have gotten on antibiotics and saved us a 4-hour ER visit and copay.

When we arrived at Instacare, it was a few minutes before they were closing at 9 pm. They happily took us back to the room, but pushed us back out the door in 5 minutes.My question is: "If they were going to send her to the ER, why did they take my gift money to pay a copay for a "visit" that didn't really end up being a VISIT?" Luckily these visits happened before the end of the year, because we'd already met our deductible. Had this happened a week later, we would have been slammed with deductible fees.

A few days later, Rosie had another ER visit. Her symptoms had worsened, she had a high fever, and I drove her back to the UVRMC ER (still not knowing it was out-of-network). The doctor wasn't sure why she was in so much pain and guessed that she had kidney stones or appendicitis. He ordered an abdominal CT scan to see if the problem was GI or urinary. After 3 more hours of sitting on room 9's broken recliner, we found out that her scan was fine. Rosie got a pain pill, some "orange pee" pills, and a stronger antibiotic. Since then, we've been following up with a non-IHC pediatric urologist and she's doing much better.

I was going to just sweep this experience under the carpet, but then earlier this week I received several IHC financial assistance rejection letters. Besides the recent hospital visits, I had some outstanding bills from all of my sleep apnea visits. Apparently we are slightly over the National Income Poverty Guidelines (remember my husband is a struggling regional airline pilot?) Despite our unmanageable debt from student loans and my 7 months of unemployment, we do not qualify. When I called the billing offices to get more information, I was told that our income was slightly too high, and our balances were not high enough for them to make an exception. Gee thanks.

I know I'm not the only person to have an experience like this. After going through it personally, it has really lit my fire to get back into a position where I can help avoid situations like this. I'm going to keep working on my medical coding certification, which I've been working on from home to keep myself busy while looking for work. It's time to make my voice heard. I've been in both hospital management, and also at the receiving end of a "charity" denial. I hereby recommit my effort to apply for all the positions I am qualified for. I need to be a part of my field again.

Not a pain in the neck, more like a pain in the butt!

Two weeks ago, I was shoveling snow in my driveway. We'd gotten about 11 inches of snow, and had let it sit for a day. Once I picked up a scarf, hat, gloves and some snow boots from DI, I went to work clearing a path for my car in the driveway. After about 45 minutes, I mightily thrust my shovel into a section of snow that was actually rock hard ice. The shovel didn't move from the point of impact, but I wrenched my back in the process. Ironically, this happened while my husband was in the warm house playing XBOX.

I've been pretty miserable since, utilizing ice packs, heat, and lots of Motrin. A few days ago I decided to try shoveling again, and my back flared up even more. I happened to find out that my neighbor is a physical therapist, and he evaluated me. It appears I have a "bulging L4-L5" with "S1 dysfunction." He poked and prodded me while ordering me into uncomfortable positions, gave me a lengthy list of exercises, and forbade me from shoveling snow, loading a dishwasher, vacuuming, or any other rotating repetitive movement for 4-6 weeks.

So....how should I bribe a Deacon to shovel my driveway for the next 6 weeks?

Momentum

Three weeks ago, Taylor and I signed up for a gym membership. My health's been better recently and I'm feeling motivated to lose weight again (especially looking at myself in all those London pictures). In the past 11 days, I've had 7 cardio workouts. I started out barely being able to hang on for 25 minutes, now I can make it through 40 minutes. I haven't done much weight training yet, but I'll incorporate it fairly soon. I got a freebie session with a personal trainer and went over some suggested exercises, and did a health profile. I've been feeling more energetic, my clothes fit a little better and am motivated to stick with this.

Despite the newfound motivation, I'm frustrated. I stepped on the scale and I've gained 7 pounds in two weeks. Everyone gives me the "gaining muscle mass" excuse (which I think is partially true) but it's still disappointing. On the whole, my eating has been really healthy; lean meats, fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc. I've splurged a few times, like cupcakes and sweet potato fries, but my portions have been MUCH smaller than the last few months. I hope I'll be able to take off weight (or at least not gain anymore) as the holidays (and holiday food) will be present for the rest of the year.

