I had tension headache on the day after it happened, as well as trigger points around the head. I took a single aspirin and the headache went away. Trigger points subsided too.

No pain whatsoever from within the ear, unlike the ear infection I've had before

I'll upload a few more quotes.

@Cindy Yikes-scary! But so glad you know what's happening and can get relief! I like your cat :)

BTW Physiatric:

I also tried a makeshift Rinne test - probably not conclusive, since I don't have a real sound fork.

aapmr.org/patients/aboutpmr/Pages/physiatrist.aspx

@rumtscho A good doc will do that tomorrow. I'll be curious to hear what other diagnostic tests they give-in order to compare them to what happens here.

@rumtscho Do you have any sinus or related problems? I ask because I have chronic sinus problems and I have periods where one ear or the other will close up and the hearing is diminished, sometimes for weeks at a time. Mostly left ear, though.

@Jolenealaska maybe I'm not accustomed to the usual style of medical reports in the USA. What I see seems to be simply a summary of what you told the doctor, written down in the third person. Not very informative, but also no conclusions about the possible pain causes.

@Cindy Oh, interesting! I think something happened to my sinuses on Easter when I paddled against terrible wind which blew the balaclava down onto my neck, leaving the head exposed.

I head some kind of cold back then, and the sinuses seemed to have somewhat concentrated symptoms. Although not as bad as a full blown sinusitis.

Yikes-reading this transcript makes it look like my doctor's the only one who knows anything! What I was starting to say was that I'd been with him a long time and still haven't gotten all the answers, so I understand the confusion of trying to find the right doc.

@Sue that's certainly a problem

I love the first line of that.

She also makes a comment about the scars on my wrist: Sure it was an accident...wink wink.

@rumtscho Thanks for getting that. Meniere's wasn't even a recognized disease until I was in my twenties, and even though they can't cure it, it felt so good to at least be able to put a name to it!

I'm a loon and a liar cause she couldn't see it in the exam room.

That's when I ran off to Chickaloon.

@Jolenealaska Wow-thanks for sharing that!

When I finally saw a doctor again I was ready to do anything to stop the pain.

@Jolenealaska now that's a terrible thing to do to a patient

It had been about 6 years, I think.

I must admit that I'm not getting that vibe from the letter you posted

but there is a lot you can tell from talking to the doctor which is not visible on paper

My regular Dr said, "has anyone taken an X-ray?"

(after 6 years of pain)

The pictures were shocking.

The surgeons who replaced my hips said that mine were the worst they had ever seen.

(1 year later, VA waiting list)

@Jolenealaska sorry to hear that. And this despite stopping the steroid injections?

Oh yes, my last steroid treatment was before the letter from Hadley.

@Jolenealaska That first line is disgusting. Isn't it awful to see what's in your record like that? What exactly were you supposed to be doing while describing your pain-sitting quietly with your hands folded in your lap?

So, that is part of why I don't complain. I'm not in pain, and that makes all the difference.

So you're not in pain anymore?

Apparently, being adamant seems to be a flaw.

Nope. Once I had recovered from my hip replacements, life became worth living again.

yes, the first line is weird. I was mostly focused on the information in the rest, which lists the tests they made and mention that they came up negative. A good doctor would know that this does not mean that your pain is imagined, but rather "we found no easily fixable cause for the pain"

@Jolenealaska I admire it. I have chronic pain too-car accident, lots of broken bones, long story and not as important as the issue at hand, but doctors are so judgmental when it comes to pain!

And VA doctors are paranoid about pain meds.

@Jolenealaska Here too-aargh! Are you a veteran?

Never mind that I had been taking Advil by the handful and washing it down with copious Canadian Whiskey.

Yes. Desert Storm, US Army.

I need pain meds right now. +1 on the whiskey.

Drs were shocked that alcohol consumption became normal after I knew what was wrong with my hips.

apparently a fifth a day is a lot.

@Jolenealaska I'm humbled, and very thankful for your service. My sister-in-law is an army nurse-Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. I have huge respect.

@Jolenealaska Lol about the alcohol!

