Well, 2022 is over!

 Well, it's been quite a year.

• 5 vaccinations (3 of them COVID)
• 1 new puppy
• 1 new human in the house (my niece moved in for school)
• 7+ days without power due to a storm
• 1 downed tree (that I had to deal with)
• 7 days in Yellowknife
• 3 Girl Guide camps (all in tents)
• 1 new dishwasher
• so very many masks

Here's hoping 2023 brings health, happiness, and an end to the pandemic.

Some thoughts on accessibility

I'm waking again. In fact, I no longer need the boot, which is awesome. But being on wheels for five weeks gave me some new insight into what life is like for people who aren't that mobile. 

I work for an employer who accommodates many people with disabilities, but yet one of the ramps into the building has a manhole in the middle of it. If I'd hit it at full speed, I could have been seriously injured.

The ramp inside the building - the one I need to take from my desk to the bathroom - is scary steep, especially going up (because, I slipped, id be rolling backwards.)

Speaking of the bathroom, the one closest to my desk doesn't have automatic doors or a stall big enough for a scooter, so I had to go down to the other end of the building.

And, during the five weeks I used the scooter, we had two days where the closest elevators were out of service, two days where the elevators i. The transit station were out of service, and one power outage long enough hat they sent us home. (A coworker carried my scooter down the stairs. Luckily I could put some weight on my foot by then.)

Most of the bus drivers were great, and passengers usually cleared a space for me to sit without being asked. But....

- sometimes they'd clear the entire seat and put it up before I got on the bus. That did t help, because I can't sit on the scooter, so I'd have to out it back down

- some people tried to help by grabbing my scooter when I got off the bus. Since I depended on it for balance, that was a problem.

- finally, I had to explain more than once that, while I understand that someone is getting in the bus with a stroller, I won't be standing so that you can put the seat up. 

The scooter was way easier than crutches, but it took a lot of energy, and I was glad to see the last of it.

Helpless

Well, I survived the two weeks sitting around with my feet up, which is not as fun as it sounds. I also rented a knee scooter, which made a huge difference to my mobility.

That's Wanda on my knee scooter.

Last week I went back to work. One of my neighbours gave me a ride, which I greatly appreciated. 

This week I started taking the bus again. I wanted to be back on my own schedule, and it worked out ok. I did get a ride home yesterday, though, since I was getting pretty sore.

I've been in pretty good spirits so far, but today I've hit my limits. I want to stop being sore, and I want to be able to do stuff again.

I can't heal fast enough for me.

I got a cold over the holidays. In fact, it was particularly bad (I.e. head-cold-y) on Saturday - not last Saturday, the one before that. 

You'd think I'd be over it by now, but I'm not - I have a lingering cough. It's the kind that's fine for hours, followed by a burst of uncontrollable coughing.

The suddenly cold weather is not helping. My asthmas does not like sudden temperature changes, so going outside triggers a coughing fit.

I'm a joy to be around, let me tell you.

I guess it's a good ab exercise, if nothing else.

The visit

My mom and my niece B came to visit about ten days ago, and this time they brought my cousin's two girls, Star and Sky.

They had barely arrived when Star managed to get a nail though her shoe into her foot. I got to call her parents and say "they arrived. Also, for no particular reason, has Star had a tetanus shot?"

Day two we went to a paint-your-own-pottery place,  then my cousin arrived from Toronto. We spent the rest of the day close to home. I believe this was the day B skinned her knee.

Day three we went downtown (some of us on the bus) and saw the changing of the guard, toured the Parliament Buildings, and went to the market. No injuries.

Monday was Calypso, even though it was cold. (No lines!) Star scaped the bottom of her toe just before we left. Oh, and Wanda hurt her feet and spent the next few days hobbling around.

Tuesday morning, Sky woke me up around two because her ear was hurting. I gave her a painkiller and sent her to bed. It was better In the morning, which was good, because it was activity day. We made marshmallow catapults, bouncy balls, doll blankets, and rain. We stuck skewers in ziplock bags of water, stood on eggs, and blew up balloons with nerds and soft drinks. Also, B's mother joined us for supper, as she was unexpectedly in Ottawa for work. I think this might be the day Star stubbed her toe on the grass.

Wednesday, we went shopping, then out for supper one last time before B's mother went home.

