Nothing to say

It’s just after 10. I have an appointment with Dr. Dougherty at 11. I’m going to talk to him about the virtues of Antibiotics vs. Surgery.

When I took the 10 doses of Levaquin, I got one sample and a prescription for 9 more. The 9 pills cost me a $40 copay, with a total bill of over $90. I can’t remember where I saw it, but I’m under the impression that the surgery will cost over $6,000, with a $500 copay for me. Baptist hospital may or may not be the best in S FL, but it’s inarguably the most expensive. A month-long round of pills will be a lot of money, but not nearly $6,000, and it will still max out at a $40 copay for me.
Surgery will also cost me at least 2 days off work, and then another half-week or so of Very Tired days at work. I will also have to get my packing changed on Monday (specialist visit, copay: $25)
Finally, there are the risks. Antibiotics wreak havoc on my stomach, and if I don’t follow the prescription (or if the prescription isn’t right), I run the risk of strengthening my bacteria, making them even harder to KILL OFF. Still, that doesn’t compare to the surgery risks, which range from infection to eye injury to spinal fluid leakage. Of course, they’re rare, but so are the more serious risks of antibiotics.

So really, it’s no contest. Given a choice, if these two options were equally effective, I will cancel my surgery IMMEDIATELY, and drive straight to my PCP hoping to get a prescription. No contest.

I’ll be back in a couple hours to let you know how it turns out.

I went to see my primary care physician today for a pre-op checkup. That is to say they’re checking me out to make sure I’m healthy enough for my surgery on Monday, April 6.

For the life of me, I couldn’t tell you what the surgery is called, but the surgeon (also my otolaryngologist, or ear/nose/throat Dr) is going to stick a tiny thing up into my sinuses and hack out all of my polyps.

The thing is, when I had the flu, I went to my PCP and he gave me a ten day dose of 500mg Levaquin. Since then, my nose has cleared up considerably. Saturday, March 17th is the first day in several years that I fell asleep with my mouth closed. Yesterday, Sunday the 25th, I tasted a Negro Modelo in a whole new way. Before my nose went totally south and I could no longer smell properly, I never drank beer. Now, I will occasionally have one, especially a darker one. Yesterday, however, this familiar bottle contained something very new to me. In fact, that whole meal tasted beyond incredible.

So I went in for the checkup today, and my PCP was blown away by the difference. He said “I can hardly believe it.” So now what?

Well, my polyps have reduced considerably. In fact, you can even see the difference in my face. My nose used to look swollen by comparison. Now, it’s thinner. the pressure is mostly gone, and I’m just feeling SO much better. So I asked my Dr about it, and he of course deferred verdict to my surgeon.

What I wanted to know for sure, though, was how polyps worked. So I asked. My understanding of fat cells is that, once created, they are always there. They can shrink in size, but never disappear. He said that is true, and that it makes it easier to regain weight. My question was whether polyps worked at all like that. Does my having polyps, or having had polyps, predispose me to having them again? He confirmed my understanding that, no, they’re more like blisters. Fluid between two layers of cells does not create new cells, and once a blister has subsided, there is no predisposition to reoccurrence.

So what I get out of this is that either a) I don’t need surgery or b) the surgery is going to be a lot simpler than was previously expected.

I also spoke with my PCP about my sinus infection. He said that having discolored snot (green/yellowish) does not mean that I still have an infection. It’s a common misconception. However, my ten day dose is smaller than what is generally prescribed for such a sinus infection. He said that typically, they’ll do a 14- or even 30-day dosage. Wow. Ten days was enough to rip up my gut something fierce. I can’t imagine a full month of antibiotics, but I would be willing to do it if it means retaining the ability to smell and to breathe through my nose.

You can’t even imagine how great it is after all this time.

Any time the word “Vote” enters my mind, I remember the Powerpuff Girls episode where Mayor (the character’s name) is running for his re-election, driving around town shouting into a megaphone:

“Vote Mayor for Mayor!
Vote Mayor for Mayor!
Vote Mayor for Mayor!”
ad infinitum
It’s a hilarious exhibit of the power of repetition, I guess.

So to put to use what I’ve learned from the PPGs,

Vote for Couple #3!
Vote for Couple #3!
Vote for Couple #3!
Vote for Couple #3!
Vote for Couple #3!
Vote for Couple #3!
Vote for Couple #3!
So you want a little background? Alright, here it is. Kia entered us into a contest to get free engagement pics taken. The photographer is local, good, and has some great ideas for the shoot. The four couples have been chosen, and we’re the third on the list. So far, we’re in a very comfortable second place, and have gotten over 240 votes. It hasn’t even been a full day. We’re completely in awe of the support, but wavering between 25 and 30 votes behind another couple. So, if anyone hasn’t voted, Vote for Couple #3!

The voting is only once per IP address, so there’s no point trying twice.  Also, if you’re at work, chances are good that the whole office has the same IP, but you should be able to vote from home, or the library, or wherever.

Thanks for your support!

Last Monday, I came down with a really nasty cough. It was affecting me at work, but I got some food before class, and felt better. I didn’t get through even half of class before I felt awful again, and had called Kia for a ride home (we were down to one car at the time) a little after eight. By 8:40, I was on my way home, and feeling absolutely dreadful.

When I woke the next morning, I immediately knew I couldn’t go to work. Kia confirmed my fever, and I ended up sleeping until after 11:30. In the late afternoon, I called AAA and got the Cabrio towed to Firestone. The poor car burst out in a terriffic oil leak a couple weeks before, and I had not yet had it repaired. Kia took me home after I got the Cabrio dropped off. I don’t remember eating that night, but may have.