Didgeridoo for Sleep Apnea???

Ever heard of a didgeridoo? I read a very crazy news article from Reuters this weekend that talked about how regular didgeridoo playing can help with sleep apnea:



Regular didgeridoo playing reduces snoring and daytime sleepiness, finds a study published by the British Medical Journal. Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome are common sleep disorders caused by the collapse of the upper airways.

Reports of didgeridoo players experiencing reduced daytime sleepiness and snoring after practicing, led experts in Switzerland to test the theory that training of the upper airways by didgeridoo playing can improve these disorders. They identified 25 patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and who complained about snoring. Patients were randomly allocated to an intervention group (didgeridoo lessons and daily practice at home for four months) or a control group (remained on a waiting list for lessons). Compared with the control group, daytime sleepiness and apnea scores improved significantly in the didgeridoo group. Partners of patients in the didgeridoo group also reported much less sleep disturbance.

The authors conclude that regular training of the upper airways by didgeridoo playing reduces daytime sleepiness and snoring in people with moderate obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and also improves the sleep quality of partners.

I'm sure some of you are sick of reading about the sleep problems that I've had for so many years, but how could I not share this bizarre nugget of medical research? I've been using the CPAP machine for the last 5 nights, and so far haven't had much relief for my daytime sleepiness. According to my sleep tech friend Lori, it'll be at least two weeks before I have a real marked difference in my sleep/wake cycle. I am dedicated to finding a way to finally have restful sleep, and I wonder if I'd have any luck with the didge. Course, I'm not sure I'd want to invest in the very strange instrument without renting one first, and I have no idea where I'd rent a didgeridoo. Maybe I could join an Australian Club, or hang out at the Australian Consulate's office. What do you think, does this seem like craziness, or do you thing there's something to it? One thing's for sure, I could totally pull off the Aboriginal hair...after a night of the CPAP headgear, my hair look like a banchee!

Sleepin' Sexxxy

I met with Dr. I today to discuss the results of my last sleep study. He said my daytime sleepiness is caused by sleep apnea, pure and simple. No narcolepsy, just obstructive sleep apnea. When I had the nose mask on a low airflow (6) I had about 10 disturbances per hour with snoring. When I had a full face mask on medium airflow (9) I had only 2 disturbances over several hours with no snoring. He said if I stick with this mask with a chinstrap, I should have marked improvement in a few weeks. So now I get to put on this lovely mask along with my bedtime attire. Sexy, eh?

Please pass the Benadryl

Allergy season is here...and I'm broken out in hives. At least the dogwood trees that are in bloom are beautiful. After five years of allergy shots in Utah, I'm a little disappointed that it's already so bad for me. I am told that Atlanta will shortly have a green layer of pollen all over everything. Joy.

Diagnosis Confirmed

Disclaimer: I am not a hypochondriac. I am an informed employee in a health-related profession.

Have you ever had something wrong with your health, which you absolutely knew, but your doctor wouldn’t take the time to listen to all of your symptoms? And you saw multiple doctors over an extended length of time, which never went beyond the obvious symptoms and only gave you the easy answer?

Yesterday I met with a doctor who really listened. He spent a focused 25 minute on my personal and family health history and symptoms, and confirmed a diagnosis I was certain I had for nearly 6 years. He agreed that the class of drugs I’d been treated with for 13 years was not working, and apologized that I hadn’t been prescribed something different sooner. He handed me a script for a drug that sounds like something an archeologist would discover, and asked me to come back in three weeks. I have a less common variation of the condition, but it does require the same treatment. I feel some amount of peace knowing my body well enough to not accept the status quo diagnosis.