Thursday, we went out to Star and Sky's great aunt's cottage. A lot of their relatives from that side of the family came out, so they were able to meet them, and they got to go in the kayak and inflatable boat in between rain showers. Just for fun, Sky stubbed her toe badly enough that it had to be taped up. I don't know that it was broken, but I don't know it wasn't. (Her great aunt is a nurse, so she did the taping.)

Friday, we went ringette shopping, stopped at Black's rapids for a few minutes to walk over the locks, and Wanda got stung by a wasp. After that fun, we went to the museum of science and technology. I got all the girls passes to the Saskatchewan science center for Christmas, which meant they could get in for free here. They made water rockets, ran on the hamster wheel, stumbled thorough the crazy kitchen, and walked through the trains. We then stopped at Hog's Back park, where they climbed an awesome climbing tree and no one got hurt.

And then Friday night, my niece and Star went to the park and B banged her foot on a metal bar. She hopped home, and I put ice on it. After fifteen minutes, I took the ice off and told her to stand up. There was an audible pop and she screamed.

And then she said "Auntie Colette, my foot is going numb".

It turns out the line between "suck it up" and "we are going to the hospital now" is just past "my foot is going numb and I can't wiggle my toes". I googled the address of the children's hospital and piggy-backed her to the car as Sky said "I'm dizzy."

As we checked in, the person registering us out me as a contact on B's file, since B's mom was back home. I said "good, I'm her favourite auntie", and B said - as always - "nope, you're not even on the list". The woman registering us gave me a bit of a look, and we had to explain that this is normal.

Less than two hours later, the doctor explained that it was a sprain and should be better within a day. Frankly, I didn't believe him. (I was ok with the sprain part, but who has ever heard of a sprain healing in two days?)

Saturday morning, Sky again complained about being dizzy, so we were off to the medi-clinic to deal with her ear infection. B came with us, hopping all the way, and sometime while we were getting Sky's prescription filled, B's foot got better - not 100%, but enough that she could walk. Yay! (Also, apologies, CHEO doctor.)

We had a little time in the afternoon, so we headed to Brittania beach. Since there was a Muslim festival going on, we had to park a ways away and take the shuttle. Luckily, the shuttle was a double-decker bus, so that was fun.

Sunday we took the train to Montreal, where we walked through Old Montreal and went to that science center. B's foot was hurting, so we didn't get to see as much as we might have otherwise, but they enjoyed it.

Monday, we played glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, and then decided to go back to the beach. Sadly, that's when the thunder storm hit, so Wanda took the girls to a movie instead. (No one got hit by lightning.)

This morning, everyone packed, then we took the bus downtown to meet Wanda for lunch, because she went back to work today. After lunch, we had a bit of rest time before it was time to go. We were halfway to the airport when we realized B forgot her ipad. I dropped them off, and mom got them checked In and in the line for security while I raced home. I made it back and gave the ipad to mom, who made it through the line for security with minutes to spare.

I'd better be on the list now.

I've had my blood pressure taken 14 times in the last three weeks

Two and a half weeks ago, I fainted in the shower. My first though was "something really bad has happened". My second thought was "I was in the middle of doing something, what was it?" My third thought was "wait ... Am I lying down in the shower?"

This is, apparently, a big deal.

I went to the doctor, and she ordered a bunch of tests (and ran me though six cycles of the blood pressure machine). I was banned from driving, as well.

I'd fainted on Sunday, and it didn't get in to the doctor until Wednesday. (Yes, I should probably have gone to the ER, but ... I didn't.)

On Thursday, I had book club, and I wasn't really feeling well, but I was tired, and I figured that's just how it goes.

On Friday, I went to work, and I lasted two hours. One of my coworkers drove me home. I spent the rest of the day resting.

For the next five days, I felt like someone had reached into my abdomen and squeezed my stomach every time I sat up or stood.

In the meantime, I had figured out that whatever was going on was something I'd caught. And I remembered that the three weekends immediately before getting sick, I had been outside. 

In Wednesday, I felt a little better so I went back to the doctor to make sure it wasn't West Nile or Lyme disease. The doctor agreed that it was a virus but didn't think additional testing was required.

 (Did I mention that I was off work last week? I was.)

For the next few days, I could sit up a little, but I had no energy.

On Sunday afternoon, I finally felt better.

I went back to the doctor today to confirm everything was ok. I had to leave early to catch all of the bus connections, so I didn't sleep well. The good news is that shre gave me the go-ahead to resume my normal activities.

