ProfessorTomoe

I don't know what was causing it. I'm just glad the extra pain is over with for now. Back to my regularly scheduled chronic pain.

The rain has come and gone in the DFW area, so this shouldn't be weather related, but I am hurting like a mofo all over both my arms. My carpal/cubital tunnel syndrome is acting up in my left arm from the elbow down, and it's been flaring in my right arm as well with my arm feeling like it's been falling asleep every time I use my mouse today. Now, over the past hour, my right rotator cuff tear has been hurting, and my left shoulder is hurting like it's got a torn rotator cuff, too (which it doesn't, damn it). I'm in serious pain, just under level 9. I normally take 16mg of Dilaudid at 6pm, but tonight I took an extra 4mg to try and get this pain to settle down. That was about 20-30 minutes ago, and it still hasn't calmed down much. I can feel a bit of a Dilaudid haze setting in, though, so I believe this is going to be one of those "knock me out" remedies, if it works at all. I've never used this acronym before, ever, but here goes: FML.

*ROAR snarl growl rowr* ...oh, sorry, make that... pacman -syu ROAR snarl growl rowr

If it weren't for my love of making music, I would still be running Arch Linux to this day. I ran it for a couple of years after I left Apogee/3D Realms. Alas, Cakewalk and Adobe Audition did not run reliably under any flavor of Linux, so I had to switch back in order to cut serious audio and albums..

Saw my knee surgeon today to get my left knee looked at. The pain and swelling around my replacement knee joint has been really bad lately, especially today. He went ahead with his promise from the last appointment to "aspirate" (i.e., stick a big honking needle into and drain fluid from) the joint. He used what must have been a two-inch-long needle and a pair of syringes to pull a total of 25 milliliters of blood-red fluid out of the joint. The insertion hurt a bit, but the aspiration itself didn't hurt that much. It was just a bit unnerving to watch all that fluid come rushing out of my knee. Anyway, my knee has been sore all day afterward, so I don't know if it did any good. We shall see tomorrow, I guess.

I am having hell with my right hand today, especially with my ring and pinky fingers and the portion of the palm to which they both connect. It's pretty obvious that my right-side carpal tunnel is acting up something fierce. Add this to the pain from my right-side torn rotator cuff, and let's just say things are less than comfortable on that half of the upper part of my body.

Our female tortoiseshell cat, Pretty Girl (we didn't pick the name, she was a rescue from a hoarding situation) and me, relaxing together in my recliner,

I haven't run into anything that fits the definition of "weird" yet. Everything so far has been edible and nom-a-licious, if not downright larrapin'. Right now, I am slowly dissolving a yuzu+sake hard candy ball in my mouth. It's quite good indeed, even if there isn't much of a trace of sake to be found. (Yuzu, for the uninitiated, is a Japanese citrus fruit, somewhat related to the lemon, but not exactly the same. It's interesting. More mellow than a lemon.)

My son, in consultation with Mrs. Prof, bought me an early Christmas present. Early, because the contents are perishable and needed unwrapping. The present? A 3-month subscription to Bokksu.com's Japanese snack mailing service. So, for the next couple of months, I'll get a nice, red box, chock full of Japanese snacks, some of them duplicated (in the event that I'd want to share, or that I really, really like them). I opened my first box, a Japanese Seasons-themed box, which has had some absolutely delicious items so far. It's taking every ounce of my will power to keep from eating all of the contents at one sitting. Some of them I've shared with my son and/or Mrs. Prof, the latter of which who doesn't seem to be too taken in by the flavors. IMHO, it's because she's eating the snacks too fast (i.e., too American-like), and needs to slow down and let the flavors develop in her mouth. But I digress. The snacks are hard to describe from memory. There was a piece of Earl Grey Tea-infused pound cake (or sort of pound cake, not quite as dense) that was nice - very subtle. A white chocolate-infused strawberry was interesting, if a bit rough on the teeth. And the first thing I opened, a senbei cracker with Japanese ume plum flavor, dusted with a bit of coarse sugar, was a fantastic mix of sweet and savory, with savory winning out in the end. I really liked it, and wished there'd been a duplicate of it. I'm absolutely enjoying this to the hilt so far, this coming from someone whose FB feed is full of Japanese life scene imagery. I'd love to visit the place one day, but we have a hard time affording a trip down to Austin, much less one to Tokyo or Osaka. The Bokksu.com subscription is a neat little way to take a gastronomic (and mental) trip to Japan every once in a while. I'm grateful, most definitely.

It's not much, but Mrs. Prof and I hope you still enjoy them. Maybe they will help you hit your daily calorie goals. Om nom nom. In any case, If I don't hit up FB today, have a very Happy Birthday, kind sir. You deserve one, by all means.

