My fingers have gone stiff for the first time ever. I hope it's because I've been researching on the computer all day. Oh, please, Lord, let it be that and not the neuropathy! I'm getting shooting pains, too. I need to stop typing soon so this is being posted early tonight.
I spent most of my day at the neurology forum reading about different things, especially supplements. I also got a few replies from the forum's goddess out there so I'm feeling like I have a foundation to begin my road to the most recovery I can get due to the circumstances.
The scary cough with the strange feeling deep in my lungs only started up when I got my first neuropathy flare (are they called flares?) and I didn't notice it until I tried to sleep. I ended up having to prop myself up on pillows to ease the sensation slightly. It's worse when I lie down or when I sit up/stand and actively push the air out of my lungs - that's when it shoots the tingles into my legs.
The cough I have now (which I didn't have yesterday) is from that funky feeling in the bottom of my lungs... This has come BACK after being on antibiotics for two weeks for a sinus infection. Yesterday was my first day off and I felt the beginnings of it. Now it's back full-force and breathing while relaxing into sleep brings it on. I can minimize the feeling by propping myself up to sleep but I'm supposed to keep my back flat due to my AS.
Yesterday I started back on my vitamins/supplements. I added a few more this morning.
I did a Neti pot today. Clogged my ears, but I found out it was because of the angle of my head and too much leaning over. My sinuses still feel surprisingly empty but I'm still detecting some drainage at the back of my throat. I will continue doing it.
I'm trying to be proactive while feeling so scared.
After a good-night's sleep the sensation from my upper thigh to knee was a little better. I thought it would get worse as the day progressed but it didn't come back until my back popped a few minutes ago (the first pop today and at 7:30pm). I really hope and pray this will point the neuro to my pinching back, which could be unpinched to a degree with therapy and traction but eventually fixed with some surgery.
My lower back is aching, too, which may be a good sign I'm getting a little feeling back in that area.
I actually got hungry a few times today and ATE. Had a piece of pizza for breakfast. rat brought me a chicken club sandwich this afternoon and I ate all of it except half of the sourdough bread. I ate a Wendy's side salad a few minutes ago. Didn't need lots of water to get the food down, either. This is a GOOD thing - hopefully I'm getting better. Please let this continue!
Please, let the tests all come in early so they can work me in and I can start getting BETTER!
Update: rat felt my right shoulder-blade earlier today and found a bunch of lumps there. He pushed on some of them and sent tingles down my right arm. It was like the myofascial stuff in my arms.
DAMN! My stretches made me worse! The shooting pain is back in my lower back, legs and feet! It happened when I did the stretch where I lie on my stomach and stretch out the top of my calves by putting a dog leash on one foot and pull it toward my head. This has always felt GOOD in the past!
And I kept feeling like I had a bump on my lower right side of my back close to my tailbone, the same place that has been so bothersome for the past five years.
UPDATE! SHIT! The tingling is going into my bladder/crotch!
I fell asleep in front of the TV last night and woke up with my left eye REALLY dry. I gooped it with OTC topical dry eye stuff and went to bed. I slept well and even dreamed, something I hadn't done in a long time. It was about our 'perfect' house and it was a crazy fun place we had been given, full of funny antiques and a large room that had canopy beds periodically scattered through with cool draperies that had been set up as seating areas as well as places to sleep.
This morning I took B complex, two calcium citrate, and my usual thyroid and high blood pressure. Nibbled on leftover Chipotle but I can't find the desire to eat more.
Then it started at 10:30am - rushing nerve tingling coldness starting in my CHEST and quickly flushing through my body. It happened 2-3 times. We both think it was because it was cold, but I had been huddling under two blankets. I ended up turning on one of the space heaters and stuck my chest close to it to get it really warm. I didn't get the feeling again.
My right leg from the calf down on the right side and around my ankle has the same glove and stocking feeling I have on my right shoulder-blade and across my forehead.
To quote a website - '“Glove and Stocking Sensation” This phrase describes what doctors call a patient’s odd feeling of wearing stockings or gloves or slippers when, in fact, the patient’s hands and feet are completely bare.'
