Life is a combination of magic and pasta.

Since Saturday, my stomach has been distended, like I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and am trying to smuggle home a basketball out of the place. It was difficult to even bend over to feed the kitties and at one point, I had an accident which I don't recall when I've last had one before. Of course I'm freaking out thinking it's listeria and my punishment for eating lunchmeat or that I'm dying of something. My brain likes to instantly go for panic mode. Thanks brain.

Then last night I was wondering how uncomfortable it might be to wear a bra to work and it dawned on me, uh...you've had this before, multiple times. You purchased tank tops that have extra fabric on top to not wear a bra for a while. So I went back on LJ and yeah, it's happened plenty and not once can I figure out what causes it. It just randomly bloats and then after a while it randomly resolves.

I still need to do the hunt for a gastro doc again since my stomach is otherwise perpetually annoyed and with a Dad that has chronic stomach issues and my nibblings both now developed Crohn's, there's something up that needs dealt with.

I did see a post that mentioned that evidently I have less issues when I eat vegan. Well perhaps I need to start going that way again. I chatted with a coworker this morning and she said the same thing, that she feels better when she eats vegan and was thinking about it. Since we know it's going to take time to eat down what we have stored and also mentally adjust, we're thinking about banding together for September for the big swap and seeing if it helps our health. Also, hopefully there'll be slightly cooler days in September, making it easier to actually cook. The things that will be toughest for me to adjust to are cream in the coffee and eggs since I do like a savory breakfast.

 The good news is that my GP doesn’t think my blood pressure is too horrible even though it can stand to improve quite a bit. However she’s concerned with the fact that my back is keeping me from exercising and that I’m in a bad cycle because if I exercise it currently hurts my back but I need to improve my back with exercise.

Also, my weight has stagnated and I even put back on a couple of the pounds that I lost when adjusting to the new medicine and kept me from being hungry. She’s always been easy-going when it comes to how to take care of my medical issues. But she got my attention today for sure because she suggested something she never suggested before and even warned me in advance not to be mad at her.

Gastric bypass surgery. 😳😳
  
The thought of having major surgery like that scares the crap out of me. But if she’s that concerned, I have to do something now

In the interest of getting errands done on the day off, I finally remembered to take my huge order from ththe rheumatologist and get it done this morning. The knee and lumbar X-rays were in and out but I had to wait at the other lab due to technical difficulties. Figures with all the stuff I drank, my bladder decided to be unlike itself and I couldn’t give much there. 

But out I am so glad that the laundry list of testing for eeeeeverything didn’t include any fasting since they took FOURTEEN VIALS of blood. I knew it was going to be significant so I ate a breakfast sandwich and drank water and had OJ ready just in case. Actually jut feeling the tiredness a few hours later and will nap a bit before doing stuff around the house 

On another topic, anyone watch autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos or get the skin tingly response from noises or voices and didn’t know that was a thing? I like to watch a YouTube channel called Peaceful Cuisine for that. But there is a new channel that has a few videos so far. Here’s a link to one. 

I think he does a decent job. Then again I could be biased since he is my nephew 😉

My great grandmother Rhea Horton (nee McCullough) 1890-1972


I found this picture on Ancestry last night from an old Indiana school yearbook. What was even more fun to see is that on the same page was my 2nd great aunt who isn't Rhea's sister but instead Rhea's husband's sister. So clearly the ladies knew each other before Rhea married Howard Henry Horton.
Here's Olive Amy Horton. Early on, she swapped her first and middle names and always went by Amy Olive Horton (1892-) She married a travelling salesman and fellow entertainer, Maurice Paul Fitzpatrick, but I can't seem to find anything about when she died yet.

The funny thing is that I'd never seen a close of picture of her but the little hula girl on my dashboard is named Olive for her and she part of the first groups that went to entertain the troops overseas during WWI. Emily thinks I look like her I also love the blurb about her in the yearbook:
"Amy Olive Horton - Language and Science Course, Debating Club.
All is attention when Amy is called on to recite, for her recitations are as spicy and amusing as anything ever published in the joke column"

Ah, a fellow sassypants! No wonder I felt an affinity for great great aunty Amy!

Then later on findagrave.com, I found a picture of Amy's sister, Agnes Victoria Horton (1889-1950)

My cousin on FB who knows a lot of the family history from that side isn't sure but she thinks that she may be the one that was an actress. Earlier that evening, Dad told me that one of the girls was a friend of actress Fay Bainter.

So cool stuff found last night!

Oh, as an update, so far *knock wood* the penicillin seems to be helping. My tooth is still a bit sore but I'll keep taking the pills regularly and hopefully it gets rid of the infection. The bigger surprise is that the temperature sensitivity seems to be gone. Considering that I've had that problem for a LONG time, it makes me wonder if I've been sick for longer than I realize. If so, it might take longer than expected to get better. 

I took yesterday off since I haven't taken squat for vacation days and have too many "use or lose" days. I thought one day - even though I'm buried in work - would be ok.

Aaaand guess what? I now have influenza. Great. I went home around lunchtime (hopefully I didn't spread my cooties too far and wide) and have been quite the zombie since. JuneBug seems sympathetic while JonJon is now being a drama queen - the dork.

So clearly I'll be off tomorrow but I hope that's it for a while. Interestingly I'm the type of person that never seems to get a fever no matter how sick I am. In fact my usual body temp is around 97.9. Not long ago I was up to 102. Talk about stewing in my own juices.

Doing fluids, rest (kitty permitting) and Aleve.