I’m not sure I’m comfortable publicly publishing what health condition I have (I know…me being secretive?!?). I will say that the doc expects the medication to help my sleep quality significantly, without any sedative or stimulant effects. It’s not life threatening nor contagious, so have no fear! I’ll get through this, will a little help from my pills.

Sleep Study Number Five

I'm just finishing up packing for my overnight sleep study over at Piedmont Hospital Sleep Lab. This will be my fourth overnight sleep study since 2004, and fifth if you include my daytime multiple sleep latency nap test. I'm deciding on what comfortable, yet accessible pajamas I can wear so the sleep lab tech doesn't see too much (yes, there are cameras in the room and someone watches you sleep all night. Almost voyeuristic). It's time to figure out how to fix my sleep apnea and daytime hypersomnia. Is anyone interested in a silly photo narrative of what it's like to be the patient in a sleep lab?

Organ Recital

This is an actual picture of my chest x-ray today

At age 7, I started seeing a dermatologist for eczema

At age 11, I was diagnosed with asthma

At age 16, I had my first ulcer

At age 19, I was hospitalized for a kidney infection

At age 20, I gave birth to my daughter. During that hospital stay, I was exposed to e. Coli in the hospital, went septic, and into ARDS. I was on a ventilator in the ICU for 3 weeks. At the end of the hospital stay, I developed a blood clot in my arm (from fingertip to armpit) and went on anticoagulation therapy for 6 months

At age 21, I had my first migraine and started immunotherapy for allergies

At age 23, I was diagnosed with hypersomnia and sleep apnea

At age 28, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome

And I've basically been overweight since birth, despite numerous dedicated attempts to reduce my weight

Today I went to my new pulomonary/sleep specialist. I have been having terrible sleep luck since October. Usually, I miraculously get by with only 4-6 hours of sleep per night, typically interrupted. I can only recall a handful of times I've gotten more than 7 hours of continuous sleep in 4 months. I've been snoring like a lumberjack, much to my poor husband's dismay. I've also been feeling sick for a week, and was told on Sunday at Urgent Care that it was "just a cold." I've been huffing my inhaler every few hours for a couple of days, and it was a stroke of luck to get into a pulmonologist so quickly.

I did my H&P wth the PA, did a pulmonary function test, had two chest x-rays, and met with "Dr Eye" (his last name starts with "I" but I can't remember his actual name). He said that I've got a pretty advanced case of bronchitis, and he was surprised that I was still working with it this bad. He reviewed my old sleep records, suggested that I resume CPAP therapy, and scheduled me for another overnight sleep study. He also strongly urged me to look into some surgical options to improve my overall health.

Oftentimes, I've wondered if my body was the major trial I was given in this life.

Weight Loss Blog

I decided to pick up the posting again on my private weight loss blog that I started almost a year ago. The funny thing is that I weigh about the same as I did when I started the blog in February, even though I've been up at least 12 pounds higher, and down 9 pounds lower than my current weight. I'm a total yo-yo-er. If you are really my friend, or really want to be part of my support system, email me or leave a comment with your email to become part of my support network.

This means you must comment and show me the love. My husband is gone all the time, and day-to-day encouragement is needed.

Inhalation Hazard

It was inevitable. Every hospital I've ever worked at, I've been a patient at. I thought I'd be getting off easy with a freebie at U of M Hospital, but I proved my precedent correct yesterday.

I was feeling a bit exhausted from Sunday's roadtrip, but otherwise with no illness symptoms. Right after lunch, I went into the tiny closet restroom across from my office, and was floored with a terrible smell. I really needed to relieve myself, so I thought I'd quickly finish and leave. Upon the throne, my eyes, throat, skin, and lungs started burning. My skin started to blotch up. I looked up in the air, and saw little particulates dancing around. I became lightheaded and dizzily fell off. Someone had used the industrial strength disinfectant spray (for cleaning bathroom surfaces) as an AIR FRESHENER, and sprayed it all through the air.

