No. It was the [original] crank shaft and timing belts. (yes, plural - they should have been changed, so I read, at the 96K mark. from what I've googled, it's "main timing belt and a balance shaft belt"). When Dre held the crank shaft, it crumbled between his fingers. The timing belt he showed me was missing so many teeth that I felt like I was in the front row of a Willie Nelson concert. guess it's a good thing that I'm not a big fan of shopping, since the bill for the car (not even including the gratuities - two mechanics, one of whom drove me to work for two days as well as worked on the car, until i got a rental) repair (not including aforementioned rental) was comparable to a month's health insurance. or two weeks' takehome salary.
because jacob was going to be in the shop all weekend, and i needed to go to the doctor, and to pick up prescriptions, I figured that a rental would be cost-effective. i got it friday (my boss let me leave work to get it) and returned it within twenty-four hours. slightly annoying that I went through the trouble, but cheaper than the taxi I would have needed on Friday. (I was out of one prescription as of last Wednesday. My backup was actually in the trunk of the car, since the doctor had given me samples I hadn't remembered to bring into the house.)
It wasn't a great week. Along with my car, my office copier (and then) my office printer broke. However, the second repairman just left, and everything's happy again.
Meanwhile... the pain center in New Haven is closing. I can either go to their Meriden office, which is nearly 25 miles each way, or to the Derby office, which is "only" twelve miles each way. (New Haven is only 4.9 miles from my house, or 4.4 miles from my office.) The extra eight to 21 miles may not seem like a lot to many people, but it's going to mean extra gasoline each month, and extra driving... (which I don't do well when it rains - and with an office closing and a whole practice dumped on two other offices, I may not be able to reschedule appointments based on weather.)
MyRide may be an option; round trip to Derby is less than a gallon of gas. I'm sending my application.
I could look for another doctor - but this one believes me. I was in the waiting room on Friday for over an hour (and they think it will be cost-effective to close one whole office and split the patients between the other two practices??) talking to people whose doctors didn't believe them, whose families call them "lazy," who have to choose between necessary surgeries and being laid up OR dealing with the pain so that they're able to take care of their families. I like my doctor, who absolutely refuses to give me a hug (ethics) and who's constantly keeping up with what new developments will make his patients comfortable. He reminds me a lot of my rheumatologist (except that she will hug me).
Despite the lack of funds [to say the least] and this [major] annoyance with my doctor, I do know I have a lot to be grateful for. On Sunday, I had to go for milk. It was cold and drizzling rain, but I had a car. I saw a mother who had also taken her child to the convenience store; it's got to be an emergency before we'd pay their prices, and I wondered what she needed, and why she couldn't leave the child home where it was warm and dry. I had the money for a pint of the Willie Nelson Peach Cobbler that I wanted (I was willing to go without something else this week, to stay within budget). On the way home, I saw two different elderly men with shopping carts, going through people's recycling and trash for cans to return; I don't need to do that.
Obviously, I'm always grateful for my family, the roof over my head, my friends, my cat, and my laptop. Sunday just gave me a little more.
AND ... my mom may have seen a fawn or two out the window yesterday. Time to charge my camera batteries!!
Steal the rhythm while you can, spoonman
Speak the rhythm on your own
Speak the rhythm all alone, spoonman
Spoonman, come together with your hands
Save me, I'm together with your plan
Save me
-- Soundgarden
ah, nothing like waking after a
my friend jen recently asked me if i'm familiar with the Spoon Theory. oh yeah i am; my & mom's friend Sunshyne recently shared it.
if you don't know it: [PDF] Spoon Theory
in a nutshell, it's a description, a translation for the healthy, if you will, of how those of us in chronic pain live our days, planning every move to conserve our resources because baby, once they're gone, we can't use a credit card to borrow against the future. everyone with whom i've shared it, to date, has been, like, WOW, this is SO perfectly descriptive!
the woman who wrote the Theory, Christine Miserandino, should have been nominated for a Nobel in Science. AND a Pulitzer in Public Service.
that's all i have to say about that.
fourteen minutes to Ultram... </html>
I'm reminded of a building with old old pipes, where one leak is tied off and then, a few feet away, another bursts. as soon as one of my symptoms is "tied off," another turns up. I can't WAIT to show the following article to my doctors; I'm so excited to share it that I'm posting early in the day!! i'm reminded of a building with old old pipes, where one leak is tied off and then, a few feet away, another bursts. as soon as one of my symptoms is "tied off," another turns up. I can't WAIT to show the following article to my doctors; I'm so excited to share it that I'm posting early in the day!!
Then I found a doctor who knew what to do. He said that he had been an intern for two fibromyalgia specialists, and that the antidepressant Elavil would be extremely helpful. I told him that I have never suffered from depression. He answered that it doesn't matter, since Elavil works on the symptoms anyway. He prescribed 25 milligrams (a low dose) and said that I wouldn't notice any changes at all in my symptoms for about two months. He predicted that after that time, it would suddenly occur to me that my pain was gone. Well, this is exactly what happened. That was four years ago, and the pain has not returned. I use the generic form, amitriptyline. I have told several others about this treatment, and their experiences have been the same as mine.
Please put this letter in your column so that others will learn about this miracle drug. It disturbs me that no one seems to know about it, and it isn't even mentioned on the fibromyalgia Web site.
Dear Reader: Fibromyalgia, a poorly understood pain disorder, is difficult to manage. Patients with the ailment have noted significant reductions in their quality of life. I welcome the opportunity to echo your sentiments about Elavil. If, in fact, the medicine reduces the muscle pain, you should be considered for a Nobel prize. I ask that readers who try this remedy let me know whether it works, and I'll print a follow-up.
Because fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion and a form of arthritis, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Understanding Osteoarthritis." Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
( the gory details )
Now, I'm going to do my banking, get the cat some food, and go onto the laptop to catch up on Criminal Minds since tonight's a continuation of last week, which I missed. (AFTER that, if i have time, I'll watch Kid Nation.) May as well let my mind rot a bit (but not too much); I finished Doctor Zhivago and it was very weird... I began a novelization of American Gangster last night.
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