Nearly a month lying in bed... followed by a weekend of religious dancing on Simchas Torah... followed by having to run like hell to catch my flight when some presents in my carry on fell under the prohibited liquids list led to a brief detention and search... made worse by my gate being all the way at the other end of the terminal... (all of the above done in dress shoes)... followed by walking for 3 miles yesterday exploring the immediate area of Port Charlotte.

I woke up this morning with excruciating charlie horse. For once, something on my leg hurts worse then my knee - namely all of both upper legs and the back part of both lower legs. It's been so long since I've had charlie horse, I'm not sure when the last time was. I also have a blister on the outer side of each fourth (ring?) toe. Fortunately, stretches, time, and painkillers eased it, and I can walk regular distances again. Hopefully it'll continue feeling better tomorrow, there's a lot of walking I want to do.

So yesterday I was supposed to go back to the ENT for more tests to determine why I've been getting so sick all month.
But in the morning, I got a call from the office telling me the appointment was canceled because not only were they unable to get approval for the testing - but they were informed that my insurance has been canceled as of that day.
This is after all the hours I put into getting it renewed, not to mention catching what ever the hell this was that laid me low for nearly a month while waiting all day at the health headquarters just to submit a few forms.

There's nothing I can do until I get the letter telling me that my insurance has been rescinded, and more importantly, why. I couldn't guess why, as I jumped through every hoop they put in front of me, but I do remember the last time this happened, it was because of a typo on the part of some unknown bureaucrat, and it took me 6 months to get my coverage back.

I've been meaning to write this all week, but I've been too stressed/sick/busy. Thanks to these illnesses, I'm a month behind on everything. I specifically mention this because of the wonderful responses to my Yom Kippur post, each of which deserves a thoughtful response from myself in turn, if I can find the time to do it.

Last week, I felt better a day or two, then started feeling worse again. Instead of the right side of my throat hurting and swelling up, the left side was doing it. I had a followup with the doctor already scheduled, so I went in and had myself checked over. He checked me out and sent me back to the ENT specialist, this time with a day's warning so tests could be pre-approved.
So last Friday I went back to the ENT, and they ran a whole bunch more tests on me.
And sticking that video tube down my nose and into my throat again, they discovered that I now have Sinusitus.

They ran the same test last week and didn't find this - this is something new. I'm sick yet again. And now on a whole new round of antibiotics, my third in as many weeks.

But this was a week ago, and I seem to be getting better. I'm still feeling crappy most of the time, and occasioanlly feverish, and my allergies are murder, but I'm on my feet and slowly working through a three week backlog of things that need to be dome. But the allergies and dropping temperatures are making getting better a challege. When the temperature dropped to the 40s yesterday and barely went up, I was sick and utterly miserable all day, and wound up shivering in bed for half of it.

So on that note, I'm planning on going to Florida after the holidays are over. Get away from the cold, and more importantly, get away from the allergens while ragweed season is at its worse. Give my body a chance to heal.

And to see my friends, of course.

So, to all of you in Florida, you're on notice. Get in touch with me, we'll plan.

First I go to get my health insurance renewed, and I catch an infection that sickens me for weeks.
Now that I'm getting over it, I spend two days in synagogue praying for good health, and there I catch a cold.

The irony is not lost on me.

I went to the ENT specialist for a third time yesterday. I'm finally starting to feel better, though I'm not all the way there yet, but the swelling in my throat has gone down and I'm feeling less feverish.
They finally got permission to run a couple of tests, but they didn't come up with anything. After being on bedrest and anti-biotics for over two weeks, what ever was the first cause of this is probably gone.
So there's no definite diagnosis, but they're going with "Upper respiratory infection exacerbated by declining temperatures and allergies".

After two weeks of what could almost pass for something like summer, the temperature has crashed here and is still dropping. It was in the 50s last night. And ragweed season has started. The doctor mentioned (and I've been hearing elsewhere) that this is likely to be the WORST SEASON in recorded history, thanks to the lack of heat and non-stop rains this summer. My allergies are certainly the worst they've been since I had my deviated septum fixed almost a decade ago.
(Fun fact: The ENT doctor I saw yesterday is the same one who did the surgery.)

The doctor warned me that even though the primary cause was probably gone/cured by now, the constant irritation from allergies will keep things from healing quickly, and the weakening immune system caused by that and the cold weather will leave me open to further illness. So I have to be careful for the next few weeks.