This chemical spray, which should only be used in a WELL VENTILATED AREA...not a little closet bathroom whose fan turns off with the light. And it wasn't like a little shot of potpourri spray, it was full-on 80's AquaNet-like sprayage. It was as potent as oven cleaner. There's a demon sprayer in my department (I still haven't figured out who) and I've left notes before to please be considerate when using this CLEANER to "freshen". I'm pretty sure I hit the brunt for a very recent spray. For some reason, the environmental services team leaves this aerosol in the department at all time, just because it's kinda far-flung from the rest of the public restrooms in the building. I started using those far-flung multi-stall public restrooms, but I didn't yesterday. I learned my lesson.

I immediately sent an email to Safety Management services, who advised me to go immediately to Employee Health. They said they'd send out an "environmental industrial hygienist" to check out the ventilation in the room. My favorite coworker walked me to the Med Inn and waited for me to be evaluated. Employee health checked my vitals, gave me a puff of Ventolin, and had me rest in the lobby for 15 minutes. Still felt shortness of breath, chest tightness, and eye stinging. They suggested that I be evaluated in the ER. So they wheeled me down, I waited an hour to be triaged, another 45 minutes for chest xrays, and finally 3 hours after the exposure got the breathing treatment.

The morning after, I still feel yucky. My eyes still sting, my breathing is slightly labored, and I really don't feel like working. However, I've got a dentist appointment this morning that I have to get out of bed for. They'll be checking the tooth abscess from the root canal and see if it's healed enough to do the crown prep. Haven't I been through enough already?!?

Summertime Slump

I've been feeling like I've been in a summertime slump lately. I consistently feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and guilty for not keeping up on my normal obligations. My sleep has been horrible, feeling less rested after 9 hours sleep than when I first got into bed. I even tried using my CPAP machine again (for indefinitely diagnosed sleep apnea) but ended up with a horrible swollen and pus-filled boil on the bridge of my nose. I have been eating more healthily and exercising more consistently, usually 2-4 times a week. I've even lost 12 of the 25 pounds I gained since moving to Michigan. But I don't feel healthy.

I miss having a large network of friends to make plans with on the weekends. The few friends we do have here usually decline our invitations. My next door neighbor and I have become friends, but she's moving across Plymouth next weekend, so I'm going to lose the only person who feels comfortable dropping in and spending time with no notice. I'm so spent by the time I get home from work that I'm probably not much fun to be around. Having an anorexic bank account is tough too.

So, faithful blog readers...what can I do to get out of this slump?

A progressively better week

Thank you for all of your well wishes this week. I've been in a lot of pain, and generally under the weather, but I'm sooo much better than Sunday. I have another ultrasound in a week to determine the size and changes in the cyst. Hopefully it won't require surgery.

Here's a few pictures from this week:

Here's my sweet Rosie. She's been a good helper this week.

This is my favorite car in Michigan. It typically sits dormant in the apartment parking lot, around the corner from us. It's rusted beyond belief, the trunk bottom has rotted out and the spare tire is almost touching the ground at this point. The whole car is full of junk...fast food wrappers, magazines, dirty clothes. It just sits there in an auto cocoon. Ah yeah!

This week was Administrative Professionals Day. I was overwhelmed with generosity from my coworkers. The doctors gave me that beautiful lavender plant and a $20 Panera Bread gift card. The thoracic research specialist gave me the other plant. The nurses and PA's gave me some cute serving dishes and prepared a really nice lunch. It's nice to be recognized for all the hard work I put in during the year...and this place really took good care of me.

This is me smiling at my desk.

Michigan is finally in bloom. The popcorn trees are blooming, the tulips and daffodils are bursting into reds and yellows. We've had a solid week of 70 degree plus temperatures. Unfortunately, it's going to cool down again tomorrow, and we might get another snowfall. I'm hoping to drive to Holland, MI next weekend for the tulip festival. Anyone want to carpool?

