Resolution #9

BEATLES PUNNY!

I hope all my readers had a fantastic and safe New Year. I didn't do anything special, just nommed on shrimp cocktail whilst watching "The Walking Dead" and "The Twilight Zone" marathons.

Well, now that 2014 has crept on to us, it's time to discuss resolutions! I'm gonna roll with this Beatles pun and list nine of 'em (I didn't have nine when I started this post, but meh, I'll wing it). I'm gonna list 'em in order of importance that I complete them.

1) DRIVE ON HIGHWAYS - My driving skills have improved vastly over the past year and driving through some pretty craptacular snowstorms without wrecking my car has certainly boosted my confidence. This year Crippie is gonna take driving lessons to relearn highway driving. I've already found a place near me that caters to "anxious drivers" so that's good. Not knowing how to drive on highways/fear of complicated roads/fear of going to completely foreign places has held me back for far too long. This year it ends.

2) DESIGN CRAP - I've been meaning to open a Society6 shop for some time, but I've been burned the hell out and haven't been able to think about what I want to put in it. Do I wanna draw pictures of guinea pigs riding dinosaurs or do I want to be a mature adult and make some pretty typographic pieces? (Yes that was an actual thought process for me) I think I'm started to get a better idea of what kind of work I want to put into the world, expect to see a shnazzy shop full of awesome prints and t-shirts sooner or later this year.

3) BLOGGING GOD DAMN IT - Clearly I sucked at blogging last year. Here's to hoping that I get my act together this year. As always, if any of you have anything you want me to write about, feel free to post in the comments.

4) OPEN AN ETSY STORE - I'm actually well on my way to completing this. I had an etsy store in the past for design stuff, but I'm gonna close that and turn it into something else. Y'all are just gonna have to wait and see what I have in store. MOAR PUNS! I'm on a roll tonight!

5) DO MORE EXERCISES - Once the weather stops sucking I intend on doing more physical therapy exercises. While last year wasn't horrible pain wise it wasn't great either. I've gotta do some strengthening exercises, they should help reduce some of my discomfort.

6) EVEN MORE OF A SOCIAL LIFE - I did fairly well with this resolution last year and I plan on continuing this resolution this year.

7) ACTUALLY SUBMIT CONTENT TO REDDIT INSTEAD OF LURKING - Yeah... I'm one of those people...

8) REGULATE SLEEP CYCLE - I've been getting better at sleeping, I'm rarely awake past 2:30am, which for me is very impressive. Not even remotely close to perfect, so this year I'll continue on improving that.

9) TAKE ONLINE DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE - Partly for my driving anxieties, mainly to lower my insurance rates. ;)

YAY! I did it! Nine resolutions, w000000t! Let's see how much of this I can accomplish :)
In the meantime, here's a song that's pretty much gonna be my theme song for 2014.

Crippie's Tippie - Socially awkward but want to find a way to invite people over? Find people who like the same TV shows as you and invite them over to watch. You don't have to spend the entire time talking and the show itself gives you a conversation starter. 

Drive Me Crazy

Ohai Everybody!

I hope everyone has been fairing well with all these lovely weather changes. I've been super achy and I somehow managed to hurt my arm a little while ago. It should be better by morning, but still... weird.

Today was my day off from work. I spent it working on my New Year's Resolution of working on my damn driving anxieties. I had to pick up someone at a place that I am REALLY not okay with driving to. Well, it had to be done so with my grandmother and a GPS by my side I drove. Let's just say the whole thing was an experience and I'm amazed I didn't freak out. I'm absolutely petrified of getting lost,  driving in some weird place where I have no idea where I am. So what happened when we went? We got lost, naturally. Yes, even with a GPS I managed to get my ass lost... AND I had to drive on some rather unsavory and confusing roads. So yeah... that was fun... NOT -_-

I'm kinda surprised I didn't have an anxiety attack honestly. I was swearing quite a bit and obsessively fidgeting... but all things considered that's not terrible. Had I been the only person in the car it would have been a different story. I probably would have pulled over and freaked out. I just tried to put my faith in my damn GPS. It took awhile and some crazy freaking roads, but we got to our destination, early as a matter of fact. On the way home the person I picked up gave proper direction, they also involved the occasional unsavory road, but I knew that SOMEONE knew where they were going, so that helped.