Two weeks is way to long to be sick for. Now I'm behind on everything. And the New Year is right upon us, and the holiday season is just starting. It's going to be very hard to catch up now.

So it's more then a week later and I'm still sick. I'm not bedridden anymore, and my fever is down to a low burn; my throat still hurts and is swollen but not as bad; I have some appetite and some energy.
The energy is almost a curse - I'm going stir crazy at this point, I want to go out and do something, anything, that isn't sitting in a doctors office and I can't; there's so much to do and I can't go do it.

I tried calling the ENT specialist all weekend, and into Monday, but the office was closed. Tuesday I reverted to calling my doctor, as he instructed me too, but apparently he was swamped with the backup from the weekend, and I couldn't get though to him until Wednesday (yesterday). I was told to come in, and after sitting and waiting for an hour, he took one look at my throat and immediately sent me to the same ENT specialist office I had been trying to make an appointment with all weekend. (This was especially frustrating as I had a list of other things I needed to ask him, and he wouldn't let me - which means once I'm better, yet another hour wasted fidgeting in a waiting room.)
He also told me that the strep test came back from the lab negative, which means they're not even sure what I have.

So I catch a bus down to the ENT office, and after yet another long wait, I was seen by someone I never saw before. But it turns out that my insurance won't cover any specialist tests on such short notice, so all she does is hear my story and write prescriptions, and have me make a follow up appointment for next Tuesday. She couldn't tell me what I had, she just offered guesses. She also said that the antibiotics I was already on weren't very useful for throat infections, and that might be part of why I'm still sick. I've been ordered to take it easy for another few days, as I watch what's left of this mockery of a summer tick away.

The new antibiotics I'm on are HUGE giant horse pills, bigger even then vitamin pills. I've never seen pills that huge, much less have to swallow them. I really hope they work; this illness is driving me crazy.

Why is it so #@%& cold!?!?

I'm still waiting for summer to start.

This makes me very very unhappy. And ill.

My temperature last week, while I was really feeling sick: 98.6°.

Yesterday, as I started feeling somewhat better: 97.2°.

Today: 96.8°.

I'm improving, though I'm still coughing constantly and my right eye is getting puffed up.

I haven't taken my temperature in years and years. When I was a kid, I got sick a lot, and my parents seemed to base their decision on if I should be sent to school entirely on if I had a fever (i.e. over 100°). Once I got to college, I could make that decision myself, and based it on how healthy I felt, and as such stopped bothering to take my temperature. (I also started getting sick much less - probably due to a combination of far less stress and misery along with not having to wake up at 6AM every single morning.) I do remember noticing when I was young that I never ever had a temp of 98.6°...

Went to the doctor yesterday for routine follow ups.

I weighed in at 140 lbs. I've never been this heavy before. I'd be worried, but unlike when my weight ballooned after the accident, I haven't noticed many physical changes - I'm still fitting into the same clothes, and my body looks the same in the mirror. So I'm hoping that most of that weight gain in muscle, especially with the dozen PT leg exercises I've been doing.

The doctor also ordered a blood test to check my testosterone levels. I'm wondering why it never occurred to any of them to do it before.

Not terribly surprisingly, upon my return, my answering machine was filled with messages. The very last one was possibly the most important, and certainly the most disturbing.

( Even when I'm not the injured party, dealing with health care is a nightmare )

Now most of the day is shot, I'm exhausted and pissed, in no mood to spend any time on the phone returning all my other calls, and I'm no closer to finding who or what this message was about. For all I know, someone I care about (or at least am acquainted with) is sitting straightjacketed in a padded room somewhere in Manhattan, rocking back and forth, crying and convulsing, with my name on their tongue, wondering why their one phone call went unanswered, wondering when I'm going to come and save them.

We appear to have jumped straight from mid-spring weather to mid-summer weather with no in between.

Normally, I'd be ecstatic, but being stuck indoors most of the time means I can't enjoy it as much.

And when I do go out, I have to push myself along in a wheel chair. And since it's Shavuos, in dress clothes, too. That makes it a bit too hot, even for me.

But I did get to go out over the weekend, to the MoCCA Fest, thanks to paper_crystals. It was quite fun, and I got to touch base with a few creators who's works I follow, and randomly met up with xoder and erin_trying.

