Since the beginning of November, I’ve been dealing with a random few weeks of feeling “real-people sick” (RPS). Like I wrote about last week, diabetes is something I’m used to and can deal with pretty well, but the common cold knocks me right on my end. I deal with colds like a guy. I hate being RPS:
Real People Sick: The differentiation between blood sugar issues and the common cold. Phrase slips out most often when the diabetic admits to not feeling well and must specify that it is not blood sugar related.
This month’s Animas “Life, Uninterrupted” vlog is about being “sick” on top of having diabetes, and about how cracked-out squirrels and I sometimes share the same vocal patterns. Unfortunately, there’s another cameo by Abby (the cat) because she’s usually lounging, all lazy, while I record these things. (That cat needs to get on the ellipmachine or something — chubby little chomper.)
Enjoy, and thanks for not judging me for the squeaky voice and the whining!
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
I did a little “self care” earlier this week. I did it by not caring for myself. I went to the doctor.
I was sitting in the waiting area for my appointment and saw the mother of one of my patients. “Why are you here?” she asked. “I have a doctor’s appointment,” I replied. She got a curious look on her face, asking: “Don’t you doctors just take care of yourselves? I thought that was what doctors did.”
We do take care of ourselves. In fact, we do it far more often than we should. Being your own doctor allows for a lot of denial. When you spend your day advocating healthy lifestyles after you had trouble finding pants that would fit in the morning, denial is necessary. “Do as I say, not as I do.”
I realize that this is hypocrisy — that is why I was at the doctor on Monday. My patients have noticed my expanding waistline, commenting on it more than I would wish. Certainly my pants get in the way of denial as well, not forgiving the fact that I have been under a whole lot of stress. Pants don’t accept excuses.
So I found myself in the unfamiliar experience of being the patient. Instead of closing my mind and emotions to my own body, I had to frankly assess what I was doing to it. Standing on the scale was as frank of an assessment as I would ever want. Read more »
I don’t do well with pain. I learned that lesson all too well during the birth of my first son when, after 10 hours of labor jump-started by a pitocin drip, I finally got an epidural. Nothing — and I mean nothing — has ever felt as good as the ebbing of that pain. I relearned the lesson during the birth of the second son, this time determined to go natural all the way when, after a few hours, I told the doula to “shut up” and ordered my husband to hunt down the anesthesiologist and “Get me an epidural — NOW!” He listens well.
By the time the third son was born, I had the drill down pat. I was admitted to the hospital to be induced again but this time, as soon as the IV was hooked up and before the first labor pain hit, I had the anesthesiologist in the room putting in the epidural. It was a completely painless birth — and a lot of fun.
My issues with pain extend to my issues with being sick. I simply do not like not feeling ill. I’ve been very lucky and extremely blessed in my life — the most serious thing I’ve ever had wrong with me was strep throat or a stubborn sinus infection. As a medical writer, I’m far too familiar with all the things that could go wrong with me, so I feel guilty even complaining about my minor issues. Read more »
Canker sores are painful, and mouth pain cannot be ignored. They’re difficult to prevent and you just have to cope with them until they go away. We have no idea what causes them. For a doctor, this is difficult to accept. What the heck are canker sores?
The medical term is apthous ulcers and they’re round or oval painful ulcers that appear on the tongue, inner lips, inside of cheeks, or palate of the mouth. Up to 40 percent of people have experienced canker sores. So why have the remaining 60 percent never had them? We don’t know. Read more »
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