Pains

I've been at the doctor a lot lately.  Today, I was diagnosed with Pleurisy. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Pleurisy (also known as pleuritis) is an inflammation of the pleura,^[1] the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy.

The inflamed pleural layers rub against each other every time the lungs expand to breathe in air. This can cause severe sharp pain with inhalation (also called pleuritic chest pain).

 

The main symptom of pleurisy is a sharp, stabbing pain in the chest that gets worse with deep breathing, coughing, sneezing, or laughing. The pain may stay in one place, or it may spread to the shoulder or back. Sometimes, it becomes a fairly constant dull ache.

I was at Mom and Dad's Friday, and had just sat down with Mom and a soda (I really don't usually drink soda) when I began to have some sort of episode.  To translate for the benefit of the uninitiated, and "episode" is how elegant ladies refer to biological disasters of all sorts.  In this case - chest pain.  On the left shoulder side.  I am not yet of the age to assume that I am having a heart attack, so I did not assume it.  However, I did recall that in the movies, people are sometimes rushed to the hospital, only to be told they are suffering from indigestion.  So, I blamed the soda.  I actually stopped in the middle of a sentence and went to ask the resident pharmacist what to do.  He was outstandingly dismissive and said he was sure I hurt it at taiko.  (And the injury had a 24 hour delayed reaction?)  I was standing there, grasping my shoulder, and I guess my mouth was hanging open, so he added, "If it's bothering you that much, then do something about it."

 

"Like ask a medical professional?"

 

Later that night when I was lying under a heating pad after having taken Advil he came in with a face like a funeral to ask me if I was okay.  He doesn't know that it never stopped hurting - just got "better".  It still hurts, actually.

 

The receptionist giggled when she asked if all my information was the same (since last week).  The nurse said, "We meet again!"  The doctor said, "Long time, no see!"

 

But here I am at the other end of it all, armed with advice, and perfectly happy....until the bill comes.  I bought a lottery ticket on the way home, to help with expenses.  See the irony?  It's there...

 

Tonight is a performance practice for a show on Friday.  Yay, taiko!  I will be playing Kaifuu and Omiyage and Kagura....but not Drive.  Not even the woodblock.  I don't know how I feel about that.  I'm also playing shime on Itsuku Mata, a KODO song.  I think I need to listen to it a few more times...  However, it's the only song I'm particularly worried about.

 

We watched Brave for the first time the other day.  It was okay.  Not as good as Tangled, by a long shot.

 

And did I tell you that I read Shades of Gray, only to discover that it's a trilogy?  Yeah.  Rotten luck.  I don't even know if Jasper Fforde has written both other books yet.  Currently, I'm re-reading The Night Circus.  It's as good as I remember.  I would call the book an exercise in ambiance. 

 

It's snowing at my house.  It's been snowing for around two hours, but at first it was that very, extra cold, tiny snow that you can hardly see.  It's very pretty, now, though.  Like a snow globe.  Lots of flakes, fast falling, and of variable but very visible size.  It has even started to accumulate.

 

What a night to be on the roads.

 

Well. Wish me luck.