absorbine jr (if you can find it) is a wonderful skeeter/gnat repellant.  So wonderfun, in fact that it is hard to come by in these parts.  Mind you it smells to high heaven (probably why it repels the little bugs so well), but the smell wears off in a short time.  Also, listerine mixed with water and spritzed on works quite well, too. 

 

and yes, I am bored as bored can be....from the new job (less stress if it's boring) to fumbling around in the dark with no power for 3 days (really boring when you can't even work a crossword puzzle)...check out my pics I posted in another comment!  And for crying out loud get some absorbine jr!

Thanks for the suggestion.  I will get some on the way home from the library today.  I digress, but Infected, by Scott Sigler is really, really good.  It came out in April, but I just got around to reading it.  Creepy, some truly decent science (completely understandable, so unlike Greg Egan, with a cunning twist involving a currently fashionable condition, and no, it's not SOM!!!), a little intrigue, a modicum of gore (actually quite a bit of gore but my standards are pretty high on the Must-have-gore meter, as attested to by my adoration of Jonathan Maberry), and an ending that does not take the easy way out.  The character named Peter will blow your fluffy, little brain.  The rest of the characters take a distant second place to his portrayal.  I finished it last night and am still basking in the gore.  Lovely.

 

Back to Absorbine.  I kind of like that smell, if memory serves me,  and I certainly prefer it to the smouldering coils.  I'm not so convinced about the Listerine, though.  I have heard that it helps with lice, dandruff and toenail fungus, and that it can stop the itching from chigger bites, but nothing about skeeters.  I'm all for folk remedies, but that one sounds a bit weird.  Ha, look who's talking about weird.  I just do not want to get bitten again, so I think that I will stick to my 40% deet stuff.  Yes, I know, not very planet friendly, but neither are skeeters.

 

Sorry to hear that work is boring, but that beats the bageezuz out of stress anyday.

Every time there was some kind of present-giving celebration when I was a kid, my Grandma (who lived with us in her old age) wanted just three things.  Chocolate-covered cherries, a sparkly pin, and a huge bottle of Listerine.  She believed that the Listerine cured everything.  She was a devoted fan. We teased her because she soaked little bits of toilet paper with the stuff, pinned them into her hair, and insisted it held off the mosquitoes.  Now, I find she was right, bless her!

 

She also sprinkled the house liberally with Holy Water from her little liturgical bottle whenever there was a tornado warning--and we never did get hit.  Grandma evidently knew best.  However, I'm with the deet users.  It couldn't be any worse than running behind the DDT sprayer truck when we were kids, every pore on our bodies filled with the stuff.  We might be radioactive or something, but we survived.  I really do hate mosquitoes.

 

Kel, glad you got through your "dancing in the dark" episode.  The photos are scary.  Mother Nature can be very very mean and creepy.  There were some humdinger storms here while we were gone, but the house held, and we missed it all. 

Hi Gail.  Like you, I'm fairly lucky in the wonk department.  Although I do not take my meds twice a day like it says right now (trying to stretch them out til insurance kicks in) However I have found that if I take no meds at all, after a while, the twitchiness comes back.  That feeling that the eye is starting to pull.  Usually do to lack of sleep or a bad case of stress.....I was constantly wonking for an entire year straight when I first "came down" with it. uggh

 

Kel

Hi, Gail, nice to hear from you.  Uh, you, too, kel !

 

The whole medication thing is always such a problem, isn't it?  It cost so much, even if you are luck enough to have insurance, it's chock-full of side effects and then cannot be counted upon to continue to work for ever. It's mostly because there isn't anything designed for us, and we have to depend on using all kinds of things off-label.  Even if meds did work for a long time, SOM is so intermittent for most of us we'd often be taking something when we didn't need it just in case our symptoms decided to manifest.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your need to wait for insurance, Kel.  That sucks, big time.

 

I hope that all goes well with the new baby.  My daughter is due with her second sometime around the middle of September.  They are having another boy, for which I am very happy, being besotted with her first son.  Everything he does totally cracks me up or has me in sappy, sentimental tears.  

 

I hope that everyone has a nice weekend. 

I almost forgot.  I received an advance reading copy of a September 24th release, and it is very good.  It is titled, "Dewey" and is about a kitten that is rescued from the overnight book deposit box at the public library in Spencer, Iowa.  There is a lot of background information about the difficulties in mid-America experienced by the farming community, and how their problems had an effect on the larger community and economy.  The cat, Dewey Readmore Books, had a significant effect on the morale of the town, doing just what ordinary cats are wont to do.  Be prepared, it will have you misty-eyed on nearly every page.  Look for it at your own library in a couple of months.

 

Alrighty, off to have my very own lazy and non-productive weekend.

I envy you guys with grandbabies about to say "Hello World".  My sweeties are growing up way too fast.  One is a willowy, pretty, just-turned-13-year-old and the other is a sturdy, sparkly seven-year-old who still sits in my lap and plants kisses all over my face.  I love knowing them as people, but it seemed that they were babies just a blink ago.  Don't think my number 2 son will ever be a family man--too happy as a bachelor, and my girl child is so busy with training in her chosen field (80-hour weeks) that she is trying very hard to fit in a social life.  Well, there will be a spouse and a family in her future if she has her way, so maybe we can start again.

