This Weight Loss Plan Sucks

Well, I haven't written in a while because I haven't felt good in a while. I learned a big lesson--no more self-medication. And now I am suffering for it.

See, I had a common ailment this past Wednesday. I woke up and got my little house coat and slippers on, and shuffled to the bathroom to do my usual morning thing. And fire came out! Oh the torment of the urinary tract infection--nothing turns me into a whimpering ball of wimp faster. I had been through this same pain last year, so I rifled through the medicine cabinet and found the two bottles they prescribed me with two pills each left over. (Remember being told to take all of your prescription to avoid relapses? What do they know?) So I took the first, sulphameth, to cure the infection. And I took the other for the spasms. The bottle said Guaifen PSE, so I downed that one too. I ran to the bathroom again and this time there was a little blood, so I called in to work and went back to bed, sleeping until nearly 11.

The spasms weren't stopping and I still hurt really bad--and when I woke up from my nap the first thought I had was, man my upper lip is stinging! I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and there was the Phantom of the Opera looking at me. My upper lip (just the left side too--so stupid) was swollen up like a wasp had stung me. Somewhere in my mind a second guesser started pushing me to check out that pill online. So I looked up the Physician's Desk Reference online, and found out Guaifen was what they prescribed me the time I had the really bad chest cold. It was a decongestant. And my lip had swollen then too but we thought maybe something had bit me while I was sleeping so much. The pill causing it--that never occurred to us. But now according to the PDR, I see that people allergic to Guaifen can have swelling in their lips, tongue, and even throat.

Talk about feeling dumb. I made an appointment to see my doctor for both the UTI and the allergic reaction. I called in to work again on Thursday since I was still pretty wimpy. But by Friday I needed to go back. My lip was still swollen, three days after I took the medicine. It had blistered against my tooth, so I asked my supervisor if I could work computer issues instead of taking calls. No. So I took about 70 phone calls Friday, and so here it is, Saturday. My lip is still swollen, blistered, and my tongue has blisters too from overcompensating while I talked on the phone. Sweetie has been really kind in taking care of me. He brought me ice cream when I couldn't chew anything. And tonight I was so hungry I started crying because I couldn't chew the little turkey bites I had microwaved. He cut them in tiny little pieces for me. That helped. I have no patience and trying to chew a soft taco shell took me an hour, so now I am aggravated and hungry and sore. And my lip is still swollen.

Take all your meds. Or throw them away.

The One Where I Finally Write Something

Where have I been lately? I can't remember anything big happening that would keep me away from my little blog. Well, it has been cold. And the G4 channel started showing Star Trek: The Next Generation two hours every night, so I guess it's all about priorities.
Speaking of ST:TNG (the Napoleon Dynamite way of referring to the best show of my adolescence). I became a Trekker in 1987 when ST:TNG debuted. Every Saturday night at 10:30, I camped out in the living room and absorbed the aliens and advanced technologies and struggles of humankind in spandex. There were times when I opted out of social situations because they overlapped a new episode. I had quite a zeal for my favorite show, recounting the latest dramatic scene during suppers and driving my family nuts. My Aunt Brenda sewed a real first-season command uniform for me. (It still fits--AND I have a commbadge!) I watched every Saturday, all the way up to the very last week of my high school career. The last episode of ST:TNG aired the week I graduated. It was rather apt, I felt. Eight wonderful years. And I saw every single episode, save one.

It was just one episode, one hour of sci-fi fluff to most people, but that one little hole in my complete Trek experience always bugged me. I knew what the show was about from my Star Trek Encyclopedia. It was called "When The Bough Breaks"--some Wesley Crusher episode which didn't usually interest me as I was a Riker girl, but it was from the first season, and it was missing from my list of episodes. Now, the G4 gamers channel on cable advertises they are running the series from the beginning. And almost 19 years after it originally aired, I would catch the last new episode of my all time favorite show.
Sweetie and I decided to make a date of it. We got our hamburger helper and settled down in front of the TV and closed the loop on the Star Trek saga. It wasn't the best episode but we enjoyed it. Plus since we both grew into X-Files fanatics it was really cool to see the guest star turn out to be the orginal Deep Throat. The best part of all, though, was that for all those Saturday nights that I daydreamed about being an astronaut or just having a date, I finally spent my very last night of spacey bliss with the love of my life. I like when things come full circle. Makes for a much better story.

Planoamy

Sad Tonight

Several weeks ago I wrote about collecting children's clothing to send to a contact soldier in Afghanistan who had agreed to distribute it to children there. Kevin and I had collected almost two dozen printer-paper boxes full of clothing since August, and I have been shipping boxes since then, staggered so as not to overwhelm our contact, Tobias C. Meister.

Today I sat down to read the daily posts to the website, www.anysoldier.com. And what I saw broke my heart--Tobias was killed in an IED (improvised explosive device) explosion which injured two other soldiers on Decemer 28. He was married and had an 18 month old son.

I felt so strange, crying over the death of a person I had never met--never even heard or seen. But then I realized, I had met him. And so have hundreds of others who read his frequent posts and received his newsletters complete with pictures of Afghan children or fellow soldiers. Tobias was a soldier, proud of the whole "kick butt" abilities of his unit, but his aim was to bring together the local people. He was helping to build bridges and schools, create potable water, improve medical access for the Afghanis...not 6 o'clock news material.

Now he is a part of the year that was. His family and friends and fellow soldiers go forward with new days to spend. But Tobias had the opportunity to share his enthusiasm and generosity by involving people like me--from all over the world--in the changes he hoped to see. I will leave the military to find justice for him. Now is the time to continue his legacy.