In hindsight it was a mildly entertaining experience, but at the time I was freaking terrified! That being said, I'm proud of myself for driving to this demon location with it's freaking weird roads. It feels good to work on your resolutions. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Let's hope the progress doesn't end here :)

BTW, if anyone is curious, I used the "Waze" GPS app on my phone. It took me on some freaking weird ass roads, but it ultimately got me to my destination. I think I have to play around with it before I can fully trust it with on a solo trip somewhere.

Crippie's Tippie - Allow yourself extra time when driving to new places, helps factor in the whole "YOU CAN AND WILL GET LOST" thing

NHBPM - I Should Probably Do That...

Yo!

This is just not my year for NHPBM, I reckon missing the first 10 days kinda threw me off. Oh well. Did y'all have a lovely couple of days? I've been oddly busy and thus insanely tired. Today I had a lunch-in with my co-workers. While everyone was showing pictures of their children I whipped out my pictures of Frida dressed as a bumble bee. Needless to say she was a hit. I had a blast with my co-workers and I ate some delicious noms. Successful day was successful. I'm super tired but first... I MUST BLOG!!!

Tonight's NHPBM prompt is... If I could accomplish one thing in 2013 it would be...

Ok, first of all... am I the only one who cannot believe it's almost 2013? Now, if I could accomplish one thing in this rapidly approaching year it would be conquering my driving anxieties. As much as I hate to admit it, it's terribly limiting. I can only drive to a few select places by myself, and a few other places with someone else in the car. Otherwise I have a horrible feeling of being lost and not knowing what to do. Which lane do I go in? Did I miss a turn? What if a miss a turn? What if the GPS takes me on highway? What if I get lost, have a panic attack, and crash my car? Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, these feelings suck and they need to stop. Baby steps I guess. I'll start driving to random places with someone in the car. Then I'll drive to more random places with just my GPS. Mayybbbeeeee I'll hire a driving instructor for a day for highway practice (you don't wanna screw up highway practice). I guess I just have to think about all the awesome freedom and independence that comes from being able to drive where ever my little heart desires. One good thing about driving anxiety... by hardly driving anywhere I save soooooooooo much money on gas. I was able to get through the whole Hurricane Sandy mess without waiting in a gas line :3

So my fellow crippled comrades, any tips for overcoming anxiety for me?

Crippie's Tippie - When in doubt... baby step your situation out

Bye Bye Fanny!

Yo!

It's Crippie in the flesh, tellin' y'all that my surgery was successful. Fanny the Ass tumor has been removed and I was home by four! I can put some weight on my leg so moving around and getting up the stairs was a breeze. As far as the pain goes, on a scale of 1-10 I'd probably say I'm a 2. It feels so weird not having a massive tumor on my butt!

As far as the nerves went, I did get the shakes while I was in the hospital and I threw up just as they were wheeling me into the OR. While that wasn't particularly fun it was better than surgeries prior. I was promised super happy fun drugs early on, buuuuuutttttt that didn't happen. I had a little "discussion" with some of the nurses on how it makes no sense to give me super happy fun drugs moments before knocking me out. They said I needed to be coherent when discussing things with all the doctors and nurses, boo. I really could have used those happy drugs.

One funny story today... when I was checking in the receptionist was going over my info, the following convo occurred...

Lady - Name?
Me - Nicole
Lady - Birthday?
Me - December 4th
Lady - And Russian is your primary language, right?
Me - 0.o um... noooooooooooooooo
Lady - Good thing I asked, we were gonna set up a Russian translator for you
Me - 0.o
Lady - That explains you lack of accent I guess
Me - Da

Now I have a question for my crippled comrades. My doctor closed the incision with staples, I've never had staples before. Do they hurt, tighten or itch while I'm healing? Are they a bitch to remove?

Well I guess that's it for tonight, I'll try to blog again tomorrow. I also have some pictures of Fanny... maybe I'll post 'em!

Crippie's Tippie - If you know you're gonna get sick, keep a basin by you at ALL times in the hospital 

Take A Load Off Fanny!

I've been waiting for foreeeevvvvveeerrrrrrr to use that line!

