Brain Cheese

Have you noticed there just isn't much happening over here at AOL BRAINCHEESE?  That's because all the fun stuff is happening over at

www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com

Same blog, different website.  Continuous cornucopia of crap...podcast of poo...Bookmark it.  Do it now!  (Man I love to be bossy)...see you there!

baitulos at 1:03:27 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 1 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

(If you haven't been following BRAINCHEESE at www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com , you've just been missing out!  Come on...make the switch.  This post is a follow up to one "over there"...so, if you haven't been "over there", you may be lost!)

     Wow! I've been missing from action for about 36 hours. I managed to finish the final inservice/teaching project at work on Thursday (**insert a big "WOOHOO" here please**), only to find myself completely debilitated AGAIN very early Friday morning by another headache...AKA, "migraine", as Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named has labeled it. It was that same pliers-squeezing-my-eyeball-pain in my left eye...THIS time, I also had numbness and a bit of a droop to the left side of my face! Talk about a happy Friday the 13th...

     Fortunately, I'm a fairly quick study (sometimes) and decided around 2:00AM to start loading up on the narcotics. I finally fell back to sleep around 8:00AM and was able to doze off and on all day on Friday...the pain began letting up Friday evening. Dr. SWWNBN has decided to do yet ANOTHER MRI of my noggin, but I'm not sure what (if anything) she is looking for...she may just be checking to make sure I still HAVE a brain! I suppose since this "brain pain" is brand new, she might be checking for any changes afoot.

     A few days ago, I wrote about possibly trying an experiment with myself being the sole participant...it was about cutting out the "Dew"/caffeine from my diet and seeing if there might be any significant and noticeable changes in my fatigue/sleep/blood pressure (and now headaches, I add).

     Well...as luck would have it, I was so miserable in pain and nauseated on Friday, I consumed NO caffeine whatsoever! So I decided now might be as good a time as any to get my project, "Downsize Me" under way...this should be interesting...LOL

     I'm going to be tracking my fatigue, hours of sleep, weight, and blood pressure for the next 28 days as I eliminate ALL caffeine from my diet...I'm already CRAVING chocolate of all things! Of course this is completely subjective (and I'm sorry to say, most PHARMACEUTICAL STUDIES are, too...they'd just like to think they're not!) and will never be published in the annals of Neurology Today. LOL Woe is me...

     As I weave (and maybe even heave) my way through the next 28 days, I'll be using BRAINCHEESE as a forum to document this "highly regarded study"...as always, I'll try to keep it entertaining if not down right riveting...(now I'M nearly wetting my pants laughing at that prospect!)

     So, here's a little video I've prepared for you as the launch pad for "DOWNSIZE ME"...and just so you know...no animals will be harmed in this study!

 

baitulos at 4:47:39 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 2 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Need I say more?

baitulos at 1:36:02 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 2 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

And if you're curious why I'm so tired, head over to www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com to read why...truly rivoting things are happening over there!  LOL  But then again, I think I could make passing gas intriguing with enough "colorful" words!  (But it's still just a fart, folks...)

baitulos at 5:15:30 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Yup...it's true. I'll be up at the crack of dawn AGAIN on Monday! Why God, why?!?

I know why and the answer is simple...I'm easy. Fortunately, I am NOT free! I will be training the final early morning class of Management of Aggressive Behavior in the wee hours of the morning at work tomorrow. And just to pour an ample amount of salt in my wound, it IS supposed to be my day off!

It's nearly 9:45PM on Sunday right now...I'm still up posting on a blog...I'll probably STILL be up until my "usual" bedtime, which falls somewhere between midnight and 3:00AM. The good news (if one can call it "good") is, with such little sleep in the morning, I will remain blissfully unaware and unconcerned about the training attendees...at least not until around 10:00AM when I actually DO wake up. LOL

We also have the first round of good-bye parties for DP, my retiring boss. But, of course, this will not start at the office until 2:00PM (when I would normally be reporting for work if I was SUPPOSED to be at work...and not home ON MY DAY OFF!)...this means I will "linger" (or malinger...just depends) at the office following our training, which ends at noon. There's always lunch to eat, but two hours is a long time to kill when sleep deprived...sort of makes me WANT to kill instead.

I cannot seem to get that totally stupid sleep aid commercial out of my head right now as I type...you know the one. Lunesta. By tomorrow evening I'll most likely be wishing I had some of that, except MY drug would be spelled "Loonesta"...fitting, eh?

