Maladies

By Mir
February 13, 2005

So, this weekend. Yeah. Part of me is very pleased to have gotten done everything I needed to do, and to find myself sitting here on Sunday night (before 10, even!) with things in order.

And many of my friends/acquaintances are dealing with various levels of serious illness, ranging from the truly frightening to the plain ol’ crappy winter cold/flu. I have no right to complain.

But I’m just so damn good at it. And I believe people should play to their strengths, you know?

It’s February. It’s February in New England. My son has the mother of all mosquito bites on his arm. Fkwaa? Why yes, that is what I said. A mosquito bite. On his arm. I am only slightly convinced he is now dying of a rare disease, you know, since that lone mosquito must have travelled here from the deepest, darkest rainforests just to chomp on my little boy with its germ-infested self.

We’re still fighting the good fight, but Chickadee’s eczema is kicking her little Crisco-slathered butt. This session of swimming will be over in two weeks and then we’re pulling her out for a while. It’s a shame; she’s the youngest in her class by several years and excelling beyond most of the others. But funny, when I suggested they stop putting chlorine in the pool, they acted like I was being silly. Pfft.

And me? Well, I’m just dandy. Well, mostly dandy. Other than just a couple of teensy little things.

First, there’s the Hormone Fest that I’m currently experiencing. I foolishly believed that after major surgery to remove troublesome hormone-producing organs I would live happily ever after, me and my beloved hormone patch. Ha! It turns out that if you have so much trouble with your body as to have to resort to ripping out several major anatomical features, it is unlikely that your body will happily accept a sticky piece of plastic on the ass for all of its complex needs. So I’m having some… uhhhh… issues. And as soon as I can figure out the proper spin to make them amusing, I will of course overshare and frighten away my male readership, but right now it’s all just pissing me off, so nevermind.

Second, it would appear that I’ve managed to develop some tendonitis in my elbow. It’s not gonna kill me or cause the earth to grind to a halt, or anything, but it sure does suck. It turns out that I use my elbow all the time! Who knew? I sure didn’t! But now that every time I reach out to do… well, anything… it hurts, well, I have a whole new appreciation of working elbows. Wah.

My good friend who has experience with these sorts of things suggested that I alternate cold and hot for treatment, along with lots of advil. So I took a handful of advil and put my elbow on the heating pad and ate some ice cream. It still hurts.

[Unrelated, but just for good measure: I made plans this morning to meet up for pizza dinner with friends tomorrow night. The perfect Monday evening multi-family meal, yes? Quick and easy?

Go ahead. Ask me what it turns out both children are being served for Valentine’s Day lunch at school tomorrow. I plan to blame my elbow.]

11 Comments

  1. Amanda B.

    Fkwaa? is my new favorite exclamation. Evah.

    I’m sorry your elbow is giving you trouble. Tendonitis is not any fun. I’m working on a new method for the procurement of M&M’s without futher injury. :)

  2. udge

    M&Ms aside, the tendonitis is posture- or movement-related. The constellation of desk/table/computer/mouse at work is not right for you. Don’t belittle this problem, don’t think it will go away or that you will get used to it. Chronic pain is no fun. Get the office sorted out before you get used to it, or you’ll have occasional tendonitis the rest of your working life.

  3. carolyn

    Mir,
    First, congrats on making it thru your 1st week so successfully!!
    Now, about your elbow, use ice 2-3 times a day for 10-15 minutes at a time. It helped me to use of those tennis elbow supports during the day. People will also think you’ve been exercising and and ask you about where you play tennis etc.
    Happy Valentine’s Day!

  4. Jenny

    Happy Valentine’s Day! Ice cream works well as a treatment! I had sinus issues one day, enough to cause pain in the roof of my mouth. I ate ice cream several times that day, and felt much better!

  5. alektra

    I’m not going to give any advice, becuase I’m sure you’re a big girl who can figure it out with a doctor.

    I hope you have a good night tonight and get to snuggle a bit with your two adorable Valentines.

  6. Joshilyn

    You need HOT fudge on the ice cream to REALLY make your elbow respond.

    *pet pet* Hang in there, kitten-on-a-string!

  7. Ben

    My tendonitis went away magically when I quit –

    oh, wait, your DAD reads this.

    Never mind.

    /Roseanne Roseanna Danna

  8. Heather

    Silly… Monday is always pizza day at every school in America! I’m pretty sure it’s in the constitution.

  9. Kris

    Eczema sucks. My oldest fought with it for oh, about 13 years and then it magically got better. Not gone – never gone – but much better. Now rather than the $130 tube of ointment, he just uses Aveeno every morning after shower and every night before bed. The pool was awful for him as well. All I can say is – it does get better. Good luck!

  10. Mirella

    “And as soon as I can figure out the proper spin to make them amusing, I will of course overshare and frighten away my male readership … ”

    Hee. That is the mark of a truly great blogger — not oversharing until you’ve figured out a way to make it funny.

  11. Zee

    Hi there – I’ve never commented before, but I’ve been reading for a while. Love your site! I had tendonitis in both forearms when in college so thought I’d chime in. I’m with udge: first, make sure your work station is ergonomically correct. Then, get thee to a good physical therapist or chiropractor or someone who can do both deep tissue massage along with ultrasound or electric stim on your arms/elbows. The massage will hurt like hell while they’re doing it (if it doesn’t, they’re not doing it right!) but it’s worth it! Good luck. :)

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