Slacking again

I know.  I'm not sure if I'll ever be a good blogger.  I get sidetracked.  A lot.

Sorry again.

Quick medical update:

1.  I don't have a sleep disorder.  I'm young enough to overcome my sleep stage obstacles.  Taking care of the allergies first seems to be working wonders.
2.  No sign of MS.  Niiiice.  This is a good one :)
3.  I supposedly have Meniere's disease.  I'm not sure if this is right or not.  I'd say I fit half of the criteria, but not all.  I'm getting a second opinion.  The reason for this:  The first ENT diagnosed me from across the room.  No vestibular maneuvers, no nystagmus check, nothing.  Since I am a collector of facts (mostly from the internet), I know he didn't diagnose me properly ;)  Ah yes.  Wikipedia is full of SOUND medical facts.. hehe.
4.  I'm crazy...  for loving youuuuuu..  I love Patsy Cline.

I think that's it.

I had a lovely time at a sing tonight.  Now it's off to sleep and then work in the morning.  Mondays are my favourite.

Wanna know what else is my favourite? For real...

Owls.

My Return

I'm here!  I'm here!  Let the bells ring out and the banners fly!  Feast your eyes on me!  Too good to be true, but I'm here!

So, I've slacked majorly as of late.  I apologize.  Although, who I'm apologizing to, I have no idea.  I'll bet no one reads this blog anymore.

I've been busy.  And I've been tired.  Work and life keep me busy.  But what keeps me tired is somewhat of a mystery. 

I'm currently seeing a neurologist.  He calls me his "puzzle".  He seems very excited about me and my puzzling self.  He is old enough to have retired long ago, so perhaps he has seen it all and now he is happy to have something new.  Or maybe he loves all of his patients and has a natural sense of wonder with all of them.  That would be an enjoyable way to go through life, if you ask me. 
I'm going to see him in June again after I finish my battery of tests and other specialists.  We'll see if he can put the pieces together and come up with an answer to my problems.

A couple of weeks ago he sent me for a sleep study.  The reason for this is my extreme tiredness.  I get a minimum of 8.5 hours of sleep every night.  If I get less than this, I can barely keep my eyes open during the day.  I'm the type to lay my head down on the pillow and fall right asleep, so I don't have insomnia.  I'm am far from overweight, so I've never thought that I could have sleep apnea since I don't snore.  I do, however, sleep talk.  And act.  And even on a rare occasion..  walk.  But I thought I'd humour him and go to my sleep appointment at 8pm.
I was a bit weirded out by the thought of someone watching me sleep.  But I had a particularily tiring day at work, so I figured that I would fall asleep pretty fast.  The technician was very polite, and extremely professional, so I didn't feel very uncomfortable around him.  I changed into my plaid flannel pajamas and he came in to wire me up.  I had a total of 9 contacts on my head and face, 1 on each leg, 2 on my chest, plus 2 bands around my chest and stomach.  When he finished with all of this, I thought to myself, "I can sleep no problem."  Until he told me he needed to monitor my breathing.  Then I was done.  I knew I was going to have a bad night from that point forward.
I tossed.  I turned.  I got so wrapped up in the wires that I thought I'd rip them out of the wall.  My finger was throbbing from the pulse meter on my finger.  I was not a happy camper.  2am rolled around and I had briefly dozed.  This was going to be a waste of my time.  And the other two people in the sleep study weren't sleeping either.  And they were grumpy.  So I switched to relaxation meditation.  And it worked.  I fell asleep for about 3 hours and was awakened at 5 to go home.  I asked the technician if he got enough data, and he said yes, but from the looks of it, I skip sleep stages.  AHA.  A puzzle piece.

There are supposedly 5 stages of sleep. 
1.  Transition Light sleep
2.  Light Sleep
3.  Deep Sleep
4.  Deep Sleep part 2
5.  REM

 Apparently, I skipped stages 3 and 4 in the three sleep cycles that I managed to go though.  Those deep sleep stages are when your body heals itself, stores energy for the next day, and boosts the immune system.  It'll be interesting to see what they come up with after they properly study the brainwaves and all of that.

