I now know what covid feels like
Aug. 8th, 2023 09:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lokiofsassgaardI don't have covid. But we'll get to that in a bit.
I got bored around noon yesterday, and decided to just go out for a wander around the few shops that would be open. I started with Goodwill, because there were a few things I had specifically wanted to look for the last time I was there, but the sudden appearance of my husband the last time I was there put me off. He's always so anxious to get out of any public space that it's difficult to really get stuck in. One of the things I went in looking for was another old radio, like the one I recently restored, because we recently got another Alexa for the bathroom and I wanted to stuff it into a nicer looking house like I did the one in my office. I didn't find one, but I'll keep looking. I did find a couple of nice neckties, which I have been needing because I don't have many for some reason.
I also found a new occult shop, and will definitely be going back because they have enormous cast-iron cauldrons, and a few other things in that area. I have a tiny one I use for burning incense, but I've wanted a bigger one for other activities for a while, and the ones they have are a good size. I actually think it might be run by the same people who ran the old occult shop that got killed by covid, but I didn't get the chance to ask them, because they were surprisingly busy (probably because they were one of the only places open on Monday). They had a lot of jewellery, so I got myself a new ring as well, which is always a treat because I often have a difficult time finding any in sizes that fit me.
Mainly, it may be where I start going for jewellery though, because they have a lot there that I liked. They also had a lot of carved stone dicks at the front counter, which I did not laugh at. But there were so many dicks.
I wandered to Winco, mainly to get a bottle of water, and then to Michaels to look at the Halloween tat, and then finally made my way to the dentist and still got there about a half hour early. That meant they were able to get me in a bit early, and that's when the nightmare started. Mainly by going to shops and all that, I was largely able to distract myself from the dead raccoon in my mouth. But then I had to go get X-rays, and now it was at the front of my mind and I was focusing on it. I barely managed to make it through the X-rays, but having all that junk in my mouth was a bit too much, and I gagged and was a bit sick on the poor tech doing it. I felt all gross and sad about that, and then I had to tell her that it wasn't actually anything she had done wrong, but that I had just been so badly overwhelmed by whatever was going on in my mouth.
Then my dentist came in and took a look, and apparently with the fucking year I've had, I've managed to stress myself into a canker sore outbreak where I've got no teeth. Treatment included putting some foul goop in my mouth, a new toothbrush that wouldn't bother my gums so much, and the recommendation of getting a WaterPik. Which is actually kind of funny, because I'm actually waiting on one to arrive, but it's taking its damn time because apparently "Prime" means nothing on Amazon anymore. So that's probably what tastes like roadkill, but I should also follow up with my GP anyway, but I've not done that today because honestly I'm too goddamn tired and also I want to make sure that the stuff he told me to take actually works, so I'm gonna go on Friday instead if I don't see any difference. But apparently even my weird headaches that my medication can't do anything about can be symptoms, especially given their location, and for all I know, the mill fire was either a coincidence or something I might have noticed and retroactively attributed blame. Stress makes sense because it has been one thing after another since March. I was supposed to have a chill week of relaxation where nothing happened last week, and I almost got mauled by a pair of fucking pit bulls for fuck's sake. I don't do calm, apparently.
So with all of this knowledge I went out to go pay for this emergency visit, only to be told that it was below the limit they could actually bill for the account that I use to pay for it. Because my insurance doesn't cover dental, because of course it doesn't, and I can't pay for this entirely out of pocket. So I have this other thing which lets me pay out of pocket but on interest-free payments, which has been a fucking life-saver, honestly. But apparently it has a lower limit of $200, and this was like, $140 or something. So we needed to come up with $60 to tack on somehow. But apparently I'm due for a cleaning anyway, which is convenient because that'll also serve as a cheeky follow-up to this nightmare. So I was able to pre-pay that. Except when she ran it she accidentally tacked on two extra zeros and way over-charged my account beyond what my limit even allowed. Which, luckily, it wouldn't run, but we had a fun and exciting five minutes trying to figure out why that was happening. It took someone else coming over and pointing out that the screen she was on scrolled over a fraction of an inch to see the extra zeroes, and that I was not trying to pay $30,000 for a routine cleaning next month.
When I'd texted my husband in the middle of all this, telling him that I'd somehow broken their system while scheduling a cleaning, he responded only with, "lol of course you did."
I had to go buy the weird goop from the pharmacy, which is conveniently across the street from my apartment. I got home and put that in, and it instantly did three things. 1, it was like eating glue. 2, it instantly numbed my entire mouth. And 3, it made me unable to taste a single thing, despite itself having a very distinct and overwhelming flavour. Later on when I finally made myself some dinner, (which I did not share with my husband, because we are sometimes weird like that), I was not prepared for the absolute attack on my senses when something that should have tasted like, frankly, salty processed garbage in fact tasted of absolutely nothing. Not even cardboard. Just nothing. I choked so bad, and my husband was sat there watching me like, "u ok?" And like the trained medical professional he is, he didn't move an inch when I finally shouted, "No!" at him. But he's often said that the more distressed and over-animated I am about something, the less seriously he feels the need to take me in any given situation, and that I'm only truly unwell when I get quiet.
But at that point I kind of gave up on the day and just settled in to wait for my new shoes to get here. And I waited. I waited, broken up only by figuring out that you can only connect one Spotify account at a time to the Alexa machines we have dotted about the apartment, and then figuring out how to bounce between accounts so we can both use them. My shoes finally got here about 9:30, and then I laced them up so they'd be ready if I did decide to leave today, which wound up being moot anyway because when I woke up I could already notice a difference so I decided just fuck it. The worst of it probably will have cleared up by Friday. But I'm so goddamn tired I may just go take a nap or something.
