Posts from the “Sick Mom” Category

Ill

Posted on May 5th, 2013

I dropped my migraine pill on the carpeted hallway floor at the children’s hospital on Friday. My copay on that one pill is $11, so I picked it up and took it anyway. That’s not how I ended up sick. That came from M and Pea, who were gracious enough to share their stomach bug…but not before I smugly thought to myself how nice it was I didn’t get it. Of course. In any case, we missed a planned Cinco de Mayo gathering (although not without my Sunday morning “we won’t be making it because blerg” email not making it). Right as I learned my message didn’t make it to my hosts and I picked up the phone to call, I looked at my…

Categories: Hard days, Sick Mom

Accidentally or on purpose

Posted on May 2nd, 2013

I’m working with Pea on taking ownership of her misdeeds. Generally this isn’t a problem, because she self-reported from about the time she could talk. It’s only recently she’s tried to invent stories, but they quickly unravel without much work on my part. This morning it went like this: “Mama, can you come here? Some toilet paper fell into the tub.” “By itself?” I asked. “Yes. In pieces–I mean, I–I–I accidentally–” Big sigh. “No, I did it on purpose. Can you help?” Which is great. I mean, if she’s anything like me, she’ll be lying convincingly about fake sleepovers and states of inebriation in ten years. Some TP in the tub is no big deal. That said, I’m still bitter about the red Sharpie…

Categories: Epiphanies, General Parenting, Sick Mom, TMI

What a week.

Posted on March 22nd, 2013

Monday was ordinary enough: piano lessons, a haircut (Pea’s), some shopping. Then, WHAM. Pea’s Monday sniffles turned into a household of coughing, sneezing, miserable folks. It was like a freight train: Tuesday morning I was okay and by Tuesday evening I waned to crawl in bed and stay there. I cranked the heater in my office up to 74 (I usually am more a 67 type), had on a cashmere sweater, and I was still freezing. I don’t remember Wednesday. I am pretty sure I played Civ IV and dozed. Thursday I dragged myself to the neurologist for Botox injections. She upped the dose past FDA recommended amounts (whee) but I have little injection bruises, and for a few hours, my forehead looked like…

Categories: Portlandia, Sick kid, Sick Mom

Four-fifths

Posted on February 19th, 2013

Five day weekend tally: Saturday: migraine Sunday: migraine/sinus headache Monday: sinus headache Tuesday: sore throat Badly played, five day weekend. Badly played.

Categories: Sick Mom

The lost weekend

Posted on February 18th, 2013

This past weekend was a complete bust. Saturday morning I took Pea to Highland dance lessons, and on the way out, I started getting a very bad migraine. No warning, nothing. Just WHAM. Nausea, light and sound sensitivity…and excruciating pain. If you’re a long-time reader of the blog, you know all about my migraines, how they used to take one out of every two or three days of my life (but are now much better), how I still managed to function and practice law and parent, just in a lot of freaking pain. For ten years, I tried various preventative meds and their various side effects and finally ended up getting Botox every few months. It’s helped so much it’s almost miraculous. It was…

Categories: Sick Mom

Migraine drill

Posted on January 5th, 2013

Realize pounding headache is not caused by lack of caffeine, sinus pain, tension, or anything other than migraine. Take migraine medication. Wait for migraine medication to work. Wait for migraine medication side effects to wear off. Remind self to be grateful for migraine medication, botox treatments, and significant reduction in migraines, even as trying to write and confusing homophones and experiencing dysnomia. Whee.

Categories: Sick Mom

Panic attack! (Or: There are no book-selling fairies)

Posted on December 28th, 2012

Whoo! And here I was thinking I’d been doing so well, not having very many of those panic attacks this year. Damn you, 2012, for your five ER visits (three mine), four urgent care visits (two mine), two sets of stitches (it may be three, but only one of those was mine), two cardiac stress tests (one mine, but it was the nuclear version), one “wow, you have crazy weird granulomas in your lungs and we don’t know why so let’s go send you to an oncologist,” one mammogram (obviously mine), and nine prescription drugs monthly (mine). This post is dedicated to all the dumb fucks in the US who think we have the best heath care system in the world. We don’t. I’m…

Categories: Editing, Not crazy...yet, Sick Mom

Oversick. Overwritten. Overwatched. Overjoyed.

Posted on December 18th, 2012

I feel like I’ve been sick for two months…pretty much because I have been sick for two (almost three) months, off and on. I remember this from when Pea started daycare, except that was four months, included my once-only case of laryngitis and my first case of strep, and ended with me on prednisone for a week. I was on top of things over the weekend, including baking and pre-cooking dinners, and then today, M was home sick. Pea and I went out and then a couple of hours after we got home, WHAM. Aching. Chills. Tired. Nose running. I am hoping this is short lived, because uncle. In other news? The novel I was done with has now been rewritten and edited and…

Categories: Good day, Hard days, Sick Mom, Writing

And it came to pass

Posted on October 29th, 2012

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from the Virii that all the AAL family should get a cold. (And this cold was first brought into the house a month previous, by Caesar M.) And in fact, all the AAL family did get a cold. And AAL did get herself a terrible sore throat, and went out of the NE of Portland and into the NW of Portland (because that is where the internist is). And so it was, that, while she was there, that AAL learned from the rapid strep test that she had a strep infection in her throat. And the internist brought forth his prescription pad and wrote scripts for Penicillin and for Vicodin…

Categories: Epiphanies, Sick Mom

And then it was the end of the week, and yes, I said “bushtit.”

Posted on October 25th, 2012

Yeah, I don’t know how we got here, either. There was the sickness that was late Friday, all weekend, Monday, and Tuesday, and then the walking dead routine that was Wednesday and today. I had Pea home Monday and Tuesday and M home yesterday. The cold has gone from annoying sniffling/sneezing/exhaustion to sore throat/annoying cough/exhaustion. Progress… In the midst of this I have written little letters indicating I have done things in my notebook, so that must have happened, right? I have spent a lot of time watching the birds at the bird feeders. Today? Goldfinch, chestnut-backed chickadees, nuthatches, a flicker, Anna’s hummingbirds (we have dueling males and they are a kick), and my favorite because they’re so fun to say: bushtits. We continue…

Categories: Routines, Sick kid, Sick Mom