Wednesday, I was no less miserable than the day before, so I called to setup an appt at the Dr. They got me in quicker than I could get there, so I cleaned up quick as I could and we left. After the visit, I had a free Levaquin 500MG with a prescription for 9 more, and was utterly exhausted again. We ran errands, including taking care of the prescription, and when we got home a couple hours later, I went to bed.

Thursday, I was determined to go to work. I had already taken enough time off. I felt slightly better, but was exhausted, so I stayed home for half a day. That afternoon, I felt better, though my stomach was cramping and flipping knots from the antibiotics. At work, I took my second dose and proceeded to partly lose consciousness. I thought my fever had come back, but I understood better after I checked the paperwork for the Levaquin. Stomach issues, sensitivity to bright lights, headache, blurred vision, etc… I had all of the above. 5:30 could not arrive fast enough.

Friday, I woke up, felt … half decent, and came to work. I had changed the antibiotic dose to an evening schedule, so that wasn’t effecting me. To help my stomach flora, I had picked up yogurt at the grocery store. To help my own energy levels, I also got oatmeal and milk. I made it until 3:00 and had to call Kia for a rescue. I was out by 3:45.

Saturday, I ran a couple errands (breakfast and CSA veggies!) while Kia was at Yoga. I was asleep in the car when she got out. This is the reason I wanted to post to begin with. The Levaquin had been steadily improving my quality of life by reducing the polyps in my nose. I was slowly regaining my ability to breathe through my nose. Saturday morning, my friends, was a magical step for me. There in the car under the warm sun, for the first time in many years, I fell asleep with my mouth closed.

I slept a lot both Saturday and Sunday. The weekend was actually quite boring for that reason.

Today, Monday, I have just made it through a full day of work. I’m tired, my stomach is still fairly nutty, and I’m definitely not thinking with a totally clear mind, but I made it. Now I have to go to class, and I’m pretty much dreading it. I had a massive lunch, and plan to nap briefly before class. Hopefully that will get me through it.

I suppose a few of you don’t already know that I’m a Buddhist.  I grew up Christian (though not really sure just what kind … protestant? methodist? episcopalian? lutheran? whatever), and basically still am.  I disagree almost completely with the church and most Christian texts that I’ve read, but overall, I still believe in God, and most of the stuff about Jesus.  I just feel like it’s mostly mythology, not at all different from Greek or Roman myths.  Noah, Neptune, Hercules, Sampson, whatever.  Neither is really better or worse than the other as that goes.  They’re all interesting, and they all teach us valuable lessons.  They just can’t be taken as history.  They’re parables.

So, back to Buddhism.  The first great misconception is that it’s a religion.  It’s not.  It’s not even spitirual, really.  It’s more of a philosophy, as near as I can tell.  Of course, I’m still learning about it.  But I’ve read through most of the basic concepts, and they really resonate for me.

So last weekend, Feb 23-25, we went to Marywood, a Catholic retreat center near Switzerland, FL, west of St. Augustine.  It was a beautiful place, full of warm, welcoming people.  We were there for “Engaged Encounter”, which is a weekend that all couples (at least all couples marrying in the St. Augustine Diocese) must attend.  I think we were the only couple there who didn’t technically *have* to be there.  It was an awesome weekend, well spent discussing all of the things we’ve already discussed in a very structured manner.  We didn’t have enough time to really cover everything, but in our case, it was review, so it didn’t really matter.  The one wrench in the gears was the sheet we did about the “covenant” of marriage.  All the questions talked about religion, God, spirituality, etc.  Well, Kia’s not Christian at all, so we’re not going to be together for the glory of God or anything.  I think God’s cool with that, so it’s all good with me.  The thing is that I don’t really know how to reconcile our relationship, or moreover, my life with spirituality right now.

It was filling out my lame, half-assed, scatter-brained answers to that sheet that I realized I really need to read more.

And so it was last night that I picked up Kia’s copy of A Buddhist Bible.  It, like the Christian Bible, is a collection of stories and teachings.  It does not profess to meet exactly the same function as any other bible, but it does meet the more general definition of the word.  And even though I’m only on page, what, 20?, it’s great.  The Enlightened One, himself, didn’t believe in the soul.  So that’s sort of a discrepancy for me.  But the tenets of Buddhism don’t really have anthing more to say on the subject that I’ve seen.  They just entirely omit the subject of souls, afterlife, and other such things.

So Buddhism doesn’t compete with Christianity, because it doesn’t really give thought to the afterlife (so far),

And Christianity doesn’t compete with Buddhism, because the only advice they have for this life is to live it well, and do well by others.

So really, there’s no conflict at all.

Now, I just need to be consistent about reading and processing and thinking about things.

On another (somewhat related) subject, I figured out one of my total blocks to learning: I start applying things to my life the minute I see or hear them.  In beginning so early my processing of what I hear, I deny myself the attention and focus to pay attention to each subsequent thing.  When I enter a new place, I’m too busy tying it to myself that I don’t notice many details.  In conversations or reading, I stop listening so that I can wrap myself up in it and begin formulating my response.  These are inherently selfish things, and I’m looking forward to the day I stop doing them.  For now, I feel very happy that I’ve observed it.  Having made that observation, now, I can’t but apply it to my life.  Now, when I am reading, I catch myself thinking too soon, and I go back to read the paragraph again.

I still haven’t figured out how to simply absorb things, but I know it will click one day, and I will immediately be a better learner.

Life is quite busy now, so I’m getting to bed.  Thank you for letting me share with you.