Spell Check

At the beginning of 2008, I had exactly two goals for my health, not counting—-of course—-the two constants: lose weight and exercise. Those recurring resolutions SHOULD keep me in excellent shape just because of the muscles used and calories burned laughing my head off each time I think of them, but I digress.

I resolved to attempt to get to the bottom of my debilitating headaches once and for all, even if it meant trying unconventional methods and pursuing treatments beyond my comfort zone—-as if I could really have a comfort zone with a stabbing pain in my eye. True to my word, I made an appointment with my eye doctor, whom I would describe by that word that starts with “op” and ends with “ogist” if I could ever remember the letters in between. (Actually, this was after trying natural hormone replacement therapy last fall, hoping an appalling lack of something or egregious excess of something else might be at the root of my difficulties….but, no.)

My op…..ogist, who always manages to detect swollen optic nerves during her examination, referred me to her colleague, one of only two neuro-op…ogists in all of Kansas City. (Evidently, it’s that narrow of a specialty, although I already have an oto-neurologist in my collection of neurologists, so personally, I don’t see what the big deal is.)

The two eye doctors concurred that I should be looked at for trigeminal neuralgia, a fancy way of saying you’ve got a problem with the trigeminal nerve in your cranium, resulting in an astonishing pain the face. My primary doc and at least one other regular neurologist were pulled in, since they’d decided I would need to go on an anti-seizure med that can really mess with your head and well….Head Doctors Backwards R Me.

About the time they started me on Tegretol, my mother went in the hospital with one of her Several Annual Near Death Experiences. Now, granted, sometimes she is Only Mostly Dead, but let’s just say that in February the doctors in the ER could not get me to produce her DNR papers fast enough. Miraculously, she pulled out! And except for the C.diff she’s been battling ever since (if you don’t know what this is, rejoice. And again I say, rejoice!), she’s no closer to dead now than she’s been at any time in the past seven years. Who knew?

Anyway, she was in the hospital and then the nursing home for rehab, and I think that took care of all of February and March. Maybe April, too. I stopped taking notes somewhere along the way. All I know is that I was on this experimental treatment for my head, running back and forth for blood work every ten days, taking care of Mom as best I could, getting relief from the eye stab only when I added the requisite supplemental number of Vicodin, and finding myself thinking about Peggy Lee (sing it with me now, “Is That All There Is?”) more than I normally do.

By summertime, Mom was recovered as much as recovery amounts to these days, but I wasn’t. I went through an extensive edit on my novel, and that’s about the extent of real work I’ve gotten done this year. The side effects from the Tegretol, in my body at least, were freakish and not ameliorated nearly enough by the Vicodin to make them tolerable, or even interesting. For one thing, I jerked. A lot. All parts of my body, sometimes all at once, for at least two hours after taking the meds—-both morning and night. I hated to medicate before church, as one example, because well, our church is kind of on the sedate side, and what would they think if I went all Pentecostal-quirky on them?

Medicating at bedtime was out of the question, too. Doug jerks all night, as you might remember me telling you on more than one occasion. Even with our glorious Sleep Number bed, two jerking parties just doesn’t add up to much of a party at all. I’m just sayin’.

The headache seemed enough better to persist with the treatment in spite of the numerous side effects, though, until one day in the middle of a September afternoon I got stoned out of my mind. Falling down drunk, literally, with what the literature unabashedly calls “Tegretol poisoning.” It’s bad when you’ve put on just a little weight since your hub carried you over the threshold, but he has to scoop you off the floor THREE TIMES (with a very bad back, poor guy) in order to carry you over the threshold of the garage, into the car, and then into the ER.

My Tegretol levels were way too high, so they kept me there until I returned to my senses. (I can hear the snickers from here, people. Stop that!) They talked about switching me to a different medicine, one with fewer side effects, but I would have to be weaned off Tegretol rather slowly in order to begin a trial with the next med. Groovy, huh?

