Monday, July 30, 2012

That was longer than expected.

Right. Sorry about that.

At the end of June, I decided to "celebrate" the finishing of the Goober's school work by getting to the bottom of my migraines. They'd been gradually getting worse, then in May the noticeable auras (read: hallucinations) shifted, which was kind of worrisome.

The past month has been spent seeing doctors and getting brain scans and arguing with insurance companies.

And spinning, to keep my hands busy so I don't kill people. (Pics of that soonly.)

Short version, I've doubled my daily drug intake (vast annoyance), and am able to take Imitrex again because one of the new drugs is for blood pressure and now my brain won't pop. Probably. The neuro told me the odds are about ten billion to one in my favor, that the aura shift is caused by hormone level changes rather than anything major like a brain tumor. And while I haven't seen the analysis yet, I did get hold of the actual images of my brain scan, and nothing major is leaping out at me from it.

Not that I know how to read a brain scan, but nothing in there looks like any x-ray or ultrasound I've ever seen of tumors.

My brain is funky. I think we knew that.

Oh - and it looks like the left side of my brain is bigger than the right. I need to send the images off to a buddy of mine who is a neuroscientist for confirmation, but I'm sure every person in the world is shocked by that news.

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The husbeast's new thing is, he's getting rid of the ancient and much-beloved Suburban (because it really, truly, isn't reliable any more) and replacing it with a "big pimp limo" I think is the current term he's using. While I'm NEVER going to be thrilled about debt (I quite liked not having a car loan to pay), I've gotta say, I do like the new vehicle.

Now, if no one buys it out from under us while the bank does the paper work, we should be good.

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The Goob is "in the dog house". Her term. My term is "lucky to be alive after repeatedly pissing me off".

Both my phone charging cords have had to be repaired because she CHEWED ON THE PLUGS. Her Nintendo DS is in the shop as I type, getting a new charging socket put in because she'd leave it plugged in and knock the whole thing around and beat on it and jerk it. So what did I get today? I caught her with the plug for the Kindle Fire IN HER MOUTH. It wasn't horribly chewed, but IT WAS IN HER MOUTH.

No electronics. Indefinitely. Until I'm done being angry. No TV, no music, no Wii, no Fire, no computer, no nothin'. (And it occurs to me that this kid is seriously geeked out, but I'm good with that.) But, summer break, with no electronics. One of us may yet kill the other. I'm not sure how a fight will go.

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AND THEN.

Last week, my MIL called me. She had on her Serious Voice, and started talking about overstepping boundaries, and other ominous things. Things I usually only hear after some major brouhaha in the family. So I sit down, brace myself, and ask "What happened?"

What answer do I get???

"I bought crochet hooks at the yarn store today."

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well Thank God! I was beginning to get SERIOUSLY worried! Geez! Don't DO that again. At least hop on and say you are alive! I may not comment often, but I really REALLY missed you!

DeborahinAZ

Anonymous said...

When I was in high school, before my cycles were regular, I would have full blown migraines (complete with visual auras and lots of vomiting) during the months when I didn't have a period. Hormones do affect these things. I hope this is helpful, and not TMI :)

TLK

Amy Lane said...

Well, I knew you were alive because I follow you on Twitter, but I'm glad to see that everything is... aligning. And six year old girl pisses off mother? Alert the media, I think it's an epidemic! (The chewing? That's new. Mine on the other hand lets out a glass splintering caterwaul if you tell her to stop being miss bossy pants of every damned thing. My world has, once again, devolved into "Whatever is making that noise must be stopped, killed, or punished.")

But I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad your brain won't pop. And I'm jealous that one side of your brain is bigger. I would imagine my brain is the perfect cortex of the fence-sitting LIbra. Balanced and ineffectual as always. Glad you're back!

Kit said...

I raised a kid. My younger sister. I did everything from birth to age 12ish. Some kids chew on stuff. She did a lot of chewing and biting toys, people, all kind of things. Anything she could get her hands on, really. Start putting that "no bite" nail stuff on things, she'll stop chewing on things fast. It's like a nail polish that is non-toxic but tastes HORRIBLE. That worked for my sister's chewing.

Adrienne said...

Does the Goob have a library card? My son, now 15, cut himself off of electronics when he was about 11. A summer away, or longer, will be good for her in the long run. You are right about teaching her the consequences of her actions. Stick by your guns. Of course, with the larger left side of the brain, you already know to stick by your guns.

I am sorry about all the medical issues. I have to admit, I checked up on you on Ravelry the other day, just to make sure you were still around.

As for the MIL, the worst you should do is encourage hobbies. :) it is nice she is teasing you about being an enabler.

Emily said...

Thank God, from me too! I don't know how to "follow" you on anything, so I was seriously worried.

Yes, hormones can do nasty things to one's brain; my daughter's blinding migraines stopped when she was taken off the Pill.

That chewing thing sounds scary. Chewing on stuff, yeah, ok, but electric PLUGS? She's a smart cookie; what's up with that?

You don't need to knit or be wonderfully informative to post. I would read what you wrote about paint drying.

roxie said...

Get her a teething ring or some chew-sticks. Maybe those gross smoked pig's ears you find in the feed store to keep the dogs occupied. In the meantime, electronics-free time is a great idea. She's the kind of kid who could read her way through the encyclopedia.

Bummer about the migraines. Glad to hear it's not a tumor. Sucks that it's hormones. I don't see you getting a complete hysterectomy to take care of your headaches.

I love your MIL.

How's Sekhmet?

Barbara said...

There you are! Do you realize how long it had been? I was about ready to come looking for you. Hormones, gotta love 'em. I slid into menopause at about the same time my daughter hit her stride in puberty. You do not want to be in the same house with two females at opposite ends of that spectrum. Glad you're getting some answers.

Mandy said...

I'm glad to know that you are still around! My son chews on stuff, and it drives me crazy, but at least he doesn't chew on the charging cords for important stuff! (None of the styluses [styli?] for his DS will stay in the slot now because he has chewed on them) Back when we had dogs, I decided to crate train my puppy because she chewed through a couple of electrical cords - maybe threatening to put Goob in a crate will work?

JuneK said...

I was really worried about you. Hope you're getting relief...looking forward to more posts more often. But ONLY if you feel like it!

Donna Lee said...

I'm hopefull for the migraines. I'd like to think that you may be relatively pain free for a while.

The chewing thing made me smile. My oldest daughter chewed everything encluding the hands and feet on her Barbie. She chewed off the feet of her favorite one and we glued some boots to the bottom of the legs so it looked like she had feet.

KristieB said...

So glad to have you back Julie! Figured it was some sort of medical holding you hostage. Hope you are on the road to getting some real relief this time.

ellen in indy said...

the goob's chewing thing would worry me because of all the lead warnings on electrical cords. i second the puppy-chew-toy suggestion -- maybe a small nylabone. chances are that her teeth, like the rest of her, are ahead of schedule and she's having some serious mouth-miseries.

happy to hear that you got some non-scary answers and some solutions to various miseries. we've missed you, dear samurai.