I had chosen to work from home yesterday, and now I’m glad that I did. There were a few things around the house that *had* to be done, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself because I had gotten up in enough time to get an early start on things. At 7:30 I opened my work email and worked on a few things there. I made breakfast and piddled around in the kitchen a little bit and was feeling pretty good.

Then it hit me … the Mother of All Headaches.

About 10 I started feeling it, the crushing pain on the back of my neck and my temples. Then my eyes started throbbing. I thought, “No big deal, I’ll take an Axert and a hot shower and that’ll help.”

It only got worse from there.

I started feeling nauseous. I mean REALLY nauseous — we’re talking Lamaze-type breathing just to try to keep volatile projectile puking my insides out nausea.

It didn’t work.

I was unable to hold food down pretty much all day. I drank some juice. That didn’t work either. I had to ride out and pick up Jessie’s new glasses, so I did that and thought that picking up one of my favorite meals might help perk me up. I got home, took another Axert and a Sudafed, and sat my happy butt down to eat some Krystals chiks. (but I held off on the hotsauce this time, dont’chaknow!)

Bad idea … WTF was I thinking?!

I had about 2 fries and those “came back to visit.” By this point it’s 2:30, my head feels like it’s in the Vice Grips from Hell, my heart is racing wildly, I’m afraid to take anything else, and I’m calling my doctor’s office to see if she can work me in. The receptionist asked me if it was an emergency. I said, “Well, if she can’t see me soon, I’m going to the ER right now!” She put me on hold for a moment and asked me if I could come in at 3. Jessie’s school is a few minutes from my doctor’s office and I knew I could pick her up and swing by there.

I swear sometimes I think I need one of those medical alert bracelets or something when I have one of these “Uber Mega Headaches from Hades”!

Poor little Jessie, she is the absolute SWEETEST person on the face of this earth — when she wants to be. ;P And yesterday, she took one look at me and said, “You’re paler than you usually are. Are those my new glasses? Cool!”

LOL.

She patiently sat with me in the waiting room while I waited for my name to be called, and talked to me the whole time to keep my mind “off being sick.” (Isn’t that adorable?) I think she looked at nearly every magazine in the room and took care in pointing out everything to me. When I turned away from a food advertisement, she asked what was wrong. I explained that I was trying hard to concentrate on not throwing up, so food didn’t interest me right then. She’s quiet for a moment then says, “Oh. Well food interests me a LOT. I’m hungry!”

That’s my girl.

Jim had texted me to tell me he was leaving work and should he meet me there. I was told by one of the nurses that it would be best if someone came to pick me up when we were done, so I told him to “come on.” We had been called into a room and sat down with my doctor’s nurse. I explained what was going on and what all I had taken up to that point (and what I think came back up). Jim comes in right before the doctor shows up, so he gets to sit in there with us too. (much to Jessie’s delight!)

I explained to her what all happened and what I had taken. She takes my blood pressure and my pulse (by this time it was down closer to normal). She runs several tests and determines that it wasn’t flu or anything, just a really bad migraine.

I think I would have much rather had the flu by that point! ;P

She asks me if I want a shot to ease my pain and nausea. I agreed, and while they’re being prepared, we’re told that I’m not to drive for the rest of the day/night. Jim looks at me and asks about my car.

At that point, I was ready to give it away … gimme the damned shot!!

I told him that I would leave it there and pick it up the next day (today). He didn’t like that idea and voiced his concerns. The doctor looks at me and then at him and says, “She cannot drive if she gets this shot.”

I looked at Jim and said, “I am GETTING this shot!” We had to sign some sort of release form stating that he was driving me and would not let me drive yesterday or last night.

So I get a shot of Nubain for the migraine and a shot of Fenergan for the nausea. The migraine went away within an hour, but my nausea mostly subsided. It was never really gone until this morning when I got up.

I’m feeling much better today, but God help me, I don’t ever want to go through one that strong again!

Big of warning to you menfolk: there may be a bit more information here than you’d care to know about me and/or the subject of women’s bodies and their monthly ‘cycle’ in general. You’ve been warned.

I was skimming through the headlines on the MyFoxAL blog feeds and ran across this one: “Study: The Pill Protects Against Cancer.” Thinking that sounded familiar, I looked through the archives over at That’s Fit to find this article, “Taking the Pill reduces cancer risk,” from back in September. They weren’t exactly the same in content, but both conveyed the same general idea: women who take the pill lower their risk of developing cancer later in life.

YAY! Good news for folks like me!

While there is some dispute over which cancers are prevented and which ones aren’t differ, it is good news overall. Given my family’s medical history (cancer on both sides), I’m willing to take this as a plus. That said, it helps to know what to expect when going on ANY kind of birth control. I know some girls who would read the above mentioned articles and go ask for the pill right out!

