Still kicking

I'm not actually healthy yet, but I am better than I was before I started taking the bad medicine, so that's good. I'm back in work, in any case.

So, entertainment news. Sarah Michelle Gellar had her baby, Damages has added some cool cast members, and they're making a Sweet Valley High movie. Did anyone else love those books as a kid?

Can I be dead now?

Ugh. Still unpleasantly ill. Worse, in fact.

So, this whole thing started several weeks ago (it was around my mother's birthday, which is August 7th), when I started getting stomach cramps and diarrhea. Started out occasionally, then more and more frequent until I basically couldn't eat anything without my digestive system staging a full-scale revolt.

Couldn't go to the doctor until Sept. 1st, when my insurance kicked in, so that was almost a month of unpleasantness, at which point I'd pretty much eliminated anything with color or flavor from my diet. The doctor sent me for tests, and it turned out to be an intestinal bacteria called C-diff, which sounds like a rapper but is actually a type of bacteria that commonly results from taking antibiotics and is often found in hospitals. It's unclear how I acquired said bacteria, since I've neither taken antibiotics nor been in a hospital recently, but that's neither here nor there.

And yet, ironically, the way to treat this bacteria is to give the person - wait for it - antibiotics. So, my doctor prescribed some, which I started taking on Tuesday. By Thursday, I had a whole new set of unpleasant symptoms, including nausea and vomiting. On the plus side, my stomach cramps have gone away, but that's possibly because I can't keep anything down long enough to anger the bacteria.

I called the doc on Friday, who suggested that this might be a side effect of the medicine, but if I could stick it out through the weekend, I should see some improvement. Today, when it got to the point where I couldn't actually stand up without feeling the urge to vomit, I called back and suggested that maybe this wasn't working according to plan and could we maybe try something else? She prescribed a different antibiotic, which I will start tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am just waiting for the old meds to get the heck out of my system. My dad has a theory that the meds make me more nauseous on an empty stomach, but it's a vicious cycle - the meds make me nauseous, so I eat less, so the meds make me more nauseous, etc. So now I am trying to resist my instincts and eat MORE whenever I feel like throwing up. Surprisingly, it's kind of working, but I'd still like to be better soon.

And the most ridiculous part? I've only missed two days of work this whole time (Friday and today). I'm insane.

Blech

Not dead, just sick. Intestinal nastiness lasting for weeks. Couldn't see doctor until health insurance kicked in. Finally got drugs. Hoping for improvement. Still feel nauseous.

Anyway, so, apparently I moved out of Pennsylvania and... they went insane. They still don't have a budget, which was due July 1st, and Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia is taking drastic action to force Harrisburg to act. Fun!

Also, tonight is the season premiere of several shows I care about, including The Office, Fringe, and Bones (roughly in that order, if Bones continues to suck as much as it did last season). I think Thursday is going to be the new Monday in terms of scheduling conflicts.

All by myself...

My boss is on vacation (again!) so I'm all alone in the office for the rest of the week. So, I am making baby announcements.

Well, just one. David Boreanaz and his wife Jaime have a baby girl named Bardot.

More good news - Mad Men has been renewed for a fourth season.

Not so good news - bad Superman actors are descending on Chuck. Brandon Routh (who I thought made a horrible Superman) and Kristin Kreuk (the worst actor on Smallville, which is an impressive feat) will both guest star next season.

skool?

I am officially a student again - had my first grad school class last night. It seems like it's going to be interesting and fun. I have a different class tonight; we'll see how that one shakes out.

It kind of just occurred to me on Saturday that I ought to go shopping for a bookbag and notebooks and, like, school supplies stuff. I'm so out of practice, it didn't even occur to me that I'd need this stuff until now.

In other news, I think Joss Whedon is conspiring to make me watch the second season of Dollhouse. It's like he heard I wasn't thrilled and said, "Hmm, what can we do to make this show more appealing to Laura?" and obviously he couldn't fire Eliza Dushku, so he went with the next best thing. Hiring Jamie Bamber, Michael Hogan, and Alexis Denisof to guest star. If James Marsters shows up, I'll know something's afoot.

In other-other news, Leverage was renewed for a third season. Yay!