Friday, July 29, 2011

Sorry for the long absence

OK, OK, stop yer nagging!
I am soooooooo sorry I haven't posted in the past five days but life has been getting ahead of me.
It seems that once my hip pain takes hold, it takes over.  Everything just takes so much longer to accomplish.
And when stuff takes longer to do, the days get shorter.  (Think about it.)
Anyway, I'll bring you up to snuff now.
Monday -- I have no idea, now, what I did on Monday.  It's too long ago for me to remember.  Sorry about that.  (Just kidding.  I spent the day doing genealogical research.)
Tuesday -- That too is a long time ago now, but I do know that I was busy getting ready for the next two days.  (I also spent a good deal of the day doing more genealogical research -- when the bug gets me, it gets me good.)
Wednesday -- I went into the big city for my physio appointment but before I had that therapy, I saw my ENT specialist.  I wanted his input about my apnea issues before my final visit with the sleep doctor the next day.  Turns out I have a "large tongue in a small throat" and would greatly benefit from the CPAP.  He did offer an explanation for my severe dry mouth though.  On examination, it seems that my salivary glands are a tad deficient.  He offered that it could be genetic, but it is also a function of aging (yup, another thing to which the aging population can look forward to enjoying), arthritis, and fibromyalgia.  As well, dry mouth is definitely a side effect of the drug Lyrica, which I take to treat my fibro.  And of course, the CPAP treatment just exacerbates dry mouth.  He recommended that I continue with my ever-present water bottle but add hard candies to my routine (yucko!) because it is important to stimulate the salivary glands as much as possible.
Following all my medical appointments, I went to my little chickadee's place to await their arrival home.  Pauple washed my car while we went to my hairdresser's so I could get beautiful again, and then we went for a fine dining experience at Wendy's Restaurant (MBB's choice).  We spent a quiet evening enjoying each other's company before everyone headed off to bed for the night.
Thursday --  We got an early start by going to our usual haunt (Denny's) for breakfast.  (I've been taking MBB there since he was an infant -- the staff have known him all his life and greet him by name as we walk in.)  After breakfast, I stopped in to visit my good friend, LC, for coffee and catch-up chat.  She has just returned from her annual trip to Mexico and I was anxious to hear how her family is doing.  Then I was off to take care of my CPAP business.
First, I had to go see rep guy for a print out of my report to take to my sleep doctor.
Then, I had to get to my sleep doctor for my scheduled appointment to discuss my progress after the one month trial on the machine.  Based on my report of feeling so much better in just two weeks (I don't consider the first two weeks as a valid test since they were disastrous until I switched to the APAP unit), the doctor had no problem prescribing continued treatment.  And fortunately, I met the criteria for the APAP vs the CPAP (not everyone does so I was lucky, she tells me).  She gave me the prescription, told me to ask her office clerk for the necessary paper work that I would need for my insurance company, and said that she didn't need to see me again, unless I was having trouble.  It was nice knowing her!
Then back to the rep guy to actually buy the machine.  Now that was an interesting exercise.  And the paperwork!  But I left an hour later with a bag full of goodies and a brand spanking new ResMed S9 Autoset.
By the time I got home at 3:30pm yesterday, I had had the biscuit!  But I didn't go to bed (or sleep) until about 9:00pm (OK, I nodded off during the ball game ...)
And now you're current.
Oh, today, Friday. 
Thus far today, I've read my morning newspapers.  I made John his big breakfast (that's usually a Saturday affair but I have plans tomorrow that preclude my making his breakfast so today was in lieu of).  I've folded the load of towels that I threw into the laundry last night, and I've done my 15 minutes on the stationary bike.  And I've written this blog.
Now I have to get down to business (telephone calls, bookkeeping, and updating calendars with appointments) so I can get back to doing the fun stuff (genealogical research).
Later.

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