TODAY IS THE DAY FOLKS! Fanny's departure will take place in less than 12 hours! I have passed the dreaded midnight deadline and gotten all my crap ready. Now for the big question... am I nervous?

Not really, no. I'm doing rather well actually. Usually I start getting the chills and shaking violently at this point. While I'm not looking forward to today AT ALL... I'm not really nervous. We had a little discussion with the nurses at the hospital today and we mentioned that I tend to get violently ill before surgery, and I haven't been able to get happy meds in a timely fashion. The nurses said that they can get me my happy meds sooner! Definitely made me less anxious about everything. I've got my special anti-nausea patch so hopefully that paired with my lack-off nerves will mean that maybe I won't hurl before surgery... that would be sooooooooooo lovely.

Fanny is scheduled to be removed at 9. I have to be at the hospital around 7:30 or so, which means I have to leave the house at 5:15 in the morning... funness. If all goes well I should be home later today. I'll try to keep y'all updated either through my facebook page, twitter, and eventually here. If I'm not feeling up to blogging tomorrow I'll ask a relative to update y'all :)

I just want to take a moment to thank all you guys for supporting me for the past couple of months with this whole Fanny saga, I reaaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy appreciate it :)

Crippie's Tippie - When the hospital calls you in the days prior to your surgery, be vocal about all your concerns... they can probably make everything easier for you :)

Occupy Crippie

Yo!

L'shana Tova to all my Jewish readers out there!

Alrighty, Fanny meets her demise the day after tomorrow. I might be a teensy bit nervous. My tummy was a little upset today, one of the signs that I'm kinda nervous. That being said, I'm still very much looking forward to this surgery. Fanny has been killing me the past few days, the pain in my hip has traveled up my back... boo. I am really not looking forward to Tuesday, I know it is going to suck sooooooooooooo much. But this time next week I'll be on the mend. I just have to keep reminding myself that it will be over before I know it.

In terms of final preparations, I just finished pimping out my polio crutches (pictures tomorrow), and I STRAIGHTENED MY HAIR!!! My unruly mane got an at home keratin treatment because my hair is a bitch and a half to maintain, straightening it makes it easier to take care off. I came to realization that I look like I'm 16 when my hair is straight like it. Luckily it got a little wavy overnight, so it looks better now (another picture tomorrow I reckon).

The pre-surgery jitters were kept at bay today by the theatre! I went to see an incredible production of "The Sound of Music" with the family. "The Sound of Music" is without a doubt my favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, and "Edelweiss" is probably my favorite show tune. It's absolutely haunting, especially considering it is the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote.



Surprisingly this was the first time I'd ever seen "The Sound of Music" on stage. Boy howdy was it marvelous. The production was astounding, it's in a black box theatre, so the space is crazy limited. Yet they were able to craft fantastic sets and they still managed to make the theatre seem huge. The actors were terrific, I absolutely loved Maria and Mother Abbess, and of course the children were freakin' adorable. The only problem is that I can't get "The Lonely Goatherd" out of my head. The piggies seem to enjoy it when I whistle it though.

Crippie's Tippie - All my local readers should check out Just Off Broadway's production of "The Sound of Music" in Newburgh 

I Vant to Take Your Blood!

Mwahahahaha

We're inching ever closer to the one week point peoples! Fanny is starting to feel the pressure, she was hurting like a bitch today.

I started the whole pre-op process today with the ever traditional ceremony of the taking of the blood. Usually my veins cooperate with the lovely technicians but I've had times where either the person sucked (lol vampire pun) or my veins were being stupid. The person who took my blood did a good job  and I hardly felt it. Although the main reason I didn't feel anything was because I was rather distracted. Ya see, the room I was in was completely plastered in pictures of kittehs. Being the internet female that I am I just kept thinking of how hilarious kittehs were (and one of said kittehs looked like one of my biggest fans Mario). I was completely mesmerized with kittehs and the blood was taken before I even knew it. So thank you internet, you made that whole experience very much bearable. My arm was kinda sore for about an hour or so after and I hardly bruised... all in all... not bad.

Since Fanny's removal is inching closer and closer, I'm starting the final preparations... tons of practice on the stairs, crutches around the house, filing for disability, making sure the piggies are content, make sure meds are in order, and a tiny bit of grocery shopping (I'll get into that when we actually do it).