I got bored around noon yesterday, and decided to just go out for a wander around the few shops that would be open. I started with Goodwill, because there were a few things I had specifically wanted to look for the last time I was there, but the sudden appearance of my husband the last time I was there put me off. He's always so anxious to get out of any public space that it's difficult to really get stuck in. One of the things I went in looking for was another old radio, like the one I recently restored, because we recently got another Alexa for the bathroom and I wanted to stuff it into a nicer looking house like I did the one in my office. I didn't find one, but I'll keep looking. I did find a couple of nice neckties, which I have been needing because I don't have many for some reason.
I also found a new occult shop, and will definitely be going back because they have enormous cast-iron cauldrons, and a few other things in that area. I have a tiny one I use for burning incense, but I've wanted a bigger one for other activities for a while, and the ones they have are a good size. I actually think it might be run by the same people who ran the old occult shop that got killed by covid, but I didn't get the chance to ask them, because they were surprisingly busy (probably because they were one of the only places open on Monday). They had a lot of jewellery, so I got myself a new ring as well, which is always a treat because I often have a difficult time finding any in sizes that fit me.
Mainly, it may be where I start going for jewellery though, because they have a lot there that I liked. They also had a lot of carved stone dicks at the front counter, which I did not laugh at. But there were so many dicks.
I wandered to Winco, mainly to get a bottle of water, and then to Michaels to look at the Halloween tat, and then finally made my way to the dentist and still got there about a half hour early. That meant they were able to get me in a bit early, and that's when the nightmare started. Mainly by going to shops and all that, I was largely able to distract myself from the dead raccoon in my mouth. But then I had to go get X-rays, and now it was at the front of my mind and I was focusing on it. I barely managed to make it through the X-rays, but having all that junk in my mouth was a bit too much, and I gagged and was a bit sick on the poor tech doing it. I felt all gross and sad about that, and then I had to tell her that it wasn't actually anything she had done wrong, but that I had just been so badly overwhelmed by whatever was going on in my mouth.
Then my dentist came in and took a look, and apparently with the fucking year I've had, I've managed to stress myself into a canker sore outbreak where I've got no teeth. Treatment included putting some foul goop in my mouth, a new toothbrush that wouldn't bother my gums so much, and the recommendation of getting a WaterPik. Which is actually kind of funny, because I'm actually waiting on one to arrive, but it's taking its damn time because apparently "Prime" means nothing on Amazon anymore. So that's probably what tastes like roadkill, but I should also follow up with my GP anyway, but I've not done that today because honestly I'm too goddamn tired and also I want to make sure that the stuff he told me to take actually works, so I'm gonna go on Friday instead if I don't see any difference. But apparently even my weird headaches that my medication can't do anything about can be symptoms, especially given their location, and for all I know, the mill fire was either a coincidence or something I might have noticed and retroactively attributed blame. Stress makes sense because it has been one thing after another since March. I was supposed to have a chill week of relaxation where nothing happened last week, and I almost got mauled by a pair of fucking pit bulls for fuck's sake. I don't do calm, apparently.
So with all of this knowledge I went out to go pay for this emergency visit, only to be told that it was below the limit they could actually bill for the account that I use to pay for it. Because my insurance doesn't cover dental, because of course it doesn't, and I can't pay for this entirely out of pocket. So I have this other thing which lets me pay out of pocket but on interest-free payments, which has been a fucking life-saver, honestly. But apparently it has a lower limit of $200, and this was like, $140 or something. So we needed to come up with $60 to tack on somehow. But apparently I'm due for a cleaning anyway, which is convenient because that'll also serve as a cheeky follow-up to this nightmare. So I was able to pre-pay that. Except when she ran it she accidentally tacked on two extra zeros and way over-charged my account beyond what my limit even allowed. Which, luckily, it wouldn't run, but we had a fun and exciting five minutes trying to figure out why that was happening. It took someone else coming over and pointing out that the screen she was on scrolled over a fraction of an inch to see the extra zeroes, and that I was not trying to pay $30,000 for a routine cleaning next month.
When I'd texted my husband in the middle of all this, telling him that I'd somehow broken their system while scheduling a cleaning, he responded only with, "lol of course you did."
I had to go buy the weird goop from the pharmacy, which is conveniently across the street from my apartment. I got home and put that in, and it instantly did three things. 1, it was like eating glue. 2, it instantly numbed my entire mouth. And 3, it made me unable to taste a single thing, despite itself having a very distinct and overwhelming flavour. Later on when I finally made myself some dinner, (which I did not share with my husband, because we are sometimes weird like that), I was not prepared for the absolute attack on my senses when something that should have tasted like, frankly, salty processed garbage in fact tasted of absolutely nothing. Not even cardboard. Just nothing. I choked so bad, and my husband was sat there watching me like, "u ok?" And like the trained medical professional he is, he didn't move an inch when I finally shouted, "No!" at him. But he's often said that the more distressed and over-animated I am about something, the less seriously he feels the need to take me in any given situation, and that I'm only truly unwell when I get quiet.
But at that point I kind of gave up on the day and just settled in to wait for my new shoes to get here. And I waited. I waited, broken up only by figuring out that you can only connect one Spotify account at a time to the Alexa machines we have dotted about the apartment, and then figuring out how to bounce between accounts so we can both use them. My shoes finally got here about 9:30, and then I laced them up so they'd be ready if I did decide to leave today, which wound up being moot anyway because when I woke up I could already notice a difference so I decided just fuck it. The worst of it probably will have cleared up by Friday. But I'm so goddamn tired I may just go take a nap or something.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-08-08 08:04 pm (UTC)