@Sue It's part of a wider problem, I think. Somehow stoicism is considered heroic by society. Maybe doctors prefer them because it makes them feel less powerless than seeing patients who complain and ask for help. But truth is, pain exists, it makes humans' lives miserable, and everybody experiences a different level of pain when having the same cause, so comparisons of "you are complaining louder than the guy with the more serious injury" are meaningless

I was never in harms way. I was a spook, not a combat person.

Part of my problem was being too stoic. Surely if I was in so much pain, I would show it more.

@Jolenealaska yes, that happens all too often too

I also experienced this, although on a much milder scale than you

@rumtscho I agree 100%. My ENT says Meniere's patients make him sad because he can't fix us! But some of the pain med guys just don't seem to get it. Also, at least here, too many people are accused of abusing meds. Some do, but plenty don't.

My sister, the brain dead but gorgeous one, cannot separate the issue of not caring whether one lives or dies due to pain, and being suicidal because of depression.

@Jolenealaska Not any less important!

She is also sure that I am addicted to naproxen.

TALL!!! :)

in seventh grade, I collided with a large classmate during PE. The nurse clearly thought I was simulating and mocked me, but still had to send me home for the rest of the day. My dad worked not that far nearby so he said he'll come take me when he finishes instead of having me take the bus as usual. I waited for hours. Luckily he believed me and took me to the hospital. My tibia was broken, I had to wear a whole-leg cast for 3 months.

I have a similar broken arm story. (step-bitch related, of course)

@Jolenealaska That's sad. Although I don't know the whole story of you and your sister, I know exactly what you mean!

@Jolenealaska ah, the friendly bellow of greeting. hello you

7th grade? Same age :)

hi @ElendilTheTall

@rumtscho, @sue ladies

@Jolenealaska I thought you were going off the grid until further notice?

I did too.

Hello @ElendilTheTall.

It is only postponed, not cancelled.

@cindy hello!

so what happened with your arm?

He missed his connecting flight 'cause of problems on the first flight.

Finally I woke my dad up and told him that I'll call 911 if I had to.

@ElendilTheTall Hi! Actually I have to go, we're on our way to see our friends, one of whom has ms! You should meet her Jolene-she sounds just like you.

oh god, there's two of them?

<grabs go bag, sets self-destruct sequence on house, heads for mountain bunker>

@ElendilTheTall It makes me tired just imagining it!

:)

@rumtscho Please report back as soon as you can after seeing the doctor. Would it be offensive if I said I'll pray for you? (Be honest, or just ignore the comment.)

So, the Xray showed a broken radius, I was in a normal cast for the normal amount of time.

Ha ha-I just noticed you guys have to go tell someone which kinds of pig make the best bacon!

@Sue I almost said it!

iberico!!

Nothing like the all acorn diet!

@Sue It is not offensive, thank you for the prayer. I am an atheist, but I am touched that you care about me enough to pray for me, and have no bad feelings about your religion.

@Jolenealaska Cool! :) You guys are the best, and my first introduction to SE. I don't cook much since my injury, so I feel like I never help out. Plus every time I have a question, it's a dupe, cuz you guys are so on top of things :)

That'll change :)

@Sue there is nothing new under the sun

I got so upset my first few weeks here that I almost never came back.

if you really want to be impressed, ask how long <foodstuff> can be left at room temperature. That will be shut down in femtoseconds.

@Sue we are glad to hear that we have covered so much of the important stuff, that's how the site is supposed to work (more of a reference work than a discussion place). But I'm sure you'll find details we haven't handled yet.

Or crockpots at wrong temperature.

@ElendilTheTall haha yes, that's the first thing that greeted me when I came back.

All, while this is nice, I am going for now. I really am in extreme pain and will be heading to urgent care first thing in the AM. Left side of my throat started hurting late Friday and it has been really bad. I think a case of pharyngitis. Hope you all have a good night!

@rumtscho Thanks for telling me that. I do hope you come back with some good news. If there's anything specific you want me to research, I'd be happy to-always being careful of sources, of course!

I don't even comment anymore. Sometimes I'm too lazy to flag.