Toward the end of September, I went to the writers conference I attend every year, and was sick the entire time. My back went completely out, but I do have lovely memories of holding up the palatial pillars in the gorgeous hotel where we stayed and trying to look architectural. “Are you OK?” friends and strangers would ask. “Oh, yes,” I’d say, with a hard smile plastered on like a cast on a broken psyche. “As soon as Gene Kelly shows up with the umbrellas, we’re going to dance a number or two….”

Bizarre symptoms accumulated throughout the conference until, by the time I got back home, I landed in the ER again. More complications from the Tegretol. This time, they took me off it cold turkey——not recommended but necessary in my situation. The risk is having a seizure, but hey, that was starting to sound minor to me.

I got switched to Trileptal at that point, and have had much better success with it! So, there you have it. My headaches are definitely not as severe as they were at this point twenty-five years ago!!!! Thank God for huge mercies.

I decided in October that I would tackle the other problem on my medical to-do list—-getting into physical therapy for the herniated discs in my neck. It had gotten to the point where I could only sleep flat on my back, with a dog-bone shaped pillow under my neck. No rolling from side to side like a normal person, and how was I supposed to slug Doug for jerking in his sleep when I couldn’t get to him? You know what I mean? Our marriage was suffering!

The therapist, Eric, was wonderful. I say “was” because my PT days of bliss appear to be over. It’s hard to drive myself 30 minutes each way to have 20 pounds of traction pull on my neck when I’m in the hospital having diarrhea episodes so closely spaced I can’t make it back to bed before having to show up on the toilet again. You’ve been there, too, right? It CAN’T be just me!

Before my inpatient stay in the hospital——during which they did x-rays, an endoscopy, CT of my abdomen, a test requiring a large drink of Crystal Light mixed with God-knows-what, a gall bladder ultrasound, and a gall bladder nuclear (or, if you’re a Republican, newcewlar) scan—-I also presented in the ER one MORE time. For the same symptoms as this last time, horrible stomach pain.

By my count, which becomes fuzzier with each pain pill ingested, I’ve been in the hospital four times this fall. It’s possible that it’s five. But if I’ve stopped counting, I can hardly expect you to! Ha.

Friday, lucky me, is Colonoscopy Day. They would have done it in the hospital, which would have sure been more convenient and let’s be real, I WAS all cleaned out, but the doctor said I was WAY too sick to go through the procedure.

Which is really funny because ONE day after I got home from the hospital, my insurance company called to say that while they had authorized me staying one night in the hospital, they had not been notified that I had stayed any longer. And that my claims had been summarily denied. So there!

Now you know a lot more about why I haven’t appeared here on fallible much for some months running. I just haven’t been well. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the kind comments you’ve sent my way. Honestly, they’ve made me cry with happiness and kept me from losing my will to be scoped. And in my case, I need to hang onto that will!

One of these days, I’ll come on here with the “hthalmol” I seem to have misplaced somewhere in the course of all my medical mishaps. And then you’ll know that those letters, preceded by an “op” and followed by an “ogist,” mean I’ve finally got my act back together.

Until then, please pray for Katy McKenna!

Posted by Katy on 12/09/08 at 09:15 PM

Fallible Comments...

Well, I'll never be as exciting as you are, but I've got such a hideous black eye that people keep taking me aside and asking about elder abuse and if I'm living in a dangerous situation. Well, yes, if elder abuse is leaving your mother home alone on a Saturday night, and yes, if a dangerous situation is a throw rug. So, everything that's wrong with me is pretty much self-inflicted.

And just to encourage you, a colonoscopy isn't that bad. They make you comfortable, put your head on a nice soft pillow and pat it a little, and talk to you in a soothing voice, and you're facing a TV. At least that's what I thought it was.