They in turn introduced me to angst_pirate, and we all hung out and enjoyed some very yummy and weather appropriate ice cream.

My leg regretted the exertion the next day, but my mind and psyche definately don't.

Much thanks to all of you who've posted informative and reassuring comments to my last several posts. Lots of love and hugs to everyone who posted!

There's no sign of redness or inflammation yet. I'll probably be doing another blood test in two weeks, as has been pointed out.

I'm pretty sure it's a dog tick and not a bird mite, though they look similar enough in the pictures I've seen that I could certainly be wrong.



Question to all of you living in places with high tick counts and frequent bites, especially in New England - how do you know when to worry?

And given the virulence and life destroying nature of Lyme Disease, how can you afford NOT to worry?

First off, much thanks to herbertinc for taking care of me for the last several days.

But I'm still unable to get around on my own, and I'm stuck here alone.

If anyone in the area would like to do me a kind turn and come pay me a visit and help out for a day or how ever long it would be greatly appreciated. Leave a comment here or get in touch with me in any of the usual fashions.

Short version: I've been told the surgery was a success. I'll be having a follow-up with the doctor tomorrow for more substantive information.

( The long version: )

At 12:45 PM today, I go under the knife, to get my knee repaired so I can walk again.


My friends, please have me in your thoughts and prayers. For a safe and successful surgery, and for a quick and COMPLETE recovery.

Monday, I was finally able to see a new Orthopedist. After the last one screwed me over by postponing my surgery until I was no longer covered by my insurance, I decided it was time for a change.

It's been a year now, since I was hit by that car, and while everything else has been healing well, my right knee hasn't. I still can't walk normally, and every day I'm in varying amounts of pain.

The new one gave me a brief examination, and told me my problem is a torn meniscus. I was hoping for surgery right away, but he wants me to finish up my current round of physical therapy first. (This is immensely frustrating, as after a month of trying to get approval for the therapy, I only started it last week. If I had gotten approval right away, I'd be almost done with it right now, and if it had been delayed just one more week, I wouldn't have started it yet and it wouldn't be an obstacle to surgery.)

He also wants me to put an ice pack on my knee every day to see if that helps. He explained that I could either have a large tear, and hence lots of pain, or possibly a small tear with a large swelling area. If it's a small tear, the ice would bring the swelling down to a small area, and it might even then be able to heal by itself. (This doesn't explain why all the anti-inflammatories I've had to take over the last year haven't had a similar effect.)

I still need to find out who did the MRI on my knee a year ago, as for some reason that information is not included with the MRI itself. I also need to get the X-Rays and doctors note from my old orthopedist.

I have my next appointment at the beginning of April. If surgery is decided on then, I wouldn't be able to get it until after Passover, in the beginning of May.

This means that I likely won't be walking normally until the Summer.

I'm really sick of this. It's been a year, now, and I'm still not healed, and a large part of it is due to constant postponements due to doctor BS, health insurance BS, and lots and lots of circumstances outside of my control. And now, with my hopes up, it's been put off again. I'm sick of being a cripple. This has to end.

The rest of this week has consisted to visiting other doctors for other issues. I think I've had enough of doctors for now...

Well, once again I've let LJ lapse, though not for lack of things to say. (Or lack of things to read. It's hard to catch up on everyone's lives if I even skip a day or two.)

Two weeks ago, I finally got out of here for a short while. I ran off to Baltimore, just for two days. Far too short, but it was still a nice escape. It's the first road trip I've taken since the accident, which is a milestone in itself.

I'd really like to take a longer trip, but time and lack of a full time car don't permit it.

My health insurance is up in the air again. Over the holidays I got a letter telling me it was being canceled the next week. Meanwhile, No Fault STILL hasn't come through. There's a long story behind it that I really should type out soon, but probably won't. I really didn't need to be wasting even more time with such crap, but that seems to be my fate. I've been running around trying to take care of it, and I think it's been extended to the end of the month, at least.

So, it looks like I'll be getting an operation on my knee in the next week or two. (And the delays with that are a whole nother post in themselves.)

Has anyone been through arthroscopic surgery? Anyone have any advice or recommendations on the topic?

I had an appointment with a pain management specialist.

He gave me prescriptions for more powerful drugs...

and straight out told me there was nothing he could do for me.



I'm sick of this. I want to walk again.