Wanderings and Wonderings

Last week, I got sick. And not only did I get sick, but I went fucking all out. 

It started Wednesday night. I was out in the new garage wiring up a few new outlets before we start the project to finish it off. I was up on a ladder running some wire and suddenly I just felt so tired. Like unbelievably tired. So tired I could barely hold my head up.

I got down off the ladder, went inside and sat down, figuring I had just pushed myself too hard. It was nearing bedtime anyways, so I decided just to head to bed early. But, before going to bed, I took some Pepto Bismol because I was feeling a little bit nauseous.

I woke up a short time later feeling absolutely terribly nauseous. I went in the bathroom, and after several episodes of diarrhea (I'll spare you the graphic details, but the term "pure liquid" is probably accurate) I violently threw up in the trash can. Immediately, I began to feel better, so I figured, okay, maybe I just ate some bad food.

I tried to go back to bed, but then the chills started. I had cold sweats. I've never had cold sweats in my life. I had to go to the bathroom again for more diarrhea and about an hour later, vomited again. At this point it's like 4am and I'm just sitting on the toilet, sobbing. Wanting to rip my stomach out, wanting it all to be over.

My wife made me some tea to help settle my stomach, and we went to the doctor at 8am. He diagnosed me with norovirus. Unfortunately, there's no real cure for norovirus; you can just treat the symptoms and ride it out. So he gave me a shot of promethazine in my arm to control the nausea, a prescription for anti-nausea pills, and sent me home to.

I slept about 40 of the next 48 hours. No shit, I have very little recollection of anything from Thursday morning to Saturday afternoon. And, because we have a baby in the house and I didn't want to get my wife and daughter sick, I had to ride it out pretty much alone in the guest room, quarantined from the rest of the house. Fortunately, my wife would bring me food and gatorade, but otherwise, I got to watch a lot of really crappy TV and stare at the ceiling.

Sunday, I finally started to feel my appetite coming back, and by Monday I was almost completely back to normal though there are still some lingering after effects. I've noticed I've been having a lot more heartburn, for instance.

I was trying to think of the last time I got that sick. I usually don't get puking sick - I get really bad sore throat sick. I get lots of respiratory infections, but not often do I get like this. The last time I can remember getting this sick was probably 12  years ago, my freshman winter at Auburn when I had the flu.

Regardless, I'm very happy to be back among the land of the living.

Had my second root canal this afternoon. So far no pain and just a little sore. We'll see how things go.

What happened?

Well, for a few months, I've been able to feel that something wasn't quite right with my far back molar on my left top side. It felt like it had a massive hole in it. But, there was no pain. So I didn't think a lot about it. But, at the same time, I remember the lesson I learned the last time - that dental problems are best treated quickly so that they don't become excruciatingly painful.

So last week I went to the dentist to have them look at it. I had managed to knock the corner of the tooth off. She wanted to attempt to fix it with just a filling first, but it ended up being a pretty deep filling and she warned me that it was a 50/50 chance that I'd have to come back for more work. Within a few hours, I knew it hadn't worked out. I've had fillings before, and I had far more pain with this filling than I'd ever had before. So after giving it a few days just to be sure, I scheduled a follow-up for today.

So today they did the root canal and put a temporary top on the tooth. I'm supposed to go back on Thursday - my 30th birthday - for them to finish.

Thursday night and Friday morning were the worst. I was popping pills every two hours to keep the pain under control and let me get the sleep I needed.

kubulai was right in his comment to my previous entry: I didn't go into work Friday. But he's also right that I would go Orly Taitz batshit insane if I didn't do something other than lay on my ass. So, I VPN'd in and worked from my comfy position on the couch. It actually helped to keep my mind off the pain. Also watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

By Saturday it had started to lessen. I could eat solid foods again as long as I chewed the majority on the other side of my mouth (which I was already doing to avoid the pain before). I also went from pills every two hours to pills every four hours. I actually felt like doing some things so I worked on some code for Furry Weekend Atlanta. Saturday evening Sarah and I went out to dinner at Red Robin (a place I hadn't been in months, mostly due to their lack of diet-friendly items). I figured, since I'd been on a liquid diet all day prior, I'd earned a good meal.

Sunday, I was able to take myself off the pain pills and make due with just tylenol.

Monday, I woke up to find a giant crack in the middle of my windshield. Fucking joy. That's $200 down the drain. Still not sure how it happened, either.

Met my third weight goal today, at 180.0 pounds. That means I have lost 51.8 pounds, or 22.34% of my body weight. And more or less right on schedule, too. I'm averaging 10 pounds a month or 2.5 pounds a week. And, best of all, only 20 pounds to go until my final end goal!

Of course, the last time I tried this and got down around this level, I totaled my car. Let's hope that doesn't happen again.

In other news, the letter(s) from my doctor saying my blood pressure is normal and anxiety is gone are now on their way to the FAA CAMI in Oklahoma City. Hopefully I should have a definitive answer in the next few weeks, but I have a hard time believing they'll turn down an otherwise qualified pilot when the doctors agree there are no problems.

Here's hopin'!

Moreover, paid off credit card means at least two more flights a month. That is, if I can get this whole medical thing cleared up in time!