 

I couldn't agree more about the medicine issues we face.  They're all kind of a shot in the dark to see if something lands even close to the target--and doesn't cause you to lose your brain or sleep through the day in the process.  And you make a point, Juds, that bears repeating now and again.  How the heck do you know if you are having a remission or the drug is working?   And how much time do you spend taking a potent drug for (possibly) no reason?  Or should you just keep taking it "in case"?  How many different ones do you try? Frustrating.  Still, I contend it was good to give them a chance.  If I hadn't, I'd always have wondered if I had missed a less invasive way to cope with SOM.  Having tried enough of them with no help and a laundry list of side-effects, and with SOM symptoms just worsening steadily, my final decision to have the surgery--was more clearly defined.

 

Am marking the release date for "Dewey" in my calendar.  Right now, I am cat-deprived.  I need to read something starring a feline.

 

Annie 

There are only two non-invasive ways to handle SOM.

 

Buy or make a patch or occluder.  Obstructive, but not invasive.

 

Stay home.  Find sufficient quantities of pillows, wadded-up blankets or towels or folded laundry to prop you at the appropriate angle to watch television or DVDs, whilst eating sufficient quantities of junk foods of your choice.

 

Well, there is a third, but I think that alcohol would still qualify as invasive.   Although, that remains a legitimate, debatable point because alcohol is made from nutritious foods.

Last night I was thinking  about "invasiveness".  I should have had this thought about ten years ago.  Why is a nice dry martini seen by some as a work of the devil and never to be used in a medicinal pursuit, and a bottle of mind-altering, mush-brain-making Neurontin (my least favorite drug) considered "non-invasive"?  Not to be advocating imbibing as a preferred way to cope. However, if you put my hour and a half of surgery up against years of all that drug stuff with myriad side effects, then the medications seem to be quite a bit more invasive.  And the martini--just a tasty bit of relaxation. That was my light bulb.

 

Fought against using a patch for years (not sure why), gave up and made my own for the last two years of the SOM struggle.  Found they were the only thing that let me read and watch TV and use the computer in some comfort.  I still find them in drawers and stuck into books.

 

Since the only way to stay home was to retire, I did.  It was the right time for a number of reasons, SOM or no SOM.  My citizinship was about senior enough, too. But still, it was a pretty affirmative statement. No regrets there.

 

Many light bulbs are coming on right now.  I wondered why all the introspection--then realized that it was exactly a year ago that I had made the decision to set up the appointment with the doctor who did my surgery.  And I did that while openly acknowledging myself as "Big Chicken".  Holy cow!  What a ride of a year!

 

Annie 

Gosh, I think that medications are just about as invasive as you can get, not revolutionary thinking or anything, but you have to keep in mind that that's from a person who thinks that alcohol might be one of the food groups, if they ever add a category to chocolate, salt, coffee and fat.  The new pyramid confuses my elderly brain.  Great they expanded the categories, and that I do understand.  Honestly.  But, making it vertical instead of the old, familiar horizontal model sets my head spinning, and not in a good way.

 

I cannot even remember where they used to put alcohol, and I get that they are considered discretionary calories not, but my addled brain, snarky thought processes and all yearn to have them included in grains and fruits.  Never gonna happen, which is probably a good thing, as doing so might keep me away from more nutritious (horrors!) choices. 

 

Still there isn't much that can take the place of a pleasant late-late-afternoon in the back yard, a gentle breeze from the lake, a good book, a bit ofValrona, fresh peaches, a slice of freshly baked bread, a little bowl of olives and the perfect martini (which I totally and humbly can make).  And a whole lot of skeeter repellant (or is it repellent, I can never remember).

 

I'm back from my week of training and I cannot wait to spend most of the weekend on those enjoyments.  Especially appreciated after a day trying to keep up with my running, climbing, blur of a grandson. 

 

Introspection?  Good for you, just don't overdo it and hurt yourself!!!!

If whipped cream is "dairy", and eggs benedict (oh, yum) makes it into at least five food groups, then of course alcohol must be a grain and/or fruit.  Pyramid or not, it has been with us since the first cavemen left some berries out too long, and so it shall remain.   They can make it vertical or horizontal.  We will just make an executive decision to tuck it in there as "recreational supplement".

 

My new pain clinic wants to know if their patients have ever used it "for pain management", which I guess I have not.  But family management?  Frustration management?  Sitting on the porch management?  Well, possibly--but just to take the edge off.  Personally, I would rather just buy my pain meds OTC and not have to be a patient, but I can't.  AT least I think it is now clearly understood that I can't and won't use those neuro and anti-depressant meds off-label and spend the rest of my life wondering who I am. However, they sell Scotch OTC everywhere, and you do not have to fill out a form to purchase it.  I'm pretty much OK with the fact that insurance doesn't cover it.

 

I'm hoping all those new members tell us their stories--or at least send in a few lines.  I'm anxious to meet them too.  