I've joined the Neurotalk forum to look for answers and get support from others. http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/index.php
It has already been very helpful. "The best way I know to test for B12 deficiency is to have blood tests done for methylmalonic acid (MMA) and homocysteine (HCY) before you start taking any B12 supplements." I'm making this note here so I can talk to my neuro about it. Seems a regular B12 test is antiquated and not very accurate.
I need to print this article for my neurologist: http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0301/p979.html
The top of my upper lip is starting to go numb. My lower lip and part of my upper went numb after my oral surgery and the doctor said it was from that. Now I don't know if that was really the case or not.
Ate a piece of pizza and some strawberries for lunch. Ate a piece and a half of pizza and a few strawberries for dinner.
Didn't nap today. Tried to this morning but it didn't happen due to the chest numb rushes.
rat showed me a house he had planned on seeing with the realtor but it's been removed from the market. Seeing it and the good price and hearing it was gone made me stress a tiny bit but I think getting all the sleep I got last night helped keep me calmer.
I've pretty much stayed flat on my back today except when I did a little back stretches on my own with the big ball. Nothing official. I guess I should do my stretches/exercises every night to see if it would help.
My back popped a lot in different places when I moved once and sent pain down through my legs. And now the inside of my right knee is going numb. It also sent shooting half-numb pain into my feet. And now I feel pain on top of my right thigh and a little numbness along the outside of the same thigh.
Just noticed that when I take a deep breath it makes the lower half of my body tingle.
If this is not related to my spine, I don't know what it could be - but it sure is pointing to it by these symptoms. And if that's the case, I may be able to overcome this and get better.
I've broken into tears at various times today, mostly when I feel the tingling creeping up a little farther. I am so fucking frustrated.
Poor rat disappears to another room when he can't handle seeing me like this anymore. He feels so helpless.
Thought my GP could do the bloodwork but they couldn't so I broke down in the office. They comforted me and sent me to a lab close-by. LabCorp made me give them a credit card to insure they'd get paid. How much more stress can I handle? If I had known I was supposed to go to a LAB (thank you for you clarification, neuro!) I would have gone to my usual labwork place.
Driving to work I started yelling. I WILL get better! I WILL not let this get me down! I WILL get back to where I was before!
Took past labwork to the Health Center but they said it was too old (May 09) so I couldn't sign up for Wellness. Talk about a crushing blow. Had to be Sept 09 or earlier. I called and made another bloodwork appt with my GP.
The rippling feeling across my forehead and on both temples kept happening today. A few times it made me dizzy when I stood up or walked along. I was afraid at one point because I thought watching the movements on the computer screen watching anime with the club was doing it to me.
Later, the feeling on the top of my face moved into my jawline, but it's dulled a little now.
My back popped a few times on the right side today.
Forced myself to eat breakfast and lunch. It was SO HARD to choke down the food, even soup. I drank a lot of water during lunch and I still didn't finish all my TV dinner.
Had to deliver some handouts to one of the advisers and an advisor friend was there. I broke down and cried and said what happened. There's free short-term counselling on-campus so I've left a message for one of them (a friend) and maybe I can start getting better. I think I'm going to need official 'head' therapy, though.
My GP's nurse called me to see if I got the test done okay. I told her about the Sept problem with bloodwork so she said she'd call to get the tests ADDED to the blood already drawn. Then the neuro's assistant called to find out when I had done the test. When I said that morning, she knew it hadn't made it to the lab yet so she was going to watch for it. So I guess it was good I used the lab the neuro usually uses...
Thought my toes were doing better since they weren't tingling. Now arches of my feet are falling asleep, which is worse. And I'm worried my toes won't tingle like that ever again.
I'm feeling numbness/tingling in my hips now.
I forced food for dinner. rat brought me some lovely strawberries and a Wendy's salad. I find I need food with a lot of liquid in it to get it down easier. Naturally, I lost a lot of my dinner after choking and gaggin on a calcium pill that got stuck in my throat. I have NO idea what necessary pills I lost with that experience.
