shanmonster | Written in the Wee Hours

Last night, I had an adventure. It wasn't the happy kind. Here's what I wrote, while experiencing sleep deprivation and considerable discomfort:

Around 11:00, I suddenly needed to pee. It burned, and I saw bright red blood in the toilet. I thought maybe I'd started my period early, but then realized no, I had not. And as the minutes passed, the burning intensified, and each time I peed, the cloudier and grosser-looking the urine became.

So I phoned Tele-Care, and the nurse barraged me with questions. At the end of the interrogation, she recommended I go to the emergency room right away.

I got to the hospital by 11:45. At the time of this writing, it is after 5 am, and although the burning has calmed itself, I now have a bit of a stomach and back ache.

This has been a hell of a week, healthwise. I guess tomorrow, er, today, is another sick day.

I'm wearing a face mask, and I've been stuck watching the Country Music Channel, which vacillates between showing bad music videos of rednecks on flatbed trucks and bad sitcoms (Reba, Roseanne, Ed, and The Dukes of Hazzard). I've watched each sitcome twice--the same episode each time--except for Dukes of Hazzard, and I'm sure that comes next. I'd better not get strep from sitting here.

On the plus side my sinuses aren't as bad as they were yesterday.

Around 4 am, there was a sudden influx of people to the emergency ward. One woman has been very upset at her long wait of an hour. I've been here 5 1/2.

By the time a doctor called me in, it was 7:30 am. I've had longer waits: my record was ten and a half hours in emergency, and that was when I was going through a whopper of an asthma attack several years back. But these long waits are unacceptable. The hospitals are extremely understaffed, and the health care professionals overworked. They have a nasty, thankless job, in my opinion. No wonder they flee the Maritimes.

Anyhow, I got a prescription for antibiotics from the doctor. As far as I know, I have a run of the mill urinary tract infection. I still piss blood, but I'm hoping the pills do their work soon. The doctor also wrote me a note, and when I left the hospital, I walked over to work to say I wouldn't be working today. They photocopied the note for their records. I called a cab home, because I was just too wiped to walk the rest of the way home. By the time I got to bed, it was 8 am.

I've had about four hours of sleep, and I feel zombielicious, but my cold seems to be retreating by the minute. Perhaps it's just because I'm too tired to be properly sick.

I felt restless this afternoon, so I went for a walk to the thrift store and the yarn shop. I bought two pairs of nice shoes for $1.50 a pair, and purchased two skeins of gorgeous yarn for $53. I only paid $3, because I had a $50 gift certificate which has been languishing in my purse for about a year. I have plans for the wool, which is in shades of purple, blue, and green.

f00dave got some purple leather today, and I think I'll make myself a dance belt with some of it and the yarn.

As for the white and gold leather costume I've been planning, I've pretty much had to give up on the white leather. I simply can't find enough of it. So I'm going for purple with white accents, and maybe a bit of gold, too. f00 is planning the mini floggers/tassels for it. I'm going with four panels and four tassels on the belt, and I think I'll have to do a leather bra instead of the bustier I was planning, but it will still look good.

Now, what am I going to do with that beautiful rayon/cotton yarn I bought? Hmm....