Warning Signs

Warning signs are a part of our every day life:  Deer Crossings on the Highway, Wet Floor in a public restroom, Do Not Open While in Midair on the airplane (okay, okay, maybe not EVERYONE would say that's a part of every day life).  No matter where you are, there's bound to be a warning on something to remind you what to do or not to do (just in case you ever wanted to use your hairdryer while in the bathtub).  I'll bet that most of you, like me, have the ability to tune out at least some of these because of repetition.  And, if its that deer crossing sign that you drive past every day, only to see a deer lying dead on the side of the road 3 miles AFTER the sign, ignoring the sign isn't the end of the world.

How about those less obvious warning signs?  The ones that aren't bright yellow with an exclamation point through them.  You know what I'm talking about, they're those little subtle changes it's easy to overlook, like when the gas gauge drops below 1/4 of a tank and you decide to drive past the gas station because it's raining, or your significant other tells you (s)he's "fine" and you know it's not but decide to accept "fine" as an answer.  Eventually, if you ignore the signs long enough, something bad is bound to happen.  Most often, the "warnings" that we choose to ignore are those that our body is sending us (like a sniffle) until they become bigger issues (like a nasty cold or, worse yet, pneumonia).

That's what's happened to me lately.  I've been under a lot of stress from a lot of different forces, and my body's tried to tell me to slow down, but like most of us I've ignored it.  I mean, come on, in this day and age, who am I kidding, stress is a part of everyone's life, and we all just deal with it.

Unfortunately for me, when I'm stressed, my body likes to attack me, literally...

In high school when things got stressful, I noticed that I had a very flaky scalp, which I attributed to dandruff and bought some Selson Blue and "sucked it up."  When the flakes started creeping out to my face, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis.  It's similar to dandruff and is a way that one's body can react to being stressed over a period of time.  So, I found some outlets to help me "de-stress," used some prescription shampoo to get things under control, and things improved.

I actually did pretty well controlling my stress the first two years of college, but Junior Year it hit me.  There was boy trouble, the classes were HARD, and I felt I was being pulled in many directions.  When I got home from choir tour that year my mom walked past the chair I was sitting in and did a double-take.  I had BALD SPOTS - 3 of them.  Two were the size of a quarter, and the third the size of a half dollar, running down the center of the back of my scalp.  (Kudos to my roomies then boyfriend now husband G, who, upon our return to college, said to me "I noticed them when I was sitting behind you in the van, but I thought it was because you were getting older, I mean, look at my receding hairline").  The diagnosis - alopecia areata, a condition where, because of stress, you lose your hair.  Essentially, my white blood cells started attacking my hair folicles.  Here's the scary part, the folicle is the area that contains the pigment...and if left go too long, the pigment will be gone and any hair that grows back will be WHITE - can you imagine white streaks in my dark hair?  Fortunately, after a few cortizone shots, the hair started to grow back.  Once again, I vowed that I'd find ways to keep my stress level under control, and went on my way.

In the 15 years since I've graduated, I've had recurrences of both the dermatitis and the alopecia.  But, I've been pretty good about paying attention to the warning signs and have noticed my hair falling out, or the flakes creeping past the hairline, before they've gotten really bad.  Yes, I've had a few more cortizone shots, and have an alignment of flake-fighting shampoos in my shower, but in all things have been okay.

Back in early August, I noticed a discoloration on the bridge of my nose.  I wasn't too alarmed (well, except for when one of my co-workers jokingly told me it was an age spot), so when the dermatologist couldn't see me for 6 weeks, it didn't bother me.  In late August I noticed two more spots on my forehead, so a friend of mine suggested I change my skincare routine, just in case it was a reaction to what I was using.  I did, and instead of it going away, I noticed another spot on my cheek, so I was glad to finally see the doctor on Monday morning.