The bad news is that the lack of sleep means today was not a good day.

Apparently, there's a nasty virus going around. But then I already knew that.

Getting things done

As much fun as the cruise was, there was one part I didn't enjoy.  The day after we were in Mexico, my sinuses went into overdrive.  The nasty side-effect was that I started coughing. It was a terrible-sounding cough - which is not fun when you're in public places.

Or any other time, really.

I got back and gave it a couple of weeks. It didn't improve.

I googled it, and found out that dairy can make it worse, so I cut out my morning yogurt. That was about 2.5 weeks ago.

Yesterday I started feeling better.  I can breathe normally, and I cough a lot less.

As a result, I got a lot done this weekend.  Nothing too exciting - cut a hole in a wall to get at the plumbing clean out (more on that later), put up some hooks that fell down in ... September, I think? Made buns. Flipped the mattress on my bed (and, coincidentally, found a sock in the pillow case I was taking off the bed and a dishcloth in the sheet I was putting on the bed).

Little things, mostly, that I haven't gotten around to doing in a while.

It was a good weekend.

Lightning fingers

Yesterday, I ate a peach.

Well, several, actually. They were really good.

And then one of my eyes got scratchy, which is typical of allergies (which have been really bad this year). Not unusual, except when I went to rub it, it was like my fingers were giving me mild electrical shocks every time I touched my face.

I thought it would improve overnight, but it took an allergy pill this morning to make it stop.

Very weird.

A pain in the neck

On Tuesday, I noticed that my neck was stiff. It was strange - I hadn't done anything - but sometimes that happens, and I figured it would get better.

By Friday, it was better, and I was looking forward to the long weekend.

Friday night, my neck hurt so much I couldn't sleep.

Yesterday, I tried hot packs and slow movements. I even resorted to painkillers, which don't work for me, in the hopes that that anti-inflammatory part would do something.

It hurts when I'm sitting up, and when I'm lying down. It hurts (a lot) when I move from lying down to standing up. It hurts when I bend over to pick something up, when I tilt my head back, and when I try to turn my head from side to side.  (It doesn't hurt when I tilt my chin forward, which is how it would hurt if it were meningitis, so that's good.) Basically, I'm like a newborn baby whose neck is not strong enough to support her head.

It's clearly muscular - staying in one position causes it to stiffen up, and it loosens up with movement.

Last night, I started the night sitting up. After a couple of hours sleep in that position, I went into the bedroom and tried lying down. I actually got some sleep that way.

And today? It's a little better.

Still, not a fun way to spend a long weekend.

Do not try this at home.

Spoiler alert: I'm fine

I woke up this morning and the room started to spin. I felt like I was going to fall over.

Luckily, I was still lying down, so there was nowhere to fall.

Even more disturbingly, the numbers on my clock radio started jumping back and forth between horizontal and vertical. It was pretty much the behaviour you'd expect if your nose was a hinge that swung until your eyes were at a ninety degree angle to each other.

After about 30 seconds, it stopped and I got up. I did a couple of quick stroke tests (smiling, holding up my hands in front of me, standing on one foot) and everything was fine, so I went to work.

I was concerned, though, so I went to the ER after work (instead of boxing).

It took forever - which I took as a good sign, because if they thought it was serious, I would have had a pink sticker instead of blue.

When the doctor came in, he asked a bunch of questions and did some tests. One of the tests involved sitting up on the bed and looking at him while he lowered me so I was lying down. Apparently, when he did that my eye started jumping around.

All I knew was that I got dizzy.

End result - middle ear condition, not serious, just weird - and so close to textbook that he said he'd call his medical students in to observe if he had any.

Here we go again...

I started physio last week.

When I was a kid, I broke my arm. Ever since then, I have been able to crack that wrist. A little weird, but not a problem.

Lately, it has been getting more painful - and more like I have to crack my wrist, over and over.

And then I slipped on the ice and banged my wrist (as well as my head).

So anyway, I'm in physio again.

Just like last time, I actually feel worse than I did before I started. Working on the wrist seems to have made it angry - or at least made it move in ways it's not used to moving.

The snow last week didn't help, either.

Today, she taped up my wrist when I left. It hurt for a while, mostly because I couldn't crack my wrist. Now it feels pretty good.

I will have to tape it up again tomorrow.

Just in time for boxing.

Now I see where I went wrong

So the whole "work from home on Monday" thing did not work.  I ended up taking a sick day.