My actual pre-ops are scheduled for Wednesday morning, usually at this point I get a teeeeeeennyyy bit nervous. My appetite starts to decrease and all those sorta fun things. I haven't noticed any symptoms of anxiety yet :D We'll see what the rest of the week brings, I wouldn't be surprised if I royally jinxed myself with all this "I'M NOT NERVOUS LOL" speak. Alas, only time will tell.

On a completely random note, everyone in my house was watching "The Voice" tonight. Helen was facing the TV and she appeared to be "watching" it. All of the sudden they mention "TONIGHT IS THE START OF THE BLIND AUDITIONS" and Helen starts barking like a mad woman. Helen is just easily offended I guess, either that or she hates Carson Daily (distinct possibility there).

Crippie's Tippie - If you have pets, make sure that someone will be able to take care of your pets, and that you have enough supplies to keep them happy.

Lucky #13

Howdy Y'all!

13 Days til Fanny's departure! W00000000000t

Even though my surgery is less than two weeks away, and my pre-ops are a week away... STILL NOT AFRAID! Maybe this will be the first surgery in a long time where I don't make myself sick beforehand :D I'm continuing to practice moving around like an ever bigger cripple, I've almost mastered the whole walking thing. I did try to walk up the stairs, that's definitely gonna be a challenge. It's hard to really tell though, a lot depends on if my leg will be able to move and if I can put some weight on it. Either way I'll probably need someone behind me to hold my waist as I go up. We've got most everything about recovery figured out. The one thing I'm not sure of is the whole "how am I gonna use the bathroom" thing. Fanny's location will probably make for some interesting post surgery dressings. I have no idea what to expect there... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will just be a simple dressing around my waist. Oh well, I know how to physically get on the toilet seat, which is all that really matters I guess.

I was a teensy bit worried that all the anxiety would kick in today, but surprisingly it was quite the opposite. I found out that I qualify for temporary disability, so that relieved a tooooooooooooooon of anxiety for me. My superiors at work are being super awesome about this whole surgery thing, they were totally cool when I said that I might have be a little late to work on the days when I have pre-ops... so muccccchhh anxiety lifted off my shoulders there. Gotta love having burdens removed from you instead of adding them... YAY ME!

I think this whole Scenty Fundraiser is also helping me drive away whatever feelings of dread I might have. Planning, setting up, promoting, etc make for very worthwhile distractions. My fellow cripples and I are spreading the word of how awesome Scentsy products are. Remember to spread the word my fellow comrades! Also, if anyone else is having a fundraiser and want to spread the word just let me know, I'll be happy to advertise it here :)

I reckon that's it for tonight folks, I promise I'll post animal photos tomorrow to make up for the shortness!

Crippie's Tippie - Spread the word about my fundraiser please! 

Cripplefest 2012!!!!

HALLO!

CRIPPIE'S BACK EVERYBODY!!!!

Boy howdy did I have a ridiculously awesome week with all of my cripples. I got to see my buddies from all different parts of the country, and even the world (side note: I picked up a crazy Norwegian accent over the course of the week, apparently its annoying, ja?). For one week, I was normal, and it was fantastic. I stayed out late and hung out with friends, took goofy pictures, invented inside jokes, all that jazz. Not to mention the whole having discussions with doctors and fellow cripples so now I have a bunch of post ideas for future weeks... OBOI.

Apart from the obvious awesomeness of being a normal for a week, this week also kicked ass because... I DROVE ON A HIGHWAY AND A BUNCH OF OTHER PLACES THAT I'M REALLY NOT COMFORTABLE DRIVING!!! YAY ME!!! I reckon that necessity and getting to see your cripples is a fairly good motivator when it comes to getting on a highway. It'll take some more practice before I'm totally ok with driving on these scary ass roads, but it's def good to know that I am capable of driving on them!

So yeah, it's pretty safe to say that Cripplefest was the highlight of my year. I saw my peeps, discussed cripple issues, made a bunch of new cripple friends, AND I drove on a damn highway. WINNING. Oh, also people managed to take a bunch of awkward photos of me, so without further ado I give you "Crippie Being Special"

Crippie's Tippie - Throw your own Cripplefest, they're freakin' awesome!

