Scattered Thoughts . . .

My summers over the past few years have been mostly completely lost summers of poor health and it looks as though this summer will be the same.   I had been sick all through the last three weeks of July with what was likely and presumably COVID, yet again, and now I have the terribly inflamed joint problem starting all over again just like after the first two times I had COVID.  As if that is not enough, either I am developing a mild case of shingles or those shingles-like symptoms are related to my inflamed joints.  If so, rather than having inflamed joints lingering for months, it is more like inflamed nerves.   About five days ago, I started developing pain from my right brow up across my forehead and across my scalp to the back of my head.  It is definitely burning, overly-sensitive, and irritated skin as opposed to something under the bone like in the brain.  We initially figured that maybe the latest bout with COVID triggered shingles.   I've had the better and newest shingle

You awaken in the middle of the night to the smell of burning wood.  You get up and quickly run through your home to see if you can find the source of the burning wood smell.  As you pass a window, you notice that your neighbor's house has a little bit of smoke leaking out of an upstairs bedroom window.  You call 911 to report a house fire, frantically trying to summon help. After reporting the fire, you then call your neighbor's house to awaken them in an attempt get them out of the house.  The neighbor answers the telephone but states he can't access the rest of the bedrooms in the house where his family is located and he, himself, is trapped inside due to fire.  The situation is quickly becoming dire. As you run out of your house to see if you can help somehow, the Fire Chief pulls up in his Chief's vehicle.  He orders you to stay away from the house.  As you try to get past the Chief, a fire truck (a ladder company) and an engine pull up (pumper for pumping wa

Another lunch in the hospital cafe. Sheila has moved into a new stage of side effects. This new stage of side effects has appeared only about a week before she moves into a new stage of radiation treatment. More on the additional change in treatment another time because I want to write about the current issue... burning, peeling and itching. At this point in radiation treatment, Sheila's skin is showing some burns. She has already been showing signs of a "tan" for weeks and we have known that the tissue beneath the skin has been getting irritated but now she's getting into burn territory.  Sheila has been a little bit swollen since her surgery and the radiation isn't really allowing the swelling to go down. She had already been feeling "tender" in the tissue under the skin and that continues to slowly worsen. Sheila says it isn't bad but it is obvious by her guarded reactions to things that she does feel tender in various areas.  The other

Late last night, my spine suddenly was on fire... I had difficulty getting up out of my chair... I had difficulty sleeping... rolling over was excruciating. Today is even worse. The pain has been absolutely brutal.  The pain is a searing, burning pain in the lower half of my spine... radiating to my hips, around my kidneys and through my groin... whenever I try to put any weight on my legs, my legs experience tremors and the pain instantly jumps to a big fat 10 on the 10 point pain scale.  There are times when I almost ended up on the floor because I could not stand on my feet without actually seeing stars due to the intense pain. Reaching out for the couch, the bed, a chair and the kitchen table helped me keep from being a heap on the floor. This has been an exceptionally bad day. Most times, despite my extensive spinal injuries, I get around just fine (with pain, but I get around just fine) but there are times when my spinal injuries are excruciatingly painful. During these pai