Off now to prepare to go to bed so I can stare at the ceiling and chastise myself for my "simple" ways...

**Note to self: Never ever agree to do something at work unless there is a substantial amount of cash involved for your time and effort. Thank You's do NOT equal cash, nor can Thank You's pay the mortgage.**

baitulos at 9:56:03 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 1 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

     But if YOU want to read about it and my Easter heathen ways, you'll have to jump over to Blogspot (do I STILL need to put the link in here?!?  Fine... http://brain-cheese.blogspot.com/ ). 

     See you there... 

baitulos at 2:03:41 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

     Why are you still here?  Do you fear change soooo much you'd rather miss more PEEP postings over at www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com ?  Are you continuing to linger here as a subtle message to BrainCheese?

     Take a deep breath...now blow it out...carefully move your mouse over the above link and left click.  That's right...nice and easy...you can do it!  You're almost to BrainCheese on Blogspot!

     I have faith in you...LOL

baitulos at 6:13:44 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

     I'm tired...if you want today's post, you're just gonna have to bite the bullet (or me!) and hit the link to take you to www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com/ .  Just do it...LOL

baitulos at 4:36:30 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

     They've been on the shelves now, probably even before the sun went down on Valentine's Day...I'm talking about those sugar-laden, little marshmallow things we've come to associate with Eastertime.  Peeps.

     When I was still young enough to believe in the Easter Bunny (and I promise NOT to digress here about my concerns of just how prolific rabbits and the resurrection of Jesus became a combined holiday tradition and belief! LOL), there were Peeps.  These little candy treats have been around for nearly 70 years (and NO, I am not old enough to remember the "birth" of Peeps...who, by the way, are made by a company called "Just Born").  They are a part of Springtime and now even a part of Christmas and Halloween.

     The weirdos I work with (no, I'm NOT talking about patients here) have held long-standing traditions and beliefs about Peeps...how to eat them, when to eat them, etc.  Some in my office prefer to buy their Peeps a year in advance, save them to "age" them, and then bring the Peeps out for fine dining the following year.  Still others believe the "newer" tradition of Peeps shaped as bunnies is just plain WRONG...Peeps are chickens/chicks after all!

     One year, a few of the "brighter bulbs" in my office decided to try something new with Peeps and use them to make smores.  Graham crackers and chocolate bars were collected, as well as an assortment of Peeps.  But since no one had access to a campfire in our downtown office, "someone" got the bright idea to try heating the Peep smores up in the microwave.  An important lesson was learned that day...marshmallow Peeps WILL explode in a microwave!!  (File THAT little tidbit of information in your important trivia files.)

     There is even a tradition this time of year held here in Seattle...it's called the Peep Art Show/Competition.  If you look closely at the photo above, you WILL be appalled to see Peeps have been substituted as disciples in Leonardo da'Vinci's "The Last Supper"...or maybe you WON'T be offended?

     Maybe you, like me, will find humor in the political "incorrectness" and sarcasm of the photo and get back to the grass roots of what is REALLY important to remember and to celebrate during this Easter/Passover season.  You DO recall what this is, don't you?  Good...now let's all take a moment of silence together and pause to remember the Easter Bunny...LOL

   Peep out, my peeps...

baitulos at 2:19:35 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 2 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

     Well, not exactly.  Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named instructions were to take a handful of Verapamil and see if this helps my eye pain/headache!

     Yep...it's still here.  That vise-pressing pain in my left eye.  Nothing to date has helped relieve this pain and optic neuritis has been ruled "out"...rumor has it on the streets, I may just be experiencing my first MIGRAINE.

     I started out my day with a visit to my favorite Nurse Practitioner's office, PP...I had this appointment scheduled well over two months ago as it was time for my every-two-year physical.  You know the "one"...where no opening on the body is left unexplored.  LOL

     I gimped into her office and threw myself down in a chair.  My blood pressure was elevated.  Her assistant asked me if this was because I was in pain?  "Duh", almost fell out of my mouth, but I restrained my vocal chords.

     Yes, I WAS in about a class 6-7 pain mode (the worst pain I ever had in my life caused me to pass out, so that's my "10" on the pain scale).  Yes, my B/P was most likely elevated to 135/100 because my left eye felt like someone had grabbed it from behind with a pair of pliers.  I tried to be pleasant to the assistant, but I just wasn't in the mood.

