Kidney Saga part 117

My hands hurt. A lot.

I'm keeping the worst of it at bay with a bit of Tylenol in the morning and a bit in the evening. I'm also doing exercises meant to help with arthritis. But the pain is real, and really annoying. Still, it could be worse. I could be on dialysis.

I'm now a week into taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and haven't had any major side effects yet. I have low-grade nausea at times and some dizziness, but it's mostly tolerable. There have been times lasting up to an hour or so where I felt on the edge of throwing up, but again, tolerable. I did not develop the terrible rashes that the doctor warned me to watch for, so I guess that's good news. I will need to get an eye exam as soon as it's feasible and I can't go out in the sun, but it looks like I will be fine for now (knock wood).

Another side effect is that I don't have to take Miralax any more. It would be overkill. That's all that needs to be said on that subject.

My face is DEFINITELY getting back to normal. I can feel the bloating going away and it feels absolutely wonderful. When I look in the mirror I'm seeing myself again. Physically it's really not that big a deal, but psychologically it's HUGE. I still find it strange how awful I felt about the "moon face" when I had so many other problems. "You have heart failure." "Yea, but LOOK AT MY FACE! AHHHH!"

I went to the dentist last Tuesday, and got the complete cleaning that we didn't have time for during my first visit. The hygienist did a fantastic job, and got rid of some build-up from the hospital that had been driving me crazy since January. I was doing great at keeping my teeth feeling fine - right until my first hospital visit, then a few days with no access to a toothbrush and strange medications meant my teeth developed some yuck on them. Now that it's gone, I feel much better.

My hair is growing out slowly. I could be imagining things, but it seems a bit darker (where it's not grey). It also feels much more thin and crinkly than it used to feel. Hubby-Eric wants me to give him another haircut soon, but my hair is growing slowly enough I'm going to wait.

I've been paying close attention to the world outside. There's far too much going on in the world.

The explosion in Beirut was another terrifying reminder that regulations are written in blood. That stuff should never have been stored where it was stored. That's all I should say about this, except that it made my heart ache and again made me angry at my own inability to help.

Honestly, my helplessness is another source of stress. I feel like everything is falling apart around me, but I have to stay sheltered. I think other folks are feeling it as well, as indicated by our neighbors who had some sort of party that was still going at 4 am on Sunday.

Eric is settling into his new job, which seems to suit him perfectly. Hopefully it will continue to suit him once he has students - but I don't see an issue as every student of his I've ever talked to said he's a great teacher who conveys concepts in a way that people can easily grasp. His weakness as a teacher has always been classroom management, and with a job like this he isn't managing a classroom. His employers are also encouraging him to exercise, so he's started his morning walks again. I hope to be able to do some short walks, preferably before the sun comes up (as I'm not supposed to be out in sunlight), in the near future. There's a new pokestop nearby that I would like to visit.

With my strength returning, I've been able to play with Inkwell some. Not as much as I would like, but the cat sure seems to appreciate what time I can give him. He's gotten a bit wild at times, but overall he seems to understand when I need to stop. He continues to occupy my chair, and I've come up with a variety of ways to get him out of it. Last night I sat nearby and petted him until he gave up and left. It was amusing.

I'm still mostly playing DC Universe Online and reading to pass the time. I haven't really been following any sports. I think opening any professional sports season is currently irresponsible, even if it results in amazing videos like the one I'm posting below. With the pandemic still in full force, opening anything is irresponsible.

Well, I'm going to attempt to post this with the new Blogger interface, which they switched me over to a few days ago. I'm not sure how well it will work (spoiler: it hates me). All I'm certain of is that I won't like it because I don't like change - particularly change for the sake of change. A recent update to Thunderbird (my email client) changed all the icons into horrible ugly outline things and I haven't yet figured out a way to change them back. Not a fan. If it isn't broken, don't "fix" it.

Full Kidney Saga (Start Here)