"Come, whoever you are! Wanderer,
Worshipper, Lover of Leaving. Come, this
is not a caravan of despair. It doesn't
matter if you've broken your vow a
thousand times. Still, and yet again,
come, come."
Rumi
I have been a wanderer, but not lost. I have done so much over the past two weeks (plus a couple of days) that I hardly know how to avoid turning this into one of those really boring sessions where you look at other people's vacation pictures. So I'll skip over some of the details and tell you the pertinent end results
1. shoes - YES!
2. fancy food - YES!
3. sex with strangers - NO! but thank you for asking ...
4. resolution - Retire as soon as possible so I can vacation more often!
5. thunder storms - YES! one popped in to say hi every time our scheduled flight attempted to depart or arrive.
6. Frank Lloyd Wright - YES! I saw many houses, some churches and a school. Oh, and a windmill.
7. art - Museum of Contemporary and Art, Institute of - YES! amazing. I could have spent a week just at the Institute.
8. Wrigley Field - YES! stinking cool even thought the Cubs lost
9. Hancock Observatory - SUNSET! perfect
10. the "L" - YES! in Chicago its the only way to fly (around traffic)
11. Wisconsin - Chocolate Cheese, Ya'll!
Sometime after I left home and before the end of my Chicago experience (and Chicago is now tied for my favorite place to vacation along with anyplace with an oceanfront beach) I developed a rash. No problem, I'm savvy I know about hydrocortisone cream ... only the cream didn't stop it, or even slow it down, or get it's attention. SO, last week when I landed in Arkansas for the family reunion/pick up the boys thing I went to see a doctor.
That should be a major clue about this rash because I'm WAY too cheap for anything that might even possibly be medically unnecessary up to and including replacing a kidney if I still have one working even a little bit.
So $100 later, I have prescriptions. Among them - prednisone. Which had no more impact on the aforementioned rash than my wishing it would go away.
Fast forward to yesterday. I'm in the Urgent Care office. Now I have a rash over significant portions of my body. And yes, I mean significant in almost every way you might want to take that word. (My nipples itch, okay?) AND, thanks mostly to the prednisone, I have gained 23 pounds - in less than two weeks. I feel like a balloon blown just a little past the manufacturer's recommended pressure setting.
The UC people are pretty sure that whatever is wrong with me is no little thing, so they send me to the ER. Where not one or two but four different doctors find me "interesting". (And by "me" I mean my symptoms). One goes so far as to say, "I can't tell what's causing your rash other than a rather severe case of BAD LUCK."
Unfortunately, there's no pill, spray, cream, or incantation that works on BAD LUCK. Rash = 3, Terri = 0
Eight hours later I'm sent home with strict instructions to be back this morning at 7. The only problem with that was that they 1) gave me the WRONG address for the Dr who would be doing the follow-up and giving me the results of the tests and 2) don't start answering their phone until 8 so by the time I can get through to them to find out where they are, I've missed my appointment.
No problem, they worked me in with a Dr who had a really good thorough no-nonsense approach to things and I felt like I got my money's worth, which is good because it was about $150 for that 15 minutes (I'm wondering now WHY I didn't grow up to be a Dr.)
I have no idea what the bill from the Urgent Care and Emergency Room visits will come to, but I'm expecting that before this is over I will have paid about $1500 to learn that I have BAD LUCK. Figures.
Oh, and I got the job. But due to the drama with my itching bloating BAD LUCK problem, I wasn't able to start today like I had planned. My new boss was very understanding. (In fact, I called her yesterday with a "heads up" and she came to the ER to be with me and advocate for me. She's now seen more of me than I ever imagined I'd show to a boss, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I've got to be holding some kind of record.)
Over-the-counter anti-histamines help. So does setting my air conditioning to "meat locker". The boys are huddled under a blanket, but that's good for them. It's building character.
Did I mention that it's good to be back?
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