It's Hard Out Here For A Pig

Greetings

The Aggie Update - The chubster saw the vet yesterday. Apart from meeting a new friend (a little girl who gave her lots of rubs) Aggie received a clean bill of health! YAY AGGIE! I'm not doing a victory dance though. Aggie appears to be a little traumatized from the past week. She was taking her emotions out on Maggie and the two had to be separated. Once we got come from the vet I let Aggie recover on her own for a few hours. I planned on putting her and Maggie together that night following a salad introduction. They ate their salad together, but then started to squabble again. I then decided to let them hang out on neutral territory, the sofa. Unfortunately they had a full on brawl. I was able to pull them apart. While I was putting each of them in "time out" I noticed that Aggie had been bitten in the face, more specifically her mouth and nose. So, for those of you keep track at home, Aggie has managed to injure her eye, nose, and mouth all within a week. I cleaned the wounds and they weren't deep thankfully, BUT Aggie and Maggie cannot be housed together with their current temperaments. So for the time being Maggie has their cage, and Aggie has a playpen on the floor. 

I'm still in a total state of disbelief. Maggie and Aggie have been paired together since Maggie was about 4 weeks old (and she'll be 3 in February). While they've never been an affectionate pair, they tolerated each other. I can't believe that they would fight like this. Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. The life of a pig owner, right? 

So, what am I gonna do? Alright, I know that Maggie and Aggie are capable of being nice... they've done so for two and a half years. I just need to get them to remember that they like each other. First, I'm gonna let them both cool down for a few days. Hopefully they'll forget that they were fighting. Next I'm gonna try a "Buddy Bath". A Buddy Bath is when you put some water in a tub, and put both the pigs in the tub. The pigs freak out, forget that they're fighting, lose whatever scents they had, and they bond about the whole experience. Essentially it should act as a reset button. Both Maggie and Aggie are good candidates for Buddy Baths because they both HATE water. I'll probs do that on Tuesday... *fingers crossed*.

In non-guinea pig related news, I drove to the gas station today :). It might not seem like a newsworthy event, but the local gas station is on a road that I'm not exactly comfortable with. But, I've been memorizing the road for a few months and today I finally drove there! Granted, my mom was in the car with me for support, but still... I DID IT! YAY CRIPPIE! It's only a matter of time before I get more and more comfortable driving to new places. My next task will be to drive to a completely new place with no practice runs. I need to find a place that would be worth the panic attacks. Any local readers have any suggestions of really kick-ass places? There's a guinea pig rescue in New Jersey... maybe the thought of piggies will help me get over some fears :D

Crippie's Tippie - The occasional guinea pig squabble or nip is not a huge deal, once blood is drawn however, separate the pigs.

A Grand Day For Driving

Yo!

Happy July everybody!!! I hope everyone had a lovely Sunday. My day went very well. I saw a local production of "A Grand Night For Singing", which is a revue of Rogers & Hammerstein songs. The production was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of it. I also have to mention that I DROVE TO AND FROM THE THEATRE!!! YAY CRIPPIE!!! I know it might not seem like a huge deal but I had never driven on those roads before. I managed the to drive both ways without a panic attack and with only minor swearing! Granted, they're were people in the car with me, so that helped my anxiety of not knowing where I was... although it heightened my anxiety about killing everyone in the car in a fiery blaze. Maybe after a few more trips to this location I'll be comfortable enough to drive there by myself!

While I am making strides in lessening my driving anxiety, there is still a loooooooooooot of room for improvement. I'm trying to figure out the best way lessen my anxieties. Technically I know how to drive on highways and all that jazz... so it's not like I need to take lessons. Maybe I should just go driving with a GPS one day and see where that takes me. I drove today because I was forced to do so. Perhaps necessity will drive me to suck it up and drive to new places? Do any of my awesome readers have any tippies for driving anxiety?

I asked Nellie what she thought about my driving situation, her response was this...

