Okay, Life. It's On, Like Donkey Kong.

I go an allergist today. I'm coming up on 32. I'm tired of being on a constant diet of some sort of over the counter allergy medication. I know I have hay fever, I know grass and I don't really get along, and I know I'm allergic to cats. All I care about is finding a better relief solution.

So, first appointment and all, they do the "prick test." I came up positive, to no one's surprise *rimshot*

Anyway, after the nurse took down the readings, I asked what came up, out of curiosity.

"Grass, ragweed, cat, and dog."

Wha, whoa, wait, rewind, hold the phone, what was that last one?

Dog.

The animal, that with very little exception, I've lived with all my life. The animal that my parents apparently didn't know I was allergic to, although they did know about the cats.

This is my mind. This is my mind blown. Life threw me a nasty 12-6 curveball, and I waved at it like a little leaguer.

Surgery.

So, I said I wouldn't talk about my mom much, especially heavy stuff, after my other post. I feel this is an exception.

In that post I mentioned that she should probably have a permanent catheter at this point. Well, this Thursday the 21st she's having surgery to have exactly that.

Now, I forget the name of the procedure...I have the paperwork in my car. But the idea is that...they use some piece of her own body as the evacuation point for her bladder, to decrease infection from the foreign catheter. This piece of her own tissue (I forget what exactly they use) is then actually led out of her body at a point off to the side of her torso, where a bag is then kept attached (I guess by a strap) to her body. The bladder then empties that way, instead of through her now ruined urethra.

This is a somewhat new, but not cutting edge, procedure. So, do me a favor. If you pray, go ahead and do that, or if you're like me and that's not your bag, send some good vibes. I expect it to go fine (I think it's considered out patient, which is always a good sign for "not that serious") but weird things have happened to my family in surgery (like my grandmother, another story for another day). I'll be there at the hospital until she's out and fully awake on Thursday. I'll briefly fill you guys in on Friday.

On Back Pain

So, those that check out the Twitter feed to the left (used to be right) might know that I've been having an issue with back pain when I wake up in the morning. I had a completely unrelated doctor's appointment this morning, and since it's been two months of this, I brought it up, mentioning that I hadn't mentioned it at our last meeting a month ago because I was trying different things to see if it wasn't something stupid I was doing.

Well, he gave me a once over and we went back to talking about the main reason why I was there. After a few minutes I inquired about my back, and what if anything, did he feel. I think I half insulted him when I threw out a "even though it's not your specialty" but that was kind of a hint to him that I thought maybe I should be referred to a chiro. He reminded me in his gentle way that he studied anatomy at one of the best medical schools in Italy, so I apologized for possibly insulting him. He dismissed it, basically saying I didn't insult him but rather that it would be fairly easy for him to determine if something was really amiss. He then told me that my problems were basically because "you're overweight, stressed out a lot, and don't know how to properly exercise."

Well, thanks Doc. Your mama dresses you funny.

I mean, I already knew I was overweight. I've been overweight in some capacity since I was 21. I had actually gotten my heaviest about 3 months ago...but I had actually lost almost 10 pounds when the pain started. And I've also been stressed out for most of my adult life...

So why the hell did my back decide two months ago that enough was enough and that I'd wake up every morning tight as hell and barely able to move?

So he put me on to trying out yoga. Which I'll do, to humor him, however, a part of me is annoyed that he made the call himself...I mean, if this really is a symptom of a larger problem, while the yoga won't hurt me (I could stand to get core strengthened anyway), it could be an unnecessary delay...kind of like when I went to get diagnosed with sleep apnea. He was almost too thorough, sending me through a rash of different tests before I was recommended for a sleep study. I'm kinda afraid it'll be the same thing all over again.

But who knows, maybe after a few yoga sessions and it'll go away. We'll see. It'd be a real shame to lose my faith in the one doctor I've found faith in since my pediatrician.