This is getting freaking old.

Last night was the last straw for P. Not just another sleepless night for me, but one in a lot of pain. Around 1:00 am he made me take some useless Percocet, because he was worried about my pain, and I had the chills.  That helped for less than an hour, and back to ouch ville again.  P asked me this morning when was I planning to go to the ER as instructed by my surgeon if things worsened. After considering the many things I still have to do, I confidently told P that we could go Sunday. I can't get much done when SS is home, so when she is at school I get the freedom to run errands, and now get ready for Christmas. Instead of screaming at me, or b*tch slapping me into reality, P made an executive decision. He took the day off and informed me we were going to the ER as soon as we dropped SS off at school.

What better place to spend a Friday so close to Christmas than at the emergency room.  That cozy place where you get poked, prodded, are charged a fortune, and wait for hours for the privilege of getting nothing accomplished.  I had so many better things to do with my day, thank you very much. P's edict would usually be met with stubborn resistance, reinforced by some serious pouting and foot stomping.  But after a week of sleepless nights, of being unable to lay down (sitting in bed is not very conductive to sleep), I had not an ounce of fight left in me. I still can't believe I agreed to go.

I was seen less than five minutes after arriving, and in less than twenty minutes was informed that blood work and a CT Scan would be needed.  Great, yesterday morning a phlebotomist obliterated my one good vein.  Nurse N was very nice and gentle, but left me with two nasty bruises and was unable to draw blood. I began to worry after the morphine shot did not help much with the pain. The scan did not show any emergent concerns, and while expected, it was extremely frustrating. I was given a second dose of morphine before being discharged with a prescription for a higher dose of useless Percocet, and instructions to make an appointment with my surgeon on Monday. Yippee, more wasted time to come home undiagnosed yet again.  We did not make it home until 4:00 p.m. Like I said, a wasted day.

E's mom took SS home with them so P could concentrate on me, and not to further upset SS with seeing me at the hospital again. That was so nice of her, we are very grateful for her kindness. SS had an impromptu play date, and was not happy to come home with her boring parents. Ironically Nana was two floors above us today. She was released this afternoon (we think) after a nine day stint. We are going to visit her Sunday for a bit, then a quick turn around to take care of the many things on our list. P is seriously considering becoming a Jeh0va W*tness, because he is seriously hating holidays.  His grandpa passed away just before Christmas, his grandma before Thanksgiving, then the magic that has been this month. We are also dealing with another serious medical concern we can't discuss. We are fortunate to have SS to focus on, and she is the best thing ever to prevent bitterness or depression. 

Santa better place me at the top of his nice list, because I have never been this good before. Yikes! My arm and hand look Sasquatch like on that picture.

We arrived home to find another package from Grandpa, seriously, not kidding. We thought that he could not think of anything else after outdoing himself last week. We have yet to post about that gift, because we are waiting to use it first, but my body has had other plans. We received a blue Staub, four quart, La Cocotte oval dutch oven. We had never heard of that brand, and upon Goggling it were very impressed.  SS loved the color, and can now spot a Sur La Table box from quite a distance.  Not a bad end to our day.

Even better, SS is between us as I type. She watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Yes Virginia There is a Santa Claus; and is eagerly waiting for The Shelf on the Shelf: An Elf's Story to begin.