"Why yes I would love some watermelon! Wait... that wasn't what you asked me? Oh well, everything sounds like 'would you like watermelon' to me. Speaking of which, I really want watermelon"

All of the piggies have been in "GIVE ME SOME DAMN WATERMELON" mode for the past couple of days. We kinda have to be careful. If someone in the house opens the fridge at 2am for some late night nosh, one of the pigs *coughAGGIEcough* starts screaming bloody murder. That one pig triggers all of the pigs to start screaming. As much as it breaks their little hearts, we cannot give them watermelon whenever they want it. If we did that they'd be conditioned to scream whenever they "need" watermelon, which is always ;). 

Crippie's Tippie - Necessity is the mother of learning how to suck it up

Random Crippie Things

Ohai

The Mama Pig Update - Today we tried the "feed her like she's never been fed before" method. This resulted in several things, 1) Very happy pigs 2) very very happy pigs 3) the cutest food comas I've ever seen in my life 4) a looooooooooooooot of poopies from Mama Pig. She still needed help going so she is still not cured, but I see today as a good step. We are wondering how much peeing and pooping she does on her own, so tomorrow we are gonna let Mama Pig have some "alone time" on the upper level of the cage. Let's hope that she can wee and poop on her own *fingers crossed*

Moving on, Crippie realized she forgot to post a picture of the gingerness! How on Earth could I make such a foolish mistake?!?!?! Well, here ya have it folks, Crippie's new ginger color.

I had to sign sooooooooooooooooooooo many forms for the whole "soul selling" process, but I think the end result was totally worth it!

In other news, it's 3am and Crippie is still awake. So forgive if the rest of this post is weird and not cohesive.

We're still waiting for my damn MRI to be approved. I guess Crippie is gonna have to make some calls tomorrow. Crippie did come up with a somewhat catchy chant if they turn it down again... 1-2-3-4-5 GIVE CRIPPIE HER MRI 6-7-8-9-10 DO NOT MAKE ME ASK AGAIN. I dunno... I like it.

Crippie almost had a panic attack driving home from work today! I was driving home and it was raining, all of the sudden I see that road is completely blocked off and I needed to take a "detour". The detour wasn't properly labeled as a detour and Crippie didn't know that area so natural I started freaking out. I didn't know what to do. Crippie has a bit of a delayed reaction time (possible side effect of MHE) and the thought of turning around and taking an alternate road didn't appear in my head for a good 5 minutes. So Crippie was just driving the detour, swearing like nobody's business and trying to follow the cars. That was the one thing I knew to do, follow the cars. The cars kept going into driveways and staying there, ya know... cause that's where they friggin lived. So after some more swearing I FINALLY had the moment of clarity to turn around in a driveway and take the alternative route home. I then had a mini anxiety attack about finding a good driveway. That was short lived because a really good driveway appeared fairly quickly. Crippie managed to pull herself together and take the damn alternative route. I was still freaking out because this was such a major change in my routine and I was trying to think of what to do if there was another closed road. Luckily Crippie did not encounter any more closed roads and I made it home in one piece... half and hour later than usually but in one piece nonetheless. Crippie is very proud of herself, mainly because I kinda stayed calm and I eventually figured out what had to be done.

Depending on how the weather is tomorrow (later today... whatever) Crippie is planning on visiting Andrew and Charlie. Yup, they're still up for adoption at my local humane society. Crippie is toying with the idea of fostering them one day. I dunno, for now Crippie is gonna continue with the shelter visits and hope that someone will adopt them. ALSO... If you are reading this, are considering adopting them, and are local to me... Crippie will gladly help you get them settled in and give you any "piggie pointers" if you need them. Just message me.

Ah the ramblings of a person who really should be going to sleep, very entertaining.

Crippie's Tippie - Have more than one route for your everyday destinations

It's A Sunshine Day!

