The Pity Party has been cancelled ...

Just when I was starting to feel like this blog (and my life) were feeling like a big-ass Pity Party over my bronchitis ... I found out yesterday that my stepdad had a stroke on New Year's Eve.

He's home from the hospital now - and thankfully the stroke wasn't so serious that it would render him incapacitated - but it did cause nerve damage on the right side of his body, so he has been dealing with feeling numb all over - if he can feel anything.


When I got the news yesterday, it freaked me out. I know, by now, nothing should catch me off-guard anymore - especially with my stepdad's health and its sometimes mercurial nature. I think that it just got me because I'd seen him over Christmas, and he seemed to be in relatively decent health, all things considered.


Anyways, the nerve damage is reversing itself (a good thing), so he'll be on Neurontin (a seizure medicine) to help alleviate the "extreme tingling" that comes from the nerve regeneration process, as well as going through physical and occupational therapy at home.


So yeah ... I got a reality check from that, that's for sure. I'm just glad that my stepdad is home, and that his body is attempting to repair itself - slowly but surely.

(no subject)

I am surrounded by kitties. Teak's big ass is on the computer desk, and Cleo is on the file cabinet, keeping guard for invisible creatures to pounce on - or waiting to stalk Teak. Either way, there are kitties all around me.


The Zithromax is starting to kick in, and I've begun taking the unfortunately-named Mucinex to help clear up my chest ... and hopefully prevent my going on Prednisone. So, I'm gradually feeling better. My raspiness is going away, although I'm still wheezy and coughing. At least it's not like last night, when I had the feeling of someone punching me right in the sternum a few times, as well as wheezing so loud that it was mistaken for snoring.


In other news, since one of my seizure medicines (Tegretol) was knocking me onto my ass when I attempted to take it at doses above 400 mgs per day (at least 600 mgs/day is needed to control seizures), the medication has been changed. I'm now on Depakote ER, which has some *lovely* side effects, including weight gain, hair loss, and the rare side effect of pancreatitis. But hey, it won't sedate me like Keppra might! (Keppra was the other drug being considered - but rejected because of the sedative side effect)


So, there's that. Now, I'm going to start cleaning up the kitchen some ... it's a mess.

Have a good evening and weekend, my lovelies and sexy bitches! :-)

This is your brain on drugs

Apparently my brother is a hell of a lot of fun on Percocet ... or so his friends and family have told him. ;)

While Dan was on the painkillers after hernia surgery, this is what he apparently did:

• Flipped off his manager
  
• Called his nurse "Queen Karen"
  
• Worried about asteroids coming out of his nose
  
• Told his in-laws to call him "D-Bone"
  

And apparently, friends may still be coming forward with other things he had said and done while hopped up on painkillers.