I need to exercise tonight, whether I want to or not. I MUST.
I have to overcome this anxiety come hill or high water. I know it's part of the reason why I'm physically sick.
I need to get more sleep. I plan on it this weekend. I will probably fall asleep during various Olympic events during the day.
I have to be constructively stubborn. During the smoke/cleanup/move, I was stubborn the wrong way. I should have slept at my folks house every night to keep my lungs safer. Even while in pain, I should not have taken extra Pred.
I can only hope and pray this is all happening due to my BACK and not other factors AND something can be done for my back to stop the pinching and damage if that's what it is. But if I have to have back surgery I may be out for weeks and weeks and they'll find out they don't need me at the office and I'll be made redundant. I will definitely talk to HR about this if I have to have surgery. Hmm, feeling a little empowered at the moment.
Watched some Olympics while doing my stretches.
I haven't felt the need to sleep yet though I hope to get some good sleep this weekend. I keep waking up at 5am then wanting to go back to sleep at 8am when I need to get ready for work, so hopefully I will be able sleep more Saturday and Sunday so I can start some healing. I know lack of rest doesn't help this at ALL.
I keep apologizing to rat for being so sick and for the potential of losing female functionally forever and I apologize to all of you who keep having to put up with my health logs.
Logging health stuff.
Last night I started feeling a twitchy/nerve 'wash' in my right temple.
It was still there when I had the EMG/NCS done today.
The procedures went fine. She stuck me with a needle for one and gave my arms and legs electrical stimulation for the other.
My feet felt pretty good and did for quite a few hours afterward so I may be able to get a TENS to give myself electrial stimulation to help the pain/tingling.
The neuro commented as she looked at the initial results that I'm worse than she thought but she can't tell me anything definite until the biopsy and the bloodwork get back.
Great - does that mean I'm REALLY fucked up?
Initially she did not like the idea of the vitamins, saying megadoses can be toxic. But I showed her the amounts and she said I could try it for a month. I haven't ordered it yet - still waiting for a reply from the website.
The biopsy area close to my ankle is really annoying - it hurts and stings. I can almost guarantee I'm allergic to the stickum used for the waterproof bandages.
My back has felt much better, which I initially thought was a good thing... until I realized it could be because my back area has now become partially numb like some of the areas on my body already - by my right shoulder and the outer calf of my right leg (where one leg rests when I cross them at work). I'm going to have to closely monitor it myself to see if I start feeling the tingling numbness I currently feel in the above areas.
I called about my back but they couldn't give me any definite answers until all the tests come in. However, the assistant DID say that if the biopsy work comes in earlier, they will try to schedule me earlier than my current two weeks.
Tonight the nerve wash/tingling on my right temple now covers my entire forehead from temple to temple. My temples hurt a little and it feels like it's going into my jaws. I've taken some aspirin and hope it helps some.
I had these weird tinglings in my face back in January and they went away. I can only hope this will happen again.
I had to FORCE myself to eat three meals today. I don't want to eat at ALL. My stomach protests so I force myself to eat.
Tonight the tingle/numb area by my right shoulder HURT. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It still is numb, but it hurts, too.
Hmm... after falling asleep for a few minutes, my right shoulder is not hurting like it was earlier.
I think I need to try to get more sleep, too.
Looks like the aspirin helped my head the tiniest bit.
I'm concerned about taking my Xanax tonight - will it mess with my bloodwork? I really want it (yeah, I can see why they say it's addictive) but I think I'm going to try to sleep without it, just to keep the bloodwork tomorrow as clean as possible.
Note to me: The past few nights, my back has popped when I twist slightly while reaching for something next to me as I'm lying on the floor.
Fasting neuropathy bloodwork first thing tomorrow at my regular doc. His nurse does bloodwork. I hope to get a copy of my prior regular bloodwork tomorrow so I can turn it in to the Health Center, which will allow me to use the campus gym for free.