@Jolenealaska or we'll just comment "Get a load of this chucklehead"

@Cindy Yikes-you please report back too!

etc

@Sue More information is always better than less. Even for total nerds like rummi.

@Jolenealaska You'll have to tell me why some time!

@Sue thank you. I will report how it went. I hope it doesn't take too long to resolve. At least my primary care physician always sees patients quickly instead of giving out appointments far in the future, so I'll tell you tomorrow how it went.

Just the same learning curve as everyone else.

@Jolenealaska especially for total nerds :) I've never felt overloaded by (verbal) information.

@Cindy I wish you a swift recovery, good night!

My first answering experience was a disaster (on Pets). It was a comment that should have been an answer, then an answer that should have had references, then references that should have had quotes, which I didn't know how to do, so I gave up & they closed it. I hope I'll never forget what it's like to be new!

@Sue Sometimes this room is nothing but nerd one-up-man ship. It's good exercise.

@Jolenealaska everybody needs a playground!

Just once I'd like to not be picked last for dodgeball!

@ElendilTheTall Ha ha! You guys have a lot of new users-very challenging. Gotta run-thanks for keeping me company:)))

Rummi! Guess what??

@Jolenealaska I don't know what. Not an earthquake in Alaska, surely, that doesn't merit two question marks.

@Sue no problem. I and/or Jojo are almost always here :D

I don't type anymore! I have Dragon voice to text!

Ooooh! And how do you like it?

I love it!

I can talk a whole lot faster than I can type.

very glad to hear it.

With more accuracy too!

Oh, I wouldn't have expected the "more accuracy" part. I would have been glad if you reported "sufficient accuracy". Very nice!

@Jolenealaska Yes. It's great. A real boon.

O.O

;)

And Dragon's spellcheck is way better than Firefox's.

:)

you had to train it first to get better with your voice, right? or was it so great out of the box?

@rumtscho I have been driving Tall particularly crazy this week.

It was almost this great right out of the box.

@Jolenealaska with more chat volume due to increased input speed?

@rumtscho you know how movies always have ridiculously inaccurate representations of computing in general? and how any high tech office or war room or hacker den has screens in the background with constantly scrolling text?

the day jojo got dragon this chat room was like that

@ElendilTheTall I remember laughing at some idiotic Sandra Bullock movie even before I had a computer

It it took me a couple of hours to learn because I remembered my dad doing dictation in a tape recorder. It's still learning me but I'm not seeing much of a difference day to day.

@ElendilTheTall Oh! Very high praise for Dragon indeed

@rumtscho have you seen the 'GUI Hacking' video from CSI?

heehee :)

it's so, so bad

the tautology of 'gui interface'

the fact that you can barely program anything beyond excel macros in VB

@ElendilTheTall No. But I've read a long report on some hero sheriff who solved some crime, and one step of it was him going to real forensic guys and not believing them when they told them that they can't read the license plate recorded from hundreds of meters with a tiny security camera. Somehow, the article managed to describe this as if it was something positive about him.

I loved the original CSI when DNA results took almost an hour.

@Jolenealaska sweet

in the real world, we are trying to get NGS such that the patient is prescribed treatment within 2 weeks

that is, the bosses are pushing for it and the actual doctors and bioinformatics guys are telling them we won't have it by 2016

(NGS = Next Generation Sequencing, recognizing which mutation has caused your cancer and prescribing the chemo which is going to act on it instead of a random one which might not "take")

I had just Googled :)

smartipants

it doesn't matter where your data comes from as long as you can retrieve it at the moment you need it

That's what scares me about Google glasses!

That is waaaay to much of a equalizer!

brb

I don't know. Real wisdom does not consist of being able to present random facts. We will still be able to distinguish between the intelligent guys, the wise ones, and the posers.

Probably...but it will take longer!

Google Glass has gone back to the drawing board

That's good to hear!

Good to hear

Google on phones is more than enough!

alright grandma

:P

@rumtscho Speaking of phones, it took longer for me to learn to answer my new smartphone than it took to become reasonably proficient in Dragon.

The new phone was quite the drama.

Were it not for Tall and Cerby, I'd still be clueless.

