Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Doctor, Doctor! Give Me The News.


It started with a throaty cough that was nothing more than a mild annoyance. Just a few days after Thanksgiving, I was feeling especially sluggish and worn-down. More than any tryptophan-laced turkey could ever do, I felt sick.

After a week of hot tea and cough drops the symptoms vanished on their own...only to return with a vengeance a few weeks later. Then the chest pain started. Doctors at first said it was "probably" a strain "likely" due to the coughing from what "seemed to be" an upper-respiratory infection. A month later and still not feeling up to par, I realized that this limp diagnosis strung together by the most uncertain of phrases "probably and likely" was something more.


After a less than helpful visit to the urgent clinic, and after a truly terrifying trip to the emergency room, I followed up with the family doctor who issued blood work. A lot of blood work.

And a CT Scan. And an Ultra Sound. And a chest X-ray. And did I mention blood work?

After weeks of being pictured, pricked, poked and prodded, abnormal blood results seemed to point to a blood clot in my lungs. Not good.

However, after an eternity of waiting...it was determined that despite the abnormal blood work, it's not a pulmonary embolism. And while the worst case scenario has been eliminated, it would be a lie for me to say that I'm not concerned. And I've found that this battery of tests and routine visits to the doctor is just plain exhausting. 

So I wrote myself a little prescription.

Thrift Shopping: 2x Weekly. Taken with Budgetary Freedom. Refills: Unlimited.

It's high time to pull myself out of this funk. Having Fibromyalgia means I'm no stranger to pain. So if I have something else to contend with medically, then so be it. Since the opening chapter of this medical mystery in late November until this very week, I've been a hermit. I have secluded myself so much in fact, I fell into a deep depression that physically and mentally prohibited me from anything remotely close to productivity.

But I'm done with all of that now. I'm back to the writing desk. I'm back to being mindful of my diet and have lost nearly 14 pounds in the last three weeks. And I'm thrifting. I'm thrifting, damn it!



In my absence, I'd like to thank everyone for the support, well-wishes, kind words and thrift-spiration given to me in person, online, through the Let's Go Thrifting Facebook page and in emails.  The sense of community and caring is enough to make me keep on trucking. 

Now, let's get to the important stuff: The thrifting. Isn't it ironic that the first major score following the great medical debate was this sweet collection of vintage Fisher-Price medical supplies? 

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