     Put on the gown and strip down to the socks...was there anything in particular I needed to talk with PP about?  Again, "duh", was sitting with a tremendous fidget on my lips...I bit my tongue as I let the assistant know I would speak directly to PP about my "issues", thank you very much.

     PP entered the room, took one look at me, and inquired "what's wrong?"  I proceeded to fill her in on my litany of complaints while she dutifully responded in kind with "ahuh's" and "oh's!" to each of my rehearsed lines...after all, one cannot waste time in these appointments...it's best to go prepared with a list.  LOL

     She listened intently (which is all the more reason she remains my FAVORITE Nurse Practitioner!), took notes, and started to address each complaint systematically.  She proceeded through the motions of the "physical" while I told jokes in a feeble attempt to normalize the fact my knees were up in the air and PP's head was much to close to my Cha-Cha.

     PP had blood work drawn, talked to me about my peri-menopausal symptoms (like how quickly "duh" flies off my lips in fits of hormonal agitation!) and told me to wait in her office while she consulted an ophthalmologist.  I did as I was told.

     The wait was short and she returned to my darkened room to tell me I was to go immediately to said Op Doc's office a few blocks away for an eye consult...PP obviously has more "pull" in the medical community than I give her credit for!  I gathered my things and again, did as I was told.

     The Op Doc's office was only a short wait before 11 year old, Doogie Houser, came out to take me to HIS darkened exam room...the poor man appeared to be young enough to be my son and I was sure I saw a glistening wetness behind his little ears (he WAS barely wet behind the ears!).

     Doogie/Op Doc examined my eyes...he dilated my eyes (without warning, I might add), he peered inside the windows to my brain, and announced "everything looks good".  I thought this was rather funny for an eye doctor to say..."looks good"...he didn't understand why I was chuckling.

     Doogie reassured me my optic nerves were intact in both eyes and there did not appear to be any inflammation or external cause for my pain...he needed to consult with Mother PP.  He returned to tell me Mother PP wanted me to contact Dr. SWWNBN for follow up...I asked why?  He told me he didn't know, but didn't want to get in "the middle of it".  Bless his heart.  I think he may have ALREADY gotten too far in the middle of things!  LOL

     I left his office to go outside with my completely blown pupils, only to discover, the one day out of the year the sun just HAD to shine in Seattle, was today.  I could barely see to drive, but decided why should THIS minor event stop me from becoming a potential auto fatality?  I rubbed Buddha's belly and got in my car, saying my prayers to the Highway Heaven and drove home.  Somehow I managed to make the 15 mile trek home with only one eye open and my left eye watering like a hose.

     I promptly emailed Dr. SWWNBN...she promptly emailed me back.  If this wasn't optic neuritis, she was placing her bets on migraine.  I was considering leafing through the Yellow Pages to see if anyone was still performing lobotomies...for HER, not me!

     Migraine???  But I've never had a headache in my life, I proudly emailed back.  There are only a few things I take such pride in and one of them is my self-proclaimed idea I have NEVER had a headache without a cause (such as concussions, meningitis, etc.)...that, and the fact I like to rub it in that my bladder works JUST fine, thank you very much!  I AM a proud person, after all.

     Why in hell's name would I be experiencing my first headache/migraine at age 42?...my fingers were hot on the keyboard as I searched for any other plausible explanation for my pain.  Dr. SWWNBN swiftly emailed me back (like a shot to my heart) and informed my stoopid self, "Migraines and MS are quite common".  That was it.  The doctor had spoken.  The verdict was in...and the jury of one convicted me.  I am having a migraine.

     I'm new to this headache world, so pardon me if I am a bit "poo poo" about this event.  I DID agree to try Verapamil (a cardiac calcium channel blocker, I think?)...but only under duress...this pain is KILLING me! 

     OK...it's NOT actually killing me, but I'm almost to the point with it I "wish" it would!  I've had many and various "pains" in my life (some in my neck, some in my arse LOL), but I've never had this type of pressure in my head before.  I am learning a greater empathy for those who suffer from migraines...it's pretty friggin' miserable.

     So, I'm off to drug myself with Verapamil, Zanaflex, Mirapex, and anything else I can find that might stupefy me for a few hours of sleep.  And I am hoping when I wake up in the morning, this new little migraine friend will have relocated...I'd say maybe to YOUR house, but I wouldn't wish this kind of discomfort on anyone!...I  humbly bow to you MS migraine suffers...

baitulos at 12:16:46 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 1 comments: Show Recent | Add your own