So I’m playing through Heat Street (oh how the traumatic memories come flooding back) and just after you get the objective ‘move up the hill with Matt’, you exit the alleyway into that little courtyard. I’m happily shooting away and yelling at civs when I hear this voice. I couldn’t quite make out what it said so I stopped and turned the music down. When I approached this door (to the right of the alleyway stairs as you come up them) I could hear it again. It’s a male voice and I didn’t hang around too long but he said a bunch of weird stuff like:
“Hey, you gonna get this door open?”
“Come on, just get me out of here!”
“What kind of [I couldn’t hear what he said here but it sounded like ‘building’] is this anyway?”
And something like “I wonder why [again I couldn’t quite make out what he said] doesn’t have any windows?”
stomach situation is kind of at a stand still. after this weekend, taking the antibiotic, having the reaction/side effects from the new meds, missing the entirety of my sister’s birthday celebrations, residual side effects on monday, i had acupuncture on monday evening. at my appointment, i filled laura in on all the issues of the weekend, she’s basically become an extra therapist, listening as i ramble on (sometimes in tears) about the frustration i’m experiencing. after talking to her, i decided to stop all stomach related meds. no more ppis. the only things i’m taking are my bcp, my allergy med, and probiotic. the gastro that was in this week had told me to stop the ppi until i finished the antibiotic, but i’m not going to start it again because it wasn’t helping, and why? i was worried about rebound symptoms, because that’s an issue with things like prilosec, but laura told me that since i was never really having reflux, that likely wouldn’t be an issue for me. in addition, i secured the appointment with the naturopath. my appointment isn’t until may 17 ( the soonest she could see me, which is a bummer because my goal was to be well by my birthday, may 19, so i could enjoy dinner and maybe cake, but as long as i get this sorted, it is what it is), she’s 45 minutes away and she’s not covered by insurance, but i am going to make this work. the whole thing about the naturopath route that i like is that they look for the underlying causes of what’s going on, rather than just prescribing meds to manage symptoms. i am nervous but i am hopeful. in the meantime, being off the meds has been okay. i haven’t had the extreme nausea, which has been helpful. i basically have burning in my stomach after i eat, plus, burping, some minor feelings of reflux and gas (tmi). it’s tough because i feel really hungry, but i can’t eat very much. as per laura’s recommendations, i’ve been focusing on eating cooked foods. since i didn’t have any issues with food prior (i could eat dairy, meat, raw veg, wheat, etc), she said it’s likely that i can still do those things eventually, but my stomach just needs to heal, so that was promising. i also ordered a qigong dvd and a new, stronger probiotic as per her suggestions too. and a book my sister in law found called kicking sick. so yea, until the visit with the naturopath, i’m going to do my best to manage. i guess i am going to reschedule my follow up with the gastro that’s supposed to be next week…not sure i want to go back to her at this point, especially since i stopped the meds. we’ll see. i just hate how much this has impacted everything, it’s putting a strain on pete and my family; they have all been wonderful and patient, but i know it’s frustrating. i can barely stand myself at the moment. i am part of a gastritis support group online, so that has been a bit helpful. but with pete and my family & friends, and you guys, i am grateful to have such a strong support system.
in other news, my sister’s bridal shower and bachelorette party have been planned and booked, thank goodness. i felt so behind with everything because of my stupid health, but my mom and i got the shower all set and i got the bachelorette party booked as of yesterday, so that feels good. it was tough to plan the shower because so many people had scheduling conflicts…so we have to have it memorial day weekend. we’re doing it as a brunch so hopefully that will give everyone time to come to the shower and then still go enjoy their long weekend, but i know there are probably going to be some people who can’t make it. i had one bridesmaids in tears because our original date she was going to be away, plus the groom’s mom had conflicts…it was tough, so this was the best date i had with what we had to work with. the shower is going to be beautiful though, i’m kinda jealous lol. i love the spot we picked to host it and the decor there is already pretty perfect. i came up with some very simple game ideas, some sweet centerpieces…it’s going to be nice. and the bach party, which, i’ve only heard back from one person who was invited so far, but yea, i found a resort that’s not that far away that has an awesome bachelorette package. dinner credit, spa credit, live music/dj & dancing, wine cellar tour, some other fun activities - i don’t want to say too much just in case she happens to look, which i doubt but better to be safe. so yea, i think it’s reasonably priced considering some people go flying away to mexico or the caribbean, and we just couldn’t do that. i just want her to have fun and to feel special, and i want her to know how loved she is!
i applied for two jobs for the summer, a kid concierge place that sets you up with people looking for tutors or family assistants, and an english tutor with cambly online. i never had to work in the summers before, but i know i really need to. hopefully, both will work out.
we have thursday dinner tomorrow, so at some point i have to go out to get the stuff. we are also supposed to go to MA for easter, leaving early fri morning with my parents. i’ve been nervous about it because of how i’ve been feeling, but hopefully it will be fun and i can make the best of it.
we had an awesome time with tyler & sarah; we met them in philly, spent the day wandering around. tyler had a stock signing, so we went to that and then ended up at this amazing brunch place called parc. we explored and walked around, talking and catching up. we ended up at the magic gardens but it was just about to close, we hit up whole foods and got stuff to have dinner in the hotel and watch the gonzaga game…so fun! sunday morning we got up and went out again. we had breakfast at this cute spot called elixir and then walked a bit more. we checked out and the drove down to DE for tyler’s signing. the barnes and nobel that hosted the singing was awesome. we met great people, tyler rocked it. we got to meet some of the awesome people that took tyler and sarah’s life reboot class - so very cool. we had dinner in newark, de, and then drove up to our place. we had tea and wound down and then we all went to bed. monday morning we left our house, headed to nyc. we got to join in for two stock signings (they couldn’t find the books at the one store lol), we headed to flatiron for lunch (which didn’t end up working out so great because eatly and tyler could not mix), and then tyler had an interview with cheddar.com in the tip of the ground level of flatiron building. super cool! after that, pete and i decided to let ty and sarah go on their way with the publicist. aside from my not feeling super great, overall, we had such a great time. lots of memories made and fun had. stroopwafels, rotten cotton, and i am bras now. it was great. already can’t wait until they’re here again for my sister’s wedding in july!
alright, i feel like there may have been more but this has been so long, i guess i will shush now. thank you all again for being so supportive and if you read all the way down here, you are especially wonderful.