Ladies, you first need to really know what you are putting into your body. While this is sound advice for any medication, it is essential when we’re talking about birth control. Think about it, people: these are hormones! These products are made to intentionally interrupt and re-arrange your body’s natural timing. Some of these products may be dangerous! For instance, most commercials I’ve noticed on tv nowadays aren’t for “the ye olde pill,” it’s for the newest super-pill, or a patch, or a ring. Has anyone ever wondered how safe those products are? Remember the Nuvaring commercials? That product died a quiet death after studies had shown that its users were experiencing ’severe side effects’ — yeah, I’d say the deadly kind!

Hello, can we say: Pulmonary embolisms? Strokes? Anyone? Bueller?

What’s worse, many women are completely unaware at the side effects that may come with birth control. I personally ran into a whole stint of problems and my gyn at the time put me through several different drugs. For whatever reason my ‘plumbing’ stopped behaving as it should. I stopped getting periods. After 3 months, they ran a pregnancy test (of course they never believe you when you tell them you’re “not pregnant” ), and when it came up negative, they ran all sorts of tests and ultimately told me, “We have no idea why it’s doing that. Just wait another month and we’re sure your cycle will correct itself.”

Three months and a whole myriad of tests later, still no period. I went back to see the doctor and he put me on Seasonale. It was a little weird. I was told to expect to be on a pack for 3 months, then have a short period. Ok, no big deal, right? On the third month of the pack, I kept having really painful cramps and more headaches. I called the doctor, was told this was normal. I completed the pack, and was told by my doctor that I didn’t have to have a period and could start right away on the new pack, skipping the sugar pills. Two weeks later I started hemorrhaging. Alarmed, I called the doctor. He told me that break-through bleeding was “normal” and not to worry.

Me: This isn’t just a little spot or two. This is full on gushing blood here. How the hell is hemorrhaging normal??
Dr: Is there a possibility you’re pregnant?
Me: Not unless you’re expecting another Messiah.

So I’m told to come in for another exam. They find nothing wrong and I’m told that I’ve lost a lot of blood.

No shit, Sherlock!

After this point, I’d had enough and went to see my GP — who, honestly, I should have seen in the first place. I told her what was going on and told her about the various medications I had taken, and about the problems I’d recently had with Seasonale. She told me that she wasn’t surprised, and that Seasonale had just gotten their fannies smacked by the FDA (pdf), and she’d heard from several other women had experienced the same thing I had just gone through.

Note: I was told by several sources it’s been pulled from the market altogether, but can’t find anything in print right now.

Anyways, she switched me to a low hormone pill. When I asked about the other kind of rings, patches, etc. She told me she didn’t trust them, and they increase your risk factors for blood clots and certain types of cancers (among a whole horde of other things).

I’m on Loestrin now. What pisses me off most was that when I was put on all those other meds before by my gyn, I asked if there were any side effects I needed to be aware of. I was never told about the cramps, the bleeding, the headaches, or the extensive list of other side effects I could possibly encounter. All in all, I’ve learned that yes, having a period is a pain, but it also serves a necessary function, and having one every few months is better for my peace of mind.

Anyways, the whole point of this rant is: ladies, talk to your doctors! Whether you’re a user of a patch, a ring, or a pill. Find out if you need to get more calcium, if OTC medicines or one of your prescriptions could counter-act it (as well as various drug treatments), if you may gain weight (a biggie with EVERY woman I know, myself included!), … There are a lot of myths about the pill that have been around since our mothers and grandmothers were on it, and it amazes the hell out of me how many doctors DON’T talk about this sort of thing. (And too many women either don’t know, or are too scared, to ask.)

I wanted to take a moment and show some link love to several blogs with informative and moving posts covering the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941:

• The Cook Shack: Gab & Grub — my pal Cookie’s site, you’re always guaranteed to learn something there.
• Benning’s Writing Pad — I ran across Benning’s site a while back, looking for blogrolls for my new hobby site. His posts are well-written and today’s is no exception. This post has a plethora of information for anyone who would like to learn more about the history of the events leading up to and the day of the attacks.
• Michelle Malkin — she always has lots of pictures and other useful information.
• The Bull Speaks! — a local blogger who has a very well-written blog
• Hillbilly White Trash — another great blog coming out of the South.

I commented earlier today to a few of my co-workers that I had noticed less and less coverage about the anniversary of Pearl Harbor in the media. One spoke up saying that he believed that we should “let it go already,” that it would be like “picking at a scab on a wound.”

