// I’m going to get bloodwork done this morning.//

I have a really bad needle phobia and had trouble sleeping last night because I was worked up about it.

So whenever they’re like “Ready?” I just want to say:

Bloodwork is the worst for me because my veins suck as well. Time for some self hypnosis and deep breathing.

It also doesn’t help that my neck hurts and I woke up with a semi-headache.

Ugh. Let’s get this over with.

// These past few days have NOT been great for me…//

I’m especially susceptible to migraines around the time of my period, and it’s been that time. Not to mention that it’s been storming on and off for the past few days. Those two things have compounded to give me not only a killer headache, but also horrible lower back pain.

I went to Knoebel’s in Elysburg, PA with my sister Sarah & her family on Saturday and had a great time. It was great to be outside and spend time with my sister, brother-in-law, and two of my nieces.

When I drove home that night, I wasn’t feeling that bad, but when I woke up on Sunday morning, I was in ridiculous pain. I slept for most of Sunday and a majority of today as well.

It doesn’t help that about 20 minutes after I took medication this afternoon I had to go pick up my mom from work. My dad had to go to the hospital because one of our parishioners was admitted to the ER for a hematoma in his arm & chest. He had knee replacement surgery not long ago and developed a clot as a result of the surgery. So he was in a rehab facility and had started PT for his knee. During PT he has a bar that he can use to pull himself up and must have pulled a muscle. Since he’s on blood thinners for the clot, the blood pooled and caused the hematoma.

Thankfully, it’s not too serious. The hematoma has already started to go down, and they were going to put a filter in his leg for the clot.

I know this is going to sound awful, but over the years I’ve gotten used to detaching myself from this kind of news and being able to compartmentalize everything. It’s just what happens when you’re a PK and you’re surrounded by parishioners who are sick and who die. I’ve had to learn to sing funerals while standing feet away from a casket containing someone who was essentially a part of my extended family.

It’s different this time though, because Mr. H is like my Grandpa. See, I don’t have any remaining living grandparents. My Pa passed when I was 5, Baba when I was 11, Grandpa Herbie when I was 15, and Grandma Herbie when I was 16, since then, certain members of our parish have become like grandparents to me, most notably Mr. & Mrs. Halecky. They’re the grandparents of one of my close friends, Justin, and have always treated me like a part of the family. He helped me when I did an independent study about the Religious Freedom Project run by the Archons of America because he’s an officer of the Archons.

Honestly, I was terrified today because we knew very little about the situation before my dad went to the hospital. Thankfully, he’s okay, and should be back to the rehab care facility in the next few days. I don’t know if you’re praying people, but if you would keep John Halecky and his family in your prayers or thoughts or just send out good vibes, I’d really appreciate it.

Besides that, I’m thoroughly enjoying being done with classes! I graduate on Thursday and can’t wait for that.

I’m hoping that I’ll be fully done with this migraine soon so that I can start ramping up my exercise again.

I found out this past Thursday that I was made Head Counselor at camp for this summer, so I’m really excited. I know that there will be stress attached to the position, but the two other members of the administrative staff are my close friends. Actually, the Program Director - Katherine - is my best friend from camp, and the Athletic Director - Will - is my ex-boyfriend whom I’m still very close friends with. I’m really excited because we work well together and already have some great ideas.

I’m heading out to camp around June 22nd and I cannot wait. I always feel a ton better when I’m there. I don’t know if it’s being outside and being able to be a bit more free, but I’m usually less prone to migraines when I’m there. Yeah, I still get the head pain and sometimes have to lie down for just a bit longer in the morning or skip out on the afternoon rotation because I just needed the rest.

Point is: an awesome summer is approaching.

aine

// I have been so neglectful…//

of this blog. And for that I apologize.

I know I don’t have a ton of followers, and that’s not the point of this blog, but I feel bad flaking out on those of you that do follow me.

I haven’t had the best of weekends/weeks. I started off with a kidney stone attack on Friday night that basically took me out of commission until Sunday afternoon. I had to wake up on Saturday morning to sing a funeral at church though. As weird an experience as it was to sing while on so much pain medication, it made it easier for me to detach from the situation, and yet feel the power of the music (I have never really dealt well with funerals in the past, due to personal experiences, but ever since becoming a cantor in my church, it hasn’t been an option to NOT go to a funeral when I’m needed.) In any case, I got through that and then went back to bed.

I typed the bulletin in a moment of coherence and then passed out again.

My mom just checked on me before church on Sunday morning to make sure I was okay, gave me a new ice pack and a cup of tea, made sure I had a bottle of seltzer nearby and headed next door. I was feeling better in the morning, but it was a “don’t push it” kind of situation. I went to work that evening at 4, and although I wasn’t feeling 100%, I was feeling better.

The thing I hate most about my kidney stones is that there’s no way for me to tell that they’re coming. All of a sudden there’s just debilitating pain and I can’t function for the life of me. Earlier that day I went to my voice lesson and was completely fine, but by 9 PM that night, I was nearly in tears with pain.

The other thing is that since I get migraines, the pain medication I’m given to decrease my kidney pain is less effective. The first time I ever had kidney stones, the urologist (the one I mentioned in my first post about my stones that made me wait a whole weekend to have surgery) gave me Ultracet (Tramadol) to treat my pain. When I went to my general practitioner, he laughed and said “Is it helping?” and when I said “No”, he said “That’s because giving Tramadol to someone who takes Percocet for their migraines is like saying, ‘Oh, you’re in pain? Here are some Skittles, that should take care of it.’”

So I’ve been instructed to take Percocets that are stronger than the ones I used to take for my migraines. (I’ve stopped using Percocet as a first resort for rescue meds for migraines because I started getting terrible rebound migraines from them.)

In any case, my pain as subsided since then, and I haven’t had any pain since Sunday evening.

Monday morning I went to the dentist, and then I went to my first class at 12:30. After that class, I went home and haven’t been back to class since, due to the sickness.

Now, the sickness is my general term for any kind of cold/flu/sinusy/throat like illness that I get. It’s just easier that way. (Unless it’s something super specific, like when I had Bronchitis in September). So on Monday, I came down with the sickness. Really scratch, sore, and dry throat, congested sinuses, fever, all of that fun stuff. So I’ve been in bed being miserable. Yesterday I started to feel somewhat better and changed my sheets to get the germs off. I didn’t go to my class this morning for the sheer fact that I was still coughing and not feeling great, and because it’s a dance class and I knew I’d have an even harder time concentrating in that class than any other because of the physical exertion.

I do have work later this evening though, and plan on going. I usually only work about 12 hours a week (which is fine with me, since I have plenty of schoolwork to occupy my free time) including this week, but next week, I’m up to 25 hours for some reason. No idea why. Oh well, I can always use the money.

As for Grad School, all I’ve heard so far is that I was waitlisted at NYU, which I take as a pretty good sign. I should start to hear things in the next week or two. Then maybe I’ll have some idea of where I’ll be next year.

Well, I’m going to start on a new series that I have in it’s entirety on my hard drive that I’ve been meaning to watch for awhile - Arrested Development. I’m completely caught up on Doctor Who, HIMYM, and Big Bang Theory, so I figure I can start this. I’ve only watched the first series of Sherlock, but I think I’m going to save the second series for my Spring Break (which starts the 18th).