A 4th Diagnosis...

So far they've suggested gout or pseudo-gout, but both of those ideas were tossed when my bloodwork came back okay.

Perhaps arthritis?  Take some anti-inflammatories as needed.

Then it was cellulits.  Take three weeks of bactrim and enjoy the antibiotics...  Don't forget the acidophilus...

Then it was off to the orthopedist on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  He came in and I liked him immediately.  We talked.  He took a full history, checked out my x-rays (no bone spurs or physical reason for the elbow...)  He diagnosed my elbow as bursitis within 2 minutes.

I mentioned my hips to him and he asked me to take my shoes off and stand in front of him.  He took a knuckle on his left hand and poked at my hip, and I almost went down to my knees!  Apparently I have bursitis in my hips, too!  (Hey, if you're going to do something, you might a well do it 100%)

He drained my elbow (no infection remains) and said it needed to be splinted.  He told me to go to the casting room with Rhonda.  I made a bad joke about not auditioning for anything (no one laughed).  We went there and I got a cast.  My first cast ever.  I used to think I wanted one, for the sympathy vote, but now that I do, I'm wide enough on my own.  I do NOT need a cast to make me wider still - I keep banging into people, brushing up against door jambs....

The cast is removable but the doctor said to keep it on 24/7 except for washing.  So I look forward to the 20 minutes a day I spend in the shower...  more than just 'cause I like feeling squeaky clean... 

He gave me a prescription for 2 weeks of PT - he requested they develop an at-home exercise program for me and said that after I'm confident that I know the routine, I don't have to go to therapy anymore.  I have to go just long enough to learn the program...

So between the yoga twice a week, and an exercise program at least 3 days a week - YUK.

Also, fell asleep during yoga class today - out cold!  SO asleep that I woke myself up snoring and shouted, "WHAT?"  Then it turns out that I was talking in my sleep!  OMG!  It was a late night last night - got home from work at almost midnight from sales conference and sales conference dinner...

And here's some cool news.  Just booked our trip to Cabo San Lucas for a family wedding.  Here's a link to the very expensive hotel we're staying at:  Las Ventanas.  Take a look and eat your heart out be thankful YOU'RE not shelling out that money!  Just kidding - we're going to a destination wedding for our nephew (on J's side) - can't wait!

Please send some prayers to Arizona.  My sister's dog is sick, seriously ill, and in the puppy ER.  She means the world to P and we want our Kazia happy and healthy and home as soon as possible!!!

The cutest pets ever!

Okay, click on this and you'll see my sister's pets, her Westie and one of her kitties (the mama one!) getting along like a house on fire!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7yoNEYJ5IM

And Miss Hope, Duncan is still promised to your Prissy!!!

The duck died (see my 08/16/07 post).

The other three sat with her from when she was injured until after she passed away. I just called DH and he broke the news. The other three were quacking away on our property; they didn't leave her side until she left them.

I'm so sad.

I'm so sad.

At the lake there are four very tame ducks that we've been feeding for months now. They were bought as pets for some local kids last Easter, we found out, but they got too big and the kids let them free in the lake at Christmas-time. Christmas-time? In the cold?

They are so tame that they take bread from my hand, they float up to the docks and call me. Quack! Quack! Quack! And I answer them, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" I look and sound like an idiot but they're so pretty... Two of them are white, and two of them are a gorgeous brown. We just determined within the last month or so that there are two males and two females.

The white female has been missing for a few days now, since Monday. DH didn't see her since we fed them on Sunday. He took a walk around our neighbors' properties, looking for her, but until today, she was MIA.

He found her today, sitting out of the water on R's dock, with one leg so badly hurt that you can't tell if it's been hurt in a boat propellor or chomped on by a snapping turtle. We assume it's not the turtle 'cause of how it's dislocated; it's pulled out behind her, all cut and bloodied.