My faith teaches forgiveness, and I am the first to admit that perhaps I need to practice a bit more of that. But forgiving a wrong does not also mean forgetting it altogether. George Santayana said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

So what has this generation of Americans learned?

Michelle Malkin ended her post with these three simple words:

Remember.
Reflect.
Learn.

I’d say those make pretty good instructions for today. I think everyone needs to take a moment to really think about the events that happened 66 years ago and wonder to themselves: “Have we ‘learned’ anything yet?”

I’m done posting sappy memorials every year on this date. Fact is, I’ve got nothing left. I got no more sorrow, no more tears … so forget that nonsense. All you’ll get from me is some good ole American anger, and a very intense need for justice. And to be quite honest, it scares the living fuck out of me to think that there are a lot of sick motherfuckers out there who are just waiting for another chance to strike at us. There are those who are in power now (or might be soon!?) who will give those sick motherfuckers that chance.

IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP, AMERICA!

“Open Season” — Stuck Mojo
Music: Ward, Lyrics: Aborn, Nelson, String Arrangement: Eric Frampton

I speak peace when peace is spoken, But I speak war when your hate is provoking, The season is open 24-7-365, Man up yo time to ride, No need to hide behind slogans of deceit, Claiming that you’re a religion of peace, We just don’t believe you, We can clearly see through, The madness that you’re feeding your people, Jihad the cry of your unholy war, Using the willing, the weak and poor, From birth drowning in propaganda, rhetoric and slander, All we can say is damn ya

My forefathers fought and died for this here
I’m stronger than your war of fear
Are we clear?
If you step in my hood
It’s understood
It’s open season

I don’t need a faith that’s blind, Where death and hate bring me peace of mind, With views that are stuck deep in the seventh century, So much sand in your eyes to blind to see, The venom that you leaders preach, Is the path to your own destruction, Your own demise, You might say that I don’t understand but your disgust for me is what I realize, Surprise!
Your homicidal ways has got the whole world watching, Whole world scoping, So if you bring it to my home base, Best believe it, The season’s open

I see you, Hell yeah I see you, Motherfucker naw, I don’t wanna be you, If you come to my place, I’ll drop more than just some bass, Yo you’ll get a taste of a, Sick motherfucker from the Dirty, I ain’t worrying not a fucking bit, I’m telescoping like Hubble, Yo you in trouble, Yo on the double, I’m wild with mine, Bring that style with mine, Fuck with my family I’ll end your life, Just the way it is, Just the way it be, Do you understand? No matter if you’re woman or man, or child, My profile is crazy, That shit you do doesn’t amaze me, I’m ready to blaze thee

I don’t give a damn what god you claim, I’ve seen the innocent that you’ve slain, On my streets you’re just fair game, Like a pig walk to your slaughter, The heat here is so much hotter, And my views won’t teeter totter or fluctuate, Step to me you just met your fate, And I’ll annihilate, With the skill of a Shogun assassin, Slicing and dicing precise with a passion, In any shape form or fashion, Bring it to my home, Welcome to the danger zone, Cause your attitude’s the reason, The triggers keep squeezing, The hunt is on and it’s open season

It’s Open Season

Just a quick note: Again, I’d like to everyone for their well wishes and prayers. I’m sitting at Jim’s mom’s house right now. My mother called me on my cell earlier to let me know that the doctor says that Grandmother should recover fully from her stroke. She’ll begin therapy Monday. I’m going to go see her after I leave here … I just wanted to post a quick update and say thanks again.

Edit:

(Sunday) I wanted to come on and post a bit more info (and clean up my horrible spelling, typing on a cell sucks!). Grandmother’s two doctors seem to be in a disagreement as to whether or not she’s had a stroke. When we left the hospital last night one was saying that he thought she has had a stroke and would make a full recovery, the other was saying that it wasn’t a stroke and could be something else affecting her. Mentally she’s been in and out of it. When we first got there she was incoherent and could not remember anyone’s names, but she started going on and on about various foods (my God, she went on about OATMEAL!). By the time we left, she was talking about her cat, Bebe (and at one point rambled on about each of our previous pets and various premium dog food and cat foods, and Big Man Gramps’ old goose, etc.) so we knew she was clearing up. One nurse wonders if some of her mental clarity problems are due to certain medications she’s been put on lately and I’m inclined to agree as that’s when all the recent trouble started, but we won’t know more until the doctors are able to run more tests and she’s able to start therapy next week.

Something that concerns everyone is that she’s refusing to eat or drink anything. If she keeps it up, they’ll have to tube her … and she definitely WON’T like that.

Saw Mother and Daddy there. Neither of them spoke to Jim, as usual …