What Not To Wear

It's Friday night and I'm in Detroit, not Baltimore as originally planned. Yesterday I came home from work feeling even worse than I had been. I had gone to the gym on Wednesday and was only able to do 25 minutes on the elliptical. The Libertarian came over to see how much longer I had to go, so that I could stretch his knee, and I discovered that not only couldn't I breathe, I couldn't speak - not a good sign. I wasn't too concerned though, I figured I could get through the weekend and see how I was doing on Monday. Yeah, not so much.

Yesterday I noticed that the fleece jacket I normally wear for warmth at work was bothering my right arm. Besides that I simply didn't feel well. I was very tired and really not very happy. I would have called the dr. for an appt, but I had The Libertarian's big mother truck and I just didn't feel up to driving all the way to the dr's office in it. I'm not comfortable driving something that large. When I got home, I called the dr. and asked them to have him call me which they said they would do. I then called RR to tell her that I was contemplating not coming as I just didn't have the energy for visiting. She understood and told me to let her know for sure. I then called the YS (younger sister), left a message and then went to bed.

Dr. called me back around 5:30, we discussed my breathing issues, so he called in a new antibiotic for me. I couldn't even face driving the truck again, so I texted The Libertarian, but he was already home (45 minutes away). He offered to come up and pick up the prescription for me, but there was no way I was going to make him do that because I was too wimpy to drive 8 blocks. I threw on clothes, but couldn't face shoes, so put on my slippers and walked out the door. When I got outside, I noticed that both of Ursamajor's cars were there. I went back in and knocked on her door and she was so sweet and said, yes, she'd drive me to the pharmacist to get my drugs.

The YS finally called me back (she was at work), and when I told her about my arm which by this time was just exceptionally pain to even the lightest touch and sensitive to temperature, to say nothing of the tingling pain in my hand, specifically my thumb knuckle. It was a different pain/sensation than when I had my herniated disk, so I wasn't worried about that so much, but I wasn't happy, nonetheless. Her initial thought was heart attack, as she has this tendency to go straight for the worst possible scenario. I think I rolled my eyes. She had a few other thoughts, but I wasn't convinced. She wanted to talk to a few other people, and said she'd call me back. When she called me back, she said, "Shannon, the OT here, thought shingles." My heart dropped as I had had that thought myself, but didn't want to go there. I had it exactly two years ago and it was a miserable experience, and it lasted forever.

This morning I tried to get a dr.'s appt., but my GP had no appts today, so I called my old doctor (the one who diagnosed the shingles two years ago, and diagnosed my herniated disk 6.5 years ago), but she couldn't get me into today either. I made appt. to see the GP on Monday and then my old doctor for tomorrow. My issue with my old doctor is that she's a No Insurance doctor - which is totally great for people who don't have insurance - so my appt. tomorrow will cost $45 vs the $20 co-pay if I waited until Monday. After talking to The Libertarian, I went with the $45 doctor and canceled Monday's appt. I talked to Martha later and she agreed that it's better to get it taken care of sooner rather than later.

I hope it's not shingles, but if it's not then what is this strange painful sensation in my right arm? Maybe the alternative is worse. At any rate, I'm home. I didn't get to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight. I didn't get to hang out with RR and catch up and meet her 3-year-old son. Tomorrow I won't be sightseeing in my nation's capital or going to see SuperDiamond. Sunday I won't be having alone time with the YS and eating a second time at the Cheesecake Factory (I really wish we'd get one in Detroit). The only high point is that all this means I didn't have fly which is just such a complete PITA these days that I simply dread it. That's the only silver lining and I'm afraid that it's only plated, not a solid or sterling lining.

It's now time for bed. I hope everybody else's weekend beats the crap out of mine.

Update: The doctor said it's not shingles. She think my arm issues are related to my chest congestion and recommended that I see my regular doctor to get a prescription for a chest x-ray. She's the third person to say "pneumonia." So, essentially I wasted $60 since I have to go to my regular doctor anyway. Let's hope I can get an appointment tomorrow.