Saw the dermatologist on Friday. He froze off a couple of "pre-cancerous" spots on my face and shoulders with liquid nitrogen. Said they were nothing serious since we caught them in time to prevent them from developing into anything nasty. As for the rash that I developed after the iron infusion, he agreed that it's probably in retreat, but gave me a cortisone cream just in case - told me to mix it with a 16oz tub of CeraVe and apply it to the rash areas then (not to apply it straight from the tube). I also showed him a rather large lipoma that I've had growing on the back of my upper right leg for many years now. It's quite unsightly, and something I normally don't talk about. Well, in the true spirit of "Dr. Pimple Popper" (he even recognized her when I brought her up), he agreed to remove it. So, on the day after Christmas, I'll come in to his office and get the full "numb up" treatment so that I can get it cut out and removed. My "Boxing Day" present, if you will. Fun.

Aaaand, no sooner do I take my first dose of methadone do I get a phone call from the pharmacy where I tried to get the Dilaudid (hydromorphone) filled, telling me they now have the Dilaudid in stock and ready for me to pick up!!! AAUUGGHH Mrs. Prof picked it up for me this evening, sometime after my second dose of Methadone. I'll go back on the Dilaudid when it's time for my midnight dose (in about 10 minutes). Everything should go back to normal at that point.

My currently prescribed pain medication, Dilaudid (hydromorphone), is currently unavailable in the area in which I currently reside due to a current nationwide shortage of Dilaudid (hydromorphone). Therefore, I am currently not taking it and instead am being prescribed Methadone 10mg 4x a day in its place. I do not know if this is a large or small dose. I do know I felt a bit woozy about 30 minutes after taking my first dose of it, though. I will watch a bit more carefully for side effects at my 1800 (6pm) dose.

Now ingesting a homemade quesadilla, constructed from two soft taco-sized flour tortillas, a small handful each of queso quesadilla and mexican 4-cheese blend, and a packet each of Taco Bell mild and salsa verde sauces. Not 100% larrapin', but close.

You're more than welcome. Enjoy.

Thankfully, he's only the doctor on call, and not my regular hematologist.

Good lord. I see your point. No rashes for you. Meanwhile, on my end, the doctor called, and damned if he didn't try and get me to go to the ER. First up, he said I should take 50mg Benadryl. I told him I'm already doing that. Next, he said he was going to call in some oral steroids for me to make the rash go away. I told him I can't take them because oral steroids give me heart fibrillations. He then said he was going to give me a topical steroid. I told him it would have to cover 75% of my body. That's when he told me to go to the ER, so I could get IV steroids instead. I told him I couldn't afford another $250 ER visit (I can't). He then got snotty with me, mainly because he thought I'd said I merely "didn't want to take" the oral steroids. I corrected him, told him I was allergic to them, and said I *couldn't take them*. He said for me to come in to the office on Monday, keep taking the Benadryl, and go to the ER if the rash gets worse. The guy was a bit of an asshole. I've seen better bedside manner in a rat. Anyway, here's hoping I can hold out until Monday, and that I can get an appointment on Monday.

I am trying to get in touch with the hematology doctor on call to figure out what I should do from here. I kinda doubt he'll tell me that I need to go to the ER.

FOLLOW-UP: Oh. Joy. Monoferric is the iron infusion drug I took last week. I don't know if it would cause a rash this far out (I had it last Friday, and it just appeared yesterday (Thursday)), but I was told that I wouldn't see benefits of Monoferric for two weeks after the IV, so maybe it can set in this far out.

And now for my next plague, I'm getting a rash. It's all over my legs, groin, butt, and back. It looks for all intents and purposes like my hair follicles are getting inflamed, but I can't say for sure that the placement of the tiny red dots corresponds with my hairs. I do know that the rash on my back itches, but none of the other areas itch. I'm taking 50mg of Benadryl every 4 hours in addition to my regular meds in order to fight it. I'll give it until Monday. If it doesn't go away, or if it gets worse, I'll go and see a doctor, but not before I call my hematologist to find out if this is a side effect of the iron infusion I had last week.

I'm having a bit of trouble with my blood pressure. The cardiologist insisted that I get a new blood pressure meter (do they still call the fancy digital models sphygmomanometers, or has that term been relegated to the analog realm?) so that I can check myself when I have a "passing-out" spell. Sure enough, my blood pressure runs low when those happen, not so much on the systolic side, but definitely on the diastolic side. I'm going down below 50 on the diastolic, which is Not Good. For now, all I can do is get up and walk it off, but I'm going to have to call the cardiologist and find out what he wants me to do eventually.

Erm...no. I took those back in my 20s and wound up getting vascular issues in my arms and hands (blue fingers). Never again.

The Monoferric iron IV infusion went well today. No real negative side effects during the infusion procedure, and afterward, just a ton of fatigue. I've slept most of the day since. I've been told to watch for joint pain over the course of the next two weeks, along with continued fatigue ("it gets worse before it gets better"). I guess I'll have to borrow my son's Red Bull drinks for a little while.

I am resigned to agree.

Just cooked up a pan of homemade chile con queso for the family, or more accurately, chile con Velveeta Plus. It was by no means a slap-dash affair: the cheese, while mostly a Velveeta loaf, also consisted of a bowl of Mexican Four-Cheese Shreds. I diced fresh onion and minced fresh garlic for it, and sauteed them with a can of Hatch chopped green chiles and a can of Mexican-style Ro-Tel. Add to that some whole milk and my secret spice blend, and you've got dinner. Larrapin'.