See you soon, Katie. I have a present from Ireland for you.
Posted by alison on 12/09/08 at 11:36 PM
You are always in my thoughts and prayers.
Posted by Suzan on 12/09/08 at 11:48 PM
I will definitely be praying. And while I've never had a colonoscopy, my husband has, and he didn't even remember it afterward. I think that's a good sign. :)
Posted by Carrie K. on 12/10/08 at 09:54 PM
My thoughts and prayers go out to you. Sounds like quite the year! I heard an old joke once about a guy experiencing a stabbing pain in his eye, turns out he kept drinking his coffee with the spoon in it... Anyway, seriously, I will be praying.
Posted by Joshua on 12/11/08 at 04:58 AM
Hi Katy - I found your blog post via a search on Google for Trigeminal Neuralgia. I know you only touch on it briefly and it doesn't sound like you've isolated the cause of yuor problems, but my friend Ben and I started a patient to patient support group called LivingWithTN (www.livingwithtn.org) It's for people with Trigeminal Neuralgia. Check it out. We started it 3 weeks ago and already have 50+ people providing support to each other on it.

cheers,
Scott
Posted by Scott Orn on 12/11/08 at 07:02 AM
Katy,
I will continue to pray for you. The year seems to have been quite a nightmare for you. I am amazed that you got your editing done at all. Hang in there. Blessings
Sandi
Posted by Sandi Thompson on 12/11/08 at 05:34 PM
Katy-girl: Only you could write such a history and have it read as medical comedy.

The colonoscopy was the twilight zone...really. It was the orange-flavored phlegm I had to drink to get ready for it that made me want to rip my colon out of my body.

You're in my prayers. What a funny book this will be one day. . .
Posted by Christa Allan on 12/12/08 at 01:06 AM
Katy,

I feel badly that I am laughing at your series of unfortunate events. But how can I help it when you tell it with such humor. We love you Katy for who you are, weepy colon and all.
Posted by Theresa G on 12/12/08 at 03:18 AM
Oh, Katy.

I cannot wait to read your book. If you can make what you've endured this past year sound so amusing...I don't know.

I'm praying for you girl. Hang in there.
Posted by Kat Harris on 12/12/08 at 03:30 PM
i am ready to read your book. i am hoping and praying for you.

<a href="http://www.gangbash.com">lose 15 pounds fast</a>
Posted by jim on 01/19/09 at 01:37 AM
Hi, I was searching Yahoo to find something about similar topic and found your site. Reading the post gave me some inspiring and thought on my future actions.
Posted by ReversePhoneLookup on 05/15/09 at 05:54 AM
you are an inspiration to others.i'll be praying for you.just stay strong.
Posted by Burnsville Personal Trainer on 07/08/09 at 01:49 AM
i am ready to read your book. i am hoping and praying for you.
Posted by poisoning symptoms on 09/10/09 at 01:32 PM
For the head ache problem it should be the most MRSA virus and then some bakterias and mostly body stress.Be relax always.Iwill pray for you!
Posted by Mrsa on 09/30/09 at 01:21 PM
Hi Katy, I'm sorry to hear your story. I'll pray for your health so I can see you continue to write in this blog. Your articles are always an inspiration for me.
Thanks and God bless
Posted by Laptop Computers on 10/04/09 at 12:51 PM
I can see that you are putting a lot of time and effort into your blog and detailed articles! I am deeply in love with every single piece of information you post here. Will be back often to read more updates!
Posted by indonesia arthritis on 10/16/09 at 09:23 AM
As a Texan I delight reading almost means weâ€™re going to save money in the future by utilising alternative muscularity. I hope Texas continues to be at the forefront of the new-energy revolution, for the interest of the environment and saving.
Posted by indonesia arthritis on 12/20/09 at 12:05 PM

