Friday, December 02, 2005

In which I whinge about a lot of things

I just finished A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. I strongly urge you to pick up a copy. It's an amazing story of the author's stint in rehab. I've been raving to everyone about this book. It's a tough read emotionally, but it's really well-written. It doesn't pretty up drug addiction or treatment, which is what I've found with other books on the subject. They tend to turn them into Hallmark Movie-Of-The-Week-type sentimental claptrap. This isn't. I’m not great at writing book reviews because I can’t distance myself from the book. If I love it, I rave, if I hated it (yeah, Captain Corelli, I’m lookin’ at you, jerkface. What are you gonna do about it, huh?), I rage.




I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a couple of months ago. I’ve been taking Levoxyl for it, but I'm still feeling kind of crappy. I see a nurse practitioner because my primary care doctor is never in the office. That’s another rant for another time – I’ve never even met the woman and this annoys me. I’m not a big fan of the N.P.. She’s got a lousy bedside manner; she’s very brusque and has a tendency to poo-poo you if you come in with an issue and think you know what the problem may be. I had to diagnose my own allergy to anti-depressants and she completely missed the fact that I was in the middle of a miscarriage when I went in complaining of cramps and excruciating back pain. Anyway, I went to an endocrinologist the other day and was told my blood pressure was too high and my resting pulse was 114 beats per minute. I think it’s time to find a new doctor because mine seemed to think that pulse rate was nothing to worry about. Yeah, my heart is tripping like a jackhammer, I can feel it beating in my chest, neck and wrists. Call me crazy, but I'm a little worried.




A woman in my book group sent me a flyer about a church chorus looking for members. Now, church singing isn't exactly my thing, but I've been wanting to get back into choral singing of some sort for a while now, so this will be a good opportunity. No audition required, just send in the form. Yay! I'll have rehearsals every Wednesday and Sunday, so it's a guaranteed few hours out of the house every week. Mark started to hem and haw about it, but I gave him The Look and he shut up. This will be a great way to get my toe in the door and find out about other groups that are looking for members. And I'll get to sing in Latin. Always fun.




I’ve been blog-hopping lately. I’ve noticed a definite progression with the people who have been blogging for a long time. Most start off hesitant and somewhat apologetic and then gain confidence and a voice as the blog grows. I’ve found a few really great blogs – last night, I spent an hour or so reading Mimi Smartypants - http://smartypants.diaryland.com/ - and laughing like a drain. This morning, I found out her blog has been published as a book.



It's Friday. I just talked to Mark to go over what we have going on this month. Jesus. We have a ton going on. Not one, not two, but THREE Christmas concerts, one play, one musical honour society induction, birthday dinner for my mother, weekend with Tom-from-Cambridge, and somewhere in there, I have to finish my Christmas shopping. No wonder my blood pressure is high! Jeesh. Tonight, I have to buy a cake and a birthday present. Ugh. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I cannot believe I'm going to go to Toys R Us at 5 p.m. on a Friday. I need my head examined.

2 comments:

Johnboy said...

Julia, what diverse series of thoughts!

Well, let me start with hypothroidism since I have that one. The key here seems to be fine-tuning the medication to get your TSH levels in the correct range. Once you have been taking the medicine for say 6-8 weeks, you should be going back in to see whether it is having the intended impact.

As for the church chorus, I personally think choirs are a great way to practice and grow vocally. Hey, and you can't beat the price!

For me, it's therapuetic as well. If I go in stressed out, I usually leave relaxed for some reason. I have been singing in church choirs for 15 years or so.

Your blog is quite enjoyable. Thanks for leaving a comment on mine. It's how I found you!

Glad you are part of our O.C. I will link you from my site, for sure. :)

Unknown said...

From the symptoms you are having, you need to get your levels rechecked. You also need to tell your NP that her bedside manner really sucks and that you are thinking of switching to another provider. Don't stand for lousy medical care. You'll die if you do!!