Saturday, October 8, 2011

Moving Forward

It's been a rough couple of weeks - which has affected my writing and energy and, well, everything.

While not a fun experience, I at least now know what was causing the health issue and I have started treatment to eradicate it. I've been trying to pay attention to everything, including my body any my schedule and my sleep. And I made a wrong guess about something a couple weeks ago. Then yesterday, it all came to a head and, when I passed out in the college parking lot between my car and the one next to it, I knew I had to stop going on my assumption and get myself into Urgent Care or ER. It turned out that my insurance provider didn't have any urgent care clinics I could get to before they closed; which was probably for the best, since I really did need the ER. Hours and tests later and there was a diagnosis - without a cause, but a diagnosis. And I was admitted. More tests.

And it's true that hospitals are not a good place to rest or get sleep. So many comings and goings, checking stats, and then the sounds in the hall and other patients and everything. Sleep - not so much.

They did release me this afternoon - another test of patience. But I got out and am home. With instructions to not work until Thursday. And with medications - one of them very expensive and I don't have prescription coverage (I rarely take medications, so it was cost effective for me to get the plan without prescriptions; even with the  high cost of one of today's drugs, it's worth the lower monthly cost).

Kaiser was actually very good. Everyone - with the exception of one snarky technician in the ER - was friendly and helpful and listened. I felt like I got very good care, and they paid attention to my needs.

So - back to writing. I've been doing less because I've had no energy. Now I have several days ahead where I've been instructed to take it easy, increase activity slowly, cautiously, and stop if any symptoms worsen or a couple of specific ones appear.

Maybe - just maybe - once I catch up on sleep after being home, I'll be able to get a little more writing done.

But, for now, I need to recover some rest and sleep time.