My mother called me this afternoon, telling me the doctors were telling her to go to the ER because of her back pain. I offered to take her and she immediately started giving me excuses about not being able to get into my car due to her back, said she'd take a pain pill and wait for G to come home to take her, and that she was scared she'd land in a wheelchair and nursing home.
I went over there after work and she told me she had decided to wait to go to the ER until the morning, when she would get 'day doctors'. Huh? G just shook his head. Logic doesn't apply anymore but I did remind him that when you're in pain you can't think straight.
She says she'll go to the ER tomorrow morning after breakfast...
I'm in a rage about how I feel. The apartment complex should be sued for all my health/stress issues but I know I wouldn't win.
Had the biopsy done today and gave the doc a page about my Cybalta apprehension. She said I didn't have to take it since I say I'm not feeling pain, just the annoying tingling.
I can't get the biopsy areas wet for five days. But they say to keep it clean. How do you keep it clean if you can't get it wet? The aide finally said I could use alcohol around the area. So I have 100% waterproof bandages. Naturally, the punctures aren't supposed to bleed but the one on my ankle did a little tonight. Since we haven't gotten everything unpacked, I couldn't find any of my sterile pads and started yelling.
Yelling makes the anxiety better. This is not a good thing since I work and have to deal with people a lot.
Later today the doc office called and rescheduled my EMG for tomorrow. For some reason, it kicked in anxiety. I pretty much yelled at myself - you're not being logical here - this is GOOD! She wants to get this done, it seems so it's GOOD, you idiot.
Maybe my letter about being afraid of the drug made her decide to bump me up a little.
The anxiety continued for a while even after I got home and tried to eat. Ugh. My stomach says it's hungry my my throat rejects the thought.
I am trying something called Tapping. http://www.tapping.com/ Sometimes it helps but I really need to concentrate on doing it right, including where to do it and what to say. The thing is, it's really geared for self-acceptance, which is not my problem. Well, just recently I've dealt with it a little, but a lot of that has to do with the multiple stress and health factors since early December.
I'm going to ask my neuro about WSN® Nerve Support Formula. Anything natural and without side-effects would be welcome right now. http://www.realfoodnutrients.com/neuropathy/home.htm
FYI about Neuropathy:
It makes me thirsty all the time now. I thought the thirst was from the Pred withdrawal.
I didn't realize it, but the occasional eye blurring I've been dealing with for over a year is part of it.
I think the numb place on the right side of my back by my shoulder-blade is due to the neuropathy AND from me sleeping on that side. I found another numb place on my leg where I usually cross my leg at my office desk.
The dramatic weight loss is from this, and started happening before the tingling and pain kicked me in earnest.
My lower back does NOT hurt at the moment, surprisingly.
Until all tests have been completed and the neuro has looked at the results, I don’t want to start taking Cymbalta yet.
Actually, the truth is I refuse to start taking it until the results are in.
I'm reading too much evidence that Cymbalta causes weight gain, diminishes sex drive to nothing and is HELL to get off of once started - and sometimes the withdrawal lasts long after the drug has been taken.
This sounds like the Prednisone hell I just got out of. I don’t EVER want to go through that again.
I am not in much pain at this time. In fact, the tingling feels like when something is coming back ‘alive’ after being asleep. It’s annoying. I don’t need any serious pain management.
I want to know if I have nerve inflammation or damage. If that’s the case, then the inflammation can hopefully be managed without extreme medication choices. What can be done about damage to stop it from progressing?
I am hyper-sensitive to drugs now and Cymbalta scares me shitless. I cannot afford to gain the weight back, especially if the pain I’m currently feeling is minimal and mostly irritating. Most of the people on the different depression boards initially lose a little weight then gain a lot. Many say they gain it around the belly in rolls like multiple spare tires and one said this affected their back, something I canNOT let happen. I am not in enough pain at this time to risk this.
When they start tapering off it, they get brain zaps, dizziness, "floaty" feeling in head, lack of concentration, monster headaches, etc. and mood swings. One person fought this with huge amounts of B Vitamins and Vitamin C, and have flushed her body out with fluids for two weeks but that's the only success story from withdrawal I've found on any of these boards.