When my doctor walked in the room the first thing that she asked me (actually, I guess it was the second thing, the first was to ask how my cousin, who she knows from med school, was) was if I had had a lot of sun exposure this year.  Um, hello???? I'm an accountant, we don't have time for such frivolous things like going outside in the sun.  Just kidding, kind of, but no, I hadn't had excessive amounts of sun.  And, when I am outside for a period of time, I am really good about wearing sunscreen and a hat.

Once she ruled out the sun, the next thing she asked me was if I had a lot of headaches?  Anyone who's worked with me knows I carry around the super sized bottle of Excedrine Migraine, so the answer to that was a YES.  Follow up questions:  Are they like migraines?  Have they become more frequent?  Yes to both.  How about my hair, am I losing it?  Not in patches.  Is it getting thinner? Yes.  How long has the dermatitis been creeping onto your face and in your eyebrows?  Quite a while, likely for about a year.  Within 5 minutes of walking in the door, my doctor had diagnosed me with a condition called Melasma.  Ironically, it's nickname is the "Pregnancy Mask" because it's seen most in pregmant women, because it's related to hormone changes.  Unless there's a second coming of the Messiah, that is CLEARLY not the reason I'm getting these spots. 

Because of my history, I had some bloodwork done yesterday to see if my Pituitary or Thyroid gland is out of whack, as that would be a reason for both the Melasma and the Alopecia.  In case anyone's wondering, yes, stress can impact either of those glands.  So now, it's wait for the results of that to see if I need to get that fixed.

In the meantime, I have two prescription creams (one for the flakes and the other for the spots) that I use every night.  It's also become quite clear that I need to find ways to destress.

There are some things that I can't change, such as the medical problems of my family and some good friends.  Those things I must leave in the hands of a higher power, and pray that he helps me to know what I can do to help these people, as well as to give them (and me) the strength to make it through the hand that's been dealt.  As for work, that's one of those things where the stress level comes and goes with deadlines, just like it does for everyone else.  Once I make it through this next deadline, things will be much calmer.  Honestly, while it does get stressful at times, I actually like my job, which not everyone can say.  Knowing there's an end in sight helps, along with making sure I take a little time each night to do something just for me, either to blog, read, or meditate.  There are a few other stressors, not related to family, work, or friends, that I'm not going to go into here, other than to say that some people who discount me because I have opinions that they don't like, but at the same time expect me to help make them look good to others and also to help them achieve what they want financially.  Perhaps it's time to purge these people from my life and go somewhere where I'm respected and appreciated.

Sooooo Close

The project is getting much closer to being finished.  The team has been a little sidetracked as of late because Dad and John have been "redeployed" to different projects.  You see, our church project is still ongoing (must...resist...next...comment, let's just say it rhymes with "Hi old shoe foe"), and Dad's been helping to build a storage shed while John's been dividing his time between work, church counsel, many aspects of the church building project, Crimestoppers, friends' weddings and attending a few Brewers Games because he wanted to see them clinch the Central Division (which, with the help of MY Cubbies, he did get to see on Friday night).  My schedule wasn't exactly conducive to helping as of late either, since we were approaching one of the biggest tax deadlines of the year (9/15 is the deadline for extended corporate tax returns). 

That said, things have kept on moving, just slowly.  The ceiling grid is in, along with most of the panels, and the rest of the panels should be in by the end of the week.  The can lights and ceiling fan are also in place.

 

With any luck, the carpeting will be installed on Thursday and when I get home Thursday night or Friday evening, I'll be able to move the furniture into place.  The couch and recliner were delivered two weeks ago (usually, it would be exciting to get furniture 2-3 weeks early, but I really would have been okay waiting).  Since then, it has been patiently waiting under sheets as the construction goes on around it. 

Since the furniture is here anyway, and the ceiling is now almost complete, Mom and I took some time this weekend to assemble the shelving unit that I got for my birthday back in March.  I think we did a pretty good job, and we did it without injury or curse word.  Woot! 