Hi Y'all

I don't know about you guys, but the weather today was AWESOME by Crippie. Mother Nature might be a bitch most of the time but this 70 degree day was totally awesome. Crippie actually got a lot accomplished today!
Since the weather was so awesome we decided to the dogs to the park! We didn't realize how windy it was so it was short lived trip to the park. The dogs had a blast in their quick 10 outing, I reckon that's all that matters.
After that Crippie drove to the pet store. Seemingly not a big deal, but I haven't driven there in years. It was almost like driving to a new place, and I didn't have a panic attack... YAY ME! Mini cripple rant... while at the pet store I could help but look at the guinea pigs... PET STORE OWNERS... TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS. The piggies had no hay, crap bedding, were not properly taken care of, and most importantly SICK. I feel so horrible for those poor babies. I wish there was something I could do for them. If any of my readers are looking to obtain guinea pigs be very wary of pet stores, try your best to rescue a pig.
Once we finished our errands Crippie had her appointment with the pain management doctor. Since the heat pack has helped my pain levels for the time being we started forming a plan for what to do when I eventually get worse. She doesn't want me to immediately jump into an anti-depressant as a treatment, but there are some transitional medications that she would put me on. Crippie's doctor also suggested injections for pain relief. The thought of needles does not appeal to Crippie AT ALL. Have any of my readers tried shots for pain? Did they work? Were they really painful?
Annnnnnndddd after that we took a drive to the location of a potential freelance client. It was a completely foreign area to me and I was not comfortable driving there. So, Crippie and her mom are going to make some practice runs over the weekend until I am okay driving there.
Whew, what a busy day. Once I got home I fell asleep for a few hours. Crippie also rested with her piggies.

Frida Being Snuggly, she was making up for peeing on me earlier -_-

Mama Pig's Tushie!

Crippie's Tippie - When dealing with a lifelong condition, having a plan for when things get worse will make your life slightly easier and less stressful when that time comes

Frida's Tippie - Depending on where you live there are lots guinea pigs in shelters that need good homes.


P.S. Ever since a tumor split one of my finger nails I've been wearing nail polish to cover it. I recently found a "nail polish of the month club" if you will. If you want to check it out, it's HERE. If you join, use the code COLOR2012 and get your first month's order for a penny! You can always cancel after your first free month ;)

Remembering Pointy- One Year Later

Hey Y'all!

Crippie was just looking at her calendar when she noticed that today marks the 1 year anniversary of her 10th surgery. It might not seem like something blog post worthy, but this means that I haven't had any serious medical issues for an entire year *knocks on several pieces of wood*! YAY CRIPPIE!!!
I remember it like it was yesterday *insert dream sequence music*. My really awesome display tumor Pointy had grown to a point where he could lacerate something and or break through my skin. So Crippie opted to spend her last week of her last Christmas break having the bastard removed and recovering from the surgery. I knew this particular surgery was going to be relatively easy compared to some of the other surgeries I've had in the past so I wasn't terribly worried. It wasn't until the night before surgery that the nerves kicked in. Since Crippie is verrrryyyyy familiar with having surgeries I know what's coming, the whole waking up from surgery thing, the whole "my heart beat gets really irregular after surgery" thing, etc. When the nerves and everything do set in I have a tendency to start violently shaking, picture having the chills times 10. So I spent the night before on my living room couch, watching movies, and violently shaking.
Crippie lives about an hour and half away from the hospital and my surgery was scheduled pretty early in the day, so we had to leave the house around 4:30 in the morning. Once I got to the hospital itself the shaking only got worse, eventually some heating blankets made it go away. Thankfully Crippie's nurses were super nice. I mentioned how much I hate having IVs put in and the nurse was like "Oh... if we put a hot compress on your hand for five minutes before I put the needle in it won't hurt as much", and go figure it really didn't hurt... OTHER NURSES FOR MY OTHER 9 OPERATIONS... Y U NO DO THAT!
Crippie is also known to very nauseous before surgery, we talked to my doctor beforehand and he prescribed a patch to put behind my ear which surprisingly stopped most of my nauseousness. I still threw up before the surgery anyway, but the patch helped. After Crippie was done vomiting the doctors gave me some "happy" meds and boy howdy did they do the trick.
Next thing I knew Pointy had been removed and I was waiting in recovery. I was literally in no pain, quite the welcome change. Crippie spent the next few hours napping, waking up from a nap, nap again, wake up, nap, etc. Before I knew it I was discharged and on my way home!

My recovery went really smoothly. I was hardly in any pain, probably a 3 or 4 on the pain scale. A week later I returned to school and everything went back to normal. All I have left of Pointy is my dandy Tampon scar, which still totally looks like a tampon.
*Raises a glass* Here's to you Pointy, you were a great little tumor and I'll never forget you. Tell your tumor brothers and sisters to NOT cause me any problems!