What other, more gentle and maybe non-chemical alternatives do I have for this? How about acupuncture or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation?
After the test results come in and if we decide to go ahead with Cymbalta, I'm requestig we do 20mg once a day for a month to see if that works. I want to go slow with this and see if I get the side effects I DON'T want. I am VERY afraid of this and naturally this hasn't helped my already frazzled stress levels.
I do NOT want to be on anything like this permanently. If I get better on this lower dose and it looks like I may not need it anymore, how do I wean myself off this without going through the the worse of the withdrawal symptoms, especially since 20mg is the lowest dose available?
I’ve found a website call the Road Back (http://www.theroadback.org/) and it has info on supplements and ways to taper away from antidepressants.
I've gotten an eBook called Lose the Weight Gain Caused by Antidepressants and it has a list of supplements to take to get rid of the extra weight.
The neurologist looked at my long list of problems, my long list of seemingly unrelated symptoms and said...
I have both small fiber neuropathy and large fiber neuropathy.
Knowing I have a physical condition takes a lot of stress off me. I was almost crying with happiness when she told me she knew what was wrong with me. Again, a female doctor (first Zahabi and now Gupta) has been able to nail my problems after actually READING the massive amounts of materials I provided and LISTENING to me.
Going in for a series of tests and blood work this week and next.
She's also put me on Cymbalta for the shooting pain/tingling in my legs, starting off with a low dose and progressing to larger doses as the weeks continue. I'm not too happy about this but maybe I can stop taking it after a while, when we get this under better control.
I can no longer take the stress of looking for a home, especially since we found a lovely one last Sunday we cannot afford. rat is going to go on the viewings alone and report back to me. He will only show me awesome homes we can actually afford on our limited budget.
I've also told the realtor to stop emailing me and only deal with rat. Honestly, just seeing her emails sends stress through my body and tingling into my legs. Seeing commercials with happy people leaving their pretty homes can put my body into stress.
I have to concentrate on my health first and foremost right now.
On my own I'm trying tapping...
Since I made the list of my past history, I'll post it here for grins
What is already wrong with me:
1. Ankylosing Spondylitis - flares periodically and never predictably 2. Permanent Costochondritis in ribcage - gets better between flares but can go out on its own depending on exercise 3. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - comes and goes depending on how much computer work I do and periodic flares 4. Tardy Ulna Palsy - have to watch leaning on my elbows 5. Myofascial Syndrome in both arms and chest along the ribcage - comes and goes, especially during flares 6. Sciatica on both sides now, but mostly on the left - comes and goes 7. Pinched nerve in left shoulder (got better) 8. Periodic Tendonitis and Bursitis - comes and goes, sometimes with flares, sometimes when just moving 9. Osteoporosis (bones of an 85 yr old) 10. Damaged ACL in left knee (never operated on so it's still tricky) - never know when it will go out from stepping 'wrong' 11. Sjogren's Syndrome - comes and goes 12. TMJ - comes and goes so I have to pop it back 13. Back is curved back more than usual, which compresses my lower disk (had a recent MRI with Sekhavat to prove this) 14. Recurring Bronchitis (if I cough I flare my costochondritis and sometimes my arthritis then I get bronchitis) 15. Recurring sinus problems - coughing is bad for me 16. Fragile lungs due to cigarette smoke poisoning and bug spray poisoning in December 2009 and January 2010 17. On 2/17/10 diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to a series of stressful/traumatic events which began December 6, 2009 and had presumably ended February 1, 2010.
Most of the houses I had ear-marked to see this weekend aren't available anymore...
Realtor showed us one to start and it was okay and I think it was in our price range, but had things we didn't like, like being too small. Great kitchen, though. No closet space.
