My wrist is “out” again. Or, it could be my elbow. Or, it could be that my ulna is slightly subluxed at both the wrist and the elbow. Either way, it’s annoyingly painful. It’s not painful in the “worst pain I’ve ever had” category. And, it’s not likely to turn in to a full dislocation. It’s annoyingly painful.
I haven’t found any good way of getting it back in place on my own. It will annoy me for a day or several days and then it will resolve itself on its own (usually while I’m asleep). I’ve been trying to write a blog post for most of the afternoon, but my brain seems to want to focus on the annoying pain in my arm instead.Month: September 2010
Rise in teenage pregnancies
A recent post on Ooph talks about the rise in teenage pregnancy and whether or not TV is adding too much glamour to teenage pregnancy.
While I was not a teenage mom, my sister was. This was back in the late-80s. MTV still played music and the only real coverage of teenage pregnancy on TV was the occasional after school special.
I do think that media these days makes teenage pregnancy look too easy. The Secret Life of An America Teenager has focused more on the drama than on the reality. And, while I think Teen Mom set out to do something good to shed light on the issue, getting pregnant is now another way a reality-obsessed teen can sell her story. Here are some of the facts (according to the March of Dimes):- Teen mothers are more likely to give birth prematurely
- 1 in 4 have a second baby by the time the first baby is 2
- Teens are more likely to smoke during pregnancy compared to pregnant adults
- Teenagers are also the least likely to get appropriate prenatal care
- "64% of children born to an unmarried teenage high-school dropout live in poverty"
Unless your mother is Sarah Palin, your sister is Britney Spears, or you win the MTV reality show lottery, getting pregnant as a teen is not as glamorous as TV makes it out to be.
Holding Myself Accountable
This to do list is to hold myself accountable for things I need to get done between now and when I leave for Blogworld in Vegas:
- Find someone to clean my apartment
- Talk to the two Massage Envy locations in Redwood City / San Mateo and find a new massage therapist
- Send medical forms to Dr. Kwong so that I can get my reimbursements from my flex spending at my old job
- Car registration
Why I want to go to #bloggybootcamp St. George
I've almost been to St. George a handful of times, when I was a sophomore in college I almost transferred to Southern Utah University in Cedar City. I never visited the campus and that ultimately didn't work out. Earlier this year, I applied for a job with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. I didn't get an interview, and so I never went to Kanab. Both cities are very near St. George, Utah.
Pain and Networking
I knew I was in trouble as soon as I walked in the door of the bar for the networking event. I felt a twinge in my back, which I knew very shortly was going to turn into a spasm.
Pain assessment
Most nights while laying in bed trying to fall asleep, I often find myself doing a bit of a pain assessment. Sometimes its more of a conscious thing as there might be some nagging pain preventing me from falling asleep.
For the most part, during the day, I try to ignore my pain unless its something that’s really screaming out for attention. During the day, I can distract myself with my computer, crafts, work, tv, driving, cooking, eating, etc. But, especially with my new apartment and the choices I’ve made to keep my bedroom TV and computer free, that’s harder to do.
I often take an inventory — how do my legs feel (especially my knees), how swollen and tight are my calves? How does my low back feel? Does it hurt to lay on my back? Either side hurting more than the other? How are my shoulders feeling? Especially on a day where I’ve done a bunch of crochet, my shoulder blades could be mildly irritated all the way up to crazy bad pain. How about my neck? And, do I have a headache? If so, what kind and how bad is it?
It’s at night when I feel the most vulnerable to the aches and pains. It’s the time of day where I feel like the pain is more in control over my body and my life than I am.
Under The Dome by Stephen King — a review
Late last night I finished Under the Dome (affiliate) by Stephen King. The basic plot is that a small town in Maine is cut off from the rest of the world when a dome suddenly appears. While there is some limited communication with the outside world, no one can leave and no one can enter. (The origins of the dome are revealed about half way through, and I won’t spoil it.)
Surviving August with no Drive Throughs
Ever since my last knee surgery in spring of 2008, my eating habits have been atrocious. I'm not a super picky eater, but I'm a creature of habit. And, my worst habit the past 2.5 years has been eating fast food and picking up that fast food largely via drive through restaurants. It was not uncommon for me to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner out of fast food bags.
I’m not doing the pee-pee dance, my back hurts
My back is in a full flare again. It got better when I was on my leave of absence. But, then I moved and changed jobs and still don't have an office chair that is the right height, width, seat depth, etc.
When I'm sitting, my pain is manageable. When I'm walking, my pain is okay. However, if I'm standing still, the pain shooting from my low back and down my leg is crazy, crazy bad. Unfortunately, I work in an office where almost everything gets accomplished by brief meetings over cubicle walls and I'm still very much in the "getting to know you" phase of things. I realized when talking with someone last week that my movements were very similar to a kid doing the "pee-pee dance". Really, that's not the case. My bladder is (mostly) fine. I'm just trying not to fall over and scream from the pain in my back.