In the Words of the Dear Departed Dolly... "Here We Go Again"

 (Or was that Whitesnake?)

Anyway, it seems like the only time I do anything with this blog with any kind of gusto is when something is wrong and well, why break precedent?  A quick recap reel of my last two weeks...

• Tuesday Sept. 1 I had to give a sterile urine sample for an upcoming surgery so catheter time!  While we were out in Menomonee Falls, I scheduled the mammogram my primary doc has been screaming at me about as well.  (Fun day!) It was supposed to be one of the ambulatory ones for people in a wheelchair since I wasn't really in good shape to stand and get squeezed for an hour, but the nurse wasn't about that so standing and squeezing it was.  Up until then, one of the worst medical experiences of my life.  Good news - everything checked out fine.  Then it was on to the catheter, which seemed like a breeze at that point and it really was; it took about five minutes.  And while Chris and I were walking out I suggested that I just needed a prostate and then I could be poked and prodded in every no-no place!
• Friday Sept. 4 was my scheduled stent replacement on my right kidney and exploratory thing where they were going to figure out if I have scarring and things that are causing fluid retention and therefore, contributing to my near-constant UTIs.  The surgery went great, the recovery time was a little rough and they gave me some heavy duty pain killers, but things were looking up.  Then the nurses decided to get me up and walking to the bathroom to make sure I could pee even though I was still wobbly even with the walker and BOOM I went down like a sack of potatoes, pinning my legs under me (basically hyperextending both of my knees) and I was stuck on the bathroom floor in excruciating pain until they got the lift thing to put me back in the hospital bed.  At that point I had to get admitted so they could run tests.
• So for a week I was in terrible pain at Froedtert Menomonee Falls, with a doctor that didn't want to give me more than a baby dose of painkiller because of "addiction potential" (give me a break - I'm in pain and I don't even know where I would GET painkillers other than the hospital!) They kept me as comfortable as possible but I was always in a 7 or 8 level pain and hardly able to move my legs.  I had X-rays, CT scans, and what is NOW the worst medical procedure of my life, an MRI (I don't even want to describe the pain and terror I felt for 50 minutes) but it turns out I tore my minuscis (I can't fucking spell it) in two places in both knees, did something to my ACL, and oh hey, I have undiagnosed arthritis in both knees as well.  Next step... find me a rehab facility.
• I asked for Allis Care (the place I stayed at in March-May last year) with the caveat that I get one of the inflatable bariatric beds, I was finally accepted by the insurance company after a few days and Friday (yesterday) at 10am and by 1pm the ambulance was at the hospital to transport me there.  I get into the room (on the dreaded second floor this time) and there's basically a bed (the wrong bed) a night stand and a TV.  Oh, and two air conditioners, neither which worked.  Great welcome.  I was given the TV remote and left in bed to listen to the screaming television across the hall for a couple of hours until they finally brought in a wheel chair, commode and walker so at least I could go potty.  Oh, and a rickety bedside table.  They finally brought another bed but it was just wider, not inflatable, and was told they don't do inflatable.  We'll see about that because at this point I'm not really comfortable anywhere between the bed (tailbone, legs) and the wheelchair (legs).  It's going to be a long weekend.  Dinner was a mystery meat and a pile of watery mixed vegetables that had soaked the bun even if I'd planned on eating the sammich.  So needless to say, Chris brought JJ's when he came and brought clothes and toiletries for me.  

Which pretty much catches me up.  I seem to have to beg for even my tiny dose of pain meds around here so if I get them twice a day I'll be surprised, and in the middle of the night, the bucket already fell out of my commode and splashed all over the floor.  I sure hope the therapy part of this is going to make things worth it because right now there's nothing else redeeming.  I would take this as an opportunity to get caught up on reading and movies, etc. but I'm just not comfortable anywhere so hopefully that will change soon.  At least I have work too - I just need to try to work on being able to schedule therapies so I can deal with meetings, etc. just fine.

I just need to get back to at least where I was (as limited as that was) very soon.  My mom and sister are coming to town in October, and I don't want them to have to come here two years in a row, and then Chris and I were FINALLY planning on going on vacation some time in early-mid November and if that gets postponed I will have to kill someone or something.  It's been seven years (actually longer!) since I've gotten away, even for a weekend, and my mental well-being is definitely being affected by it and all of this recent stuff is only exacerbating it!!  Argh.

More updates later - and hopefully there will be more in the plus column this time.  Right now I'm just hoping for a working commode that doesn't threaten to break every time I sit on it or get up.  Yes, my bar is THAT low right now.