Naturally, she showed us one we REALLY liked, had lots of updates and closet organizers, had been on the market for over 90 days BUT IT'S OUT OF OUR PRICE RANGE!!! We can't afford $119,500, which is a GREAT DEAL for this home. The realtor keeps saying we can make an offer lower. Does she not understand we DON'T HAVE any MONEY? If we didn't have our current debt we'd be on it and happily. Hell, if we didn't have our current debt we could get a MUCH larger and more expensive house to begin with!
$119,500 is too expensive for us. $115,000 is too expensive for us. $107,000 is getting better but the houses need work or just SUCK in their layouts, closets and lack of bathrooms. Why would any builder build a half-bath in the master bedroom? Well, there are houses out there like that!
I don't know if we would have to have a boarder to pay for part of the monthly price.
This has NOT helped my stress. I just want to curl up and sleep.
But I have to work on all the paperwork, med list and health history for the new neurologist Monday morning.
Got to work today and when the @#$%^& arrived I told him about my other doc appt. He looked at me point-blank (and with a witness) and basically said, "You know the budget is going to be seriously cut and that's all I can say."
WTF? He just threatened to fire me because of my health!
So I'm crying throughout the following:
I thought my back doctor was a neurologist. Nope, a back surgeon, so bye-bye $30 and all I got was him saying I needed to see a neurologist.
Since I'm in the same complex, I drive over to my GP's office to see if I can get a referal for the neurologist I've seen before. They can't find any record, all the way back to 2002.
So I go over to the neurologist's office. I'm not in the system (too long ago), which means I have to start as a new patient. Which means I have to wait a MONTH to see him. So I decide to see his associate. I'll see her MONDAY AFTERNOON.
The various front desk people kept saying - if you're in that much pain, go to ER. If finally said, it would be pointless to go because there's no neurologists there and all they will do is give me pain killers, take the money I can't afford to throw at ER and tell me to go to my regular doctor.
So I went back at work, in pain and half-numb, couldn't eat and waited for my rheumo appt later today. I got my job done.
I decided to report the incident, as well as prior incidents. Have to write them up tonight and turn it in tomorrow.
Con't: I got to my rheum and was in tears again. They took me back into the room immediately. Rheum read both pages and I stumped her. The pain in my back really doesn't match the affected numbness/tingling places. However, lots of my unrelated symptoms point to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She's put me on a very very mild dose of a Valium-like drug (Xanax) to help settle my brain enough to fall asleep. She also thinks I may have a disk problem because of the pain but I won't find out until Monday afternoon.
So I'm to drink lots of Gator-aide to keep my body chemistry in-line and not drink so much water because I'm washing those good parts and such away.
The severe back problems I had during the Pred stuff had nothing to do with it. I have it AGAIN and I didn't sleep last night. When I try to fall to sleep, the pain shoots through my legs and deep breathing sets off the pain in my legs, too. Fetal position (90 degrees) is the only relief. Being half-numb from the waist-down takes out my stomach, too - back to zero appetite and no desire to eat.
While I see the rheumo today, I think a trip to the neurologist needs to happen immediately. I'm calling today.
Sorry, I'm a bit depressed about my terrible credit card debt and how if I didn't have it, we could afford to purchase a nice house and not have to look at cheap houses that I know have foundation problems and will be too small and ugly and without the closet space we're used to having in our current apt.
And since credit card companies are being forced to fix their interest rates, they're all throwing mailings at me about 14.99%, which is STILL TOO HIGH, you fuckers! The govt should have said no more than 4.99%, damn-it!
So I can't figure out a way to dig out of the hole. New credit card offers are from companies I already deal with and the rates pretty much suck. Doing debt consolidation will put a black mark on my credit rating, which will mess with our house loan pre-approval. rat and I talked about maybe doing it anyway, both of us, and then try for a house again after we're free and clear in three or so years. We'd miss the $8000 incentive and I'm afraid the house prices will go up and be yet again out of our price range.
Sorry, I'll get over this depression eventually. I always do.
I know part of this has to do with everything being in-the-air at the moment. We haven't unpacked because we don't know if we will still be living here in six months. I can't find anything if others packed it. We have labeled boxes but those are the ones I did. I don't have access to any of my books, manga or even dvds - everything is packed. I have no idea where my alternate tennis shoes are.
