sunday night, after getting home from True Blood, i discovered that my left leg was at least twice the size of my right.  hadn’t noticed before changing into my jammies because it didn’t hurt.  it didn’t feel any different than my right leg.  which was a good sign. see, sudden onset edema (swelling) like that suggests a clot.  perhaps a DVT.  bad.  i poked at it a bit and then decided it would be really embarrassing if i had a PE (pulmonary embolism) and died in my sleep, or on the way to work the next day, or on the floor AT work the next day.  so i called kyle and asked him to come take me to the e-room.  the whole time i am thinking…”fucking hell!  if i suddenly have a new health problem it could keep me from working after all this blood, sweat and tears!”  went to the e-room.  got seen rather quickly.  had a high BP, but figured that was white coat syndrome (even though i am a nurse myself, and sometimes we wear white lab coats).  doc asked the standard questions.  the key thing that made me feel a bit better was…there was no pain.  pain would have been a BAD sign.  my ankles swelled a couple of times during the term after a day on the floor.  it was always bilateral (both sides) and not very much.  by the next day they were always back to normal.  this was different.  my friend stacey has circulation problems so i called her.  she said i didn’t have all the signs she had, but recommended i go in anyway, which i did.  had an ultrasound on my left leg veins to be sure there wasn’t a clot.  i really liked my tech because she was a true blood fan and had seen that night’s episode.  so we talked true blood while she scanned me.  went back to my bay, number 42(!), and waited for the doc.  he said the tech hadn’t seen anything and they were right 99.9% of the time but he needed a confirmation from the radiologist.  that took a while, but it came back clear.  i asked what could have caused it and he said it could just be random.  i suggested my birth control pills as i am over 40 (42!) and he said maybe.  rather annoying there weren’t any other ideas, though it NOT being a DVT was awesome.  oh, the ER docs names was Mumm and he was really cute.  asked me a number of personal questions about going into nursing.  got home about 1:30.  that meant like 3 hours of sleep before i had to get up to go to work.  wasn’t sure i should but didn’t want to call in sick after only a couple of days.  of course, i wanted to be in my right mind so i could be the best nurse possible.  my shower woke me up a bit, and though i was too sleepy on the drive, the day was a piece of cake.  nursing is NOT slow or boring.  it was a great day.  i seriously love nursing.  went to sleep almost as soon as i got home on monday evening. elevated my leg and the swelling went down quite a bit.  bought some support socks, which helped as well.  i am still swollen, but it is getting better.  tomorrow i will attempt to find a new doctor, from my new health plan, and get to the bottom of it.  i hope this isn’t the new me.

i used my new S&W healthcare the FIRST day i was eligible.  kinda amusing.

i told kyle we should get married because we are the same sort of disaster areas and are going through the same total life changes with all sorts of chaos around us (to be fair, he was WAY more than me).  he just smiles when i say stuff like that.

the charge nurse has changed the schedule and i will NOT be working 8hrs/day 5 days a week for the next several weeks.  THANK GOODNESS!  that was killing me.  all that driving.  i have my first 12 on friday and i am very excited.  i was there like 10 hours Mon/Tues anyway.  what is two more hours of getting things settled for the night shift.  probably won’t go to nights until september.  i get my first paycheck tomorrow!  it is only $845 as i missed Mon/Tues of last week due to the NCLEX.  but this pay period will have more hours AND i got my $2/hr raise for passing the test.  hurrah!  life is moving forward!  (now if i can just say healthy…)

i have been healing more slowly lately.  well, for like a year.  mom said “diabetes”.  which would suck.  and be embarrassing.  i’d rather it be RA or something like that.  at least leukemia wouldn’t be my fault.

boytoy is away for 2 weeks.  it is sort of weird.  and now i have to play with my toys.  i miss talking science with him too.

begin mundane life details: here we are on July4th and i did laundry, packed most of the kitchen at Mo’s and then found places for it here at the tangerine dream home.  vacuumed.  had dinner with bagel and thad.  found out thad and stacey (different stacey than above) are splitting up.  talked to the cats.  i have been working on my to do list for tomorrow.  LOTS to do!  you know, life stuff.  and i love it!