Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I'm Home. I'm Fine. I'm Sorry!

Please excuse my extended absence here. I got back from the dig last Wednesday, and have been mulling over some things ever since. Meanwhile, there's been some drama with Chase Home Finance and some health bits too.

But I didn't mean to make anyone worry! Sorry about that.

I am, indeed, exhausted. Also mangled and sick, full of way excessive allergies and fever attacks. I got to the dig two days late: both Walter and myself were in such bad allergic states just before I was supposed to leave, that we simply couldn't get out of bed to finish packing me up to go to the dig. It was a strange and sad thing to see Walter that way. It was like looking into a mirror, seeing how he simply couldn't do anything but rest and sleep.

I always love going on the dig, but missing two out of the five days meant I didn't get my *fix,* as Walter put it. One of the curators out on the site brought up an interesting alternative. The field museum at my old alma mater, UF, needs volunteers to process plaster jackets. That means being the one to actually open up the special jacketed fossils we prepare on various dig sites, and perform the task of reconstructing them as the animals were, way back 18 million years ago.

I'd need to make arrangements to do this with my feet elevated, but I think I can handle it. I think that a couple of the scientist/curators will put in a good word for me over in the Plaster Jacket Department, and that Eureka will too. This is a way new idea for me. It could be a lot of fun, and a great way to escape the local pollen when it gets too bad down here.

I'm working like crazy on the house's exterior, trying to meet certain time deadlines. I came home from the dig a bit beat up - as always! - but this time it looks like I got whacked in the MRSA department. Working hard in the yard didn't help. One wound, a very deep cut that got infected, is making a nasty abscess or something in my left hand, and the dermatologist today said I need to go see the hand surgeon. He took a swab to culture it, but warned me it may have to get debrided.

Any of you who know, or can imagine, what that's like on a super-tender MRSA infection, on a hand (hands have extra nerves), and on an immunocompromised fibromyalgia patient, can probably understand why I'm not looking forward to getting it debrided.. And it needs to be done asap. Probably tomorrow. The wound is...well, it's leaking, a lot, which needs fixing. Sorry for the gross-out factor.

The original reason for the dermatologist visit was to get a biopsy. When I chainsawed the ficus patch in mid-January, one of the little wounds I got was very unusual. It might have been a critter bite, like a spider; maybe a scorpion sting; maybe a foreign object embedded itself. It hasn't healed yet, thus the biopsy.

That lead to a Typhoid k Incident today at the doc's. Details to follow...

Time for sleep, now. I'll do my best not to leave you hanging like that again.

10 comments:

Cefenix said...

Glad to see you back...look forward to your story as always...and guess what! I have a baby poking it's head above the Jiffy Pot! Just one so far, fingers crossed!

Pretty Lady said...

Okay, left hand, infected wound, check. Weird bite, check. Allergies, check. Visualizing. Blue is healing and safety. :-)

Jean said...

Glad you're back... take good care. Thinking of you, of course!

Jan said...

k..I was concerned that something like that might happen.

I hope everything is better soon..will remember you and Walter in my prayers.

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

There, you just did it again (leave us hanging)! Just kidding. Sleep on, take your rest....

k said...

Boy, I sure did, didn't I, Pepek?

I wrote a nice long comment response to all your comments last night...then when I woke up this morning, it had disappeared. argh!

Well. For today I'm losing myself in yardwork. Then I shall treat myself to Lotus Chinese Kitchen for dinner, which is definitely NOT in the budget just now. However, a woman has...needs, you know?

Then I'll sit down and blog about what's been going on. I'm sorry to say it will bear a High Alert Gross-Out Warning!!! on it. There's just no other way to get it off my mind than to tell it like it is.

So, here's hoping you all y'all can hold out until after dinner. ;-)

Unless I fall asleep in my chair again...

eatmisery said...

I pop in on your blog from time to time. I come via Livey. I was wondering if you know how she is. She hasn't posted in six days and that's not like her.

k said...

eatmisery, I'm sorry to tell you that Linda and I no longer communicate. This was not my choice, and it makes me sad. I absolutely did not do Linda any wrong, and I'm certainly not some sort of evil person. Beyond assuring you of that, I can only say I wish this hadn't happened, and truly hope her life becomes better for her.

I'd suggest you try either to email her directly, or ask Leslie of Leslie's Omnibus. I think Linda's email address is on her blog. I do stop by from time to time and I'd also noticed she wasn't posting, so I'd appreciate it if you would let me know if everything is all right with her.

As a former Chicagoan, I hope you made it through this awful winter in one piece. I lived there during the three record-breaking cold and snowy winters of the late 1970's, so I have some idea of what life can be like in those conditions. My hat is off to you for dealing with it. As soon as I could, I moved to Florida. After that, the Chicago winters were all mild until this year. Go figger.

eatmisery said...

I have Livey's email address. I don't know why I never thought to just email her. Thanks for your time and response. I appreciate it.

k said...

You're very welcome! She's posted now, so at least we know she's still with us.

I read on your blog about the time you ran home from school in the blizzard of '79. You were in first grade. I was 19 and working for the US Post Office.

I was a clerk, not a mail carrier, but part of my job was picking up mail from the big blue corner boxes after 5PM. Doing that job in that winter was quite an experience.

And we both lived to tell about it, thank Heaven.

But I'm sure glad I'm in Florida now.