Veeeeeeery interesting.

Oh, the torture

Fixed - One Big Toe

So my husband lived, after all.  He was brave, but ended up being put under in the end.  So he woke up funny and nonsensical.  The troupe of nurses were all doting on him, which meant he had a lot of cookies to munch on, as well as tea made the way he likes it:  2 sugar, 1 cream..  not milk.  Spoiled, eh?

He's been hobbling around on crutches, generally making a nuisance of himself.  Suddenly I'M the one that's supposed to fetch things?!  Who's going to get me a glass of water when I've forgotten it and have already gotten comfy in bed??  Me.  That's who. 

I'm not used to having a husband who can't dote on me.  I think I'm the one who's been spoiled.  This whole thing has been an eye opener for me!  I have had it GOOD!  What a sweetie he is :)  Ok, I'm rambling..

With his new friend that he made while I was getting the car

The Dreaded Day

Tomorrow is the day to be dreaded as far as my husband is concerned.  We leave bright and early in the morning to go to the hospital for his surgery.  It's day surgery, but it's nerve-wracking all the same.  And I'm taking a wild guess that he's going to be in some serious pain tomorrow so I feel bad for him. 
He damaged the bone in his big toe a few years ago while playing soccer and it's been going downhill ever since.  So he finally manned up and decided to see a specialist, who sent him to another specialist, who then sent him to a very good surgeon.  Who then told him he may lose his toe.  Then he smiled and asked when would he like the surgery?  I take it that every surgeon looks forward to an interesting surgery.

I hope all goes well!  I'm bringing some books because I have a feeling it'll be a long day.

source

Bloodwork - The Bane of my Existence

I hate bloodwork.  Due to a run-in with cancer as a child, I have given a LOT of blood over the years.  If only it had been given as a donation to needy people, eh?  But instead it was all given in the name of science and tests.

I invariably forget to drink the morning of my blood test.  I dunno why.  I do know that I lose my appetite when I'm nervous, so maybe it's kinda the same thing.

I have fainted after bloodwork.  This was not my shining moment to say the least.  Now my doctor give me a hard stare before sending me off.  I don't know if it's a certain shade of gray that she occasionally perceives but sometimes she tells me to lie down, suck this lollypop, and for heaven's sake, don't look at the needle.

Once, I even hallucinated.  I'm not sure what I might have looked like when this happened, but my mom didn't notice me being any different.  I remember being very nervous that day about having to get a needle, so my mom said she'd go first to show me how it was done.  The nurse took a vial and let me hold it.  I told her it was very warm and mom said something about her warm heart.  They gave her a green, shiny pencil for her efforts.  I then had my blood test with little fanfare.
Later on the subway when I asked to see the pencil, she gave me a confused look.  After a couple moments, we figured out that I had hallucinated the whole thing.

Does anyone else have a harder time giving blood from their stronger arm?  It makes me more nervous to give from my right arm.  I'm not sure why.

Well, today's test didn't go well.  I forgot to drink.  I gave everything I had.  And it wasn't enough.

I feel like a pincushion.

Yellow Smog

Those are mountains in the background.. yeah, behind the first one :)

A warning to all those who are new to Korea. Every spring brings yellow smog. Smog, you say? I can handle smog. Ah, but no. This is different.

I was getting ready to go to work a couple years ago in the spring when my husband called to warn me that it was a smog day. He told me to wear a good mask and only go outside to get to work.. no shopping, etc.
I had heard about this yellow cloud, but hadn't seen it for myself.

This cloud of smog travels over from China on the wind currents. As it travels, it picks up pollutants from cities and factories, dust from the desert, and grows it's own brand of bacteria along the way. People that carelessly breathe it in can develop respiratory problems. As I'm asthmatic, I thought the mask would be a good idea.

Fortunately, masks are considered a fashion item as well as a necessity in Korea. So if you don't want to look like you just escaped from a hospital, you can find a funny one to wear instead :)