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Personal blog of christian writer & fallible mom Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri Katy is represented by Greg Johnson at WordServe Literary Read more Katy at LateBoomer.net Follow Katy on Twitter Follow Katy on Facebook 123 Recent Posts Try Becoming Brenda Starr Off Beat Scattered That’s It So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What? The Spoon Sciatica Sweetheart A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices. As with everything in life, balance is key. Slow down, you move too fast… Yeah, I know. I have issues. Search Advanced Search Syndicate Login E me at katy @ ngenius.com	Spell Check At the beginning of 2008, I had exactly two goals for my health, not counting—-of course—-the two constants: lose weight and exercise. Those recurring resolutions SHOULD keep me in excellent shape just because of the muscles used and calories burned laughing my head off each time I think of them, but I digress. I resolved to attempt to get to the bottom of my debilitating headaches once and for all, even if it meant trying unconventional methods and pursuing treatments beyond my comfort zone—-as if I could really have a comfort zone with a stabbing pain in my eye. True to my word, I made an appointment with my eye doctor, whom I would describe by that word that starts with “op” and ends with “ogist” if I could ever remember the letters in between. (Actually, this was after trying natural hormone replacement therapy last fall, hoping an appalling lack of something or egregious excess of something else might be at the root of my difficulties….but, no.) My op…..ogist, who always manages to detect swollen optic nerves during her examination, referred me to her colleague, one of only two neuro-op…ogists in all of Kansas City. (Evidently, it’s that narrow of a specialty, although I already have an oto-neurologist in my collection of neurologists, so personally, I don’t see what the big deal is.) The two eye doctors concurred that I should be looked at for trigeminal neuralgia, a fancy way of saying you’ve got a problem with the trigeminal nerve in your cranium, resulting in an astonishing pain the face. My primary doc and at least one other regular neurologist were pulled in, since they’d decided I would need to go on an anti-seizure med that can really mess with your head and well….Head Doctors Backwards R Me. About the time they started me on Tegretol, my mother went in the hospital with one of her Several Annual Near Death Experiences. Now, granted, sometimes she is Only Mostly Dead, but let’s just say that in February the doctors in the ER could not get me to produce her DNR papers fast enough. Miraculously, she pulled out! And except for the C.diff she’s been battling ever since (if you don’t know what this is, rejoice. And again I say, rejoice!), she’s no closer to dead now than she’s been at any time in the past seven years. Who knew? Anyway, she was in the hospital and then the nursing home for rehab, and I think that took care of all of February and March. Maybe April, too. I stopped taking notes somewhere along the way. All I know is that I was on this experimental treatment for my head, running back and forth for blood work every ten days, taking care of Mom as best I could, getting relief from the eye stab only when I added the requisite supplemental number of Vicodin, and finding myself thinking about Peggy Lee (sing it with me now, “Is That All There Is?”) more than I normally do. By summertime, Mom was recovered as much as recovery amounts to these days, but I wasn’t. I went through an extensive edit on my novel, and that’s about the extent of real work I’ve gotten done this year. The side effects from the Tegretol, in my body at least, were freakish and not ameliorated nearly enough by the Vicodin to make them tolerable, or even interesting. For one thing, I jerked. A lot. All parts of my body, sometimes all at once, for at least two hours after taking the meds—-both morning and night. I hated to medicate before church, as one example, because well, our church is kind of on the sedate side, and what would they think if I went all Pentecostal-quirky on them? Medicating at bedtime was out of the question, too. Doug jerks all night, as you might remember me telling you on more than one occasion. Even with our glorious Sleep Number bed, two jerking parties just doesn’t add up to much of a party at all. I’m just sayin’. The headache seemed enough better to persist with the treatment in spite of the numerous side effects, though, until one day in the middle of a September afternoon I got