I did work from home on Tuesday, though - and then felt worse on Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday I worked afternoons only, since mornings are worse than afternoons.  (It's not that I had a headache, just that I had no energy.  Typically, I'd step out of the shower and realize that I needed to lie down immediately.)

Naturally, I had to go to a Spark/Brownie/Guide/Pathfinder sleepover last night. My Pathfinders were there, as were some of my Sparks from last year.

The sleepover was at Cosmic Adventures.  For those of you who haven't been there, it's a giant indoor play structure.  Thankfully, it's also pretty good at absorbing squeals of overexcited children.

The first hour and a half was free play time, so I was able to sit (or lie) on a bench.  After that, we had a snack, made a craft, and did a quick scavenger hunt.

(The Pathfinders did very well, by the way.  They organized games and helped the younger girls with their craft. They even went to bed at a reasonable hour, and luckily my bed was far enough away that I have no idea what time they went to sleep. I warned them in advance that I was going to be useless in the morning and that they were going to have to help, and they did, even though they were obviously exhausted.)

I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, and I woke up around 5:45, which means I got ... not nearly enough sleep.

When I woke up, I had a "not enough sleep" headache, but otherwise, I felt fine.

Clearly my problem has been that I've been sleeping:
a) too much;
b) in a room that is too quiet;
c) on a bed that's too comfortable.

I hope I still feel OK tomorrow.

The ick is going around

There's some sort of flu going around work.

Well, maybe more than one.

People are dropping like flies (although without the annoying buzzing around  your head first). I've asked if I can order a giant bubble to work in so that I don't get whatever they have, but apparently there's no budget for a giant plastic bubble.

Of course, people get sick all the time, but this one is knocking people out for much longer than usual.  One of my former coworkers was off for 3 days.  I've known her for 3 years, and I don't think she's missed 3 days in total during that time.

I do not want whatever they have.

I can't be sick next week (cyst removal, doctor's appointment that's already been rescheduled twice, Pathfinder sleepover).  Two of those things I'll be at regardless of how sick I am, but it would be nice if I wasn't sick at all.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's an option.

A shot in the arm

I usually get a flu shot. Yes, it only protects you from a couple of strains of the flu, but it's free, safe, and getting the flu is annoying, so I get the shot.

The company I work for has a flu shot clinic every year, so I signed up. Then I made my cyst appointment, realized it was the same day, and cancelled the flu shot. It wasn't a big deal - I had an appointment with my doctor on Nov. 19th.

Then my doctor cancelled, an I was rescheduled for today.

And then my doctor cancelled again. (As a side note, I'm a little concerned about my doctor.)

For those keeping track, that's three potential flu shot opportunities, zero actual flu shots.

The city of Ottawa always has flu shot clinics, so that was another choice, but Rexall PharaPlus is also running radio ads saying that their pharmacists will give flu shots.

I decided to give that a try.

There was a little bit of a wait - at the pharmacy I went to, they treat it like a  prescription request, so you get put into the queue as if it's a prescription - but 15 minutes or so later, I was done and out of there. Despite teh wait, it was much faster than the clinics.

Now all I have to do is hope they guessed right about what strains will be common this year. 

Sigh

Every spring and fall, there are camp clean-up days for the local Girl Guide camp.  I try to go if I can.

Today was one of those days.  I had to be there at 8:30 (In the morning, On a Saturday.),  so I got up and got ready.  When I got there, I was assigned to a site.

(The camp has 15 or so sites within it, so a bunch of groups can be up there at once.)

On our site, we had five things to do:

1. Chop up felled trees and stack the logs in the woodshed.
2. Fix the drain on the outdoor sink.
3. Find and uncover the grey-water disposal pit.
4. Fix the front steps to the building.
5. Fix the back steps to the building.
6. Fix the railing on the bridge to the next site.

Hmm, that's six things.  OK, we had six things to do.

We started with #6.

That task involved the following:

• Tear down the current railing.
• Pull out the nails from the old boards.
• Cut 20 new posts.
• Put notches in 20 new posts (4 got one notch, 16 got 2).
• Attach 20 new posts.
• Brace 20 new posts.
• Add top rails.
• Add lower rails.

 It took ... I'm not sure exactly because no one had a watch and cell phones don't work there, but I'd say it was about 5.5 hours.

