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awanderingbardHello! Long time no see. I am sad to say this is not for good reasons, but mostly because things have remained, as always, a bit stressful around here. A short summary:
--My dad's gout turned into osteomyelitis and a broken toe. He's been on antibiotics for nearly two months now, including two weeks of IV antibiotics. His toe is looking almost normal now, and he has an appointment with the rheumatologist in the fall, but he's been in a lot of pain and is exhausted. And is a rather pathetic, uncooperative patient. We've finally gotten the message through that he needs to just rest and recover, but there was a time where it was like herding cats.
--I broke one of my teeth way back in April and had to wait until July to get it extracted due to the waiting list at the oral surgeon. That was with me listed as 'urgent' on the referral. The pain wasn't terrible unless I ate something with A Temperature and I managed it with clove oil during the wait well enough (10/10 recommend clove oil for tooth pain), but it was a heck of long time coming to get it out. The oral surgeon is super nice and got me perfectly numb, but he had to wiggle the tooth out and my teeth are super close together (my old dentist once said I have my dad's teeth in my mum's mouth), and he knocked out the fillings in the tooth behind it. Including one I had had done three days earlier. I was left with about a quarter of a tooth left, the rest broken off near the gum line. Thankfully, it doesn't hurt and my dentist says we don't have to do anything about it unless it starts to act up. I've been having some numbness and twitching on that side of my face I was worried was coming from there, but I went on Thursday and he smoothed out and trimmed up what was left so I wasn't biting on it, and he thinks it's just left over pathology from having the broken, infected tooth in there for so long. It is getting better, and I haven't ruled out it being a neck or shoulder thing. I grind my teeth pretty hardcore (hence the broken teeth, even with a mouthguard), so I have a lot of tension in that area.
--It's been Migraine Season from all the pressure shifts and I'm in a continuous prodome-aura-headache cycle that kind of sucks. Pain is never my problem, I am lucky that I rarely get an actual headache, but I get weird as fuck and it's not fun.
--Mum's shoulder has been acting up again and her physio has been away, so she's struggling a little.
So, that's been what's up, in addition to all the wonderful world problems we are all dealing with to varying degrees.
However, not at all is bleak! Here is a short summary of good things:
--I am still reading like a mad thing. I have made my way through all the romance novels I downloaded to my Kindle, or near about. Some of them I had to abandon because they were...not good, but most I at least enjoyed and a few I loved, and since they were all free, I will not complain. I may do a post about books I've enjoyed lately. I started a goodreads account to track my reading progress this year, and so far I'm clocked in at 30 books, which is not too shabby.
--I am also writing non-stop. I cannot stop. I have made a pair of characters and I like them so much, I am ocean-deep into their stories, and I get to do all sorts of fun research and it's been very cool. I'm so used to writing fan fiction, I keep feeling guilty I'm delving so deep into OCs and then I remember that I am writing original fiction and I am allowed to do that! It's so much fun! I have no idea what I will do with all these stories I have. I might start posting them eventually, but I'm still refining the first story as I write more and learn more about the characters and the timeline (it involves time travel, so the timeline is very whack). The internet is also a far scarier place than when I used to post stories, so I'm a bit nervous about sharing. I know everyone here is lovely, but the outside world can be scary.
--We have been continuing our decluttering and organizing process when health permits and I am pleased with what I've accomplished.
--My drawing has improved a lot, though I do keep hitting those plateaus where I'm better enough to know I need to be better and have to push through to improve, and get frustrated sometimes.
--I've been approved for the government dental insurance. It doesn't cover everything, but it will certainly help a lot.
I hope everyone is managing to find some joy where they can. I'm looking forward to cooler weather. I'm not a hot-weather girl.
Talk to you soon!
--My dad's gout turned into osteomyelitis and a broken toe. He's been on antibiotics for nearly two months now, including two weeks of IV antibiotics. His toe is looking almost normal now, and he has an appointment with the rheumatologist in the fall, but he's been in a lot of pain and is exhausted. And is a rather pathetic, uncooperative patient. We've finally gotten the message through that he needs to just rest and recover, but there was a time where it was like herding cats.
--I broke one of my teeth way back in April and had to wait until July to get it extracted due to the waiting list at the oral surgeon. That was with me listed as 'urgent' on the referral. The pain wasn't terrible unless I ate something with A Temperature and I managed it with clove oil during the wait well enough (10/10 recommend clove oil for tooth pain), but it was a heck of long time coming to get it out. The oral surgeon is super nice and got me perfectly numb, but he had to wiggle the tooth out and my teeth are super close together (my old dentist once said I have my dad's teeth in my mum's mouth), and he knocked out the fillings in the tooth behind it. Including one I had had done three days earlier. I was left with about a quarter of a tooth left, the rest broken off near the gum line. Thankfully, it doesn't hurt and my dentist says we don't have to do anything about it unless it starts to act up. I've been having some numbness and twitching on that side of my face I was worried was coming from there, but I went on Thursday and he smoothed out and trimmed up what was left so I wasn't biting on it, and he thinks it's just left over pathology from having the broken, infected tooth in there for so long. It is getting better, and I haven't ruled out it being a neck or shoulder thing. I grind my teeth pretty hardcore (hence the broken teeth, even with a mouthguard), so I have a lot of tension in that area.
--It's been Migraine Season from all the pressure shifts and I'm in a continuous prodome-aura-headache cycle that kind of sucks. Pain is never my problem, I am lucky that I rarely get an actual headache, but I get weird as fuck and it's not fun.
--Mum's shoulder has been acting up again and her physio has been away, so she's struggling a little.
So, that's been what's up, in addition to all the wonderful world problems we are all dealing with to varying degrees.
However, not at all is bleak! Here is a short summary of good things:
--I am still reading like a mad thing. I have made my way through all the romance novels I downloaded to my Kindle, or near about. Some of them I had to abandon because they were...not good, but most I at least enjoyed and a few I loved, and since they were all free, I will not complain. I may do a post about books I've enjoyed lately. I started a goodreads account to track my reading progress this year, and so far I'm clocked in at 30 books, which is not too shabby.
--I am also writing non-stop. I cannot stop. I have made a pair of characters and I like them so much, I am ocean-deep into their stories, and I get to do all sorts of fun research and it's been very cool. I'm so used to writing fan fiction, I keep feeling guilty I'm delving so deep into OCs and then I remember that I am writing original fiction and I am allowed to do that! It's so much fun! I have no idea what I will do with all these stories I have. I might start posting them eventually, but I'm still refining the first story as I write more and learn more about the characters and the timeline (it involves time travel, so the timeline is very whack). The internet is also a far scarier place than when I used to post stories, so I'm a bit nervous about sharing. I know everyone here is lovely, but the outside world can be scary.
--We have been continuing our decluttering and organizing process when health permits and I am pleased with what I've accomplished.
--My drawing has improved a lot, though I do keep hitting those plateaus where I'm better enough to know I need to be better and have to push through to improve, and get frustrated sometimes.
--I've been approved for the government dental insurance. It doesn't cover everything, but it will certainly help a lot.
I hope everyone is managing to find some joy where they can. I'm looking forward to cooler weather. I'm not a hot-weather girl.
Talk to you soon!
no subject
Date: 2025-08-24 12:40 am (UTC)I look forward to seeing your original fiction at some point!
I had a good summer; the academic year is starting now, so academic summer is over, but Florida summer will continue for months. I enjoyed focusing on my research for much of the summer, seeing friends and colleagues at a conference, and taking life at a slightly less frenetic pace.