CRIPPIE'S SURGERY TIPPIE - Have the following things in the car for your ride to and from the hospital... blanket, pillows, and a trashcan with several trashbags.

Crippie Discusses Her Day

Oh Hai!

AND THE AWARD FOR MOST INTERESTING POST TITLE GOES TO ME!

Moving right along, today I went to a meeting with a potential freelance client. It went rather well if I do say so myself. Apart from possibly getting freelance work... I DROVE THERE! I drove the 45 minute drive without flipping out! Granted, my mother was in the car with me (she had a meeting too) BUT I DROVE! Considering I get rather anxious driving longish drives to places that I have never been before, I am very proud of myself.

This whole getting insanely excited about a seemingly small event is a technique I use to help myself overcome this whole driving anxiety thing. It puts extra emphasis on the progress I am making and helps build my confidence, thus helping the anxiety go away. 

Another thing that made this drive soooooooo much better was that I used a GPS. My grandma recently obtained a GPS so I borrowed it today. OH MY GOD WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I am terrible with directions and I have had anxiety attacks about getting lost, missing turns, fun stuff like that. Having the GPS took away so much anxiety. I could just concentrate on the road and not have to worry about getting lost. BTW, the GPS I used is a Garmin Nuvi 1450. I highly recommend it. It's easy to use and works really well, and there is a "avoid highways" setting that makes me happy. Seriously, my grandma uses it without difficultly, THAT says something. 

Crippie's Tippie- Celebrate the living daylights out of the small victories in life. Not only is it really fun, it makes you feel really awesome.

Driving Miss Crippie

Shalom!

YAY I managed to post in a timely matter *pats self on back*!!!

So as mentioned here, I am in the process of acquiring transportation so I can function in the workforce. Apart from the general issue of paying for a damn car (CARS, INSURANCE, AND GAS... Y U SO EXPENSIVE) I'm in the process of "re-learning" to drive if you will. Several surgeries on my legs and hips have kept me out of the driver's seat for a few years. You see, in order to drive I have to be comfortable behind the wheel of a car. Along with the physical pain that driving occasionally brings I also have a bit of anxiety about driving.

Me thinks the reason behind my anxiety is a mild case of OCD. I have a tendency to worry about wrecking the car and killing all the passengers in the car. Sometimes this fear keeps me from driving. This could be considered a very huge issue, seeing as how driving is necessary to find a job given my current location. While I consider this an issue, I don't consider it a huge issue. As a matter of fact, compared to all the other issues I have, anxiety is the least of my worries.

Now comes the true question, "Well, how the hell are you gonna drive?" The way I see things is that my form of anxiety can be treated rather easily. What I have to do is force myself to drive. I go into "Lieutenant Crippie Mode" Here is Crippie's thought process...

Crippie's Anxiety- I don't wanna drive
Lieutenant Crippie- DO YOU WANT A JOB
Crippie's Anxiety- Well... of course
Lieutenant Crippie- THEN SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP
Crippie's Anxiety- But... what if I wreck?
Lieutenant Crippie- Then you'll wreck... what if you never get a job?
Crippie's Anxierty- Then I won't be a functioning member of society
Lieutenant Crippie- WHAT DO NORMAL PEOPLE DO?
Crippie's Anxiety- NORMAL PEOPLE DRIVE TO WORK
Lieutenant Crippie- CAN YOU DRIVE?!?!?
Crippie's Anxiety- SIR YES SIR
Lieutenant Crippie- THEN GO OUT THERE AND BE NORMAL!!!

Yes I actually do that in my head... what... it helps. Here are a few other things I do to avoid having a panic attack whilst driving...
1- Listen to music- For some reason the soundtrack to "Assassins" always calms me down.
2- Channel your anxiety into other places- When I'm driving I keep my pocketbook on my lap and I keep the AC from blowing in my face. It just makes me feel more secure.
3- Try to Rationalize- I constantly try to remind myself that the chances of me wrecking are slim, this isn't always successful, but it doesn't hurt to remind yourself of it.

Crippie's Tippie- If you suffer from anxiety that you cannot get rid of and impacts your quality of life... see someone about it. There is no reason for you to suffer in silence.