I had to see someone else since my doc was on vacation. She also suggested a Netty Pot since this seems to happen every winter. I purchased the squeeze bottle type but haven't tried it yet. Also got antibiotics and more prescription cough syrup.
HAVE to make it to work tomorrow.
I also have my rheumo appt. tomorrow. I had to write up all the CRAP I went through health-wise in Jan so she would know what my body has been doing to me.
Some kind of flu hit me first thing this morning - dizzy, sick to stomach, cold sweats, fever, runny nose, sneezing, VERY bad cough, blah blah. I stayed home and in some ways I feel worse tonight. It's like I have a flu, a cold, sinus problems and an arthritis flare on top of everything. VERY achy. The coughing is killing my chest and making me wretch again when I try to swallow anything. It's like I'm in a smoky place again, but there's no smoke.
And now the floor with the cushions is bothering me, which is NOT good since that's what we use as our bed at the moment, too.
Can't eat anything. Couldn't even finish a half a bowl of soup, which is the only food I've had today. Gatorade doesn't count.
I have VERY old prescription cough syrup I just put my tongue to the top bottle hole and take the tiniest bit into my mouth via that hole ring. (Sorry, hard to describe but I don't feel well at the moment). That seems to finally helping the cough, since the over-the-counter cough pills stopped working.
Debating on trying to get a doc appointment tomorrow and see if he'll can give me some serious antibiotics and cough med to kill this thing.
I just can't seem to get healthy again.
Back to the Olympics, though the Vicodin cough syrup keeps making me fall asleep but poorly.
Snowing in North Texas. I've already taken some vids and will get more at work today. Hopefully they will shut the place down early so we can all go home and enjoy the snow.
The blessings we received last Saturday were massive, amazing and overwhelming in their bountiful gifts. I thank and praise God for these people. I won’t be able to keep everything in order of ‘appearance’ so please forgive me. I’m also not going to do any lj name links since it’s a pain to put them in and this has taken too long to write.
If I missed someone, I’m really sorry, but I’ve done the best I can with my faulty memory. I suspect more people showed up while I was resting so please let me know if you helped and I will gladly add you and THANK YOU for being there and helping us.
~~~~
As soon as I woke up, my good laptop was attacked by the malware trojan that disables Malwarebytes and throws porno and Viagra web pages up while it says I have all these problems. I freaked because I was trying to organize the nice people coming to help us, but then I realized I had a Win98 laptop I could use and got that up and running.
The first thing Saturday morning at 9am, alicechan and her mom and sister showed up and immediately tackled moving the kitchen’s contents from one apt to the next. They have repacked the cabinets even better than how I had! Then they cleaned the kitchen counters and cabinets in the old place beautifully. They were kitchen powerhouses. THANK YOU!
G, my ex-boss and friend, showed up and helped pull the kitchen together for a while, then used her power drill to take down all our metal wall shelving in two rooms. THANK YOU!
mel-mel-chan and sqish showed up after doing their morning errands and bringing FRESH HOT BREAD, and started doing their amazing job, as always (one or both came by to help every night that week!), and since they had helped pack things they were able to direct traffic, too. THANK YOU!
Kyrenea arrived and organized the hall closet move, since she had prep-stacked it, and got my hat racks off the wall and right back on the corresponding wall in the new place. I suspect she did MUCH more but I just didn’t witness it. Plus, she has orchestrated the redistribution of many of my hoarded items. THANK YOU!
Axeonos and her computer wizard husband J arrived (with brownies) and she sicced him on the malware while she did moving and cleaning. He was finally able to get it clean and it took until the next day to cycle through everything to get it completely up and running again. J also gave us some great advise about cheap apt air-conditioners and other housing things, like how we DIDN’T have Black Mold but the mold that was black under the sink was a TX mold that is very common here. THANK YOU!