DH thinks she's going to die. The triplets (cousins to the ones who let them go free) put some bread near her so she had food to eat. DH said he picked her up and held her and petted her; she's immobile and lets you pet her now. He's afraid she's going to die soon.

This makes me sad. They are so tame that they float right up to the boats that are moored out in the lake, begging for food. Perhaps someone wasn't as careful as they should be and started their engine while they were too close... I'm sure it was an accident, whatever happened, but now I'm not happy.

So much of my writing recently has been construction-oriented that you'd almost think there was nothing else going on in my life. Wait a minute. Nothing else IS going on in my life! But I'm going to write about non-construction stuff today.

A sad story...

My sister's cat, George, died last week. When I called P to tell her how sorry I was and how much I loved her, she said something so poignant that I haven't been able to get it out of my head (and I'm paraphrasing): "I heard somewhere that although you might have lots of pets in your life, that there's always going to be one who's your soul mate, and George was mine."

I didn't know George well, but I loved him - he was (I think) a Russian Blue and he was absolutely gorgeous. His sister-of-the-heart, Camille (another of P's cats who died several years ago) had stunning markings; she was gorgeous. But George? I loved the way he looked. I'm not a cat person, but I could have truly enjoyed being owned by George. I don't know what it is I liked so much about him - I only "met" him a few times. There was something about him, though, something that I really liked. I feel so bad for P - it's not easy to lose someone you love, especially someone with whom you've spent almost every day of the past 15 years or more...

I asked P to send me a picture or two of George, or of George and Camille. I like what I can create on a scrapbook page, even though I'd never describe myself as artistic, and I offered to make a page for George that I could frame (or she could frame) for her wall.

He will be missed.

On to other topics...

I went to Best Buy yesterday to drop off my camera for repair. The little door that holds the batteries in broke when I dropped the camera. Yes, the damage was my fault. But I paid for an extended warranty and by God, I will try to get it fixed without having to pay for it! I picked up my nephew (he jumped at the chance to go to BB) and we went.

Now I didn't go in cold-turkey. I called first. I sat on hold for 2o minutes, only to hang up, sit on hold for another 10 minutes, then talk to someone not from the Repair Center, and finally got in touch with Customer Service. CS told me that it's okay if I don't have my receipt; I'm registered online so they can look me up with my phone number. She told me to come in and go to the camera department.

So in we went, right to the camera department. She sent me to Customer Service. There was one line, roped off and marked with a sign that read "Returns and Exchanges." There were two other registers marked "In Store Pick Up" and "Customer Service," and there were lines of people in front of each.

So I got on line in front of the Customer Service sign, behind two Spanish guys who had an HP printer in an unopened box. There was a woman talking to the clerk in front of them. CS finished with the woman, then the two men approached the girl. They spoke briefly, then the guys picked up their box and went their merry way.

AND THE WOMAN ON LINE IN THE "RETURNS AND EXCHANGES" LINE CUT IN FRONT OF ME.

Okay. That set me off, I admit. So I walked up behind this woman who made a return and waited my turn there so no one else from the Returns and Exchanges line could cut in front of me.

They sent me to stand on line at the Geek Squad counter, after pulling my extended warranty number up on the computer, asking me if I had any other Canon camera under warranty with them "'cause the numbers don't match." No. And I don't have any other camera under warrantly with them either, thank you very much.

So I stood on line. Four registers opened, people at each, with one guy standing at the counter with no one helping him. Some guy walked in carrying a PC and he proceeded to walk up to the counter in front of me. When the Geek finished helping the person in front of me, he started to wait on this guy instead of asking "Who's next?"

My head exploded.

I threw my hands in the air and started huffing and puffing. "Oh, were you next?"

Duh... Yes.

The guy with the PC apologized and nicely chatted with me while the Geek took his sweet time taking my info. I felt bad and apologized for overreacting, but I was on my 2nd or 3rd line and had been waiting... He was very nice and we talked for a few moments, while the Geek confirmed what, when, where, why and how...

So again, sorry, mister, for being such a bee-atch.