I'm still waiting to get into the pain management program.  They were supposed to call me a couple of weeks ago, but with all the traveling, I'm guessing that they are missing actual contact with me, although there hasn't been anything recognizable on caller ID.  I've been using biofeedback and meditation techniques, with some decent results; still a little shot in the forehead might be nice somedays.  Even though my surgeon told me that I was experiencing as much improvement and healing as I was going to, I think that the pain is noticeably less than it was even a few months ago.  The use of alcohol to affect pain really isn't so weird, I'm guessing, since many people use alcohol and other drugs for self-medicating.  Me?  I have to be careful how I use alcohol because virtually every family member, close, has had problems with assorted substances.  My drug of choice is food. 

 

On my way home yesterday, I had AM radio on for company and heard only a part of a news item that related how a community/county/state/whatever wants to make alcohol and tobacco controlled substances.  Erp.  I might be in serious trouble if that notion spreads.  What's next?  What kinds of food and how much you purchase in the grocery store?  How loud you can play your stereo in your house?  What types of clothing you can wear in your backyard?    Alright, I'm being stoopid, but don't these interested parties have anything like unemployment or inadequate housing problems, improvement of social services or education where they could expend their energy and resources?  Cripes.

 

As for other members chiming in, I would love that, too, being an natural-born nosy-pants, but we don't have any minimum posting guidelines.  Doing so would impose an extra element of stress to an already stressful SOM life.  So, Annie, it's just you and me, as usual.  Unlike the two of us, even Kel has a real life to which she needs to attend.

 

I'm off to try to finish my Sawtell book before I have to return it tomorrow.  I'm halfway through and still in the 300s.  No martini, though, or I'll fall asleep.

Truth be told, my first choice has always (since infancy) been food, as well.  I really have to fight that one!  However, my good friend and I went out and indulged in the eggs benedict habit this morning, and it was just lovely.   Then, off to the grocery store for fruit and veggies mostly.  And Cool Whip.

 

Cigarettes would be so nice if they just didn't smell awful make you croak. So they are now on my "forbidden" list.  I still think if one wishes to smoke them out behind one's own garage, one should be allowed.  I hardly think the neighbors should be the least bit interested nor would they be poisoned.  There was actually a rant in a recent Newsweek against Crocs by someone who is offended by their ugliness and wants them banned.  He neglects to take into consideration that some of us (who might just own four different colors) agree that they are not pretty, but assert that they are so comfortable that they are worth the clown-foot look.  This said even though I know that they are produced by a company with political leanings decidedly antithetical to my own.

 

Good luck with the pain management people.  Mine call using a "unknown caller" thing on caller ID--privacy laws again, so I never know which practitioner is trying to contact me.  I have to use the clinic for chronic back pain, and recently transferred doctors because I did not like the pain clinic which was hooked up with the neurosurgeon--who I do like a great deal. (I don't want any more surgery--he agrees--so pain management it is.) Switching is kind of hard because the new clinic doesn't know you, and really needs to make sure that you are there for the right reasons.  But the transfer went quite well and I like the new doctor.  She engages her patients much more in the management process. I actually had to see a psychologist as part of the clinic protocol because I use narcotic-based meds, but he ran out of questions and told me I was so normal there wasn't anything else to ask.  (Don't know if friends and family would agree....) Despite feeling a little bland, I figured that was good news. By the way, he was not the least distressed by the idea of the occasional libation. Options for treatment are somewhat limited in my situation, but we just tried a facet nerve ablation using radio-frequency (RFA), and the jury is out on whether it was successful.  Takes some time to heal. If it works, good.  If not, then I will be happy to continue to use medication only (the kinds that produce only minimal side effects), and not have any more "procedures".  I think we have run the gamut of what I'd be willing to do.

 

There seems to be a lot of new development in the area of numbing or disabling painful nerves--and I hope so much that you might find some relief as this technology progresses.  They are using it now for trigeminal neuralgia with some success, and that's a step very close to our situation since it also involves a cranio/facial nerve. I also have a friend who has gotten what they call "nips" of botox in the trigeminal area--and that seems to soothe the nerves a bit for her.  It's done externally--not painful. She, however, is able to take Neurontin also, and some of us definitely cannot.  And SOM and its attendant nerves aren't the same. 
 

OK.  I am done for a bit, having monopolized the website.  It's just so nice to hear a voice from SOM-Land now and again.  Being gone for so long has put me in a blithering mood--or have you noticed? Am taking a break from reading worthy books, and enjoying a couple of good "Tartan Noires" by Ian Rankin.  I will now commence to shut up and read.

he he....REAL life...that's funny right there!  Lately, my real life has been working, trying to stay busy enough to keep working, and fighting with the satellite tv people!  We won't go there...it's enough to drive me wonky! 

I have come to a major decision in my life people......I am tired of doing everything by myself...work, housework, yardwork.  It's very tiring and hard on my eye to try and accomplish everything.  So, I have decided to cut out yardwork, and am paying someone to do that for me.  At least for the rest of the summer.  Of course the fact that I killed the mower played a big part in the decision making as well.  (It was a sign)  So, now I have more time to catch up here and eat bon bons and drink beer!  (Ok, scratch the bon bons)  And you will be hearing more from me now...yay!