So, how was MY day? (I've used this title before...)

[redneckgaijin]

Grandmother had a doctor's appointment at 10:30 AM today. She had several ailments:

(1) Abdominal pain, lower left side, intermittent, not felt for three or more days.

(2) Abdominal pain, low central gut, intermittent, more recent- as in past 24 hours, after the appointment had been made.

(3) Neck and face pain, intermittent, right side of neck and face, originating in the neck and creeping up "like fingers." The ailment that caused the appointment to be made.

(4) Esophageal constriction, intermittent.

I forgot to stop by the compactor going to town, so I dropped her at doctor, went back ten miles to compactor, dropped garbage, went back to town, made deposit at bank, and still got back before she was taken in. Once she was taken in, though, we stopped by the doctor, who looked at both of us and decided to move her to the front of the line.

Yeah, us. Remember, I got the tooth pulled today? I'm trying to keep my tongue from going to the hole, but the gums around it are raw like after biting into too-hot cheese- possibly from the extraction, possibly from biting down on one wad of gauze after another until it chafed. Dentist's orders were to sleep with head elevated last night... which is damn near impossible to do on a waterbed, and even if I had done, I can't sleep on my back on a bed at all- hurts too much. I had to sleep on the recliner last night. Physically, not bad, except not enough sleep- stayed up late- and... well... woke up with a sinus headache that only got worse as the day progressed.

I could deal with the sinus headache, though, so long as the tooth socket stayed quiet. And it did... until the vibration caused by the shimmy in the Mercury's front end woke it up. I took my pain meds with me on the trip, and overall I'm glad I did- I had to take a pain pill before I dropped my grandmother off. As the day progressed I found that codeine of the sort I'm taking is a champ on tooth pain, but it doesn't do much for sinus inflammation and clogging, and the pain therefrom. I looked hung over and grumpy... well, more so than usual.

And my grandmother startled Dr. Morales enough that she proposed putting her into the hospital overnight for simple rehydration and observation. Over the course of the discussion, though, that didn't happen, and after various alternatives were discussed Morales put a call in to my grandmother's gastrologist, Dr. S. D. Khan...

... in Houston.

Where we had to go.

So, from Livingston to Houston, then waiting in office after making far better time than usual. Saw Dr. Khan, who wanted to do a gastroscopy tomorrow... which, for many reasons, is just plain unfeasible. I have an appointment for more tooth-yanking tomorrow; we can't afford to drive to Houston consecutive days; and I had no change of clothes for my grandmother to stay over with a relative who lives closer to Khan's office. The scope is scheduled for Tues. 10-7, and the doctor said, "Get off the Dulcolax, here's a different suggestion, more fiber, chew thoroughly, and have you considered putting your meat in a blender?"*

So; called Morales's office and left my cel phone number for a call-back if she had any further orders to give. Went to the Luby's next to Khan's offices, because the one thing you're guaranteed at Luby's is soft food, which now BOTH my grandmother and I are on. Well... no. She loves Luby's, but my experience: a small wad of ground beef covered with gravy to conceal the fact that it's burnt; spinach apparently boiled in butter to the point that butter is all that can be tasted; and spicy cajun rice that CRUNCHES because the onion and celery in it is RAW... and this, plus non-carbonated, non-caffeinated drink, was over TEN DOLLARS for not that much actual FOOD...

... yeah, that's why I don't do Luby's, even if their food no longer makes me violently ill like it once did. On the other hand, my grandmother not only experienced no esophageal constriction, she cleaned her plate... and was hungry enough when we got home for a whole other meal, something extremely unusual for her. (But WELCOME!)

At this point it was about 4 PM and we were still in Houston. I proposed doing the bulk of our grocery shopping at the Cleveland Wal-Mart (which just got power yesterday, so they're just beginning the restock of their fresh food and frozen stuff) and going straight home from there. So we did, getting home shortly before 6 PM, having left at 9:20 AM. I still have to pick up medicine and some other stuff for my grandmother tomorrow... after I have a wisdom tooth yanked and two fillings done, fun fun.

And, of course, with all this plus the dentistry nothing creative is getting done at a time when I really, really need to be doing it, dammit.

I'm down to three pills of the pain dosage- might or might not take any of them, but none for the sinus problem. I do suspect I'll be begging for more from the dentist tomorrow, though, if the wisdom tooth in question- we're going for the one that isn't fragmented- puts up as much of a fight as that bicuspid did.

* Yes, paraphrased. Especially since my aunt, who was with us at Khan's office, was actually the one who suggested puree'd meat. My reaction: "Steak smoothies are never going to catch on."

Comments

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

blessings on grandma's improving health issues and condoloences on yours.

some suggestions on more appetizing mushy meat: dollar stores often have a variety of canned meats, vienna sausages and the fish steaks in mustard sauce I recall are almost self-chewing but still have some texture. And it's a dollar or less to try each kind.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

A friend of a friend of mine once put a medium-rare steak in a blender (he'd had his jaw wired shut for several weeks and was getting antsy). I wasn't there to see the results, but I am told that after a few minutes it settled neatly into layers: lipids at the top, a watery broth in the middle, and the protein at the bottom. It was undrinkable.