Arthritic Critic

So, last week I ended up getting a fun ride in an ambulance to my local hospital to be diagnosed with the flu. I was having a pretty difficult time breathing or to use the technical term hyperventilating (see I'm moving through the alphabet...first I was a hypochondriac now I'm a hyperventilator). It was a rush trip so the getting of the insurance information somehow didn't quite happen...which believe me is quite odd. I have often considered getting my insurance information tattoo'd on my arm so I wouldn't have to produce an insurance card at all times. The only problem? What happens if I change insurance.... So needless to say I watch my insurance claims come through like a hawk...mostly so I can figure out how much to worry over the thousands of dollars I owe at the moment. Yes, it is a total stress reliever. While I was studying my claims last night I finally realized that I hadn't seen a claim come through for the hospital yet. I mentioned it to Joe wonderi...

I made it through the ankle surgery with no complications and then promptly caught the flu and ended up back in the Emergency Room a few nights later. Looks like the immune system just couldn't handle the one two punch of surgery and flu and it's kept me down for the last few weeks. I'm less than 2 weeks post surgery and even with the flu I'm doing pretty well and I'm so damn thankful. It's not all good news. My first ankle fusion was not a success. The last surgeon used bone marrow aspirate instead of using cadaver bone and it seems that I didn't fuse well at all. Dr Foot came in before I even had surgery and told me that I would most likely need a second surgery. Yeah, not the news I was hoping for. I chose to do the subtalar fusion and revise the triple fusion at a different time in the future. It's a good thing that we went in when we did. I had a lose screw in my midfoot that Dr. Foot tightened and there was a lot of dead bone in the hindfoot that h...

Last weekend we were lucky enough to be able to run away to the Four Seasons in Chicago. We've stayed in some nice places (The Drake which is right down the street last year) before but nothing like this place. You want to talk about living in the lap of luxury, and how! Unfortunately, and you knew that was coming...Hope picked up the flu on Saturday and spent most of the weekend in bed. Though 600 count sheets and a down duvet, not a bad way to go to nurse yourself back to health. Mom and Dad ate room service for most of the weekend and pretty much just reveled in the view and the cupcakes from Sprinkles (I don't get all the hype...it's a cupcake). On Sunday morning I guess Hope felt like something cold to drink. She was running a fever so Joe was sleeping with her and I slept on the couch (surgery tomorrow...can not catch the flu). I heard the pitter patter of little feet but didn't think much of it, I just figured that Joe was wandering around. I got up later that mo...

I've written before about some of my more interesting side effects from Ambien. I have yet to drunk dial anyone or come on to anyone other than my husband but I have to admit some of the things I've been doing lately are shocking even to me. I tend to sleepwalk when I'm very stressed. I will hold it together during the day and then act out while sleeping. (And before you all freak out on my I've had repeated discussions about this with my doctor. He told me pretty much any sleep med that I take is going to do this to me unless I figure out a better way to deal with the emotions while I'm awake. It's important I get sleep so the side effects I just need to deal with.) So far I have slept-walked, it's always nice to wake up somewhere other than where you went to sleep. Slept-argued, you haven't lived until you wake up the next morning and say, "good morning, honey" to only receive a grunt. It's like going on a bender without the hangover. You...

My mom had ankle surgery 3 weeks ago. She was told it would be a very simple surgery and unfortunately, it hasn't been. Last week she called me up crying and just basically beside herself with worry. You see, our lives are in a very unusual state at the moment. My mom had ankle surgery in February, I will have ankle surgery in March and my dad will have a knee replacement in April. As you can imagine the urgency (let's call it what it is...PRESSURE) for her to heal is really got her freaked. In fact, I can't remember a time when I've ever heard my mom more upset. It scared me. I'm the kid, still raising a kid. I'm allowed to freak out when surgery is beyond my control...and believe me when I say I do...often. But my mom is pretty much a rock. She usually calms me and gives me good advice and I appreciate it about as much as anyone would appreciate advice when they are FREAKING out. Case in point, after my back surgery I had a difficult time in the hospital. She ...

Well, my life is nothing if not a study of contrasts. Last week I was using a cane and bought two more so I would have one for the car and one for both upstairs and downstairs. Today I received both canes by UPS....I haven't used a cane since I ordered them. If this is a way to bring on remission. then I think next week I'm buying a walker and a wheelchair...

So I've got this bone stimulator...and I have to wear it for 4 hours a day. It's not uncomfortable its just kind of ungainly. When I sit, it just kind of doesn't fit in my lap...so it makes 4 hours seem kind of like 4 years. Thankfully I have a wonderful side effect, it makes me barfy...what do you suppose the chances are? It also makes my RA hurt (not surprising since I'm using it to combat the Enbrel I'm taking.) So I fiddled with the timing and figured out I can wear it for 2 hours a day without making myself sick (odd, I know...but I have to wear the thing.) I leave it on my desk when I'm not wearing it so I can charge it. Usually it's right where my cat Luci likes to lay. I'm pretty sure that I have written about Luci (her full name is Lucifer), she's a little devil. The other day she was laying on the desk so I put The Bonerator in the chair. About five minutes later I'm watching her wrestle with The Bonerator, she was pulling on it and jum...

You can probably imagine the different things that people have called my bone stimulator. When I first got it I thought it looked like a cat. I put it on, took a picture and put it up on FaceBook. Imagine my surprise when everyone came back and asked me is that your robot? They called me ET, space man and just about any other thing you can think of...it was odd. I started to wear it in the privacy of my own home so I wouldn't get any other weird comments. My favorite was when I was talking to my girlfriend about it and she wasn't sure what I was talking about. I said, "K, you know the picture that I put up on FaceBook?" She looked at me and said, "Melissa, I thought you had just decorated your corset. I didn't realize that was your new bone stimulator...." When we got done giggling about that I told her if I had decorated my corset there would have been a lot more glitter and a heck of a lot less robot face....