stoned out of my mind. Falling down drunk, literally, with what the literature unabashedly calls “Tegretol poisoning.” It’s bad when you’ve put on just a little weight since your hub carried you over the threshold, but he has to scoop you off the floor THREE TIMES (with a very bad back, poor guy) in order to carry you over the threshold of the garage, into the car, and then into the ER. My Tegretol levels were way too high, so they kept me there until I returned to my senses. (I can hear the snickers from here, people. Stop that!) They talked about switching me to a different medicine, one with fewer side effects, but I would have to be weaned off Tegretol rather slowly in order to begin a trial with the next med. Groovy, huh? Toward the end of September, I went to the writers conference I attend every year, and was sick the entire time. My back went completely out, but I do have lovely memories of holding up the palatial pillars in the gorgeous hotel where we stayed and trying to look architectural. “Are you OK?” friends and strangers would ask. “Oh, yes,” I’d say, with a hard smile plastered on like a cast on a broken psyche. “As soon as Gene Kelly shows up with the umbrellas, we’re going to dance a number or two….” Bizarre symptoms accumulated throughout the conference until, by the time I got back home, I landed in the ER again. More complications from the Tegretol. This time, they took me off it cold turkey——not recommended but necessary in my situation. The risk is having a seizure, but hey, that was starting to sound minor to me. I got switched to Trileptal at that point, and have had much better success with it! So, there you have it. My headaches are definitely not as severe as they were at this point twenty-five years ago!!!! Thank God for huge mercies. I decided in October that I would tackle the other problem on my medical to-do list—-getting into physical therapy for the herniated discs in my neck. It had gotten to the point where I could only sleep flat on my back, with a dog-bone shaped pillow under my neck. No rolling from side to side like a normal person, and how was I supposed to slug Doug for jerking in his sleep when I couldn’t get to him? You know what I mean? Our marriage was suffering! The therapist, Eric, was wonderful. I say “was” because my PT days of bliss appear to be over. It’s hard to drive myself 30 minutes each way to have 20 pounds of traction pull on my neck when I’m in the hospital having diarrhea episodes so closely spaced I can’t make it back to bed before having to show up on the toilet again. You’ve been there, too, right? It CAN’T be just me! Before my inpatient stay in the hospital——during which they did x-rays, an endoscopy, CT of my abdomen, a test requiring a large drink of Crystal Light mixed with God-knows-what, a gall bladder ultrasound, and a gall bladder nuclear (or, if you’re a Republican, newcewlar) scan—-I also presented in the ER one MORE time. For the same symptoms as this last time, horrible stomach pain. By my count, which becomes fuzzier with each pain pill ingested, I’ve been in the hospital four times this fall. It’s possible that it’s five. But if I’ve stopped counting, I can hardly expect you to! Ha. Friday, lucky me, is Colonoscopy Day. They would have done it in the hospital, which would have sure been more convenient and let’s be real, I WAS all cleaned out, but the doctor said I was WAY too sick to go through the procedure. Which is really funny because ONE day after I got home from the hospital, my insurance company called to say that while they had authorized me staying one night in the hospital, they had not been notified that I had stayed any longer. And that my claims had been summarily denied. So there! Now you know a lot more about why I haven’t appeared here on fallible much for some months running. I just haven’t been well. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the kind comments you’ve sent my way. Honestly, they’ve made me cry with happiness and kept me from losing my will to be scoped. And in my case, I need to hang onto that will! One of these days, I’ll come on here with the “hthalmol” I seem to have misplaced somewhere in the course of all my medical mishaps. And then you’ll know that those letters, preceded by an “op” and followed by an “ogist,” mean I’ve finally got my act back together. Until then, please pray for Katy McKenna! Posted by Katy on 12/09/08 at 09:15 PM Fallible Comments... Well, I'll never be as exciting as you are, but I've got such a hideous black eye that people keep taking me aside and asking about elder abuse and if I'm living in a dangerous situation. Well, yes, if