My first trip to a Michigan ER...

Sunday morning I woke up in crazy amounts of pain in my left shoulder, chest, and neck. I couldn't reposition myself in bed where I wasn't in pain. I had light pain in my lower abdomen, but it was the chest pain that was agonizing. Knowing the warning signs of AMI (acute myocardial infaction aka heart attack) Taylor rushed me over to St. Mary's in Livonia.

After two EKG's, an IV, shots of dilaudid and toradol, two chest X-rays, an ultrasound, and five hours...I was diagnosed with an 8-cm hemorrhagic ovarian cyst that had ruptured. Apparently the fluid from the cyst was irritating some nerves that go into my upper body, which is called referred pain. Unfortunately, all of the pressure from the ultrasound made the actual ovary hurt even more, with more fluid leakage. I've been on vicodin and bedrest since I got home. I hope to feel well enough to go to work tomorrow, but for now I'm laying in bed. I've got a follow-up appointment with my primary care doctor this afternoon...hopefully I can muster up the energy to shower before then.

In a Pickle

Today was my second day in my department. The person training me only sat with me for one day, and today I was on my own. I booked a few surgeries, did some misc scheduling for my surgeon, took some online training modules, got my pager, attended a class, and some of my other job duties too boring to mention. I think I'll like the position. As long as I can handle the parking situation, I'll be sticking around UofM for a while. I purchased a yellow parking pass, which is supposed to be the closest lot to the hospital...almost walking distance if you have enough time. Yesterday I drove around for almost a half hour looking for parking. I ended up down the road at the orange lot, and took the shuttle over to the hospital and was 15 minutes late on my first day. I was worried about being late, but everyone expected it and laughed it off when I walked in totally flustered.

The funniest thing of the day was the gift that my new boss gave me...a pickle. She just got back from Disneyworld and Epcot, and gave me a shiny green pickle Christmas ornament. Apparently, pickles are a German Christmas tradition. A pickle would be hidden somewhere in the boughs of the tree, and the first child to find the pickle would get an extra gift from St. Nick for being so observant. Not sure how that translates to my new position, but my new cubicle is graced with a decorative pickle.

I'm still not better from the illness fiasco I've been dealing with for 3 weeks now. I finished up two rounds of antibiotics, but I think the infections aren't gone yet. My throat still is swollen, my ears and eyes hurt, and my sinuses are tender and stuffy. I've been coming home from work and crashing on the bed to recover from these long workdays. At least I'm not sick like my friend Erin, who at 23 years of age came down with the chicken pox this week. My teeth are also still hurting like mad. I've been having these frightening, recurring dreams that all my teeth fall out while I'm giving a public speaking address. I've been brushing with Sensodyne again, but the nerve pain lingers. I opted for my insurance benefits and dental plan today, and pretty soon I'll have the info to find out what dentist I can see. Until then, it's Motrin every 4 hours for me.

Circuit City Crud, The California Conundrum, and the Sh'injury

Taylor's new car (which we haven't yet named, but Taylor is leaning toward the Green Goblin, and I'm leaning toward Romulus) was purchased with a very, very lame stereo. We knew that we'd need to replace it soon, because the 2002 stock stereo was literally on it's last shorted out wire. We decided to take advantage of the President's Day sales to buy a replacement stereo and an alarm. We price shopped online, and decided on an Ipod-ready Pioneer CD player at Circuit City. We weren't sure about what time they opened, so after a quick breakfast at Leo's, we arrived at CC at 10:00.

