Just Catching Up — Again

Just me, stopping by OD for the first time in a while. I get frustrated, now, when I come here because I have a bit of a slower connection and sometimes it takes extra time for the OD pages to load. I don’t know if that situation is just on my end, or what. It just makes it pretty easy to think, “Oh, I just don’t want to mess with it.”

Plus, I haven’t had too much going on that I haven’t already written about ad nauseum, anyway. The withdrawals continue, getting a bit better but still taking so, so long to go away completely. After they DO go away, and stay away for a couple of weeks, I’ll again lower the morphine dosages and go through the withdrawal process all over again. It’s lasted almost a month with this last drop, something I was told would happen. The lower the dosage, for someone who’s been on such high doses and for so long as I have, the more difficult the withdrawals become. I’m a little concerned because, up until now, the reasons I was originally placed on morphine (extreme headaches and neck/spinal column pain) have not returned. Now it seems like I’m having some difficult with those again, although most definitely not as bad as originally. Still, something to watch, to consider. Man, this is a difficult process!

Not much else going on, really. Almost done with dental work, although it’s still going to take several months because of the long time between appointments. Besides the dental place where I have to go being for indigent, etc., they’re also short about four dentists. So it’s a bit crazy there most days. When I was there the other day, they had triple booked my dentist, and then forgot that I was even in the waiting room. Ugh! I like my dentist there, though, which is HUGE because of my extreme fear of the dental office. She’s aware of my phobia and works with me, to the point where I can actually walk in there now without crying or running back to my car and driving off. I can actually sit in the treatment chair with the shaking being only slight now, not like I was experiencing my own personal earthquake! Yay, me!

Other stuff: new doctor, whom I like very much. I’m just not used to being seen just every three months or so, having been followed at least monthly (usually, more often) for the past twenty years. I mean, it’s fine, really, because, as I’ve been told a lot over the past several years, HIV/AIDS is the least of my health concerns. I’m now working really hard with a diabetes educator, trying to get it back under control; I don’t have to see the pulmo doc again until there’s another change in the COPD or the pulmonary fibrosis, meaning if my breathing gets worse, which it will, then I’m to set up an appointment; mental health work going well…

… so, as I sort of said, business as usual in “The Life of Me.” Not much to report, really. But I wanted to stop by, maybe check on my favorites. I’ll have to do that when I get back, though…. it’s waaaaaay past time for a run to fill up my tankard with Diet Pepsi! Have a great day, peeps!