Iris, keriko and grax arrived and boxes from the bedroom started moving in earnest, They lifted large heavy boxes of books with ease – I was flabbergasted. Then iris and keriko attacked the bedroom with serious cleaning while grax continued to carry things over to the storage room. THANK YOU!
dark_skada and BJ arrived and the manly men started the serious moving the rest of the boxes, furniture, etc. BJ is now our designated amazing handyman who took down the curtains we knew would be thrown away and put them up in our windows since the new place didn’t have them. He got the medicine cabinet up for us. He hooked up the washer/dryer for us. I know he did a lot of other things on Saturday, too. Skada had helped me do some organizing earlier that week so she kept people working when I was flagging. THANK YOU!
Chry arrived with a dolly and a great vacuum I didn’t get a chance to look at but it was bagless and was sucking up lots of crap. She also did some of the spackling with the spackle Keriko brought along. THANK YOU!
richila arrived with her husband and son in tow and the guys jumped in to move boxes/stuff while richila got my bathroom all organized and reshelved/redrawered. THANK YOU!
realroymustang arrived with sugar cookies in time for pizza lunch. She went off to do some work and she didn’t get any pizza but we fed her later that evening. THANK YOU!
Kyrenea had to leave but her husband D showed up right after she left and helped move and pack and stuff. THANK YOU!
We ordered five $10 large pizzas – two all meats, one supreme, one six-cheese and one veggie and they were fell upon and gobbled up by everyone. We should have ordered more – sorry, everyone! But we had called out and people had said that should be enough. I feel bad we didn’t FILL our workers up with food.
G said she counted 17 people at that time.
At some point Dreamz arrived to help and I saw him working on a lot of the wiring in rat’s computer area. rat says he helped pack up his bathroom, too. THANK YOU!
Finally I had to lie down and they pretty much hustled me off to rat and I’s ‘nest’ (sofa cushions made into a bed on the floor) in the new apartment and made me stay there and rest. Richila sat with me and held my hand as I wept with joy over all the love and help we were receiving. THANK YOU!
skada took over much of the organizing. I think mel and squish did, too, but I wasn’t around to witness much of the afternoon work. THANK YOU!
Lissmiss and her hubby J showed up in the afternoon while I was in bed being kept still and she brought me a doll to cuddle, then went off to do stuff. I don’t really know everything she did but I know J helped BJ hang the cranky curtain rods. THANK YOU!
By the end of the day, we were pretty much moved in, THANKS to these WONDERFUL people.
We are TRULY BLESSED by all of you – THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING, for your LOVE, your SUPPORT, your STRENGTH.
Teresa (the one with the hot pink hair streaks) is my ex-boss's (and still co-worker and good friend) daughter. I met her a couple of years ago when she was in town visiting. She's worked/danced/choreographed with/for Miley, Britney and others. She's a member of the all-women crew, The Beat Freaks, who came in second in this year's America's Best Dance Crew.
The move is done and I am TRULY BLESSED by God with the people who helped me pack last week and the sheer mass of friends who showed up Saturday and Sunday to help us move and clean.
I will pass out my blessings to individuals later when I can get it written up. It's a long and extensive piece of writing to compose.
~~~~~~~~~~
Currently my laptop is still acting up though the malware seems to be gone now.
Thanks: --> to Lia, my sensei, who has inspired me to draw again. I
wouldn't be doing this without your support, Domo Arigato!
--> to Talon, for sending me her fabulous fics, inspiring me with her writing to draw my first
illustration for a story and actually liking what I drew.
--> to Dasia, for her words of encouragement when drawing her original chara.
--> to Joules, a wonderful epic fic writer, for liking my art enough to want to post them with Talon's
and her own stories.
--> to Lutra, the other half of the epic team, for being so supportive.
--> to Jacque' & Becca Raddittzu, we met on eBay as bidder and sellers and now we are face-to-face
friends. You showed us the real DBZ with your fansubs. It's all your fault the house is full of
doujinshi! *LOL*
:: welcome to bakayaro onna's mindless ramblings, rants & raves :: 