elder abuse is leaving your mother home alone on a Saturday night, and yes, if a dangerous situation is a throw rug. So, everything that's wrong with me is pretty much self-inflicted. And just to encourage you, a colonoscopy isn't that bad. They make you comfortable, put your head on a nice soft pillow and pat it a little, and talk to you in a soothing voice, and you're facing a TV. At least that's what I thought it was. See you soon, Katie. I have a present from Ireland for you. Posted by alison on 12/09/08 at 11:36 PM You are always in my thoughts and prayers. Posted by Suzan on 12/09/08 at 11:48 PM I will definitely be praying. And while I've never had a colonoscopy, my husband has, and he didn't even remember it afterward. I think that's a good sign. :) Posted by Carrie K. on 12/10/08 at 09:54 PM My thoughts and prayers go out to you. Sounds like quite the year! I heard an old joke once about a guy experiencing a stabbing pain in his eye, turns out he kept drinking his coffee with the spoon in it... Anyway, seriously, I will be praying. Posted by Joshua on 12/11/08 at 04:58 AM Hi Katy - I found your blog post via a search on Google for Trigeminal Neuralgia. I know you only touch on it briefly and it doesn't sound like you've isolated the cause of yuor problems, but my friend Ben and I started a patient to patient support group called LivingWithTN (www.livingwithtn.org) It's for people with Trigeminal Neuralgia. Check it out. We started it 3 weeks ago and already have 50+ people providing support to each other on it. cheers, Scott Posted by Scott Orn on 12/11/08 at 07:02 AM Katy, I will continue to pray for you. The year seems to have been quite a nightmare for you. I am amazed that you got your editing done at all. Hang in there. Blessings Sandi Posted by Sandi Thompson on 12/11/08 at 05:34 PM Katy-girl: Only you could write such a history and have it read as medical comedy. The colonoscopy was the twilight zone...really. It was the orange-flavored phlegm I had to drink to get ready for it that made me want to rip my colon out of my body. You're in my prayers. What a funny book this will be one day. . . Posted by Christa Allan on 12/12/08 at 01:06 AM Katy, I feel badly that I am laughing at your series of unfortunate events. But how can I help it when you tell it with such humor. We love you Katy for who you are, weepy colon and all. Posted by Theresa G on 12/12/08 at 03:18 AM Oh, Katy. I cannot wait to read your book. If you can make what you've endured this past year sound so amusing...I don't know. I'm praying for you girl. Hang in there. Posted by Kat Harris on 12/12/08 at 03:30 PM i am ready to read your book. i am hoping and praying for you. <a href="http://www.gangbash.com">lose 15 pounds fast</a> Posted by jim on 01/19/09 at 01:37 AM Hi, I was searching Yahoo to find something about similar topic and found your site. Reading the post gave me some inspiring and thought on my future actions. Posted by ReversePhoneLookup on 05/15/09 at 05:54 AM you are an inspiration to others.i'll be praying for you.just stay strong. Posted by Burnsville Personal Trainer on 07/08/09 at 01:49 AM i am ready to read your book. i am hoping and praying for you. Posted by poisoning symptoms on 09/10/09 at 01:32 PM For the head ache problem it should be the most MRSA virus and then some bakterias and mostly body stress.Be relax always.Iwill pray for you! Posted by Mrsa on 09/30/09 at 01:21 PM Hi Katy, I'm sorry to hear your story. I'll pray for your health so I can see you continue to write in this blog. Your articles are always an inspiration for me. Thanks and God bless Posted by Laptop Computers on 10/04/09 at 12:51 PM I can see that you are putting a lot of time and effort into your blog and detailed articles! I am deeply in love with every single piece of information you post here. Will be back often to read more updates! Posted by indonesia arthritis on 10/16/09 at 09:23 AM As a Texan I delight reading almost means weâ€™re going to save money in the future by utilising alternative muscularity. I hope Texas continues to be at the forefront of the new-energy revolution, for the interest of the environment and saving. Posted by indonesia arthritis on 12/20/09 at 12:05 PM Page 1 of 1 pages Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next entry: Have Yourself A Merry Little Colonoscopy! Previous entry: You Are Not Alone << Back to main


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Personal blog of christianwriter & fallible momKaty McKenna Raymondin Kansas City, Missouri

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Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri