LaurenandLloyd.com
where our wasted time becomes your wasted time
The Lauren asked me to write a post saying that she does not feel well and will not be writing a post tonight. I’m not sure why she didn’t just ask me to write one instead, but I am complying with her wish on the off chance that it is her last.
Also, she may or may not have asked for you to express any condolences concerning her apparent illness in the form of a haiku.
Yep, that’s an old drawing. I’m recycling the picture from 3 1/2 years ago. Hi, dead Pfennig. A new mean cat is about to explode kittens all over your house. Sorry.
My stomach has been trying to kill my throat the past week, and my voice is paying the price. (I’ve been off my medication for a month. First it was just laziness and not refilling the prescription, then it was thinking that I had this GERD thing beat. Nope. I suspect it might be the yoga. I’m bending over and dumping acid into my esophogus. Oh, the quandry!!!)
Lloyd is visiting his folks this weekend so I am having a voiceless 48 hours and gettin’ stuff done. I think I have a real shot at getting the house clean in a Lloyd-is-a-robot-maid kind of way!
What are you doing today?
A couple of nights ago I woke up with some pretty bad acid pain in my throat, and I was mad. I’m doing everything right, for cryin’ out loud! No eating or drinking for three hours before bedtime, no alcohol, sleeping at an angle, and taking medicine (er, when I remember). It happened again the next night, too. I was hopping mad. If it’s going to go back to this, then I’m going to go back to eating popcorn and drinking a beer before bed.
Well, it turns out that I’ve also got a cold, so that might be part of it. A runny nose and cough are not helping the whole situation. So, its jammies on all day, working on the pot of soup on the stove, and lots and lots and lots and lots of sleeping. Sounds like a perfect weekend.
No photo – I’m not too sick for that, you just don’t need to see a picture of me now.
UPDATE: For Kristi
UPDATE 2: For Brad
UPDATE 3: For Peggy
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEREN!!!!!!!
My voice has sounded much more normal lately, and singing isn’t as difficult as it used to be. I graduated from the couch to a bed a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to write about it. We prototyped Brad’s bed by propping up one end with cement blocks. (Those classy green blocks are from our Maryland days – the awesome brick & board bookshelves. We still have all the blocks and boards, and they’ve come in handy.) You’ll notice that it’s sloped toward the wall – that’s so I don’t fall off. When I was just sleeping on sheets I’d slide down about once an hour. There’s a flannel comforter under me now to provide some friction. It really works when I don’t shave my legs.
Well, we finally have an answer to my three-month-long hoarse voice. I have vocal nodules, and yes – acid reflux.
I had the visit to the ENT today, and it was quick and horrible. The doctor was incredibly nice, and we chatted pleasantly as I tried to ignore that he was putting a lighted probe into my throat, ears and *jibblie* nose. That was embarrassing enough, but then came the time for the endoscope (tiny camera on a long tube). I confessed to him that I was worried that I would throw up due to gagging, and he assured me, “No, you won’t.” He showed me how he swabbed the tip of the scope with anesthesia and I wouldn’t feel a thing. Then, after assessing that my left nostril would be a better route, he put a camera on a tube in there. BLEAH!!!! *jibblie jibblie jibblie* It actually wasn’t so bad until it actually was in my throat, and I could feel it when I swallowed.
“I can feel it!” I said worriedly.
“No, you can’t” he calmly replied.
Thanks to his Jedi mind tricks I was able to go through the process – “Breathe deep. Say a high-pitched ‘e’. Say a low-pitched ‘a’. Cluck like a chicken.” (Ha. Just seeing if you’re paying attention.)
And then it was over. Less than a minute of trauma, and then he handed me a tissue to wipe the ‘anesthesia’ from my nose. I have some small nodules, probably from trying to talk past the original laryngitis, which was probably caused by the acid reflux. So, it’s limited talking, keep taking stomach medicine and sleeping on an incline for another month, and if that doesn’t work, I have to see a speech therapist. Seriously – that’s not a joke. Apparently I’ve been talkin’ wrong for 39 years. Drat his Jedi mind powers…..
I went to the doctor today about my stupid voice, and he set up an appointment with an ENT in Lincoln. They’re going to stick a camera in my nose! (Do you think I’ll be able to post a picture of that?) Anyway, I asked my doctor if I should keep taking the rest of that stomach medicine and keep sleeping on the wedge and he said yes. Rats.
The problem with sleeping on the wedge is that it hurts my lower back. To gain the same acid-pooling benefit, you can prop up the head of your bed frame on blocks or cats. That’s too much trouble, so I’m experimenting with this for the weekend.
