Whine and Cheese

Trip(s) to the Dentist

2018-08-10T23:15:11Z

Yesterday, I had to leave work early for a dentist appointment. One of my back molars cracked and was jagged. I wasn't sure if it was a filling that broke or the tooth itself. Sadly, it was the tooth and the dentist gave me the option to have a crown added to it, which I elected to do. Just to give you an image, my dentist is kind of hot. He's about my height (5'8"), silver hair shaved on the sides and long enough to be pulled back, thick graying beard, piercing blue eyes, a wonderful Southern accident, and a stocky, muscular body. So after an hour of drilling, his dental assistant was fitting me for a temporary crown.

I think she must have been in training, because it took a long time for her to get the temporary made. So I made it home and spent the rest of the night working on comic book pages. When I brushed my teeth, I felt the toothpaste go under the temp and it hurt.

The next morning, I got up and felt it loosen. It popped off, so I knew I was going to have call the dentist, but it was 5 AM. I went to work and ate a donut. Somewhere between the donut and 8 AM, my temp vanished, and I'm pretty sure I swallowed it. So I called the dentist's office and the receptionist wanted me in there pronto.

I left at 8:30 and was there by 9. They put me with the "old school" assistant who didn't fool with the molds and models, but made it by hand and she was fast and amazing. Seriously, the other assistant took almost an hour to do this and it fit poorly. This lady had me done in 15 minutes and that thing was a perfect fit and solidly in place. I heard it "snap" in place and then she cemented it in.

Having multiple trips to the dentist wasn't fun, but I think it's fixed for now, at least until the permanent one is in place.

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First Post-Boot Cardio

2017-09-27T12:10:03Z

Yesterday after work I went to the gym. Normally, I can work out at home, but my "at home" cardio is running, which I can't do for a few weeks per the doctor. Her plan was that I can do the sit-down bike for a week, followed by the elliptical, then maybe running.

I did 45 minutes on the bike yesterday, sitting and watching "The Cleveland Show" and "American Dad" on TBS. It felt good to do something cardio-related, but this is far from my favorite as the rest of my body does not get a workout.

A guy who was probably 15 years older than me was on the bike next to me. He was keeping my pace at a lower level, just sitting there reading the paper. This irked me a bit as it made me feel this was not a workout if it can be done so easily. Thankfully, he was sort of cute and had great furry legs that I could view via side-eye.

When I got off the bike, I did notice a touch of soreness in my calves and a very dull ache in my left ankle, so the workout did do something. My leg muscles are a bit sore too. I'll be going back to repeat this tomorrow.

At least the eye candy at the gym was worthwhile.

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The Busy Day Off

2017-09-21T00:25:37Z

I took the day off from work since I had a lot of things happening.

First, I had a doctor's appointment with the orthopedist this morning. She took a look at my foot and said I could leave the boot off. I told her that I had taken a few steps without the boot and just had a slight ache from using muscles that had been locked up for a while, but she told me that was normal. She said that in the future, if I started having this pain again, that I didn't need to see her, just use the boot again for a week. It's certainly strange to have a doctor tell me not to come see them, but it makes sense.

I've noticed that my foot has been sore today. I've backed off the ibuprofen because I'm sure my system is sick of it, but I caved tonight before I go to bed.

When I got home, I had a few hours before the cable guy was to show up, so I decided to clean out the car. I cleaned the windows, had Armour All wipes for the dashboard, and brought out the vacuum cleaner to get cloth free of lint and stuff.

There was a bit of time to rest before the cable guy showed. He was a nice ginger cubby named Ben. I tried to sneak a pic, but he was pretty alert. I showed him the severed cable and he agreed that the door installer was an idiot. It took him a whole five minutes to fix it. Since he was here, he checked the cable boxes outside the house for some routine maintenance. There was supposed to be a separate work order (second cable guy) to come and put in a cable line in my spare bedroom, but he never showed. The cable company said that there was no second order, though Ben found it on his tablet, so I'm not sure what happened. They said I'd need a second cable box for the house and it just seemed like too much trouble for the spare bedroom, so I canceled it, since it didn't appear to be happening anyway.

I'll be back at work tomorrow, no boot, so I hope my feet will hold up.

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Weekend Update

2017-09-18T01:22:40Z

It's been a fairly active weekend, so here's a summary of everything that went on:

Friday I called the cable company and set up a repair visit. They could have done it over the weekend, but I have to take Wednesday off, so I scheduled it for then. And the repair will be free believe it or not. I still plan on giving the installer company a good chewing out. While it isn't costing me anything, the annoyance of being without cable in my bedroom for nearly two weeks has sucked

Saturday was a Cincinnati MovieBears outing to see "IT." It was a beautiful night and it was good see the guys. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie, which I've now seen twice. I imagine that clowns will be a popular this Halloween.

Brian (cincycub) brought me a wonderful gift. While he was at Market Days this year, he bought me three issues of "How to Kill A Superhero," by Pablo Greene, autographed to me. According to the author's website, www.howtokillasuperhero.net, the novels tell the story of Roland, a young man who is changed forever by an occult book that grants its reader dangerous but seductive superpowers. It involves some superheroic bondage, which is very enticing. I was so thrilled with them, I hugged Brian twice. I look forward to reading them. The author is very much into superheroes, spandex, and singlets. I can relate :)

Sunday was mostly home stuff. I mowed the yard (by removing the boot and wearing the ankle guard), did laundry, and finished a retirement cartoon for a co-worker. It did wear me out a bit.

Tonight is the series finale of "The Strain." I'm curious to see how our heroes defeat the Strigoi (the vampires). It's been a very interesting show, with some cute leads. After the last season where Zach set off a nuke and gave the vampires reign over the world, I'm kind hoping he gets offed. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to watch it.