@Jolenealaska Yes, I remember you complaining at the beginning

At least now I can make and receive calls.

It galls the hell out of me that kindergarteners use these things.

it's all in your head

you think "Aaargh, this thing is so complicated", and so you find it complicated

I've heard that one before :)

it is just a computer with a small screen. you work your 'actual' computer just fine, there's no reason you can't work your phone as well

Yes I know, I do that. Plus I can't stand anything less than Ring t f m.

sure complication is in the head, it's what we measure complication with :)

Except maybe looking for the FM.

I have a low, low tolerance for things not immediately acting as I expect them to act.

Only things, not people.

But I am very impatient with technology that I don't know like the back of my hand.

the problem is that you simply cannot have the right expectations for something you have never used before

So I actually very surprised that my phone is as powerful as it is.

This is perhaps why I am 'good with technology': I have used enough of it that I have a reasonably good idea of what will happen if I press this etc

And that is why I feel like I used to be, but that I'm not anymore.

It advanced while I was doing other things.

@Jolenealaska the good part is that you can become it again

you don't have to become some kind of whiz

Yes, ignorance is curable.

the point is to learn enough of it so you can use it everyday without it getting in your way

And I have you guys to ask, when I don't want to RTFM!

@Jolenealaska three interactive TFMs reporting for duty, milady!

I even ordered a dragon for dummies book, because I had heard that it was a really really steep learning curve. What a waste of money. Android for dummies I could've used.

@rumtscho :)

well, time to turn on Flux

My phone just rang. Dragon transcribed the conversation!

Flux?

alters the colour temperature of your screen so it doesn't keep you awake

weird!!

Why don't you just close the door?

get out

<snort>

modern screens emit light in the blue spectrum, just like day light

this can fool your brain into thinking it's earlier in the day than it is

Flux warms up the colour temp to something approximating evening light (ie warmer, orange tones) to counteract that

That's why I have tin foil on my windows.

you can get it for your phone too :)

Can't I just turn it up side down?

as in face down?

Yes

Hi guys.

well, yes, but that tends to make the screen hard to read...

But I don't read while I'm sleeping. As far as I know.... Ambien can be weird that way.

@FaheemMitha HI

@Jolenealaska no, but you might spend an hour on your phone before you try and get to sleep, doofus

@Jolenealaska Hello

That's what Ambien is for!!

@Jolenealaska I'm not saying it keeps you awake while you're asleep. Obviously the screen will be off.

the idea is that blue light stops your brain winding down as it naturally would

<rolls eyes>

Thanks sweetie.

Hi @rumtscho. Are you still here?

@FaheemMitha hello, by the way

@ElendilTheTall hey.

@FaheemMitha yes, still here. I guess I'll go to bed within the next half hour, but for now I'm here.

How are you?

@rumtscho Ah, Ok. sometimes here, sometimes not?

@rumtscho I'm ok. got a cold this weekend. But hopefully over the worst of it. I get over colds fast. The problem is that they tend to trigger off bronchial problems.

The heat has really been fierce here. That tends to aggravate these problems.

Of course the local environment is really unhealthy, but I try to get regular exercise and so forth.

How hot is it?

@FaheemMitha ah yes, colds can be very unpleasant

I hope the bronchial problems stay away this time

@rumtscho Well, I use an inhaler when I get a cold. It's a relatively uncommon occurrence, fortunately.

@Jolenealaska over 40C for a week

2100 dead

@Jolenealaska Are you asking me?

@FaheemMitha Yes, but no matter.

Wow...

@Jolenealaska Don't know exactly. High 30s C, I suppose, much of the time.

I consider myself heat loving, but 40 C is inhumane

It varies, obviously. And it is really humid, which doesn't help.

do you have the option to stay in a climatized room? (you personally; I can imagine most people there don't)

although of course a climatized room has its own problems, first and foremost making colds so much more likely to occur and prolonging them once they appear :(

Actually, the weather channel reports low 30s.

@rumtscho Yes, I have an air-conditioner here.

They're also big fat teases...cause eventually you have to go outside!

@rumtscho I don't know if they make colds more likely. I haven't personally had problems along those lines.