We went straight back to the auto accessories area, and found what we liked within 2 minutes. We had to go around to several departments to ask for help...and finally 15 minutes later we had a rep from the TVs department. She politely looked up what we wanted on the computer and wrote it down, but said the auto rep wouldn't be in until 11:00. So Taylor and I decided that since the weather was bad, and we didn't have other plans...we'd just look around for 45 minutes. At 11, a rep from home electronics came over and said the auto guy wouldn't be in until noon, but he would look up what dash kit and harnesses we needed. He reassured us that the installation was included with both the alarm and stereo...no extra charge. The adjustment was made for the stereo okay...but then the installation came up at $80 for a $69 alarm. We were planning on around $220 for all the parts and labor, but that install fee...plus a few more parts added another $140. I had a coupon, and we also haggled down the stereo to the circuitcity.com price, and swiped the card for $312.

Unfortunately, this guy said that one part was not in stock, so we'd have to drive up to Novi (13 miles away) to pick it up, and drive it back. He gave us some shoddy directions (like incorrect freeway names and wrong exit number) and said it would be there waiting for us. We already had movie tickets (and originally hoped to have the car done after the movie), so we didn't get to Novi until about 2:00. The customer service rep at the Novi store kinda laughed us off...saying that there were 30 parts in stock at the Westland store...and said there was no reason we needed to drive to Novi. But they called Westland to double check twice, and sent us back with a very generic, universal part that we could have picked up at Radio Shack next door.

We got back to Westland CC at 3:00, had a nasty slip on the ice, and talked with the auto audio install guy. I explained what we'd been through in the morning, how we'd driven to Novi for naught, and how the guy that actually rung us up for the transaction PROMISED the installation to be done by 7:30 PM, which is when Taylor needed to leave for the airport for his high-speed. We looked over the items we'd been rung up for...and said there was still another $20 part we needed. He let us buy it for cost, $7. We double-checked that the car would be done on time, and he said it would be no problem because we were the only install on the list for the day.

So Taylor and I went home, spent time with Rosie, iced and elevated my swollen leg, got some dinner, and arrived back at CC at 7:30. The auto guy half-heartedly apologized, saying he was the only one working, and it was his day off, and he'd been swamped. He said he was 99% sure he'd have the car done by closing time at 9:30!!! Taylor left for the airport, and Rosie and I camped out on the floor of Circuit City for the next hour and a half. We saw auto-guy talking on his cell-phone, taking several smoke breaks, leaving the install area, and generally NOT focusing on our car. I fell asleep on the floor of the store, and he shook me awake at 9:05 PM, just over 11 hours after originally arriving at the store.

So through this strenuous ordeal, we still had to pay over $100 more than the cost that it appeared to be on the website. We were shown poor customer service with 5 of the 6 employees we'd worked with in 11 hours at 2 stores. But the good news is...Taylor's car now has a nice stereo and alarm system.

So now I'm laying on my bed, blogging about my President's Day, with my leg elevated with an ice pack. I can walk, but it really hurts. I've been planning a trip to California this week, to see a Nathan McEuen show, go to Disneyland with Grant and Hollie, spend time with Lizzie and my in-laws, and enjoy the sunshine. But after trying to list on 6 oversold flights, the only flight I'm sure I can get is the one that arrives at LAX at 10 pm tomorrow. I'll miss Nathan's show, and it puts me into a weird, really expensive rental car time slot. Is it worth the hassle for paying $150 for 4 days of rental car, part of a day at Disneyland, and for babysitters each night I'm gone?

And that is my Circuit City crud, the California Conundrum, and the Sh'injury. Thoughts?

Which is worse?

Is it worse to have tonsilloliths or actually know what they are and how to remove them?

It looks like a trip to the doctor is in order. My right tonsil is swollen, my glands are swollen, my ears hurt, and my nose won't stop running. At first I though it was just allergies, but I'm fearing that I'm coming down with my third case of tonsillitis this year. I'm pretty sure I've got an ear infection too.

Sorry this blog has been abandoned for a few weeks. I haven't had much to say. I'm still not sure about the if/when details of a Detroit move. I haven't had any bursts of creativity or amazingly fun activities to descriptively dissect. I've seen Taylor twice this month, and both visits were lovely.

Maybe if I stay home sick, I'll give a more detailed blog.