My next doctor's appointment is Wednesday. I sincerely hope I'm done with the boot. I need to get back into working out, as my lower body and mid-section are seriously out of shape.

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Boot Updates

2017-08-30T01:41:24Z

The weekend was not terribly pretty in terms of the boot. Being someone who likes to stay busy, just sitting on the couch with my leg propped up is annoying me. It's also very distracting, which leaves me struggling to concentrate on things.

Night time has been the worst part of it. After I take off the compression socks to help with the swelling, my ankle becomes abnormally sensitive. The slightest touch of it can hurt, so finding a comfortable position to sleep in has been nearly impossible. This past week has been a lot of fitful sleeping.

The good news is that my foot seems to be on the mend. The pain is nearly gone and the sensitivity has disappeared. I slept so soundly last night, I didn't want to get up. I found myself very drowsy at work today, so I was happy to get home. I set the alarm for an hour nap and did not want to get up from it either, so my body is clearly ready to catch up on my rest.

The only negative is that my OTHER foot is starting to hurt now. Not in the same way, but like a strained muscle in my arch. I've relied to heavily on my good foot this past week, I know it's tired of having to bear my weight most of the time. I'm hoping it passes quickly too.

I want this boot off so bad. I missed out on softball again tonight. Boo.

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Ouch of a Night

2017-08-24T20:10:00Z

My booted foot started aching horribly at work yesterday. I think I was walking too much on it. I can't just sit at my desk all day, so I tended to get up, albeit infrequently, to stretch my legs. After me and my lunch crew grabbed something to eat, I couldn't focus on work at all as every throb would distract me. I left early and stopped by the store to get a plastic tub to soak my foot in, and even bought more stuff - compression socks, a cane to help me balance, one of those spiky balls to massage my arch, etc.

I tried to take it easy last night, but it didn't help. I couldn't focus on anything at home either. Around 10 PM, I went to bed after rubbing some menthol gel into my sore foot and popping some ibuprofen. Every time I moved my foot, I'd get a painful jolt and it would wake me up. Midnight came, then 1 AM, then 2. Finally around 3 AM, I crashed... only to have my alarm go off at 4:30 AM. I cursed out loud I think. The executive decision was made, turn off the alarm and try to salvage some sleep.

Finally, I woke up at 8:30 AM, hobbled to the bathroom, did my business, then emailed my supervisor that I was taking a sick day.

I've been lounging around most of the day, but I have to admit that the pain has subsided quite a bit. I've been wearing a compression sock and keeping my foot elevated. I'm hoping for some real sleep tonight, so I can make it to work tomorrow.

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Back in the Boot

2017-08-22T02:28:28Z

My cleats have been crushing my feet lately, but they had been feeling better. On Saturday, I re-laced my running shoes and did my usual 3.4 miles on the track. I felt pretty good when I finished and walked back up the hill to my car. After my shower, I went to lunch and started to notice a twinge in my right foot. As I ran more errands, the twinge grew into an ache, then into dull pain, and ending at sharp pain. I was thrilled to get home and take it easy, thinking that the pain would pass overnight.

It didn't.

I took it easy all day Sunday. I didn't even leave the house. My foot had swelled and was very red on its bridge. I iced it and kept it elevated, thinking that I had overdone it. As I went to bed that night, it hurt even more. In bed, I grabbed my phone and found that the local orthopaedic office had an urgent care just down the road from my house.

The urgent care is pretty well set. The lady at the front desk was a bit of a bitch, but I can live with as long as they see me. There were lots of kids in casts and even a prisoner in chains, decked out in gray and black striped clothes. The theater of the living was kind of fun.

They took me back, shot several x-rays of my foot in various painful positions, then put me in a room to wait for the doctor. The doc was a funny lady, just a few years younger than me, who listened intently to what I had done to myself. She said that she believes that I have stress fractures on my right foot. She said that we can't see them on the x-ray until they heal, but she pointed out past fractures that had healed. It was pretty interesting considering the pain I was in. She verified the fractures by striking a tuning fork and placing the end along each metatarsal on my right foot. As she moved the fork end down the bone, she would reach a spot that would hurt. The fork would cause the bone to vibrate and vibrating breaks... hurt. It turns out that two of my five metatarsals have apparent fractures.

She was going to put me into a boot, but luckily I still had the same one from a couple of years ago, so I was ready to roll. I made it back to work for a few hours, then home to catch up on the sleep I didn't get last night.

I'm in the boot for at least two weeks. No softball tomorrow or next week. And sadly, no softball tournament in Detroit. I should be out of it by the time Pride Night at Kings Island rolls around.

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Softball Ouchie

2017-08-14T01:23:47Z

I've been having trouble with my feet lately. A couple of weeks ago, they hurt so bad after a softball game that I couldn't bear to wear my cleats. I took them off and walked in my stocking feet to the parking lot and my car. I blamed the cleats as they have been crushing my feet, so I think they were a bad buy.

That night, my feet ached like crazy, so on top of them being sore, I believe I had a gout flare-up. So I took my gout meds and went to work. The following weekend, I bought some new shoes in the hopes that it would fix the problem. I played in the new shoes last week and things went great. However, my feet started aching a couple of days later, which I believed was tendonitis in my heel.

I'd not been running as a result, which had been really bugging me. Today, even though my heel wasn't 100%, I decided to go for a run. I did a weird gallop the first couple of laps, but then my gait went to normal. I'm sure the endorphins were kicking in. By the time I was half-way through my 3.4 mile walk-run, the pain was pretty much gone. I've found this to be true in the past, that working out will often get whatever kinks taken care of. My heel hasn't hurt the rest of the day, so I'm hoping it will stay that way.

Softball is looming in a couple of days, I hopefully will not experience a repeat of the past week.

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