As for the bathroom, there was some progress there as well.  I was in Chicago for work last week, and when I came home Thursday night, I had a surprise waiting for me.  John had finished tiling (including grouting) the bathroom floor.  I know it wasn't an easy job, because the floor in the basement is not even, and I think he did a terriffic job.  In a typical year, I help John with his taxes in return for him being my handyman.  This year he went above and beyond the call of duty, so I need to get him something cool.  How much do you want to bet he'll want me to get him something Brewers oriented, just because he knows it'll KILL me to buy it. 

Once the ceiling is done in the Rec Room, we'll move on to the bathroom ceiling.  Oh, and if any of the P/P/D's I work for are reading this blog, I think it would be a GREAT idea for me to be on the road when this happens early next week, it's a much smaller area than the rec room, requiring a lot more cutting (and probably related cussing).  It may prevent WWIII from breaking out, just saying...

Cuddles is about ready for the project to end.  He doesn't like the constant visitors, and all of this new stuff is coming with new rules.  You may have noticed the white box-like thing on the left corner of the couch.  Yeah, that's a motion alarm that emits a high-pitched squeal when there's movement.  Seems a certain feline thinks that since this furniture is in the basement it's fair game for him to sleep on.  Unfortunately for him, both at my house and at my parents, he is not allowed on any furniture other than my bed and that rule extends to the Rec Room.  He behaves well upstairs, but the dark furniture shows his kitty-litter-dust paw prints and is a dead giveaway that he's been where he shouldn't be.  So from now on, the door stays shut when I'm not in the room.  Don't worry folks, he still has plenty of room to roam upstairs.

A Change in Appearance

I know I haven't updated lately, but we had some things going on at home that slightly derailed the remodel process.  I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say any future home changes (i.e. remodels and/or new purchases) will NOT be in process when my mom has her yearly doctors' check-ups.

The first change is in the bathroom, where the electrical is complete, the light is installed (although we're waiting until after the ceiling is installed to put the light covers on) and the vanity is set in place.

The Rec Room area has changed a lot since my last blog.  Four gallons of primer, three gallons of off-white, and three gallons of the faux finish later (oh, yeah, along with 4 more trips to the home improvement store to pick up "one more gallon" of paint), the painting was completed.  The laminate floor, which was given to me by my parents' most generous and awesome neighbors when it was removed from their house, has been installed in the bar area.  The doorknob on the bathroom door was replaced with a locking model, and the old doorknob has been repurposed for the closet door. 



Of course we still have a ways to go.  The tile floor needs to be laid, and the countertop, sink and toilet need installing in the bathroom (the final plumbing for that depends on me clearing a path in the disaster, oops, storage room so that the plumber can hook up the water).  We also need to get the ceiling measured so that my Dad can get that installed before the carpeting comes.  I've picked out my carpeting, and the guy will come on Wednesday to measure.  From there, it's about a week and a half for them to order it.  Then, the room will be ready for furniture deliveries.  The sofa and chair should be here in about three weeks, and I can pick up my coffee table at any time.  There will be future additions, including building a bar and decorating the walls, but by the end of September, for all intents and purposes, I should be able to call the rooms "done."

There is one individual who hasn't exactly approved of the remodel.  Cuddles isn't exactly excited about strangers or noise, so he hung out by Mom and Dad's house when the project started.  When he came home, and he suddenly couldn't travel through the walls anymore, he wasn't exactly keen on the whole thing, and he let me know it.  His curiosity does get the best of him, and he does daily inspections to see what has changed, but he doesn't seem to anxious to spend any real time downstairs.  Hopefully, once everything is in place, he'll realize it's not such a bad place to hang out.

There has been one casualty so far in the project.  The little stepladder I bought when I moved into the house to help me reach things in the upper cabinets and the shelves of my walk-in closet is now permanently covered in primer, paint and other construction materials and will be relegated for use in the garden and the garage. 



I will try to be more diligent in my updates, if my schedule permits.