My neck has stiffened to the point where I can’t turn, lift, or lower my head without shooting pain. If I stand up, it hurts, if I bend over, it hurts. Jumbo-size, prescription-strength Motrin pills don’t even take the edge off. This is ridiculous. What the hell did I do? Just in case it’s a joint thing, and because my Rheumatologist always asks at my followups if I have neck pain, I had fosteronfilm call their office yesterday afternoon and let them know that I’m effectively fused solid from chin to collar. They didn’t call back, so I guess it’s not life threatening. Feh.
[edit: They just called back. Minor symptom of Lupus, they said. Moist heat and OTC pain meds to treat it. Reassuring that it’s not a major concern, but I still can’t turn my head.]
More poll answers:
jackzodiac Q: “how did you get the skunk? becuase I want one”
A: After seeing puskunk at Fantasm with a lil girl skunk up his sleeve (she was part of his costume), I became absolutely enthralled with the idea of a skunkie of my very own. I need to have a fuzzy animal in my life, but I’m allergic to cats and dogs. We’d kept ferrets, but were looking for something bigger, something more affectionate that didn’t require caging. We were researching greyhounds because of their temperament, and ’cause they were easier on my allergies than other breeds. But when we saw the skunk, we had to know more. We went to a skunk show in Florida to research them (and make very sure I wasn’t allergic to them–I picked up and hugged a LOT of skunks at that show), got information on a specialty breeder in Iowa, and when baby skunk season came around, we drove cross country to pick Hobkin up. More details, pictures, and other highlights at his website.
nhw Q: “Why Atlanta?”
A: Why not Atlanta? *ba da ching* Actually, we chose to live in Atlanta because of a myriad of factors. When we were looking to relocate from the Midwest, it was between San Francisco, London, and Atlanta. San Fran’s cost of living was too ridiculously high to consider, not to mention that California’s pet laws are way too rigid. Both ferrets and skunks are illegal to own there! London was too impractical for more reasons than I can list, a main one being citizenship and all that entails. So that left Atlanta. I love Atlanta’s climate, it’s beautiful native flora and fauna, the size of the city–not too big, not too small–and how metropolitan and diverse it is. We’re both fans of the restaurants and shops, and the mix of new and old. Also, when we moved here, the traffic situation wasn’t quite so insane.
pagmatic Q: “Hey I posted a question–where did it go?”
A: The poll gods were displeased! Note to self: next time increase the form size for open ended polls.
brother_bliss Q: “Who was your favorite villian to kill off?”
A: Hmm. Actually, I very rarely kill my villains. For that matter, I don’t typically use classic villains in my fiction. I guess my favorite kill would be the cyberstalker in “Cyberevenge Inc.” He was one of the rare “real” villains I’ve written, and I quite enjoyed his grisly and bloody demise. It was a cathartic story to write, inspired by my own rather nasty experience with a cyberstalker. Therapeutic gore. Yum.
hyperscoot Q: “What is your favorite story type to read?
A: Depends on my mood. I love the sensual, immersive tales that Tanith Lee weaves, as well as the visceral adrenalin rush that Harlan Ellison stories evoke, and the thoughtful and satisfying novels by Heinlein and Herbert. I love vampire stories and fantasy adventure, drowsy magic realism tales and humorous space opera. I adore dystopic tales of cyberspace and happily-ever-after tales where the hero wins his lady love, and I get totally enthralled by sexy thrillers. I guess my favorite story is simply a good one.
teflaime Q: “Should I learn to use the paid account features?
A: Since you’re paying for them, then yeah, you probably should. There’s a bunch of cool features paid accounts have, not the least of which is being able to personalize your layout. Personally, I’m a big fan of the extra user pictures. And I’ve been making good use of the syndication-to-LJ ability.
amberdine Q: ” Err… what exactly *are* wingstubs?”
A: I get that question a lot! I’ll just point you to the last time I answered it: HERE
fings Q: “Who would be your dream artist for your books?”
A: I’d say living artist: Ursula Vernon (ursulav). Dead: Arthur Rackham.
murasaki23 Q: “Do you have a favorite picture of yourself?”
A: Many favorites, actually. I use a couple of them as LJ icons:
and
.
clockwork_pixie Q: “How did you know Matthew was “the one”?
A: We made a connection, like the click of two pieces fitting together. It was undeniable. We stayed up the whole night just talking. It was during my sophomore finals week in college. It’s a miracle I managed to get through my exams that week, I was so distracted!
Any more questions?
Writing Stuff
New Words: 1000
On the WIP. Good progress. Hoping to finish this story this week.
500/day
47
That first one is my favorite of you too.
Cliff Hearn took it when I wasn’t expecting it, the rogue! He’s got a fantabulous photographer’s eye.
I always like candids better than posed photographs.
eee.
I am sorry you are in
painmore pain that usual.The suck.
Oof. Thanks for the commiseration. I think I’ve got myself set up. My laptop’s at the right level for me to type at with minimal neck movement. I shall persevere.
my question to you seem to have disappeared too. ah well….
No, I got it. I answered it in yesterday’s post.
Thanks. I’ve gone reading about 20 backpost but didn’t go that far I guess. Thanks for the link. However, I meant, human child (yours & hubby) not pets. But yeah…thanks for the answer.
“I meant, human child (yours & hubby)“
I know you did, Angela. I’m childfree for life. My family is whole without human offspring. Neither my husband nor I want (or, for that matter, can have) children.
User pictures? What are these;)?
Moist heat…Do it this way: Put a towel in the sink and pour hot water over it. kick it into the dryer for 10 minutes or so, with a dry towel. Wrap the wet towel with the dry”er” towel and wrap it around your neck.
Hot water, dryer, towel. Check. Thanks. Although with the humidty down here, the air’s almost enough on its own. A hot pack in summer. Lovely.
Arthur Rackham = awesomeness.
Most definitely!
Sorry about the lupus!
(From Dreamwind the critter)
Lupus, you poor thing, if it’s true! My sister-in-law was diagnosed with Lupus about 6 years ago. If you are using artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, STOP NOW, because the ingredents in many of them can aggravate the symptoms of lupus. Especially aspartame (the main ingredient of Nutrasweet). That stuff is really nasty.
You should probably also give up coffee, but I’m a caffeine addict too. I’m not supposed to drink it because I have active inflammatory bowel disease (don’t ask) but decaf just isn’t the same.
Re: Sorry about the lupus!
I was originally diagnosed with lupus about eight years ago. I was recently upgraded to Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) (which includes lupus in the lineup). Thankfully, I’ve got a really good Rheumatologist and we’ve managed to get me stabilized (finally) on Imuran. As far as these things go, I consider myself fortunate. I know that a lot of people with lupus (and related diseases) have it far worse than I do on a day-to-day basis.