@Jolenealaska Well, true. But at least you can work without sweat trickling down your back, and into your eyes.

@Jolenealaska yes, it's part of why they make colds so bad. At least for me, the sudden change in temperature between inside and outside is terrible. It can cramp my throat in seconds.

Here it is 17C, breezy and sunny. The first flowers are blooming. The birds are singing...

If I didn't have an A/C, I probably wouldn't be able to think about much else except how hot it was.

@Jolenealaska Sounds nice. Give my regards to the birdies.

it is still unseasonably cool here, mainly thanks to the wind

I like them, but they can be noisy.

@Jolenealaska I see. You practically don't have to go on vacation, because what you describe sounds like the place I just returned from :)

it's cold outside, then you get in your car and it's like the surface of Venus

I spent a few summers in Texas and Arizona...40C+ sucks in a big bad way.

@Jolenealaska If you have A/C, it is bearable, probably. Otherwise not.

well, not "first" flowers, I missed that part. But the lilac was still in bloom.

We have tulips this week!

I like tulips. My grandpa used to plant large beds of them, very pretty.

@rumtscho is the term "climatized" room in common usage? I don't often hear it.

@FaheemMitha I haven't spoken English recently so my speech is full of false friends

@rumtscho false friends?

'climate-controlled'

@FaheemMitha It's not uncommon to hear it, even here.

@Jolenealaska ok

@FaheemMitha words which sound like they are correct in a language but in reality are simply sounding like a word which is correct in another language

@rumtscho yes, I see.

"klimatisiert" is a very common German term

Theaters are advertised as such when it gets to be 75F in Anchorage.

Because nobody has air-conditioning in their home.

@rumtscho In this case it isn't incorrect, I think. Just a little unusual, perhaps.

when it gets to be 75 F, I'm thinking "just a little more until it gets comfortably warm" :)

My mom hated cold; she loved heat. It boggles my mind that she followed me to Alaska.

Personally, I like it coolish. 60F with no wind is nice. Of course, I'm in the wrong place for that.

Apparently

I used to thrive in up to 35 C, but I've lost that. Now I prefer it below 30.

In Bombay, I'm always too hot. But I can ignore it most of the time.

Okay everyone, quiz. Without looking, -40C = XF? I know I've said, but I don't know who was here.

-40

Yeppers!

105 F?

-40 is where the 2 scales coincide

-40

Ah, -40. I was distracted.

I usually just do a google for it. But it's just a linear conversion.

I personally use a more colloquial scale

And I just bet that I am the only one here who has actually experienced that temp.

What, -40C? Probably.

yes

-40

Fucking freezing, bloody freezing, freezing, nippy, don't know what coat to put on, mild, nice, warm, hot, bloody hot, fucking hot

I certainly haven't.

I tend to Google it too. But I know a few common temps by heart: -40 C, 0 C, 25 C, 37 C, 175 C.

C = 9/5F - 32. I think.

@Jolenealaska my foot warts experienced -180 C once :)

No, that's wrong. Never mind.

I had a wart on my hand that felt that! We're like twins!

Your foot, my hand...your leg, my arm.

It just goes on and on!

This is the wrong time to confess that I misremembered, then :(

@rumtscho I had that done on what I thought were verrucas

Cold is unpleasant when there is a strong wind blowing. It feels like someone is sandpapering off the skin on your face.

It was my dad's foot warts, but my warts were on the finger

turns out i was just maintaining a scar with salycylic acid

I have one on the foot, but I think I never had it treated

the finger one stayed despite the liquid nitrogen

they are damn stubborn things

°C x 9/5 + 32 = °F. That one I remember, but I NEVER do it.

until some years after, I ate lots of unripe walnuts. My fingers were brown for days from the iodine, and when they finally washed off, the warts were gone

I have Google on speed dial.

Trippy!

Walnuts should!

@rumtscho Interesting. Natural cure!

Shit that reminds me.

@Jolenealaska I tend to not do it too. If I have to convert in my mind, I just start from a point I know, then convert the difference as Cx2 and call it good enough

Walnuts have iodine?