About 5 hours in, I made a mistake.  I was sitting on the edge of the bridge, leaning out to attach a brace. I had the cordless drill (being used as a screwdriver) in my left hand and was holding the board with my right (dominant) hand.

The drill slipped.

I lost half the fingernail on my middle finger, and prompted a discussion about where the nearest first aid kit was.

It's nothing serious - just an annoyance - but it makes it tricky to type or drive. On the way home, I kept accidentally turning on the windshield wipers with the top of the gauze on my finger. It also prompted a stop at a drug store for those bandages that go over the tip of your finger, and for more gauze as I have already exhausted the entire supply in the house.

(I currently have gauze wrapped around the finger and taped down. I'm hoping to move to the bandages by Monday, when I have to type for work.)

But it's amusing to say "the drill slipped" when someone asks what happened to my finger.

Dear cold virus, I have stuff to do. Please go away.

I'm taking a sick day today. I think this is my first sick day since 2007.

Of course, I've been sick since 2007, but I usually just work from home. Now, though, I have sick time, I didn't have anything critical, and my eyes felt like someone had sanded them while I was sleeping.

(I'm pretty sure no one actually sanded my eyes while I was asleep.)

I was sick all weekend, which was really, really boring. I spent the weekend reading/watching stuff about the Titanic, playing Super Mario, and moaning about how sick I was.

I'm feeling better today (except for the eyeball thing), so hopefully I'll be able to go back to normal life tomorrow.

Please stand on my left

Things that have not cured my sore shoulder:

• Strength training
• Zumba
• Rest
• Heat
• Boxing

It's actually the upper part of my shoulder near my neck. It's muscle pain, and I didn't do anything in particular to cause it.

This is not the first time this has happened - in grade 4, I used to have stiff necks all the time. If I wanted to turn to look at a classmate, I had to turn my entire body.

In retrospect, I probably should have mentioned it to someone. I mostly grew out of it, though.

That's not much of a consolation when it hurts to turn my head.

My "s" key doesn't work consistently. Let's talk about now.

It snowed last night. I know a lot of place have already had snow this year, but this was our first snowfall of the winter.

(Naturally, the zipper on my new winter coat broke last night, but that is a different story.)

The forecast had been for rain, freezing rain, or snow, which seemed to cover the bases. When I woke up way too early for physio, I looked out the window and was tentatively glad to see snow.

Of course, that didn't mean there wasn't freezing rain under the snow, so at 6:30 I went outside, shoveled the walk, and cleaned off the car. Luckily, the freezing rain hadn't happened. My appointment wasn't at 7, so I came back inside and got ready (brushed my teeth, turned on my work laptop so it would be ready for my 8:00 conference call, etc.).

At 6:45, I went out and cleaned off the car.

Physio went well, and at 7:45 I was done. I went outside, cleaned off the car, and drove home.

It's going to be a long winter.

Procrastination at its finest

A couple of years ago, I complained that my foot wasn't going in the same direction as the rest of me. It wasn't until a month or two ago that I realized the the result of that injury was that I have no balance when I try to stand on that foot.

I started physio yesterday.

You know you've done a good job when the physiotherapist repeatedly says, "This is really interesting." Apparently, my joint was really stiff and my ankle wasn't bending properly. She worked her magic and gave me some exercises to do at home.

The interesting part to me is that my foot didn't hurt until I started physio. After physio, it hurt - well, more of an ache, actually. The exercises also make it ache.

But I can balance on that foot again.

My Doctor Is Trying To Kill Me

Last Wednesday, I had a checkup. I also had bloodwork done. Nothing unusual there.

So Tuesday when Wanda texted me to tell me to call my doctor's office, I knew they had the results in.

The thing is, my doctor only calls if something is wrong. If you don't hear from them, everything is fine. I immediately tried to call the office.

The line was busy.

I waited a couple of minutes and tried again.

Still busy.

I waited even longer and tried again. I got the standard greeting and listened until I was told to press 0 to speak to someone.

I pressed 0. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

After a minute or so, I ended up back at the greeting. I pressed 0 again. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Greeting. Press 0. Ringing. Repeat about another three times.

By the time I got to talk to someone, I had come up with about 5 different things that could be wrong. I had mentally rearranged my week to accommodate a doctor's appointment (because they don't give you bad news over the phone).

The results? My iron is a little low (which I told the doctor, hence the blood test in the first place) but within normal range.

My imagination is also fine, apparently.