Sunday, August 19, 2018

Health Update, August 19th edition

I thought my stone was going to be removed on the 17th, but it turns out it was just an office visit. The doctor said it would probably be a couple of weeks before they could even do the procedure. I was raging because I had waited over two weeks for that appointment, after having to wait a week after I got out of the hospital for the previous appointment. Hell, my kidney was hurting again, and I wanted the stone and drain out NOW! My bitching paid off, because the doctor freed up some time on Monday for my procedure. He also prescribed me some antibiotics, which seems to have helped with the kidney hurting.

I do not have a conventional case of kidney stones. What the doctor thinks I have is a calyceal diverticulum. The procedure that will be performed is called percutaneous nephrolithotomy. One of the reasons I've been having to wait so long to get this stone out is because this is supposedly a rare condition, and this guy is the most experienced doctor in the area (or at least in this network that I know of) at this procedure.

I'm used to having my health insurance taken out of my check. I realized just over a week ago that since I haven't been working, or getting any kind of pay for that matter, that I've missed a couple of payments. Oopsie. I got a check from my insurance company a few days ago for one of my visits (I think), so I'll be able to make about two or three weeks worth of payments soon.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Life Update, August 4th 2018

I just gave some updates on my health. What else has been going on? I've done some working. Back in May, I was working what was supposed to be a four to six week assignment, but ended up only being two weeks due to low volume. I had to wait two weeks to work again. I didn't really get as many hours as I would've liked in June and July, mostly because of my illness, and I've been off since July 19th due to hospitalization and work restrictions.

On July 4th, I finally got fed up with my roommate not working, and typed up a two page letter telling her what her not working was doing to me, and that she had until the end of the month to get a job, or she would be taken off the lease (she's listed as an occupant) and would have to move out. The reason I typed up a letter instead of telling her verbally is that she has a way of shutting me down when I try to tell her she needs to get a job, usually by saying, "Geez, I get it!" But she really didn't get it, and expressing myself in text was the only way I was going to get through to her. I didn't anticipate feeling like shit the entire month, and extended her deadline to August 31st, since she has been of some help to me, and she seems to be trying to get her shit together. But I need her to find a job soon since I'm unable to work. It's been three years since she got evicted, this shit has gone on long enough.

One of those things that my roommate's not working has done to me is made my social life increasingly more non-existent. The only real "getting out" I do is going to the coffee shop and people watching. It's been a while since I've made any real plans to hang out with people. I need to work on that. It seems like I go out more to watch people have fun than to have fun myself.

There are a couple of good concerts going on in Louisville in late September, one being Gary Numan, the other being the Louder Than Life festival, which actually has a halfway decent lineup this year. My roommate better not cause me to have to miss either.

The last couple of times I've gone out to see indoor live music, I've felt really uncomfortable, mostly because the places were so crowded. One was a tiny club back in March, the other one was a 700-800 capacity venue. The latter was for one of my favorite local bands who hadn't played out in seven years, and I hadn't seen in eight. The place was packed, I couldn't get comfortable, and I ended up leaving about twenty minutes after the band started.

Health Update, August 4th Edition

I went to see my urologist this past weekend, and an appointment has been made to have the stone removed. It's not until August 17th, so it looks like I'll be dealing with this drain in my back for at least another two weeks. I haven't bothered to shower since Sunday, because I have to have help replacing the bandage and tape after every shower. I'm still keeping myself relatively clean though, so I'm not too stinky. It's probably a good thing I'm not able to work, because then I would have to shower every night.

On the upside, my appetite has finally returned, probably thanks to the antibiotic I took for the week after I was discharged from the hospital.

I'm trying to get short term disability. My forms are supposed to be filled out by myself, the physician, and my employer. I haven't faxed my form off yet because the other two parties seem to be doing their own thing. I'll probably go ahead and fax mine off on Monday.

I lost about twenty pounds or more this past month. I'm now around 255 pounds, probably the lightest I've been since 2000 or 2001. I'm not going to go into detail, but it has made, ummm, some things fun again. Let's hope I avoid gaining it all back.