August

Thank God August has proved so far to be not as hot as this otherwise blistering summer. I see higher food prices for us all as the drought barrels on. I live maybe a city block from the Potomac, and one would think there would be a breeze coming off of the river, but no, I have felt none, until yesterday.

I have 3 more weeks of school left, then I have my associates degree in Medical Transcription. As I live out here in Bum Puck Eygypt now, my daily commute to whatever position I can garner with this degree will be significant. You see that word a lot in MT: significant. The findings were significant for edema of the extremities x2. The findings were not significant for pneumonia.

I recently had a sacroiliac joint injection. Seems the lower part of my back and hips are aging faster than you can say "wheelchair", and so I have been getting facet joint injections and hip joint injections, and they have really helped. Where I could not do anything, I now can resume most of my daily activities relatively pain free. I will never be pain free. I will always have residual pain. I have opted not to go the root of Oxycontin or other narcotic pain relievers. I am mostly furious with the companies who manufacture these drugs and allow them to be prescribed willy-nilly to anyone and everyone, regardless of condition being treated or the age of the patient.

My diabetes is requiring adjuvant therapy with oral medications now, most likely due to the steroid injections I have been receiving. My last A1c was 7.1 which is officially in the diabetes zone, and not in the prediabetes zone. I anticipate it will be higher this time as my blood sugars have been topping out in the 200+ area.

My physician inquired when I had had my last pap smear, and I told her it was probably in 2003. I have had the complete hysterectomy thing, so the medical community has decided I don't need them anymore. Which is fine by me. I told her, if she wanted to do one, she had better bring a broom for the cob webs and a drill or something, because its been a while since anything has been up my skirt. She laughed and said that her office would not be the place to have one, anyway, so I suggested perhaps a construction site. One wants the necessary tools on hand. We opted to forgo this very necessary diagnostic procedure for most women who have all of their body parts.

I have been depressed lately, as well. I have that feeling that the wheels of unknown design are turning somewhere in the background, not in my favor, and I cannot pin point where they are and for what purpose. Can we say "Paranoid"? I do not know if it is paranoia or just a gut feeling. We still do have those you know, a plain ole gut feeling, that says, "Hey, something is not right here." Always trust that feeling, ok?

I feel at a cross-roads, again!, and, quite frankly, I am too damn old to be at a cross-roads. I want my life to be boringly uneventful.

Best wishes.