Just shoot me...

I just finshed up the work project. It has to be done by 8am.

I'll bring the rest of it home and telecommute. Not a big deal, I've done it before.

Never underestimate the power of an internet connection that decides to be fickle and then the server that you are connecting to running it's daily reports slowing it to a crawl for 90 minutes.

My eyes are bleary and my body is tired...but my mind is still in full gear.

*sigh* I'm off to count sheep and hope it won't be many.

Back to normal...

I actually felt somewhat "normal" today.  I'm tired at my normal time and I've had energy most of the day.

This hasn't solved the financial shortfall of me missing *way* too much time from work.

I need to come up with about $750 to cover bills and rent by Friday or else I'm screwed.  Royally.

I negotiated paying the rent for this month (April) on the 20th (this Friday).  I didn't forsee this being a problem at the time as I'd have my normal paycheck hitting on Thursday the 19th.  Well, six days off work have obliterated this check.

If I don't have rent covered on Friday...it's unlawful detainer time. (Read that as Evicition).

With the roommates and my own paycheck, we can do May rent on time, but it's the glitch through mid-April that's killing me.

I'm off to eat something quick and go to bed.  It's back to work tomorrow.

Four hours...

Well, it's 10 minutes to 7 Central Time...

I've been at work for 3 hours and 50 minutes.  I'm exhausted, my head is pounding, and I feel like I've undone four days of healing.  I know how I feel is normal due to the spinal tap and the meningitis.

I figured out that counting the hours I worked today ... and all the time I missed with being in/out of the hospital and the Good Friday holiday... I have just shy of 40 hours on this paycheck (normally it'd be close to 80 hours).

I'll definately be hurting for the next few weeks.  I'll be selling my laptop this week and trying to come up with $500 to make sure that rent is covered, my car insurance gets paid, and all that good stuff.  I totally wiped out my saving paying off the "crucial" bills and making sure that electricity is still there and filling up my truck with gas on top of two dr. office visits and 5 different prescription refills...

Ugh, sometimes I stop and wonder why I'm alive.  Thing were going well, not I have to scramble $500 to make sure I keep car insurance, food, and make sure rent gets covered this month.  Did I mention rent this month?

I think I'm going to home, crawl under my bed and cry for a while.

I'm outta here.

Hi and welcome home

I'm home from the hospital now.

It's official I do have meningitis. It's Mollaret meningitis.

Recurring meningitis without identifiable cause that leaves no residual damage to the nervous system. Benign recurrent aseptic meningitis is also called Mollaret meningitis.

The cause of benign recurrent aseptic meningitis is not known.

Benign recurrent aseptic meningitis is distinguished from viral meningitis by its recurrent character with symptom-free intervals between episodes. Symptoms include headache, neckache, fever, and neck stiffness and last from 1 to 7 days. There is usually rapid onset of symptoms of meningitis and resolution without residual damage to the nervous system. Symptom-free periods may last from weeks to years.

A distinctive feature of benign recurrent aseptic meningitis are peculiar cells in the spinal fluid, called Mollaret cells, which are most often visible in the first day of the attack. Other causes of meningitis are typically excluded by testing, including tests of the brain, blood, and spinal fluid.

There is no specific treatment for benign recurrent aseptic meningitis. Treatments that are used include medications for pain and colchicine.

I feel much better knowing that there actually /is/ something wrong with me and it's not psychosomatic.

The downside of this is that I had Friday off (Good Friday), missed Monday (wound up passing out and ending up in the ER), Tuesday (as I still felt like hell and followed up with my GP) and then Wednesday, I was in work for four hours and had it get much worse. I called my GP and he directed me back to the ER. I was admitted and kept overnight while the results of the lumbar puncture (spinal tap), blood work, and a contrast MRI/MRA were done and worked up. All came up normal except for excess white blood cells in the spinal fluid (marker of infection or inflammation). I was released about 2pm this afternoon and came home to get some more sleep.

I'm going to go to work tomorrow and hold out as long as I can. I can't afford to miss an entire week of work. I've demolished the small pile of savings I did have in doctor visits and prescriptions.

I'm still looking at the bright side in that it's not a "damaging" condition, just a debilitating one when it does flare up.

I'm off to sample the candy collection on my desk and call it a night.